And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Ver. 30. The sign of the Son of man] That is, either Christ himself (by a Hebraism), or the dreadful dissolution of the world's fabric, or that cloud of heaven that was of old the sign of the Son of man in the wilderness,Exodus 13:21, or the scars of his wounds, or his cross, or something else that we cannot describe, and need not search into. Look how a king, when he would gather his forces into one, sets up his standard, or appoints his rendezvous; so such shall be the brightness of Christ's coming, that all his shall be gathered unto him by that token, not to fight; but to triumph with him and divide the spoil, as it were, being more than conquerors; and what is that but triumphers? The expectation of this day must (as that did with David's soldiers at Ziklag) digest all our sorrows.
And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn] This to prevent, we must judge ourselves,1 Corinthians 11:31, and take unto us words against our sins, if we would not have Christ take unto him words against our souls, Hosea 14:3. Good men have been exceedingly affected at the hearing of God's judgments against others, as Habakkuk 3:16 .