24:27 the coming of the Son. The disciples had asked the Lord what would be the sign of His coming, and Christ had given many signs. Note, however, that His final coming to the earth would not be surreptitiously, as it were, in the desert or in some secret chamber (Matthew 24:26), but clearly seen by everyone (Matthew 24:30). The initial phase of His coming, on the other hand, will not be seen by those on the earth at all, but only by Christian believers, who will be changed and caught up out of the world “in the twinkling of an eye” (I Corinthians 15:52; I Thessalonians 4:17). All of the “signs” of His coming, including the great final sign (Matthew 24:30), thus apply only to His coming to the earth, not to His coming in the air to receive His own at the rapture. The latter, in principle at least, could occur at any moment and could have occurred at any time since Christ returned to heaven.