PAROUSIA” is a Greek word meaning “personal presence.” It is used 24 times in the New Testament to mean “coming, arrival, personal presence.” In the Greek world of the New Testament, it meant among many other things, (a) a state visit or (b) the presence or appearance of a deity during worship e.g. by divine fire.

It has a range of meaning similar to that of the archaic English word “visitation”. It is most often used to indicate the second coming and the arrival of the Son of Man though it can also indicate a visit by a Christian worker, apostle or even the “man of lawlessness” (that is the devil).

There are six uses of the word to describe a visit by a person or their personal “presence” in the Epistles (1 Cor 16:17; 2 Cor 6:6; 2 Cor 6:7; 2 Cor 10:10; Phil 1:26; 2: 12). This combination of “arrival” plus “personal presence” gives the flavour to the word even when it is been used theologically. That is to say, the Parousia of Jesus Christ is both His arrival and the manifestation of His “presence” to all mankind.

The original Greek version of the New Testament (Novum Testamentum Graece) uses the term parousia to mean divine presence (derived from “para”: beside, beyond, and “ousia”: substance). Parousia thus means the “appearance and subsequent presence with” (in the ancient world referring to official visits by royalty).

As regards our Lord Jesus’ use of Parousia, the word is only used 4 times in the gospels—all in Matthew chapter 24 the, “Little Apocalypse” when Jesus discusses the signs of His coming. The references are Matthew 24:3, 27, 37, and 39. In verse 3 the disciples ask “Tell us, when shall these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming (parousia) and of the end of the age?” Jesus then replies in Matthew 24:27, 37-39: “For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming (parousia) of the Son of Man be. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming (parousia) of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming (parousia) of the Son of Man be.”
(To be continued)

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