Discovery BoxMatthew 24:27-30 
Context24:27 For just like the lightning 1 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 2 will gather. 3
24:29 “Immediately 4 after the suffering 5 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. 6 24:30 Then 7 the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, 8 and 9 all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They 10 will see the Son of Man arriving on the clouds of heaven 11 with power and great glory.
1 sn The Son of Man’s coming in power will be sudden and obvious like lightning. No one will need to point it out.
2 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.
3 tn Grk “will be gathered.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in English.
4 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
5 tn Traditionally, “tribulation.”
6 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.
7 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
8 tn Or “in the sky”; the Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven,” depending on the context.
9 tn Here τότε (tote, “then”) has not been translated to avoid redundancy in English.
10 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.
11 sn An allusion to Dan 7:13. Here is Jesus returning with full authority to judge.
