Matthew 24:30?

[mikekle]

**"Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
**

Im having a problem understand this…

What will the ‘sign’ of the son of man be…A cross maybe, or is there a symbol that God/Jesus uses?

Plus, it says the ‘sign’ will appear in heaven, so how would people on earth see it then?

Why will all the people of the earth mourn when they see Jesus returning, Id think most would be rejoicing at this?

Thanks

 

[chefmomster2]

**"Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
**

Im having a problem understand this…

What will the ‘sign’ of the son of man be…A cross maybe, or is there a symbol that God/Jesus uses?

Plus, it says the ‘sign’ will appear in heaven, so how would people on earth see it then?

Why will all the people of the earth mourn when they see Jesus returning, Id think most would be rejoicing at this?

Thanks

NABRE

The discourse of the fifth book, the last of the five around which the gospel is structured. It is called the “eschatological” discourse since it deals with the coming of the new age (the eschaton) in its fullness, with events that will precede it, and with how the disciples are to conduct themselves while awaiting an event that is as certain as its exact time is unknown to all but the Father

• [24:26–28] Claims that the Messiah is to be found in some distant or secret place must be ignored. ****The coming of the Son of Man will be as clear as lightning is to all and as the corpse of an animal is to vultures; cf. Lk 17:24, 37. Here there is clear identification of the Son of Man and the Messiah; cf. Mt 24:23.
• [24:29] The answer to the question of Mt 24:3b “What will be the sign of your coming?” Immediately after…those days: the shortening of time between the preceding tribulation and the parousia has been explained as Matthew’s use of a supposed device of Old Testament prophecy whereby certainty that a predicted event will occur is expressed by depicting it as imminent. While it is questionable that that is an acceptable understanding of the Old Testament predictions, it may be applicable here, for Matthew knew that the parousia had not come immediately after the fall of Jerusalem, and it is unlikely that he is attributing a mistaken calculation of time to Jesus. The sun…be shaken: cf. Is 13:10, 13.
• [24:30] **The sign of the Son of Man: perhaps this means the sign that is the glorious appearance of the Son of Man; cf. Mt 12:39–40 where “the sign of Jonah” is Jonah’s being in the “belly of the whale.” Tribes of the earth will mourn: peculiar to Matthew; cf. Zec 12:12–14. Coming upon the clouds…glory: cf. Dn 7:13 although there the “one like a son of man” comes to God to receive kingship; here the Son of Man comes from heaven for judgment.

I certainly expect that Christ will be returning. I also believe that we can’t know the time or the day. So I don’t worry about looking for signs. I try (imperfectly) to be ready for the arrival!

Weeping occurs because man will be entering a “time of tribulation”. The description here is frightful!
The stars falling out of the sky!
The person you’re working with disappearing!
The sun is darkening! **