The “Parousia”: Visible or Invisible?

Introduction

The “Parousia” or “Second Coming”, has long been a subject of theological discussion and even debate since the dawn of Christianity, ever since the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) spoke of the “sign of his presence” (Matthew 24:3).

In the 1st Century, Apostle Paul spoke of “not being shaken” or “mislead” when it came to anyone claiming the “The Day of the Lord” had already arrived (2 Thessalonians 2:1-2), showing that since early times, there were those trying to claim that Yeshua’s arrival must have already happened without others somehow noticing.

This very subject of his Presence, is what we shall be looking at today in this article. Is Yeshua’s “Parousia” visible, or invisible?

What is “Parousia”?

To first understand what this discussion revolves around, means we have to understand the word “parousia”, and why some Christians and specific denominations have made such a big deal out of this word.

The term has been used throughout the texts of the Greek New Testament, and simply means “presence” or “arrival”. Typically, the phrase means the arrival of someone or something very specific or special, such as the arrival of a noble, official, king, or other subject that is specific to the context at hand. However, the term can ultimately mean three things; “Nearness”, “Arrival”, and “Presence”.

“3952 parousía (from parōn, “be present, arrive to enter into a situation”) – properly, coming, especially the arrival of the owner who alone can deal with a situation (cf. LS). 3952 (parousía) is a “technical term with reference to the visit of a king or some other official, ‘a royal visit’ ” (Souter) – “hence, in the NT, specifically of the Advent or Parousia of Christ” (A-S).

[3952 (parousía) is “used in the east as a technical expression for the royal visit of a king, or emperor. The word means literally ‘the being beside,’ thus, ‘the personal presence’ ” (K. Wuest, 3, Bypaths, 33)]”. – HELPS Word-studies

“Coming, presence: From the present participle of pareimi; a being near, i.e. Advent (often, return; specially, of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked); (by implication) physically, aspect — coming, presence”. – Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

But our primary point of focus, is where and how this word is used by Yeshua, in regard to his “Second Coming” in the Gospel book of Matthew.

For years, since Yeshua has spoken of the topic of his return, his advent has long been referred to as “The Parousia of the Lord”, “The Parousia of Yeshua”, and most Christians consider the phrase to be one and the same with his “Second Coming”, however, not all Christians agree.

Specifically, certain Christian Advent groups and individuals during the late 1700s-1800s, such as Emmanuel Swedenborg, William Miller, Nelson H. Barber, Charles Taze Russell, and Ellen G. White, all had expectations of the return of Yeshua during their time, and from these people were founded movements such as; The Swedenborgs, New Church, The Millerites, Seventh Day Adventists, International Bible Students (which later evolved into the Russelites & Jehovah’s Witnesses), and the Latter Rain Movement.

Of course when he did not return, some in these groups began to reinterpret their theology, and as opposed to stating they were wrong about the return of the Lord, some began to claim that his return must have been “invisible” or “spiritual” somehow.

There are other Christians also hold to this invisible concept of the Parousia who are not of the Swedenborg, Millerite or Adventist traditions, these being Full-Preterists, such as J. Stuart Russell in the 19th Century, who believed Yeshua must have returned in 70 A.D during the fall of Jerusalem in a way nobody could physically see.

These ideas all come from a very specific interpretation of the word “parousia”, as to mean “presence”, as opposed to the alternative Greek phrase “erchomai” also used in Yeshua’s speech concerning his return, which simply means “to come” or “go”, and therefore argue that his “Parousia” is to be understood as him to “being present” or “near”, but not yet having “arrived” or “come”.

Most Christians, however, do not agree with such an interpretation of the word, and would regard it as one and the same with the context of his “physical and visible coming”. Thus, this begs for a closer examination.

Scriptural Examination

The specific passages of scripture we must examine first, are those of Yeshua’s speech concerning the fall of Jerusalem, and his future second coming, the speech known as the “Olivet Discourse” in the book of Matthew, with focus on the references of his Parousia:

• “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your presence/nearness/arrival(?) (parousia) and of the conclusion of the age?” In answer, Yeshua said to them: ‘Look out that nobody misleads you,  for many will come on the basis of my name, saying, ‘I am the Anointed,’ and will mislead many. You are going to hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for these things must take place, but the end is not yet; For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be food shortages and earthquakes in one place after another; All these things are a beginning of pangs of distress.
  
