S4: Week 42 Day 3: Annotating Matthew 24:29-31

Summary

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Episode Summary: S4: Week 42 Day 3 — Annotating Matthew 24:29-31

Main Theme:

This episode centers on a close and reflective reading of Matthew 24:29-31, focusing specifically on how Jesus’ words in the New Testament connect deeply with prophetic visions in the Old Testament, particularly Daniel 7. The hosts, Beth and Alexa, aim to reveal how Jesus is seen as the central figure in both Testaments and encourage listeners to see the Bible as a unified story centered on Christ.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reading the Passage (00:38–00:49)

• Alexa reads Matthew 24:29-31 aloud.
  • The passage describes apocalyptic signs—the darkening of the sun and moon, the falling of stars—and the coming of the "Son of Man" on the clouds with power and great glory gathering his elect.

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2. Annotating the Passage: Connections with the Old Testament (01:19–02:22)

• Beth shares her note-taking and annotation approach:
  • She draws boxes around “Son of Man” (appears twice) and highlights descriptive phrases like “in the sky” and “coming on the clouds of heaven with great power and glory.”
  • Beth:

    “This is obviously pointing toward what we read earlier this week. Daniel writes, and suddenly one like a Son of Man was coming on the clouds of heaven in Daniel 7:13.” (01:50)

  • She circles what the Son of Man will do—sending out angels to gather his elect from the “four winds.”
  • Beth also draws attention to how Daniel 7 begins with the “four winds” blowing through the earth, again linking this passage with Jesus’ words in Matthew.

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3. Personal Response & Thematic Realization (02:22–02:37)

• Alexa expresses her growing understanding:
  • Alexa:

    “I feel like the first time that I read it I didn’t really understand its connection to Daniel 7, but once I did, it just like absolutely blew my mind.” (02:31)

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4. Setting Context: Jesus’s Words Within Their Historical Setting (02:37–03:15)

• Beth unpacks the context of the passage:
  • This conversation occurs just before Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion.
  • Jesus has just entered Jerusalem and has spent three chapters lamenting over Jerusalem’s spiritual state, the impact of the Roman occupation, and religious hypocrisy.
  • This context is essential for understanding the weight and meaning of Jesus’ prophecy in Matthew 24.
  • Beth:

    “I just wanted to point out that Jesus is the one who is speaking here and he’s talking to his disciples the week before he is going to be arrested and crucified.” (02:37)

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5. Looking Ahead (03:15–03:37)

• The hosts tease a deeper dive into the connections between Daniel and Matthew in the next episode, encouraging listeners to continue exploring how these passages illuminate Christ’s identity and mission.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Beth (On Daniel’s Connection):

  “This is obviously pointing toward what we read earlier this week. Daniel writes, and suddenly one like a Son of Man was coming on the clouds of heaven in Daniel 7:13.” (01:50)

• Alexa (On Realization):

  “I feel like the first time that I read it I didn’t really understand its connection to Daniel 7, but once I did, it just like absolutely blew my mind.” (02:31)

• Beth (Contextual Importance):

  “I just wanted to point out that Jesus is the one who is speaking here and he’s talking to his disciples the week before he is going to be arrested and crucified.” (02:37)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment | |------------|--------------------------------------------------| | 00:38 | Reading Matthew 24:29-31 | | 01:19 | Annotating and connecting to Daniel 7 | | 02:22 | Alexa’s realization of Old Testament connections | | 02:37 | Setting the context of Jesus’ words | | 03:15 | Preview of tomorrow’s deeper discussion |

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Conclusion

This episode invites listeners to slow down and closely examine the text of Matthew 24:29-31, tracing its roots to the prophetic images of Daniel 7. By thoughtfully annotating and contextualizing the passage, Beth and Alexa help uncover how Scripture is interwoven to spotlight Christ as the focal point of the biblical story. The conversation is both accessible and profound, preparing listeners for a more in-depth exploration of these connections in the following episode.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to A Year in the Bible With Daily Grace. This year we want to spend a few minutes with you every day walking through our study Christ in All of Scripture. Each week we will dive deeply into two passages of Scripture, one from the Old Testament and one from the New, seeing how they connect and point to Jesus.

[B]

Whether you are doing the study yourself or just following along with us here, we are hopeful that through studying these passages each week, you will see how Christ is not only present throughout the entire Biblical story, but but the center of it.

[A]

Hey everyone. Welcome back to A Year in the Bible. My name is Beth and I am here with my co host Alexa.

[B]

Hi friends.

[A]

So today we're going to be continuing in this week's New Testament passage, which is Matthew 24:29 31. So Alexa, can you go ahead and read that for us?

[B]

Immediately after the distress of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed its light. The stars will fall from the sky and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the peoples of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other. So how did annotating this passage go for you?

[A]

Beth really enjoyed reading and taking notes on this passage. It was cool to see the many explicit connections with Daniel 7. So following the last three prompts in the study, I drew boxes around the two times that we see the phrase son of man and highlighted those descriptions of how he will appear. So I highlighted the phrase in the sky and then the phrase coming on the clouds of heaven with great power and glory. So this is obviously pointing toward what we read earlier this week. Daniel writes, and suddenly one like a Son of man was coming on the clouds of heaven in Daniel 7:13. Then I circled what the Son of Man will do and it says that he will send out his angels to gather his elect from the four winds. We didn't read this part on Monday, but Daniel's vision in Daniel 7 begins with a description of the four winds blowing through the earth over the sea. So it is from those winds that the beast we talked about yesterday appear. So I'm not going to say too much about that right now, but just remember that as we begin our conversation tomorrow.

[B]

I love this passage. I feel like the first time that I read it I didn't really understand its connection to Daniel7, but once I did, it just like absolutely blew my mind.

[A]

My mind.

[B]

So I can't wait to talk about those connections some more tomorrow. But is there anything else that you wanted to share?

[A]

So I know that we usually save this for Thursdays, but I figured it might be helpful to unpack a bit of the context of this passage today because I know that there's a lot we're going to have to cover tomorrow. So I just wanted to point out that Jesus is the one who is speaking here and he's talking to his disciples the week before he is going to be arrested and crucified. So they have just entered Jerusalem, and for three chapters in Matthew, Jesus has been lamenting over the state of Jerusalem under the Roman Empire and the hypocrisy of the religious leaders of his day. And so I think that's really important to keep in mind as we move into our conversation about how Daniel 7 informs this passage when we unpack it deeper tomorrow.

[B]

That's super helpful, Beth. Well, I really can't wait for our conversation tomorrow, so we hope you will join us then as we connect our passages this week together and to Christ. Thank you for listening to today's episode of A Year in the Bible with Daily Grace. Be sure to check out our show notes for some helpful links and resources related to today's episode, and make sure you're following aalygrace Podcast and hedaily Grace Co on Instagram for more Bible study resources and encouragement. We're looking forward to studying God's Word with you again tomorrow. Bye friends.