Matthew 24:21-29

24:21 For then there will be great suffering ¹  unlike anything that has happened ²  from the beginning of the world until now, or ever will happen. 24:22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 24:23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ ³  or ‘There he is!’ do not believe him. 24:24 For false messiahs ⁴  and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 24:25 Remember, ⁵  I have told you ahead of time. 24:26 So then, if someone ⁶  says to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ ⁷  do not go out, or ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe him. 24:27 For just like the lightning ⁸  comes from the east and flashes to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be. 24:28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures ⁹  will gather. ¹⁰ 

The Arrival of the Son of Man

24:29 “Immediately ¹¹  after the suffering ¹²  of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. ¹³ 

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¹ tn Traditionally, “great tribulation.”

² sn Suffering unlike anything that has happened. Some refer this event to the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70. While the events of a.d. 70 may reflect somewhat the comments Jesus makes here, the reference to the scope and severity of this judgment strongly suggest that much more is in view. Most likely Jesus is referring to the great end-time judgment on Jerusalem in the great tribulation.

³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.

⁴ tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

⁵ tn Or “Pay attention!” Grk “Behold.”

⁶ tn Grk “they say.” The third person plural is used here as an indefinite and translated “someone” (ExSyn 402).

⁷ tn Or “in the desert.”

⁸ sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.

⁹ tn The same Greek term can refer to “eagles” or “vultures” (L&N 4.42; BDAG 22 s.v. ἀετός), but in this context it must mean vultures because the gruesome image is one of dead bodies being consumed by scavengers.

sn Jesus’ answer is that when the judgment comes, the scenes of death will be obvious and so will the location of the judgment. See also Luke 17:37.

¹⁰ tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.

¹¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

¹² tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”

¹³ sn An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4 (LXX); Joel 2:10. The heavens were seen as the abode of heavenly forces, so their shaking indicates distress in the spiritual realm. Although some take the powers as a reference to bodies in the heavens (like stars and planets, “the heavenly bodies,” NIV) this is not as likely.