  Then, people will hand you over to tribulation and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations on account of my name. Then, too, many will be stumbled and will betray one another and will hate one another.
  
  Many false prophets will arise and mislead many; and because of the increasing of lawlessness, the love of the greater number will grow cold. But the one who has endured to the end will be saved. And this good news of the Kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come…
  
  “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Anointed One,’ or, ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false anointed ones and false prophets will arise and will perform great signs and wonders so as to mislead, if possible, even the chosen ones. Look! I have forewarned you. Therefore, if people say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For just as the lightning comes out of the east and shines over to the west, so the presence/nearness/arrival(?) (parousia) of the Son of man will be….
  
  Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of man will appear in heaven (or the sky), and all the tribes of the earth will beat themselves in grief, and they will see the Son of man coming (erchomai) on the clouds of heaven (or the sky) with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a great trumpet sound, and they will gather his chosen ones together from the four winds, from one extremity of the heavens (or skies) to their other extremity.
  
  Now learn this illustration from the fig tree: Just as soon as its young branch grows tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near. Likewise also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near at the doors. Truly, I say to you that this generation/people (genea) will by no means pass away until all these things happen. Heaven (or sky) and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. 
  
  Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the Heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence/nearness/arrival(?) (parousia) of the Son of man will be. For as they were in those days before the Flood, eating and drinking, men marrying and women being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they took no note until the Flood came and swept them all away, so the presence/nearness/arrival (parousia) of the Son of man will be.
  
  Then, two men will be in the field; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. Two women will be grinding at the hand mill; one will be taken along and the other abandoned. Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming (erchomai).
  
  But know one thing: If the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have kept awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. On this account, you too prove yourselves ready, because the Son of man is coming (erchomai) at an hour that you do not think to be it“. – Matthew 24:1-14, 23-44

We see to begin with, the Apostles ask Yeshua, what would be the “sign” of his “parousia” and the end. Yeshua answers by beginning to list several world events, but also tells his listeners these are not the signs of the “end”, but rather, “the beginning”.

He goes on to tell his listeners, the Apostles, that they would be killed by people who hated them, and after this, many false prophets and teachers would arise, and people would hate one another, which would thus require endurance on part of the faithful to put up with such an environment until the “end”.

From there, he then goes on to describe the specifics of his Parousia…

Invisible Interpretation

For who advocate an invisible Parousia, they place emphasis on the “nearness” or “presence” definitions of the word, as opposed to “arrival”, and thus distinguishing it from “coming”.

This view is asserted by pointing to the fact that the Apostles asked for a “sign” of his Parousia. And how Yeshua goes on to explain several things that would happen to them and afterward. The logic that “invisible parousia” adherents assert, is the notion that if the Lord’s presence was ‘visible’ then the Apostles wouldn’t have to ask for a “sign” of his presence – since afterall, why would you need a “sign” that he was here, if he was clear to see?

This of course, is reliant upon the specific interpretation of the word “parousia” being referring to “being present”, as opposed to an “imminent arrival”.

In this interpretation, Yeshua telling his listeners to “beware of false prophets” who say he’s in “the inner rooms or wilderness”, are argued to be warnings against those saying he has “physically returned” and is somewhere on the Earth, and that his arrival will be of some other “heavenly phenomona”, compared to that of heavenly signs, thus the reference to clouds, thunder and lightning.

Another argued support of this is also referred to in Luke 17:20–21, which says:

• “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Yeshua replied, ‘The coming (erchomai) of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within (or amongst) you‘”.

Yeshua’s true “visible coming”, his “erchomai”, is then claimed to come after his “invisible parousia” which is said to be the “establishment of his Kingdom”, and this “Coming” is interpreted to be the moment “after the tribulation of those days”, implying that during the “tribulatious times” or “pangs of distress”, during the wars, evil people, world disasters and many false prophets, Yeshua was “near” or “invisibly present” with his Kingdom amongst us, but not yet “come” – thus the “sign” of his Parousia being troubles on the earth, and yet nobody “taking note”, and thus being “like the days of Noah”.

