"... there is nothing in the Synoptics really antagonistic to the 'eschatological' view of the Kingdom. The Kingdom is not present in any sense not reconcilable with the fact that it is also and mainly future. ... [the teaching of Jesus] was in the highest degree sane and authoritative, yet it remained true to the traditional view that the Kingdom would come by miracle and catastrophe. The unmistakable indications of this are the facts that the references to the Kingdom in the Synoptics are prevailingly of futuristic implication ... and that even in the Fourth Gospel there are numerous passages to show that Jesus never thought of the Consummation apart from the transcendent wonders of the Resurrection and the Judgment. ...
The Messiahship is not simply his present task. It is his hope for himself and for the world ... It is the hope of what GOD will do through His Messianic Son in bringing the promised Kingdom from heaven to earth. ...
We have seen that Jesus did not dissociate himself from the traditional view that the end would come in the form of a catastrophic transformation, culminating in the advent of the Messiah himself, who would come from heaven. He seems rather everywhere, both by the assumptions and by the direct references of his language, to set His seal to this view. ... [He steadfastly contemplated] a final wonder of destruction and reconstruction which should be the consummation of the Kingdom or its perfect establishment of the Kingdom on earth."
The above quote is by Lewis A. Muirhead in The Dictionary of Christ & The Gospels, Article: 'ESCHATOLOGY', Vol. 1, p. 530-531.
