Now we’ve reached the high point of Revelation — the return of Jesus to his earth.
The Biblical language is “parousia” meaning “presence as opposed to absence.” It’s found 24 times in the New Testament as a combination of “alongside” and “to be.” And it specifically focuses on the “arrival of a person who is absent,” while expecting the impact of their presence.
It would describe the arrival of your family at a holiday, anticipating the good times to follow.
Six of the uses of “parousia” in the New Testament focus on the arrival and the remaining 18 focus on the good times to follow. Revelation 19-20 is the story of Jesus’ parousia!
“Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse! Its rider is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems; and he has a name inscribed that no one knows but himself.”
— Revelation 19: 11-12
There is another name you should know, James Calvert and his wife, Mary, arrived at the “cannibal islands” in 1838. The ship’s captain begged them not to go ashore because the natives would eat them. One of their first jobs was to bury 80 remains from a cannibal feast.
Then they learned the language, traveled the islands, came to know the people, and preached the gospel with very little response until the day James offered to let them cut off his fingers if they’d spare the life of the king’s wife, who by custom would be killed after he died.
They didn’t take him up on his offer, but the king, impressed by his courage, became a Christian. The next 17 years were filled with 1,300 churches, 30,000 baptisms, and more than 100,000 church members.
And 100 years after James and Mary left the islands, the Fijian descendants of those early cannibals had the highest percentage of church attendance in the world!
Parousia focuses on the “arrival,” but it’s built on a foundation of past memories and the anticipation of new and better memories!
Charles “Buddy” Whatley is a retired United Methodist pastor serving Dawson Street Methodist Church in Thomasville, Ga. With wife, Mary Ella, they are missionaries to the Navajo Reservation.
