The disciples were directed to the time of the second advent as the moment when they would be reunited with their Lord. There is no hint here of the popular doctrine that believers go to be with their Lord at the time of death. Nor is this doctrine upheld elsewhere in the Scriptures. Paul also directed the attention of believers to the time of the second advent as the moment of grand reunion (1 Thess. 4:16, 17). Jesus has gone to His Father’s house. He is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When His image shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come (COL 69). It is our privilege to hasten the day of glorious home-coming (2 Peter. 3:12; cf. DA 633, 634; COL 69).
Receive.
Gr. paralambanō, literally, “to receive to the side of” (see on Matt. 24:40).
I will come again.
The Greek expresses this promise in the present tense. This so-called futuristic present gives emphasis to the certainty of the event. The event is thought of as being so certain as to be already taking place. The reference is clearly to the personal advent of Jesus vividly described a few days earlier in answer to the question, “What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (see on Matt. 24:1-3; see vs. 30, 31).
If I go.
This conditional clause was not intended to introduce an uncertainty. The word translated “if” (ean) here has temporal force, and should probably be translated “when,” as in 1 Cor. 14:16; 1 John 3:2.