24:29–31 Some have understood these verses to represent the defeat of Satan’s forces, the Son of Man’s vindication, and the spread of the gospel to all the world, as having occurred symbolically at the destruction of Jerusalem. But the language of v. 31 is parallel to passages like 13:41; 16:27; and 25:31, as well as to passages such as 1 Cor. 15:52 and 1 Thess. 4:14–17. The passage most naturally refers to the Second Coming.