Most modern Bible versions translate this word as “coming.” Because of this, we conceive of the parousia of Christ as a point-in-time event. Jesus “went away” after his resurrection and he will “come again” at the parousia.
This point-in-time conception undercuts the fundamental meaning of parousia. This word signifies “presence,” not “coming.” The opposite of parousia is “absence.” If parousia meant “coming,” its antonym would be “going.” This is not the case, as the apostle Paul makes clear: “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence (parousia) only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12; emphasis added). Again, parousia means “presence,” not “coming.”
Parousia “denotes a state, not an action.”1 The disciples understood the destruction of the Temple would usher in a new “state”—the kingdom of God.
Hermann Cremer, a Greek authority, reinforces the appropriateness of the disciples’ use of parousia: “Ewald acutely says, ‘The [Parousia of Christ] perfectly corresponds with the [Shekinah] of God in the O. T.,—the permanent dwelling of the King, where His people ever behold Him, and are ever shielded by Him.’”2 The Shekinah was in the physical Temple at Jerusalem. Its counterpart—the parousia of Christ—would live in the new Temple (i.e., the church) during the new age (Ephesians 2:21; 1 Peter 2:5).
The disciples’ use of parousia (presence) to describe the Messianic age is, therefore, fitting. The prophets had portrayed the presence of God with his people as a leading characteristic of the new age. Paul’s letters to the Corinthians—written after the Olivet Discourse, but before the fall of the Temple—show this perspective: “God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (2 Corinthians 6:16). In a word, God would be present with his people. Parousia accurately and fully reflects this new residence of God with his people.
The words “parousia of Christ” describe the Messianic age. They depict the new-covenant state inaugurated by the earthly ministry of Christ; his death, burial, and resurrection; the giving of the Holy Spirit; and the ministry of the apostles. The destruction of the Temple completed the transition to the new age during which Christ’s presence dwells in the new Temple not made with hands.
So, the disciples’ request for a sign related to Christ’s parousia was not the result of their confusion. On the contrary, it shows their understanding of what the destruction of the Temple would signify. They did not change the subject of the Olivet Discourse. Instead, they followed Jesus’ lead. They knew the event of which he spoke would usher in the long-expected new age—the parousia of Christ.
We can paraphrase the disciples’ questions as follows: “what shall be the sign of thy (new-age) presence, and of the end of the (old, Mosaic) age?” (Matthew 24:3).
Footnotes
- W. E. Vine, Collected Writings of W. E. Vine (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 5:149.
- Hermann Cremer, Biblico-Theological Lexicon of New Testament Greek, trans. William Urwick (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1895), 238. Referrenced by Vine, ibid; his translations of the Greek and Hebrew shown in brackets.