The two men, dressed in white apparel, who had told the Apostles that Jesus should "come again," were not the only persons whom they looked to for authority. He himself (according to the Gospel) had told them so:
"The Son of man shall come (again) in the glory of his Father with his angels."
And, as if to impress upon their minds that his second coming should not be at a distant day, he further said:
"Verily I say unto you, there be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom."[234:5]
This, surely, is very explicit, but it is not the only time he speaks of his second advent. When foretelling the destruction of the temple, his disciples came unto him, saying:
"Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming?"[234:6]
His answer to this is very plain:
"Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled (i. e, the destruction of the temple and his second coming), but of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only."[234:7]
In the second Epistle attributed to Peter, which was written after that generation had passed away,[235:1] there had begun to be some impatience manifest among the believers, on account of the long delay of Christ Jesus' second coming. "Where is the promise of his coming?" say they, "for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."[235:2] In attempting to smoothe over matters, this writer says: "There shall come in the last days scoffers, saying: 'Where is the promise of his coming?'" to which he replies by telling them that they were ignorant of all the ways of the Lord, and that: "One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." He further says: "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise;" and that "the day of the Lord will come." This coming is to be "as a thief in the night," that is, when they least expect it.[235:3]