In this respect, Yeshua’s words on the days of Noah and the coming Flood being compared to his Parousia, is compared by this view, not to the arrival of the Flood waters, but rather, the “days ‘leading up’ to the Flood”, and therefore when we “see these things” we should be aware that he is “near at the doors”, or in other words “invisibly present”, and that we should then be a part of his Kingdom which is somehow “with us”, or “within us”.

Problems with the Invisible Interpretation

This interpretation of course, whilst seemingly reasonable on the surface examination, takes some liberties with the text, as well as the overall context, and does so by insisting on a very ‘narrow’ and specific interpretation of the word “parousia” and its distinction from “erchomai”, and there are several aspects of the description of Yeshua’s Parousia that are missed or skipped over entirely.

To begin with, when the Apostles first ask for the sign of the Lord’s Parousia, we mustn’t forget that they had no idea of any details of the subject of the “coming”, or “arrival”, or “presence” of Yeshua. And therefore they have no reason to even suspect of whether or not it would be “visible” or “invisible”, all they knew at this point, is that Yeshua foretold of the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24:2).

It’s made clear that they consistently thought this event and Yeshua’s condemnation upon Jerusalem and the end times to follow, would be done by him visibly, as is shown in Acts 1:6 just before his ascention to Heaven:

• “So when they came together, they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’”

So we see here, even long after Yeshua’s speech, they didn’t understand that there was to be an “invisible event” or “presence” before the coming of his Kingdom in any way. Whether or not this was a misunderstanding or ignorance on their part on the nature of Yeshua’s Parousia, it makes it clear to us, that when the ‘Apostles’ were asking about Yeshua’s Parousia in Matthew 24:3, they themselves were not asking anything about a sign to tell them of the beginning of his “invisible” presence.

It would make no sense whatsoever for the Apostles to be asking; “tell us the sign so we will know you’re invisibly present”, ‘prior’ to Yeshua’s explanation of the details concerning just what his Parousia was.

Rather, the context of the situation and the people who are asking Yeshua this question of the sign of his Parousia, is more readily and easily understood to mean the alternate definitions of the word; “arrival” or “imminent arrival”. So in other words, the Apostles are more likely to be asking;

“Lord, what is the sign to look out for which will tell us you’re about to arrive?!”

This question of course was important to get an answer to, because they were associating his Parousia with the destruction of Jerusalem in their minds (Matthew 24:2-3), and therefore, they wanted to know how to avoid being destroyed with the rest of the city, by knowing “what sign” to look out for which would tell them in advance to get out of Jerusalem before he “arrived” to destroy it.

We must not forget also that many in the 1st Century, including the Apostles at first, were continually expecting the Messiah to be a warrior-king figure, physically leading an army against the Romans and the unrighteous to establish the Kingdom of God – thus, in this first instance of the word “parousia” spoken by the Apostles, the understanding, context, and translation has the weight of evidence supporting the definition of “imminent arrival”.

When we then move on to the second mention of the Parousia at Matthew 24:24-27, it follows the warnings about false prophets who would lie to people concerning his arrival.

Verse 27 specifically, tells us that his Parousia is like “lightning” that flashes or “shines” from east to west. This description is one of brightness and boldness, as opposed to something subtle. In turn, we also see that this is in contrast to the former descriptions in verse 26, of him being in “inner rooms” or the “wilderness” – the contrast being that of a “hidden presence” (ie; him being hidden inside a room from sight, or out in the desert alone somewhere where nobody can find him) versus an “obvious” presence which is as bright as lightning flashing all across the entire sky for all to see.

Hence, trying to assert that this section of the verse refers to something “secret”, “invisble”, or “mystical”, is very difficult to support, considering the immediate contrast is describing a presence that is not obvious to all against one that is.

Following on, we then get to our first mention of the word “coming” (erchomai) in 24:30, where we are told that he will be clearly “seen by all the tribes of the Earth”. The important detail to note for us here in respect to addressing the “Invisible Parousia” theory, is we see another mention of the word “sign”:

• “Then will appear in heaven (or the sky) the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”.

This reference to a “sign”, is a throwback to 24:3, when the Apostles asked for his “sign” in reference to his Parousia. This then, can be argued to be giving us a heavy indication, that his “Parousia” and his “Erchomai”, are in fact synonymous, not two different things – which then in this case, would argue to say that his ‘Parousia’ is “seen” by all the tribes of the Earth – the Son of Man flying through the skies amongst the clouds.

