Matthew 24 Study Notes

24:29 Jesus’s words combine allusions to Is 13:10, which describes the fall of Babylon, and Is 34:4, which describes the judgment of Edom and the nations. In the OT context, the words were metaphorical. Jesus may also have used the words in a symbolic portrayal of the judgment and destruction of people and nations who opposed his rule.

24:30 The sign of the Son of Man may resemble military banners that signal the onset of battle, calling all who belong to Christ to gather around him (Is 13:2-4). Such a sign would parallel the function of the trumpet in Mt 24:31. However, since Is 11:10 figuratively identified Messiah himself as a military banner, his own appearance may be the sign about which he spoke. Matthew 24:30b is an allusion to Zch 12:10-14 in which the Jews will mourn for the one they pierced (crucified). The reference to the Son of Man coming on the clouds is an allusion to Dn 7:13. It identifies Jesus as the King who will descend from heaven to establish an eternal reign over the earth.

24:31 This verse combines Dt 30:4; Is 27:13; and Zch 2:6 (LXX). The Son of Man will gather the elect, his followers both living and dead, from heaven and earth. The angels are his angels because he has absolute authority over them (see note at 4:10-11).

24:32-34 All these things refers to the distress that will precede Jesus’s return, not the second coming itself. He is near means that Christ is prepared to return at any moment, not that he must return immediately after these events unfold. All of these events occurred within Jesus’s generation, particularly in the circumstances surrounding the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. Thus Christ’s followers must always be ready for his return. Others interpret “this generation” to refer to those alive during the final period of distress before the end.

24:35 Jesus’s words have the same reliability and enduring quality as the OT itself (5:18).

24:36-44 Close observation of world events will not enable us to predict the time of Christ’s return. Rather, Jesus’s followers should live in a state of constant preparation. Some interpret the words one will be taken and one left to mean that some will be gathered by Christ at his return while others will be left behind. Others understand this to mean that some are taken in judgment while others are left with Christ. On Son of Man, see note at 8:18-20.

24:45-51 We must not take advantage of the delay in Christ’s return by pursuing sinful pleasures. Rather, we must live each day as if it were the day of his return.