Parousia means:
. . . present presence, a being present, a coming to a place; presence, coming or arrival. A
technical term used of the coming of Christ (Matt 24:3; 1 Cor 15:23; 1 Thess 2:19; 2
Thess 2:8; 2 Pet 3:4; 1 John 2:28); the Son of Man (Matt 24:27, 37, 39); the Lord (1
Thess 3:13; 4:15; 5:23; 2 Thess 2:1; James 5:7-8; 2 Pet 1:16); the day of God (2 Pet
3:12). The term parousia refers to the Second Coming of the Lord, but the Second
Coming is not just one event taking place at a particular time. Rather it is made up of a
series of events. We can understand which event is referred to only by a careful
examination of the context in which the terms parousia or erchomai (to come) occur . . .
The coming of the Lord at the end of the seven-year tribulation period is what the Lord
describes in Matt 24:15-22, 32-34; Mark 13:14-23, 29-30 (cf. Luke 19:41-44; 21:20-23,
32-33; 23:28-30). The judgment of the Lord is designated as a specific coming by the
verb elthe, the aor. subjunctive of erchomai indicating that this specific coming is prior to
the final judgment of the world. This coming is also called apokalupsis, revelation (Rom
2:5; 8:19; 1 Cor 1:7; 1 Pet 1:7, 13; 4:13) and epiphaneia, manifestation (2 Thess 2:8; 1
Tim 6:14; 2 Tim 1:10; 4:1, 8; Titus 2:13). . . . Thus the coming of the Lord or His
parousia consists of several comings which are in reality stages of a continuous
process [emphasis added] (Zodhiates 1992:1123-4).
Erchomai means:
to come, to go, move or pass along, intrans. in any direction, as marked by the adjuncts or
often simply by the context. The forms from elthon, the 2d aor., however, more
frequently signify “to come” . . . in a fut. sense, apparently, but only of what is certain to
take place (John 4:25; 14:3, 30; Rev 1:7) . . . the One who was (or had been) and the
coming One (Rev 1:4, 8; 4:8) . . . epi, upon, with the gen. of thing, implying rest upon
(Matt 24:30, “upon the clouds” [a.t.]) In the sense of to come again, back, to return, . . .
Two of its many derivatives; eleusis, advent, coming; katerchomai, to come down;
(Zodhiates1992:656-8).
Erchomenon, the noun form of erchomai, is also translated “coming or arrival” (The
Online Greek Bible: “erchomenon”). Two of the three other Greek words used in the
New Testament in association with the Second Coming were mentioned above in the
definition of parousia: epiphaneia and apokalupsis. The third is phaneroo, meaning, “to
make apparent, manifest, known, show openly” (Zodhiates 1992:1435) - (Hebert
2006c:19-21).
Another term that relates to the Parousia is maranatha. This word is a Greek
transliteration of two Aramaic words: maran, meaning lord, and atha, meaning has come. The
only place that the word appears in the Bible is in 1 Corinthians 16:22. However, it is alluded to
in Revelation 22:20 and mentioned in The Didache 10:6 (The New Testament Greek-English Dictionary 1990, 14:112-13). Other definitions for maranatha are as follows: “our Lord has come,” indicating the approaching judgment when the Lord returns (Zodhiates1992:943); “the Lord cometh or the Lord is come,” a reminder of the Second Coming—see also The Didache 10, as a Communion prayer, and compare with Revelation 22:20—(Vincent 1991, 3:289); mare, lord of man or of God, and atha, come (Brown 1979:1101, 1083); “our Lord, come!”—see also Revelation 22:20 (Ryrie 1978:1751), 2 Thessalonians 1:8-9, and Jude 14-16 for judgment on unbelievers, 2 Peter 2:9 for day of judgment, Revelation 1:3; 22:7, 12, 20 for “Lord, come quickly,” Acts 1:11, Matthew 16:27, Daniel 7:13, Zechariah 14:5 for “come in like manner,” and Philippians 4:5, 2 Timothy 4:8, Revelation 1:3 for “the Lord is at hand” (Johns 1978:960-1, 1400-1, 1326-8, 628-9). Considering all this information, it appears that maranatha is an exclamatory statement used by the apostles as an encouragement to the Church; meaning, Lord Jesus, come! and referred to the Parousia. Therefore, when considering all the terms related to the Second Coming or Advent of Christ and all events related to it (including the Rapture of the Church), parousia is the most commonly used word to describe all that they entail and will be used from this point forward to convey that concept. Please note that the term, Apocalyptic Gospel, may be used to express the same thought as Eschatological Gospel. However, due to the above definition of apokalupsis and the connotation of the “Apocalypse of John” or the Book of Revelation in the Bible, Eschatological Gospel remains the term best used to convey the concept outlined by this thesis and will be used henceforth.
Some good, some not so good in your source. What is your source?
Parousia isn’t a U turn event for the dignitary. The people go out to meet the dignitary and escort him on to his destination.
When Jesus gets the Go code from God, he’s coming; we will meet him in the air, and escort him the rest of the way to the earth.