This interpretation would give us a much more common sense understanding concerning his Parousia being “like lightning shining east to west” and not in some “hidden room” which isn’t seen by many people.

In the following verses, Yeshua tells us, when you “see all these things know he is near at the doors”.

This is where Invisible Presence interpretators would attempt to apply this phrase to every single description we just formally read above in the passage, including that of his sign amongst the clouds and everything regarding his Parousia being as lightning in the skies, to argue that is it not his true second coming which would obvious to the whole world…

However, we cannot escape the fact that the prior descriptions include that of his “Erchomai”, and his ‘visibleness’, the Son of Man himself on the clouds “seen by all the tribes of the Earth”, and that fact that we’re told this happens “after the times of tribulation”, which indicates the “end”. Even if we were to try and juxtapose the “invisibleness” of the Erchomai of Luke 17:20-21 into the passage concerning the Erchomai of Matthew 24:30, it doesn’t take away the clear ‘descriptions’ of its ‘visibility’ we are given here by Matthew, in ‘contrast’ to Luke, and we cannot choose to favour one passage to override the other, but we must keep each passage consistent to its own internal context and framework intended by its author.

Therefore, the phrase “near at the doors” in Matthew, can be argued to more readily conclude to refer to the “signs leading up to his Parousia”, the world events, the deaths of the Apostles, wars, false prophets, and alike, the “beginning of the pangs of distress”, followed by the “celestial signs”; the darkening of the sun and moon, not the Parousia or Erchomai itself.

In addition, the very fact of the phrase “not seeing the coming of the Kingdom” in Luke, so happening to use “echomai” not “parousia”, is also in itself problematic for Invisible Parousia adherents, because one of the core components of their argument is that there is a ‘difference’ between his “Coming” and his “Presence”, but we see here that if they wish to use Luke 17 in reference to an invisible presence, they are then forced to admit that the words “Parousia” and “Echromai” are indeed ‘synonymous’ – which causes their argument to completely collapse upon itself internally, and it would then force them to say that the ‘Echromai’ is also invisible, which would contradict ‘everything’ Yeshua said concerning his visibility at the Echromai when the world “sees” him (Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26).

Therefore, as opposed to the Parousia (arrival/presence) and Erchomai being two different things, it would appear that trying to split them is simply a practice of “splitting hairs”, and finding seperation where in reality there is none.

As a modern example, it would be as for me to say; “I’m coming over tommorow, so I’ll call you when I arrive”. Though I used two different words to describe the same event, someone might argue “NO, he’s coming tomorrow, but that’s not his arrival!”, that’s the level of semantics we’re at here.

We have seen many uses of the term “parousia” throughout the New Testament, and though it has variable functions, very often it has been used synonmously with the “coming” or “physical arrival” of someone, as seen in these passages here using the term “parousia” (παρουσία):

Furthermore, we even see the phrase used in other verses speaking of the return of the Lord, and his destruction of the wicked and lawless antichrist:

• “And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Yeshua will slay with the breath of his mouth and annihilate by the bright appearance of his Arrival (Parousia)“. – 2 Thessalonians 2:8

“2015 epipháneia (from 1909 /epí, “on, fitting,” which intensifies 5316 /phaínō, “show forth, appear“) – properly, a fitting manifestation (literally, “an epiphany”).

[2015 (epipháneia) is the root of the English term, “epiphany.”]

2015 (epipháneia) literally suggests an appearing that builds on (Gk epi) on the characteristics of a particular situation. Accordingly, 2015 /epipháneia (“conspicuous [obvious] appearing“) emphasizes the fitting impact Christ’s visible appearance will have on the entire world – i.e. all who see it (saved and unsaved). In the NT, 2015 (epipháneia) occurs six times – always used of Christ’s coming (once of His first coming, 2 Tim 1:10)”. – HELPS Word-studies

“Appearance, brightness; From epiphanes; a manifestation, i.e. (specially) the advent of Christ (past or future) — appearing, brightness”. – Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance

Hence, we see a lot of evidence throughout the New Testament, in Matthew and in other books, that the Parousia is something visible, not invisible, and is to be understood to be one and the same with his Second and final Coming.

