Since Jehovah's Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ has come into his Kingdom, how can that be compatible with celebrating the memorial in view of 1st Corinthians 11:26: "For as often as you eat this loaf and drink this cup, you keep proclaiming the death of the Lord, until he arrives.”
The Watchtower explains that by saying that Christ has numerous “arrivals.” The Watchtower teaches that Jesus arrived in 1914 and that he will also arrive again at Armageddon. However, their teaching does not stand up to scrutiny.
For example, consider the Watchtower’s teaching regarding the faithful slave. Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that shortly after Christ arrived in 1914 he came to God’s spiritual house for judgment. It is believed that Jesus initiated the foretold judgment upon the house of God sometime in 1918 and that he thereafter appointed an approved slave class “over all of his belongings.”
But according to Jesus, the slaves who are ultimately judged to have been faithful to their original appointment to feed their fellow slaves are not appointed over all of their master’s belongings until the master arrives. Jesus spoke of the faithful slave on two separate occasions. The most frequently quoted is in the context of the sign of the conclusion in the 24th chapter of Matthew. However, Jesus also spoke of the faithful slave in the 12th chapter of Luke. He did so in explanation to Peter’s question in response to another parable Jesus had just uttered.
At Luke 12:37-40 Jesus urged his disciples to stay awake in anticipation of his unannounced arrival, saying: “Happy are those slaves whom the master on arriving finds watching! Truly I say to you, He will gird himself and make them recline at the table and will come alongside and minister to them. And if he arrives in the second watch, even if in the third, and finds them thus, happy are they! But know this, that if the householder had known at what hour the thief would come, he would have kept watching and not have let his house be broken into. You also, keep ready, because at an hour that you do not think likely the Son of man is coming.”
The Watchtower applies the parable above to the future arrival of Jesus, which is obviously correct. However, Jesus went on to explain who the illustration applied to, saying: “Who really is the faithful steward, the discreet one, whom his master will appoint over his body of attendants to keep giving them their measure of food supplies at the proper time? Happy is that slave, if his master on arriving finds him doing so! I tell you truthfully, He will appoint him over all his belongings. But if ever that slave should say in his heart, ‘My master delays coming,’ and should start to beat the menservants and the maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that slave will come on a day that he is not expecting him and in an hour that he does not know, and he will punish him with the greatest severity and assign him a part with the unfaithful ones.”
Please notice that Jesus again referred to his surprise arrival. Only in the enlarged explanation Jesus indicated that some of his slaves would not be expecting his sudden arrival and would consequently be adversely judged for their negligence. The Watchtower, though, insists that Jesus has already arrived to judge his slaves – way back in 1918. But how can that be? How reasonable is it that Jesus intended to teach his disciples to anticipate two separate arrivals? It is not reasonable at all! The fact that the master will arrive at a time the unfaithful slave is not expecting harmonizes with the previous illustration regarding Christ’s coming “at and hour you do not think likely.”
The truth is there are not two arrivals. There is only one. The fact that the Watchtower teaches that Christ has already arrived is surely the reason Christ will come at an hour his disciples do not think likely and at an hour the evil slave is not expecting.
Additional reading: When does Jesus Come?
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Tuesday, April 18, 2006
More on Christ’s Arrival and Subsequent Presence
No doubt, Christ is currently serving in the heavenly sanctuary as a high priest and mediator of the new covenant as opposed to his being crowned king in 1914. In this capacity he continues with the selecting process of choosing and refining those who will later join him in heaven as associate kings and priests. Revelation indicates the final number of those sealed to be 144,000. They make up the Israel of God, the congregation of the firstborn of those enrolled in the heavens. --Hebrews 12:22-24; Galatians 6:16.
Of note, Jesus limited his 3 1/2-year ministry to the lost sheep of Israel. Likewise, his priestly function as mediator of the new covenant is confined to spiritual Israel. During his preaching campaign on earth, Jesus staged the cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem at the beginning and then at the end of his ministry, shortly after presenting himself to the people there as their incoming King, riding on a donkey in a staged performance of Zechariah’s prophecy concerning his future kingship in heavenly Jerusalem. --Zechariah 9:9.
Christ’s second coming in kingdom power will likely initiate a final cleansing of his temple as represented by the anointed remnant still on earth at his return, immediately following Satan’s ouster from heaven. He will subsequently establish the faithful and discreet slave over all of his belongings and relegate the evil slave outside of his kingdom. “There is where [their] weeping and the gnashing of their teeth will be.” --Matthew 8:12.
This expression does not apply to Christendom. It applies to spiritual Israel as party to the new covenant. There is no historical evidence that the clergy of Christendom has been weeping and gnashing their teeth as a result of Christ adverse judgment upon them. Their judgment occurs after God has judged his own house first. (1 Peter 4:17) Christendom judgment is contingent upon how they will have treated Christ’s brothers. She brings disaster to the holy ones as part of Babylon the great in association with the wild beast upon which she rides. Then God will bring to mind all her acts of injustice for the purpose of judging her adversely. Her destruction and disappearance will be as though she has been thrown into the sea as a millstone, never again to resurface. After that comes God’s judgment upon the wild beast itself. --Revelation 17:11-14; 18:21.
At this point the remnant that comes out victorious will have been gathered to Christ in heavenly Mount Zion. So now with all 144,000 on Mount Zion with the lamb the contract (New Covenant) with the holy ones is complete; they ride in battle with Christ at Armageddon to liberate the world of mankind from satanic bondage. --Revelation 14:1.
So there is not much complication of Christ singular second coming, arrival and subsequent presence in kingdom power during the great tribulation as long as we keep a proper viewpoint of his priestly office, which has been ongoing since the first century, particularly following his death, burial and resurrection. --Mark 15:37-38; Hebrews 6:19; 10: 19-25.
Moreover, the observance of the memorial and the putting of our faith in Christ’s ransom sacrifice is an essential part of Christ’s function as High Priest “in bringing many sons to glory.” --Hebrews 2:10; Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26
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