“And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.”
My Notes
What Does Mark 13:26 Mean?
"And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." Mark records Jesus' prophecy of his own return: the Son of Man — the exalted figure from Daniel 7:13-14 — coming in clouds with great power and glory. The clouds connect to every theophanic appearance in Scripture: Sinai, the tabernacle, the Transfiguration. The power (dynamis — miraculous force, divine capacity) and glory (doxa — weight, radiance, visible divine splendor) are both "great" (mega) — the superlative applied to both attributes simultaneously.
The verb "see" (opsontai — they shall see with their own eyes) guarantees visibility. The return isn't spiritual or metaphorical. It's visible. Observable. Seen by the people who watch the sky and the people who tried not to.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What does your imagination produce when you try to picture this verse — and how does reality exceed it?
- 2.How does 'they shall see' (visible, observable) change the nature of your hope from abstract to concrete?
- 3.What would you live differently if you genuinely expected to see this in your lifetime?
- 4.How does the combination of great power AND great glory describe a return that's both forceful and beautiful?
Devotional
They shall see. The Son of man. Coming in the clouds. With great power and glory. Every word in this sentence is designed to overwhelm your imagination — and it still can't capture the reality.
The Son of man — the Daniel 7 figure who receives dominion over all nations, whose kingdom has no end. Coming — not sitting, not waiting, not distant. Coming. Moving toward the earth with the momentum of divine purpose. In the clouds — the same vehicle of divine presence from Sinai to the Transfiguration, now the chariot of the returning King.
Great power. Mega dynamis. Not ordinary power. Not even impressive power. Great power — the kind that makes nuclear energy look like a flashlight. The power that spoke creation into existence, that split the Red Sea, that raised Lazarus — now visible, concentrated, arriving in person. The power you've been asking God to display? It's coming in the clouds. All of it. At once.
Great glory. Mega doxa. The weight of divine radiance so intense that the sun and moon go dark (v. 24) because they can't compete. The glory that Moses asked to see and was told 'you can't survive it.' The glory that filled the temple so completely that the priests couldn't stand. That glory — riding the clouds, accompanied by great power, approaching the earth.
They shall see. Opsontai. They will see with their own eyes. Not hear about. Not read about. Not believe by faith. See. The return of Christ is a visual event — observable, unmistakable, experienced by human eyeballs. The faith that currently operates without sight will be vindicated by a sight that overwhelms every other vision you've ever had.
This is what you're waiting for. Not another revival. Not a better political outcome. Not a more comfortable life. This. The Son of man in the clouds. Great power. Great glory. Visible to every eye that's ever doubted whether the sky was really inhabited by someone who cares.
They shall see.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
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Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture