From history, we know that the son of man did not come through the clouds and set up a kingdom. By saying that the Son of Man will come with the clouds, Jesus was speaking about something that would happen in an entirely different time-frame, most likely when the world comes to an end. So, what exactly is the symbolism of the Son of Man coming with the clouds?
The sign of the Son of Man
Many will agree that the imagery as painted out in Mathew 24:30 was never meant to be literally understood as an account of a body descending from the clouds. The central theme of this saying by Jesus is derived from the book of Daniel 7:13-14. It talks about the giving of the Kingdom, or something of that nature, to a symbolic human figure whom Daniel sees coming through the clouds of Heaven. The interpretation of this vision by the angel in Daniel 7:23-27 makes it clear that contrary to what many people think, this figure stands for the Jewish community, who even after coming under ferocious attack from the pagan ruler, their faith in the Covenant was not shaken. The pagan ruler is identified in the later chapters as the Syrian ruler.
On the other hand, Jesus identifies himself as the symbolic Son of Man, which is a community of righteous people who will have to endure much pain and suffering for his sake, and for the sake of good news that awaits the future of God’s people. This community of people will be vindicated by the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem for choosing an alternative way of life.
It is not only Jesus who will receive and inherit the kingdom of God, but also those who share his death and resurrection story. The coming of the Son of Man is a future event, even though its anticipation may be in the present.
So the coming of Kingdom of God basically has to do with the judging of the current generation of unrighteous people, and the salvation and vindication of the righteous ones. The perspective of Jesus is limited to the war against Rome. He is primarily concerned about Jerusalem, more so about the continuing antagonism between Greek-Roman paganism and the emerging churches. This explains why the imagery of the Son of Man coming with the clouds is closely associated with this war.
