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Matthew 24:30-35
Good News Translation (GNT)
The Coming of the Son of Man
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in
the sky; and all the peoples of earth will weep
as they see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 The great trumpet will sound, and he will send
out his angels to the four corners of the earth,
and they will gather his chosen people from
one end of the world to the other.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
32 "Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its
branches become green and tender and it
starts putting out leaves, you know that
summer is near.
33 In the same way, when you see all these
things, you will know that the time is near,
ready to begin (a)
34 Remember that all these things will happen
before the people now living have all died.
35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my
words will never pass away.
Footnotes
Matthew 24:33 the time is near, ready to
begin;
or he is near, ready to come.
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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament
Commentary' (Kingsway)
Two events whose significance will last forever
At that time men will see
the sign of Son of Man coming in clouds.
In all of history since
the creation of the world,
there are only two events
whose significance will last forever.
First, the coming of Jesus Christ
into the world, the first time.
Second, the coming again of Jesus Christ,
the Son of Man,
on the clouds of the sky,
with power and great glory.
At the time of His second coming,
Jesus will gather his elect -
that is, those who have believed -
from the ends of the earth
to the ends of the heavens.
He will gather us
into His eternal kingdom
where we shall live together,
with Him, forever.
When the Christ comes again,
all other men will faint
from terror (Luke 21:26).
Those who have rejected the Christ,
as Saviour,
will have to face Him
as their judge (John 5:22).
But those who have believed
in Jesus will have no fear.
For Jesus said,
"When these things begin to take place,
stand up and lift up your heads,
because your redemption
is drawing near".
The Destruction of Jerusalem
Jesus described many events
that would occur just before the
destruction of Jerusalem.
These were like signs
that the end was near.
Just as the new leaves
on a fig tree are a sign that
summer has come,
so the events described
were signs that Jerusalem
was about to be destroyed.
Jesus prophesied that all these things -
would occur within the lifetime
of His own generation.
This prophecy was fulfilled in 70 A.D.
My words will never pass away.
Jesus' words, His prophecies,
His teachings are absolutely certain.
They are more certain and permanent
than the earth and sky.
When we see great trees and great mountains,
we think:
"These things are certain;
they will last."
When we look at the sun
and moon and stars, we think:
"These things will last forever."
But they will one day pass away.
The only things that will last
are Jesus and His words.
Remember,
Jesus Himself is the Word of God,
who in the beginning was with God,
and ....was God (John 1:1),
and whose kingdom will never end.
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