1582 | MattheW 24:28
west , so will be the com ing of the Son of Man .
28
Wher ev er there is a car cass , there the vul tures will gath er .
29
“ Im me di ate ly af ter the dis tress of those days
“ ‘ the sun will be darkened , and the moon will not give its light ; the stars will fall from the sky , and the heavenly bodies will be shaken .’ a
30
“ Then will ap pear the sign of the Son of Man in heav en . And then all the peo ples of the earth b will mourn when they see the Son of Man com ing on the clouds of heav en , with pow er and great glo ry . c 31 And he will send his an gels with a loud trum pet call , and they will gath er his elect from the four winds , from one end of the heav ens to the oth er .
32
“ Now learn this les son from the fig tree : As soon as its twigs get ten der and its leaves come out , you know that sum mer is near . 33 Even so , when you see all these things , you know that it d is near , right at the door . 34 Tru ly I tell you , this gen er a tion will cer tain ly not pass away un til all these things have hap pened . 35 Heav en and earth will pass away , but my words will nev er pass away .
The Day and Hour Unknown
24:37-39pp — Lk 17:26,27 24:45-51pp — Lk 12:42-46 pen un til the flood came and took them all away . That is how it will be at the com ing of the Son of Man . 40 Two men will be in the field ; one will be tak en and the oth er left . 41 Two wom en will be grind ing with a hand mill ; one will be tak en and the oth er left .
42
“ There fore keep watch , be cause you do not know on what day your Lord will come . 43 But un der stand this : If the own er of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming , he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be bro ken into . 44 So you also must be ready , be cause the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not ex pect him .
45
“ Who then is the faith ful and wise ser vant , whom the mas ter has put in charge of the servants in his house hold to give them their food at the prop er time ? 46 It will be good for that ser vant whose mas ter finds him do ing so when he re turns . 47 Tru ly I tell you , he will put him in charge of all his pos ses sions . 48 But sup pose that ser vant is wick ed and says to him self , ‘ My master is stay ing away a long time ,’ 49 and he then be gins to beat his fel low ser vants and to eat and drink with drunk ards . 50 The mas ter of that servant will come on a day when he does not ex pect him and at an hour he is not aware of . 51 He will cut him to piec es and as sign him a place with the hyp o crites , where there will be weep ing and gnash ing of teeth .
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
“ At that time the king dom of heav en will
25 be like ten vir gins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bride groom . 2 Five of
36
“ But about that day or hour no one knows , not even the an gels in heav en , nor the Son , e but only the Fa ther . 37 As it was in the days of Noah , so it will be at the com ing of the Son of Man .
38
For in the days be fore the flood , peo ple were eat ing and drink ing , mar ry ing and giv ing in mar riage , up to the day Noah en tered the ark ;
39 and they knew noth ing about what would hapa
29 Isaiah 13:10 ; 34:4 b
30 Or the tribes of the land c
30 See Daniel 7:13-14 . d
33 Or he e
36 Some manuscripts do not have nor the Son .
24:28 the vultures will gather This expression may have been a proverb of Jesus ’ day . Just as vultures signal the presence of a corpse , these events will clearly signal the Son of Man ’ s arrival . 24:29 the sun will be darkened Jesus quotes the Septuagint ( the ancient Greek translation of the OT ) versions of Isa 13:10 ; 34:4 . These cosmic signs could be intended literally , figuratively , or both . In Exodus , the account of the ten plagues involves literal disturbances in the heavens ( Ex 10:21 – 23 ). The OT prophets use similar language figuratively to prophesy God ’ s judgment on Israel ( e . g ., Eze 32:7 ; Joel 2:10 ; Am 8:9 ). 24:30 sign of the Son of Man Probably refers to the Son of Man himself ; he , Jesus , is the sign . Son of Man coming on the clouds Compare Da 7:13 – 14 . 24:31 he will send his angels Compare Mt 13:41 – 43 . with a loud trumpet call In the OT , trumpets typically accompany religious or military events ( e . g ., Jer 4:19 ; Joel 2:15 ; Zep 1:16 ). The sound of the trumpet is also a motif signaling the day of God ’ s judgment ( Isa 27:13 ; Zec 9:14 ; Zep 1:14 – 16 ; compare 1Co 15:52 ; 1Th 4:16 and note ). they will gather his elect See note on Mt 24:40 . 24:34 this generation See note on Mk 13:30 .
24:40 one will be taken This phrase might describe the gathering of God ’ s people to himself ( Mt 24:31 ); if that is the case there is no indication here of what happens to the remaining people . The point of this parable is that believers need to be vigilant for Jesus ’ return , because it will be sudden and unexpected .
24:45 – 51 Jesus uses a parable to reiterate the need to be faithful .
24:51 weeping and gnashing of teeth Refers to great anguish — signaling that Jesus means that this type of person will experience God ’ s judgment upon his return ( see note on 8:12 ).
25:1 – 13 Continuing his discourse on the Mount of Olives ( see note on 24:3 – 44 ), Jesus tells another parable that underscores his call to be prepared for the Son of Man ’ s arrival ( 24:44 ). See the table “ Parables of Jesus ” on p . 1584 .
25:1 virgins Refers to young women who are guests at a wedding , possibly as attendants to the bride . to meet the bridegroom To escort him to the wedding banquet ( v . 10 ).