The notion of invisibility, has to be read ‘into’ the text eisgetically and all notions of visibility heavily allegoricalised, rather than it being clearly read from it.

Visible Presence Interpretation

Using the definition of “parousia” to mean both “arrival” or “imminent arrival”, the interpretation of visible presence, understands firstly, that when the Apostles asked Yeshua of a sign, they asked him to inform them of when he was “about to arrive”, in order that they may be spared from the coming destruction to Jerusalem and the end judgement, which at the time they associated to be one single event.

Following this, Yeshua describes many world events, such as disasters, wars, hatred between people, and even the trials and murders of the Apostles, but insists that “the end is not yet”, but rather such things are only the “beginning” of the times of “pangs of distress”, which would be followed by the rise of many false prophets.

Many of these false prophets, we are warned, would be claiming that the Lord has already arrived, but is in “inner rooms” or the “wilderness”, thus in this view it understood that they are falsely proclaiming he has returned in a way hard to see, or in a secret and seclusive way that not many people if any, have witnessed, no matter if that is in a spiritual sense ‘or’ physical sense.

As Yeshua also warns “not to go after them”, this implies also that these false teachers will likely claim to “know where he is”, and would thus ask their listners to “follow them” so that they could lead them to him – this easily referring to those who claim to know that the Lord has “somehow arrived in a manner not seen by anyone but them”, thus luring people to “follow after them” so that they may “show them the way to Yeshua’s secret inner room” or “location in the desert”, spiritually or physically, whilst others even go as far claim to be the Lord himself – false anointed ones; “antichrists”.

It is then understood, that he contrasts the false claims of these decievers, to what his ‘real’ Parousia would be, that it would be of the appearance of shining lightning across the skies, east to west – indicating how obvious it is to all people on the Earth, and hence there being no need to listen to anyone else who claims to have secret, special or inside knowledge on the “arrival” or “presence” of the Lord.

He then warns of there being heavenly signs of the darkening of the sun and moon, which happens after the “tribulation” of “those days”, which in this framework, are understood, not to be his Parousia, but to be the days of the “pangs of distress”, which occur before his visible and lightning-like Parousia – this understanding also being backed up by the parallel account of this discourse in Luke 17:22-30, when the Son of Man is “revealed”, and it being the “revealing” or “appearing” of him which is contrasted to the sudden destruction of the wicked:

• “And he said to the disciples; ‘The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation/people. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all; so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed“

The obvious clarity of such is again made clear in his follow up description in Matthew’s account, of “all the tribes of the Earth seeing him” during his coming, and the point being repeated yet again in the following portion of the passage after that when he says; “when you see all these things, know he is near”, “these things” being a understood to be another reference to the times of tribulation that will lead up to his Parousia, which is synonymous with his Coming, his “Echromai”.

After these miraculous heavenly signs happen, the Son of Man, the Lord Yeshua, appears on the clouds, of which the entire Earth of the unrepentant and wicked cries out in clearly beholding, whilst those faithful to him, are gathered by his angels and taken to safety, which is also reflected in several others verses in the New Testament, regarding the “meeting the Lord in the air”:

• For the Lord himself will descend from Heaven with a loud command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in the Anointed One will be the first to rise. After that, we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will always be with the Lord.” – 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
• “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen”. – Revelation 1:7

This additional aspect of the Lord’s return, adds yet another feature which makes it so obvious to the whole world, the first bodily resurrection and the gathering of Yeshua’s faithful at the hands of the angels up into the air to meet him.

Thus, in order to believe the Lord has invisibly returned, is also to believe the first resurrection and rapture has already took place or is happening in some invisible way, something Paul spoke against in 2 Timothy 2:17-18, warning us it would be a teaching “speading like gangrene” (which it did with the Gnostics by the 2nd century).

Those teaching such a thing such as Hymenaeus and Philetus, could not point to anyone being physically raised from the grave to assert such a false teaching, which means they must have been teaching of an “invisible” resurrection to life, and possibly even an invisible return of the Lord, as several other false teachers were (2 Thessalonians 2:2).

Of this time, nobody knows when it will happen but God the Father, and therefore this is why it comes just as the Flood of Noah’s day did.

