When Jesus Returns
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About
When Jesus Returns is an exploitable meme format based on an ironic image macro comparing the reactions a believer in Jesus might have to a non-believer when Jesus returns to earth, using two images from The Lion King to represent each party. The meme was originally posted to the /r/okbuddyretard subreddit in December 2019 and became the subject of edits over the following years in which "Jesus" is replaced with another subject via the phrasal template "When X Returns" and the text underneath each lion is altered to reference the new subject.
Origin
On December 13th, 2019, a now-deleted Redditor posted a meme to the subreddit /r/okbuddyretard[1] using the top text, "When Jesus Returns" over two side-by-side images from The Lion King: the left, representing non-blelievers in Jesus depicting Simba with a shocked look on his face and the right, representing believers in Jesus, showing Simba and Nala smiling. The text under the left image reads, "It wasn't a myth? OMG! Jesus vou are Lord!" The text under the right reads, "Lord Jesus! We were waiting for you!" The post gained over 2,000 upvotes in six years before being removed by moderators.
Spread
The meme garnered viral spread through reposts and edits over the following years. On December 17th, 2019, it was reposted to the subreddit /r/comedyheaven,[2] garnering over 11,000 upvotes in six years. On August 22nd, 2022, it was reposted to /r/terriblefacebookmemes,[3] garnering over 42,000 upvotes in three years.
On September 19th, Redditor u/TheOfficalCoolGuy27 posted an edit of the meme to /r/Deltarune[4] referencing the character Spamton G. Spamton, garnering over 860 upvotes in three years.
On February 3rd, 2023, the original meme was reposed by X[5] user @nescartridges, garnering over 11,000 likes in two years. That day, X[6] user @awesomec26 posted a version of the meme replacing the caption under "believers" with "He's Black!" suggesting they are shocked that Jesus is a Black man, garnering over 1,400 likes in the same span of time.
On February 16th, Redditor u/steveharveymemes posted an edit of the original meme to the subreddit /r/dankchristianmemes[7] in which the believer reacts by saying, "While I was prepared for this day to come, it is still surprising to see it happening today!" garnering over 3,100 upvotes in two years.
On February 25th, Redditor u/ratopomboarts posted a full redraw of the meme to /r/TrueSTL[8] referencing The Elder Scrolls series, garnering over 10,000 upvotes in two years.
On November 16th, 2024, Redditor u/Legitimate-Excuse-84 posted an edit to the subreddit /r/okbuddyretard,[9] adding a third panel to the meme about Jesus being Albanian, garnering over 5,600 upvotes in four months.
On March 27th, 2025, Instagram[10] user grandmas.butt posted a version of the meme referencing the announcement of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream during that day's Nintendo Direct stream, garnering over 20,000 likes in a day.
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[2] Reddit – comedyheaven_
[3] Reddit – terriblefacebookmemes
[5] X – nescartridges
[6] X – awesomec26
[7] Reddit – dankchristianmemes
[10] Instagram – grandmas.butt
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