The disciples apparently understood that Jesus was to go away for a time, after which He would return in power and glory to take His kingdom. Jesus, evidently, must already have given more explicit instructions on this subject than the Gospels record (see GC 25). Popular belief held that when Messiah came He would disappear for a time, and that when He reappeared no one would know whence He came. However, this is the first extended discussion of the second
“coming” so far as the Gospel record is concerned, although it had been implied in the parables of the Pounds (
Luke 19:12-15) and the Wicked Husbandmen (
Matt. 21:33-41; cf.
ch. 16:27). For a synopsis of the manner in which the OT prophecies of the Messiah and the Messianic kingdom would have been fulfilled had Israel been faithful see Vol. IV, pp. 26-30. For a comment on the fundamental errors of Jewish theologians in interpreting these OT prophecies see DA 30. In the minds of the disciples
“these things”—the destruction of the Temple, and the coming of Jesus a second time at
“the end of the world”—were closely united. They conceived of these events as taking place either simultaneously or in rapid succession. When, on the day of the ascension, the disciples inquired,
“Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom of Israel?” Jesus replied,
“It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (
Acts 1:6, 7). They did not yet understand that the Jewish nation would reject Jesus, and in turn be rejected as God’s chosen people (see Vol. IV, pp. 32, 33). The knowledge of future events would, at the time, have been too much for them. The disciples had, in fact, proved incapable of grasping the repeated instruction Christ had been giving them for nearly a year, relative to His imminent sufferings and death (see on
Matt. 16:21; Matt. 20:17-19). The events foretold proved to be almost more than they could endure (see
Luke 24:11, 17-25; DA 631, 772).