3. The Sign in the Sky
and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky; and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky (24:30a)
Next Jesus describes the supreme sign of His “coming, and of the end of the age,” about which the disciples had asked a few moments earlier (v. 3). He had already mentioned a number of lesser, though astounding, signs that would precede His coming, including the sign of the abomination of desolation that would precipitate them (vv. 4-15).
But the sign of signs will be the Son of Man Himself, who will appear in the sky. Many of the early church Fathers, such as Chrysostom, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Origen, imagined that this sign would be an enormous blazing cross, visible to the entire world, which would pierce the total darkness then shrouding the world.
Other interpreters have suggested it will be the Shekinah glory of the Lord’s presence returning to earth. It is likely that the Shekinah glory will be involved, as the unveiled Christ Jesus makes His appearance.
But the sign is not just His glory; it is Christ Himself, the Son of Man, who will appear in the sky. The sign of should be translated as a Greek subjective genitive, indicating that the sign will not simply relate to or point to the Son of Man (as with an objective genitive) but will indeed be the Son of Man.
In other words, Jesus Himself will be the supreme and final sign of His coming.
In the midst of the world’s unrelieved blackness—physical, emotional, and spiritual—Jesus Christ will manifest Himself in His infinite and undiminished glory and righteousness. Just as the destructive catastrophes of the Great Tribulation will be utterly unparalleled (v. 21), so will be this manifestation of the glory and power of Christ. The sight of Him in blazing glory will be so unbearably fearful that rebellious mankind will cry out for the mountains and rocks to fall on them to hide them “from the presence of Him who sits on the throne” (Rev. 6:16).
But instead of being driven to the Lord in reverent repentance, they will flee from Him in continued rejection, cursing and blaspheming His name (16:9). Some people, however, will be brought to their knees in brokenness, acknowledging their need of God’s forgiveness and redemption. When they see the Son of Man in His glory and righteousness, they will finally confess their own wickedness and unrighteousness. There will be some from all the tribes of the earth who will mourn over their rebellion against God and their rejection of His Son. Having heard the gospel proclaimed (v. 14; Rev. 14:6), those people will turn from and mourn over their sin and receive Christ as Lord and Savior. Among the repentant will be all remaining Jews. Through Zechariah the Lord promised His people:
“And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him, like the bitter weeping over a first-born. In that day there will be great mourning in Jerusalem” (Zech. 12:10-11).
Having realized that they have rejected their Messiah, they will turn to Him in faith, casting themselves on His mercy. At that time the
“fullness of the Gentiles [will have] come in; and thus all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, ‘The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will remove ungodliness from Jacob’” (Rom. 11:25-26; cf. Isa. 59:20).
Just as Jesus ascended to heaven in the clouds, He will also return “in just the same way” (Acts 1:11). When He appears at His second coming, the Son of Man will come on the clouds of the sky (cf. Matt. 26:64; Mark 13:26; Luke 21:27). In his night visions Daniel beheld
“with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man… coming, and He came up to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him” (Dan. 7:13-14).
In his vision on Patmos, John also saw Jesus “coming with the clouds.” Then, he said,
“every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him” (Rev. 1:7).
The clouds into which Jesus ascended and on which He will return seem to be distinctive. The psalmist wrote of God’s using clouds as His chariot (Ps. 104:3), and Isaiah pictures “the Lord… riding on a swift cloud” (Isa. 19:1).
But whether the clouds of the sky on which Jesus appears are natural or supernatural, His use of them at that time will be extraordinary and unique. In the midst of black chaos, He will use those clouds to manifest Himself in His complete divine majesty. Speaking of the end time, Zechariah wrote,
“And it will come about in that day that there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. For it will be a unique day which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but it will come about that at evening time there will be light” (Zech. 14:6-7; cf. Jer. 30:7).
At the end of that insufferable period of darkness and anguish, the light will come, not by the reillumination of the sun, moon, and stars but by the brilliance of Christ’s own divine glory, which will later light the eternal new heaven and new earth. In that day there will be
“no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon [the new Jerusalem], for the glory of God [will] illumine it, and its lamp [will be] the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23),
“and there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them” (22:5).
Although all believers before the Tribulation will have died or been raptured (1 Thess. 1:10; Rev. 3:10), they will witness Christ’s glorious appearance on earth. They will, in fact, “be revealed with Him in glory” (Col. 3:4), having already been wondrously and appropriately clothed as the bride of Christ for the marriage supper of the Lamb “in fine linen, bright and clean,” which is “the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:8).
When the church is taken into the presence of the Lord just before the Tribulation, she will fellowship with Him at that supper during the seven-year cataclysm on earth. Also present will be the Old Testament saints, “those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (v. 9). As Christ’s bride, the church will not need an invitation to the wedding feast; but everyone who believed in God before Christ’s incarnation will be graciously invited to participate. It seems that the church, and perhaps the Old Testament believers as well, will probably be included in
“the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean,” which follow Christ “on white horses” (Rev. 19:14).
Instead of looking up to the sky as Christ appears, as everyone on earth will be doing, the saints of all ages will be looking down from the sky as they return to earth with Him. While unbelievers on earth are dying from fright, disease, or from the Antichrist’s carnage, those who are coming to salvation and who escape being killed during the Tribulation will have great reason to rejoice at Christ’s appearing.
In his account of the Olivet discourse Luke reports that Jesus says to those surviving saints:
“When these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
Continued Tommorrow
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