The Coming of the Son of Man

Matthew 24:23-27 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. (24) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (25) Behold, I have told you before. (26) Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. (27) For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.

We have been told to be on our guard against false teachings and false expectations. There will be those who for the sake of earthly gain will institute teachings designed to appeal to that greatest of man’s faults. His spiritual indolence. Teachings designed to take the effort away from human beings. As before, they will exploit this weakness to paint a broad easy road to salvation for mankind. This is, however, contrary to what Jesus Himself has described. Jesus demanded spiritual activity from those who would inherit the Kingdom and this is the only way. But false Christs will appear who will try to pervert the Teachings of Jesus in telling people that there is another way. In doing this they divert the peoples attention away from looking for the last Word and Teaching which Christ promised.

Some of these false Christs will even be so powerful that they will be able to perform some wonders and in so doing convince people and even those who have the Truth of the genuineness of their activity. Of all these Jesus has warned us beforehand. We are meant to keep our spirits alert and if we do this then it would be impossible for us to be led astray. The Coming of the Son of Man shall be accompanied by a travail of a great tribulation. The effect of His Coming will make itself felt all over the world.

Matthew 24:29-35 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; (30) then will appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory….”

As has now become customary with Jesus, He again associated the Son of Man with the Judgment. The Son of Man then Whom many have mistaken for Jesus is inseparably linked with the Judgment. Note here that Jesus spoke in the third person. He could easily have spoken in the first person but He did not which indicates that He was not referring to Himself at all but to Another, otherwise why speak in the third person. From what we have seen so far He was not accustomed to referring to Himself in the third person but only in those instances where He had been confused with the Son of Man.

“This generation shall not pass” does not mean that those people who lived in Israel at the time of Jesus will not taste earthly death before the time of Judgment as of course this is impossible. With this Jesus was alluding to the fact that these people will reincarnate again to witness the Judgment. Those who persecuted Him and those who did not listen to His Word will have to incarnate on earth again at the time of Judgment to settle accounts. This is what He meant by ‘this generation shall not pass’.

His Words are eternal. It is the Truth out of the Creator and as such It will for ever stand even if all that has been created pass away.