The "Second Coming" of Christ

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I have found your email debate about the word used in Matthew 24:3 fascinating. Here, the disciples asked Jesus, "What will be the sign of your coming, and the end of the age?"

Here, the Greek word for "coming" is parousia, and our friend reflects the standard cult-doctrine that this word really means "presence," not "coming."

This debate is interesting because it can alter the doctrine that Jesus "came into his kingdom invisibly, in heaven," and nobody on earth saw a thing!

It is an interesting doctrinal conundrum, but spiritual people, who are free of the necessity to embrace or reject most doctrines, including this one, say that the word could be translated either way. For, in the larger spiritual overview, it really does not matter.

For the "first coming" of the Christ, in Jesus, was personal (to Jesus), public, historical, chronological, and external. It would be redundant and incompetent for God (Love) to do this twice. If we take these factors one at a time, we can get a whole new understanding-- one that you have probably considered, but the cult never has:

1) Personal. The "second coming" (or, "presence") of Christ would not be personal-- to one man, Jesus. Rather, it would occur for the benefit of everyone. For the Scriptures say, "Every eye will see Him," but not necessarily at the same time.

2) Public. If the first coming was a public event, the second coming could well be to the individual. Christ would, in his second coming, reveal himself as dwelling in the heart of the being with a more cosmic perspective. (This itself would be a part of grace, a part of the "gift" of God, and not the result of doctrinal conformity.) So, here, we must carefully distinguish between the historical man "Jesus," and the eternal Spirit-- "Christ"-- that still lives within the hearts of every one of us. In the first two centuries, we see this same distinction made in Christian writings. The "second coming" was the return of the "Christ," not the historical man Jesus.

3) Historical. The first "coming" or "presence" of the Christ occurred once in history, in the person of the enlightened master Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus was not, of course, the only enlightened being ever to live in history. But his birth, ministry, teachings, and death were historical events (as well as possibly allegorical ones in the Gospels). So, the second coming would be, not a history-making event that would attract the attention of many, but a non-historical and individual event revealed only to the one to whom it occurred.

4) Chronological. Because it was historical, it also occurred within a chronological bracket. It occurred at a specified time, began and ended on the calendar. It was a timebased and timelimited event. The second coming is not like this: It has already occurred in some hearts, and has not yet occurred in others. At its peak, it is the gnosis of the personal being's Unity with the Mind of Love. Each person is a part of,
and an expression of, the universal or cosmic Mind of Love. But different persons realize this at different times.

5) External. While Christ's first coming was clearly "external"-- among the people and events of the "outer" world, the second coming would be an interior event. It would occur within the heartmind of the individual as an intense and instant realization. She would realize that Christ, as pure Love-mind, lives deeply within her Unconscious. In fact, he lives deeply as the Core of the collective Unconscious shared by all minds, and so, is not a "personal" possession, even though a personal relationship is very desirable. But really, one is possible only after an "introduction." Christ "stands knocking at the door" of the mind, the Scriptures say, but we must invite Him "in."
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