Return Of The King (Part 1)

God alone knows the definition of terms [here]. I cannot precisely define who all the nations are, but I do not need to know. I know only one thing: Christ has not yet returned;321 therefore, the task is not yet done. When it is done, Christ will come. Our responsibility is not to insist on defining the terms; our responsibility is to complete the task. So long as Christ does not return, our work is undone. Let us get busy and complete our mission. (Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom, 137)

May God help us to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom throughout the world as we persevere in this world in the power of the King.

We've already seen in Matthew 24 that we are to trust in the authority of Christ and persevere in the power of Christ. Now, based on what we see in this chapter and the portrait of Christ we see throughout Matthew's Gospel, we should long for the coming of Christ. The realities of tribulation, deception, temptation, and persecution create anticipation. The more we live in this world, the more we will long for Christ to come back to this world.

This text leaves no doubt that the day of Christ's return will be evident to all. His coming will be no secret: the angels of heaven will let out a trumpet blast, and every eye will behold the Son of Man in the sky (vv. 29-31). How different this will be from His first coming! The first time He came to a remote, obscure town just outside Jerusalem, where He went largely unnoticed, save for a few shepherds and some farm animals. He came the first time lying in a manger; however, He will come the second time riding on the clouds. This is what Daniel prophesied centuries before:

And I saw One like a son of man

coming with the clouds of heaven.

He approached the Ancient of Days

and was escorted before Him.

He was given authority to rule,

and glory, and a kingdom;

so that those of every people,

nation, and language

should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that will not pass away,322

and His kingdom is one

that will not be destroyed. (Dan 7:13-14)

Just as surely as He came the first time in humility to provide salvation, so He will come the second time in glory to execute judgment. Matthew's reference to "the clouds of heaven" in verse 30 is not just an allusion to Daniel 7. Throughout the Old Testament, God reveals His glory in the image of a cloud. It was a pillar of cloud that led God's people in the exodus from Egypt (Exod 13:21). Then, at the end of the book of Exodus, God's glory was revealed in a cloud that covered the tabernacle (Exod 40:34-38). Psalm 104:3 says that God makes the clouds "His chariot," and Isaiah 19:1 depicts the Lord riding on a "swift cloud." The picture we get in Matthew 24 is of the glory of God revealed in the glorious Son of God, who will come on the clouds in power to execute judgment.

In verse 30 Jesus says that the tribes of the earth will "mourn" when they see Him coming. That day will be a day of judgment, and all who are not ready for that day—that is, those who have refused to turn from their sin and to trust in Christ as Savior and King—will come face to face with the Holy One whom they have rejected.

This text should cause us to ask ourselves, "What if this happened today? Would I be ready?" If not, then repent and believe in Christ today.

If you are a genuine follower of Christ, are there things in your life that you still need to repent of, sins that you're holding on to and toying with? What are you doing today that would cause you to be ashamed before Jesus if He were to come this moment? If so, let go of these things. Confess your sin and find mercy in Your Savior, so that you will be ready for His coming.

Following Jesus' description of His second coming in verses 29-31, He tells the parable of the fig tree in verses 32-33. The lesson of this parable is that Christians confidently watch, for they see the leaves on the tree (the signs Jesus has spoken of) indicating that the Lord's return is near. In a very real sense, we keep our eyes on the sky and our hearts prepared, even though we don't know the exact timing of His coming. Yet we know that His timing will confound our wisdom. When the Son returns, we will see that the Father's timing makes perfect sense, so we watch with confidence in the sovereign control of God.

While we watch, Christians patiently wait. In verse 34, Jesus says, "I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place." This verse has been particularly confusing, because it323 seems that Jesus is saying that the generation He was speaking to would see His second coming. There's much discussion over what is meant by terms like "generation," "pass away," and "all these things." Good scholars have reached different conclusions. It seems clear, however, that Jesus did not mean that He would return before His disciples died. After all, He explicitly told Peter in John 21:18-19 that Peter would be put to death. Matthew 24:34 seems to teach that all of the things that Jesus has talked about—tribulation, deception, temptation, and persecution—would come upon His disciples, and that others in that generation would see the destruction of Jerusalem as a foretaste of the return of Jesus. But those things would not be the end. In the midst of these signs, from generation to generation, followers of Christ are called to wait patiently.

As we wait for the coming of our glorious King, we know for certain that He is coming back and that today we are closer to His return than we were yesterday. And when He comes, His return will exceed our expectations. We've all been hopeful for some thing or some anticipated event, waiting eagerly to experience it, only to be deeply disappointed when it didn't meet our expectations. It will not be so with the second coming of Christ. Our words are inadequate to describe the glory of what that scene will be like, as well as all that will unfold in the days to come after that. In The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis gives us a rich, imaginative picture of what that eternal state will be like. He ends the last book in the series like this:

As Aslan spoke, he no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.

For believers, the return of Christ and the end of this world will be the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21-22). While waiting and watching confidently, Christians urgently work. We fight deception and temptation, we persevere through tribulation, and we324 endure persecution as we proclaim the gospel of the kingdom throughout the whole world. We do this in full dependence on God, as we pray, "Your kingdom come" (Matt 6:10). This is what we give our time and resources to. We spend our lives, even lose them, if necessary, knowing Christ's power will ensure that His church (our lives!) will accomplish His mission.

This title comes from the fact that Jesus spoke these words while seated with His disciples on the Mount of Olives (Matt 24:3).

The term "millennium" comes from the references in Revelation 20 to the period of 1,000 years during which Satan will be bound. There are three main schools of thought, with variations in each position: Premillennialists believe Christ's return will precede the millennium, Postmillennialists believe that Jesus' return will happen after the millennium, and Amillennialists believe that the millennium is a reference to the present age, which began following Christ's resurrection and ascension. There is also considerable debate about whether the millennium is a reference to a literal 1,000 years.

The term "rapture" refers to Christ's coming in the air to rescue His church prior to the millennium and the final judgment mentioned in Rev 20:11-15. Only believers will meet the Lord in the air and be raptured. In support of this view, commentators point to passages such as 1 Thess 4:13-18. Pre-tribulationists believe this rapture will occur prior to a period of "great tribulation" mentioned in Matt 24:21-31 and elsewhere, while post-tribulationists believe the rapture will occur after the tribulation. Mid-tribulationists believe the rapture will occur at the midpoint of the tribulation (after 3½ years).

For just a few scriptural examples, see: Matt 5:11-12; John 16:33; Rom 8:17; 2 Tim 3:12; Jas 1:2; 1 Pet 4:12-14.