GOSPEL MEDITATION # 224
Mark 13:24-27
The Coming of the Son of Man
(Also see Acts 1:6-11, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-11, and
2 Thessalonians 1:5-12)
- Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
- Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
- Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or chant the Jesus Prayer.
- Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
- Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
- Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
- “But in those days” – not following the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, but the trouble/tribulation preceding Jesus’ return – the Second Coming.
- Verses 24 and 25 contain traditional apocalyptic language or metaphors that reference a coming outpouring of God’s wrath in judgment. (Is.13:9-11, 34:1-4, & Joel 2:28-33)
- Son of Man, Jesus’ favorite term for Himself, which likely comes from Daniel’s prophesy, and is a synonym for Messiah.
- “Then they” – the they must be all alive at that present time.
- The seeing does not depend on any human technology capturing Jesus’ return and at once enabling all the planet to observe it as once thought. The arrival in the clouds with the host of heaven and a loud trumpet call will be plain to all.
- In Acts 1:6-11 two angels confirmed the return of Jesus at the time of the ascension.
- The great promise is that the elect will be gathered. The time of tribulation will be shortened (look back at verse 20).
- The remainder of verse 27, with a dramatic flourish, are phrases that assure followers of Jesus that none of the elect or chosen will be left behind.
- The purpose of God, initiated in the creation of Adam and Eve in the garden will at last be realized.