The "Coming" of Jesus (The Son of Man) in Matthew 24–25

While most scholars understand references to Jesus’ “coming” in Matthew 24–25 to speak of the Parousia, or the Second Advent, some argue otherwise. R. T. France represents those who see 24:29-35 as predicting the Roman destruction of the temple in 70 C.E., with the other instances referencing the Parousia. N. T. Wright goes further and maintains that all Jesus’ comings in these chapters envi- sion the events of 70 C.E. Mark Harris proposes that the author of Matthew uses the “coming of the Son of Man” in these chapters to symbolize Jesus’ presence with his disciples from the time of his resurrection until “the end of the age.” A close reading of these chapters and Matthew’s Gospel shows that these alternate con- structions fail to explain the data as satisfactorily.