Everything we have looked at so far in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount of Olives in Matthew 24 has had to do with signposts of Christ’s coming.
Today we look at THE SIGN.
Our key verse is this: “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man…” (24:30).The great event of the future is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible plainly declares that this coming will be personal, visible, sudden and unexpected, glorious and triumphant.[1]
Do you ever think of that day?
Be assured that this event, (Jesus is the one speaking here) is the most certain future event to happen. Many people will be surprised when Jesus comes again – but nobody will be mistaken! Be sure that you prepare yourself for this momentous event.
I want to remind you that the Bible anticipated not only the Messiah’s first coming (e.g. the suffering servant in Isaiah 53), but also His
second coming.
Ø Daniel 7:13,14 [The OT affirms it] 13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold,
with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to
the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. 14 And to him was given
dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should
serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and
his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
Ø John 14:3 [Jesus Himself
said it] "And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again
and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also."
Ø Acts 1:11 [The angels
said it] "This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will
come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven".
Ø [The
apostles asserted it]. Paul said, "For the Lord himself
will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel,
and with the sound of the trumpet of God" (1 Thess. 4:16). The author
of Hebrews writes, "Christ will appear a second time, not to
deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him" (Heb. 9:28). James wrote, "the coming of the Lord is near" (James 5:8). Peter said, "The day of the Lord will come like a
thief" (2 Pet. 3:10). John wrote, "When he appears
we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 Jn. 3:2). And in Revelation 1:7 he
writes, “Look, he is coming
with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who
pierced him; and all the people of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.
1. The Sign immediately preceding His second coming (24:29)
2. The Sign of the Son of Man in the sky and the reaction of
the nations (24:30)
3. The Sign of the ingathering of His elect (24:31)
4. Reading the signs of the times (24:32-35)
1. V.29 The Sign Immediately Preceding His
Coming
Previously, Jesus had spoken about general signs of the end
of the age- things that have been happening in this entire church age. One of
the greatest signs among these was the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in
AD 70, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation in accordance with the word of
Jesus. But now in 24:29 Jesus speaks of signs that are truly extra ordinary. It is
clear that the world has not yet seen such signs: “…the sun will be darkened…the moon will not give its light…the stars
will fall from heaven… the powers of the heavens will be shaken.“ Jesus is
clearly referring here to extra ordinary events associated with His second
coming. Again, the OT makes reference to this:
Ø Isa. 13:10: “For the
stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light. The
sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light". The
context is the destruction of Israel’s great enemy, Babylon - at this
time the mightiest power in the world. The Babylonians worshipped the sun, moon
and stars. Isaiah speaks of the coming judgment of God upon Babylon and her
‘gods’, but the ultimate fulfilment is found in the end of the world as
we know it. Similarly in Isaiah 34:4,5 in a judgement on all the nations he says, "All
the host of heaven shall rot away, and the
skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall…”
Ø Ezekiel 32:7
in a judgement on Egypt, uses
similar ultimate and apocalyptic language, whilst Joel 2:30-32 speaks in similar language of what will happen when
God's judgment comes on Israel: "I
will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and columns of
smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the
great and awesome day of the LORD comes”.[2]
Jesus was drawing on these well-known images in the Scriptures, and He applies these as signs of His second coming. And it is this same Jesus, who is now sitting on the Mt. of Olives overlooking the city of Jerusalem, who would return as the Great Judge, with great power and glory, preceded by these awe inspiring signs.
2. V.30 The Sign Of The Son Of Man In The Sky And The Reaction Of The Nations
The SECOND personal coming of Christ will be very different
from the first. When He first came, He was born into a poor family, born in a
stable. He lived the life of a poor man. He lived as a servant of others. Although
He did amazing things – things that no one had
ever done like healing the blind,
the sick, raising the dead, stilling storms -
He was rejected and killed as a common criminal on a
cross. And when He had risen from the
dead, He left essentially as quietly as He had come. But His second coming will not be like that. He
will not arrive in a Lear jet at Hosea Kutako airport in Windhoek. When He comes again, His appearance in the sky
will be universal. It will be so enormous that people in Asia, the Middle East
and Europe, in Africa and Australia and in the Americas and all the islands of
the world will see Him simultaneously.