The sudden rainfall pouring down on those choosing to live their lives in rejection of the Son of God and in ignorance of the coming day of the Parousia – the ‘latter’ part of the description of Noah’s day, not the first, is what is understood to be associated with Yeshua’s Parousia, the sudden rainfall itself which washes away the evil.

Problems with the Visible Presence

Though arguably, the Visible Parousia interpretation takes far less liberties and has a smoother flow and more consistent context overall than the Invisible interpretation, it of course still isn’t without any accusation of problems to address whatsoever.

For one, some argue that Yeshua himself spoke of both his Parousia and Echomai as “signs” (Matthew 24:30), which some might raise as a point that it’s not truly his physical return, but some sort of allegory for the “symbol” of his return which cannot be seen visually.

The other point, is in respect of the Gospel account of Luke, in which Yeshua tells us the coming of the Kingdom is ‘not’ observable (Luke 17:20), which would seem like some kind of contradiction to what Matthew appears to say in regard to his visibleness when arriving, and hence some would either claim Matthew’s account of his return can’t be literal visibility, or, that it’s simply a Bible contradiction.

To begin with the point of Yeshua’s “sign”, this has been addressed already in part in the above sections, that the first mention of the sign of the Parousia, was the Apostles asking for a sign to know when he was about to “arrive” so they could prepare for him. The mention of the sign which of specific attention for us to address, is Yeshua’s statement in Matthew 24:30, when he says “the sign of the Son of Man will be seen” and then follows on to say “they will see the Son of Man”. Advocates of Invisible Parousia would say this is a problem for those insisting on his visibility, for he would not need a “sign” to tell people of his Presence.

This however can be easily addressed in two ways.

The first, if we assume that the “seeing of” the Son of Man and the “sign” of the Son of Man are the same thing, this still doesn’t take away the fact that this “sign” is still visible to all of mankind, and not just a few, causing a global reaction, implying that everybody knows just exactly what is going on, as we are told they “see the Son of Man”. So even via a sign, the world would know just what was a sign ‘of’, making the sign itself something “visible to all”.

Secondly, however, there is good reason to believe the sign is ‘not’ the Parousia or Echomai itself, but rather, the warning sign that visible arrival of the Lord is “about” to happen. We see this by just taking a moment to get our bearings with reading comprehension:

• “The sun will be darkened; And the moon will not give its light; And the stars will fall from the heavens; And the powers of the heavens will be shaken; And at that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (or the sky); And all the tribes of the earth will mourn; And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven (or the sky), with power and great glory“. – Matthew 24:29-30

We should pay attention to the fact that we’re first told there will be celestial sights, and then we are told following this, a “sign of the Son of Man” will appear as another celestial phenomena. The word “and” is explicitly used in the Greek here, which is “kai”, which in ancient Greek grammar was typically used to seperate subjects or events from one another:

As “kai” is used, this indicates ‘distinction’, and therefore, the “seeing of the Son of Man” is not the “sign” of the Son of Man, but rather the sign is some other miraculous sight informing the people of the Earth that he’s coming, which happens just after the sun and moon darkening.

Hence, there is no contradiction here to actually address, the sign is the ‘forewarning’ of the true arrival, of which will be visible to all men, and hence they “see the Son of Man” himself in the sky…

As for the statement of the non-visibility in the coming of the Kingdom in Luke, we should make sure that we are reading the full context of the passage to gain a clearer understanding of what might be being said:

• “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ‘The kingdom of God is not coming (echromai) in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is within (or amongst) you‘.
  
  And he said to the disciples, ‘The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them.  For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation/people.
  
  Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all; so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.
  
  On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left’. And they said to him, ‘Where, Lord?’ He said to them, ‘Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather'”. – Luke 17:20-37

We see here several statements. Firstly, the Pharisees ask “when” the Kingdom would come. As we know from Matthew’s account, Yeshua is unable to tell them when because he himself doesn’t know. But he also gives them an additional detail in Luke, which is; “the Kingdom is within us” which also some believe could mean “amongst us” – the meaning of this is a long topic of theological debate and speculation deserving of its own dedicated article, but in short, it could mean one of two things;

Either, that as we’re waiting for the Lord to return, the coming of the Kingdom isn’t recognisable because it’s already here in part, via his followers on Earth, who are currently “making up” that Earthly component of God’s Kingdom, his “Earthly Temple”, which will eventually be made ‘suddenly’ manifest without warning at the Lord’s arrival when he gathers them all to himself via his angels to then rule and judge the world.

