Page 418 - ILIAS ATHANASIADIS AKA RO1

26People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world,
for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

27Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in a cloud" with power and great

glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your
heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

Paul changed “the Son of Man” to “the Lord.” It is not known whether Jesus

intended to refer to himself or to another figure when he used the term Son of
Man in this context (he did refer to himself as a Son of Man in the sense of “a
human being,” as in Matthew 8:20).

By Paul’s time, however, Christians made no such distinction and interpreted the
heavenly Son of Man as the risen Jesus.

Jesus’ belief that the Son of Man would soon arrive to usher in the kingdom is

confirmed as authentic by multiple attestation. It is also “against the grain” of the
Gospel According to Luke,

Since the author tended to downplay eschatology (e.g., Luke 17:21 and Acts,
written by the same author). Moreover, Paul, whose letters are earlier than the

Gospels,

Thought that most people then living would still be alive at the time of Jesus’
return, whereas the Synoptic Gospels state that “some standing here will not taste

death.”

The change from “most” to “some” probably demonstrates that the expectation
was beginning to fade when the Gospels were written.

Several passages indicate that following Jesus was highly desirable for those who

wished to be included in the coming kingdom.

Jesus called on some people to give up everything in order to follow him (Mark
1:16–20; 10:17–31) and promised that their reward would be great in heaven.

It cannot be said, however, that Jesus viewed personal loyalty as a prerequisite

for inclusion in the kingdom.