The nations have good reason to fear. When applied to a king or other prominent dignitary, the term for Jesus' coming (parousia) was a quasi-technical expression that implied considerable demands for preparation on the part of the local populace (Ladd 1967:92). That the Son of Man has authority to dispatch his angels to gather his elect (v. 31; Mk 13:27) portrays Jesus as divine (Meier 1980:288). As in Mark 13:26, the language of the Son of Man coming with the clouds alludes to Daniel 7:13, but Matthew includes an additional allusion to Zechariah 12:10, in which the nations mourn.