The second interpretation is the notion that the Kingdom was already amongst them and in action, and that Yeshua was referring to his own physical presence amongst them that day, which the Pharisees were being blind to.

No matter which one of the two interpretations are most likely, what we do see, is that as the passage goes on, Yeshua says many of the same things as he does in Matthew’s account, in regard to not listening to people who say “here he is”, because “his day” will be like “lightning flashing brightly in the sky” for all to see – hence, there being no need to listen to anyone else in regard to “knowing” when he arrives.

He then goes on again to compare the end to the Flood of Noah, as well as to Sodom and Gomorrah, and says that the Son of Man will be suddenly “revealed” or made manifest, during which his faithful ones will be “taken away”, which of course, is in line with everything else we’ve read concerning his visible coming in the rest of the New Testament.

As forementioned above in addressing the problems of the Invisible Interpretation, we see that the “not seeing the coming of the Kingdom” in Luke, so happens to use “echomai” not “parousia”, which is problematic in itself for Invisible Parousia adherents, as if they wish to Luke 17 in reference to an invisible presence, they are then forced to admit that the words “Parousia” and “Echromai” are indeed ‘synonymous’ – which would force them to say that the ‘Echromai’ is also invisible, contradicting ‘everything’ Yeshua said concerning his visibility at the Echromai when the world “sees” him (Matthew 24:30, Mark 13:26).

Hence, in overall context, the “non-observableness” in Luke 17, is likely again to refer to a theme similar to that in Matthew, of the people “eating and drinking and taking no note until the day is upon them”, which plays on the theme Yeshua taught of his day coming as a “thief in the night” (Matthew 24:43, 2 Peter 3:10, Revelation 16:15), of which, nobody obviously can “see coming”, and hence they will not be saying “look here” or “there it is!”, as there will be no warning until it actually happens.

Therefore, Luke 17:20 is not a good line of evidence to insist that the Parousia or Echomai is invisible, but rather, lends to the consistent theme spoken in the New Testament, and even within the context of Luke 17 itself, of the “unknowingness” of the Day of the Parousia, until it is suddenly revealed by the celestial signs and the Lord suddenly and visibly returning for all to see.

We see, that the “problems” asserted regarding the Visible Parousia, aren’t actually problems at all, and are easily answered using consistent and plain exegesis of scripture, which enables Yeshua’s words to mean what they mean with no twisting or theological acrobatics.

Conclusion

To conclude.

We have examined the interpretations of both the Invisible and Visible Parousia, and it would seem evident, that the Parousia is visible, in which the Lord Yeshua himself will be fully visible and made manifest for all the world to see – his Parousia (Arrival) and Echomai (Coming) being the same event.

We note that the context of the Apostle’s initial question of the “sign of the Parousia” could not have meant anything but “sign of his imminent arrival”, and not “sign that he is invisibly present” as they had no notion in their heads of any invisible event, and could not have had as Yeshua had not yet told them anything concerning the details of his Parousia.

We also see that Yeshua makes it plain that as opposed to having a presence that is “secret” or in some “hidden place”, such as an “inner room”, or “somewhere in the desert” (places where he would be hard to see) – teachings he warns that would be from the mouths of false prophets… that his return will be majestic, loud, and obvious to all, and even frightening to some people who realise they will not be on his good side – he makes here, a clear and obvious contrast of what his Parousia would be, and what it would not be; hiddenness versus obviousness.

Therefore, the notion of an “Invisible Parousia” can be strongly asserted to be a false teaching, a doctrine of false prophets and antichrists, who Yeshua warns us would be “looking for followers to go after them”, because they will claim to somehow “know” where Yeshua is or what he’s doing, despite nobody else seeing him at all.

In this, we do well to remember the Lord’s warning; “Nobody knows when but the Father” (Matthew 24:36) and Paul’s words saying not believe anyone saying the Parousia has already took place, for it it will be a “bright apperance” to all (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 8, 2 Timothy 2:18).