The whole sky will be full of Him – just like the lightning that comes
from the east which extends to the west (24:27).
Every eye will see Him. Your eye will see Him! And we say that because the
second coming of Christ will be associated with
a general resurrection[3].
Even those who have died will see him, because they will all be raised from the
dead in anticipation of the final judgement (Matt. 25:31ff), when Jesus will separate sheep and goats.
The Bible says that Jesus will come with the angels. He will
come with His glorified church - those that have died in the Lord. He will come
with the voice of the trumpet that raises the dead (Matthew 24:30-31; 1 Thessalonians 4:16).
Whilst the darkened sun and the absence of the light and sight
of the familiar moon will be a sobering sign, they are the mere backdrop to the
spectacular return of our Lord Jesus. What
else will happen? When Jesus appears
in His glory, the world will mourn (Gr. koptō- wail/ cut). What does that mean? This picture of mourning
is used in Zechariah 12: 10,12
when Israel will look upon the one they
have pierced, and when they will have an instant understanding that they were
wrong about the Jesus whom they crucified! In the same way the world will
know that it has been wrong all the way, when it disregarded the Word of God,
but it is too late. There will be no
atheists on that day. Men and women will be utterly shaken, they will kneel (Phil. 2:10-11; Rom.14:11), and they
will fall down before Him, and then they will cry to the rocks and the
mountains to fall on them and cover them (Lk.23:30;
Rev. 6:15-17). The coming of our Creator will be a great terror for those
who have not loved Him in this life.
3. V.31. The Sign Of The Ingathering Of The Elect
Next we are told, "He
will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his
elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Who are the elect? They are His sheep. We shall see this
distinction made in Chapter 25:32f.
They are the people for whom the Lord Jesus laid down His life (John 10). The Lord Jesus will send His angels and gather
them all. What if the sheep die before
that time? We have already seen that they are alive with Him now, and they will
receive their resurrection bodies (1 Cor.
15:35-54).
And now please remember that when Jesus comes again it will
not be to give sinners one last chance. This time He comes to judge. He will
separate the whole of humanity into two groups. In that day you will be either
a sheep or a goat. The questions you will now have to answer are these:
Did I enter at the narrow gate that
leads to life (Matt. 7:13,14)?
Did I deny myself and pick up my cross and follow Jesus? (Matt. 16:24-27- note the
context here)? Did I bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8-10)?
Ultimately… we will all be going to the place which we have
chosen for ourselves.
4. Vv. 32-35 Reading the Signs of the Times
Jesus closes this part of His teaching with an illustration and a lesson from a fig tree. "As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near". We know that summer is coming when trees begin to bud.
What is the point which Jesus makes here?
Very simply, this: All
the signposts which Jesus has
given us, indicate that the time is
near. The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, the emergence of false
Christ’s, false prophets, false
religions that deceive; many natural
disasters, wars and famines; people turning away from the faith
with betrayal; hate and deceit of
one another – all these are signposts of his coming. Other signposts are
the preaching of the gospel in the whole world, followed by world-wide
tribulations in ever increasing intensity. We are surely living in the last days, and now even more so, since more than 2000 years have passed. If you think that the Lord
Jesus is perhaps taking too much time,
then be reminded of the words of the
apostle Peter: “8 But do not forget this
one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a
thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,
as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (2 Pet. 3:8,9)
And finally, vv. 34,35: “Truly,
I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place… What
does Jesus mean by this generation? Some have held that the generation alive at
the AD70 event was in view. However that is problematic since the spectacular
signs in the sky are excluded. The simplest interpretation is that Jesus refers
to this entire end-time generation i.e. all that live between the ascension and
second coming.
CONCLUSION: 2 Peter
3:10-14
10 But the day of the
Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,
and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the
works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are
thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of
holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of
God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the
heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are
waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.14 Therefore,
beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him
without spot or blemish, and at peace.
[1] W.J. Grier: The Momentous event,
Banner of Truth, p.9
[2] Peter
quotes these words on the day of Pentecost ( Acts 2:19,20)
[3] In 1
Corinthians 15:12ff & 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 Paul discusses the resurrection of
believers; In Acts 24:15 Paul speaks of the resurrection of the just
and the unjust. John speaks of the
resurrection of life and the
resurrection of judgement (Jn. 5:29)
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