I see Matt 24:3 as past only. The answer is in the greek..
http://theolivetdiscourse.com/explanation-of-the-olivet-discourse/
And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Matthew 24:3
Messiah’s purpose in this discourse was not at all to give His people signs of His coming again,
but to warn that generation of believers of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem, and to give to them a sure sign whereby they might, and whereby in fact His own people did, secure their safety by fleeing the land and city. (PM)
“thy coming” refers to “these things”, the destruction of the temple; not Messiah. They were asking what is the sign of the things that he just proclaimed about the temple being desolated.
The NIV/ESV/NKJ incorrectly say “what will be the sign of your coming”, making it seem like Messiah’s 2nd coming.
The Greek word for coming is parousia; from the present participle of 3918; a being near, i.e. advent (often, return; specially, of Christ to punish Jerusalem, or finally the wicked); (by implication) physically, aspect:—coming, presence.
Messiah was surely present during the desolation of the temple, city and Jews; not in the sense of His return to earth, but that He commanded it and oversaw it.
Notice that the other two recordings of the Olivet Discourse do not include the question about the end of the world:
Mark 13:4, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?
Luke 21:7, And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
The word ‘world‘ should be translated as ‘age‘. The Greek word aiōn means: properly an age; by extension perpetuity (also past);
by implication the world; specifically (Jewish) a Messianic period.
The same word is used in Hebrews 9:26, which is referring to Messiah’s sacrifice occurring in the latter days of the Jewish age.
“For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
Matthew was asking about the end of the age, a time period, not the end of the world. Had that been the intent, the Greek word kosmos would have been used.
Messiah had just declared in Matthew 23 that the Jewish leaders would be desolated, which would end the existence of the Jewish nation. The destruction of the Temple would have been considered the end of the world to the Jewish people, to whom Matthew was primarily writing. (FNL)
The ‘former days‘ of the Jewish nation ended when the Jews were taken captive by the Babylonians. The ‘latter days‘ of the Jewish nation started when they were released from Babylonian captivity in the 5th century B.C., and they ended in 70 A.D.
So it should read “of the end of the age“. The New King James gets the translation correct.
Coke’s Commentary on the Holy Bible
The sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world, are only different expressions to denote the same period with the destruction of Jerusalem; for they conceived, that when Jerusalem should be destroyed, then would be the coming of Christ; and when the coming of Christ, then the end of the world; or rather, as it should be rendered, the conclusion of the age.
John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Which two are put together, as what they supposed would be at the same time, and immediately follow the destruction of the temple. That he was come in the flesh, and was the true Messiah, they firmly believed: he was with them, and they expected he would continue with them, for they had no notion of his leaving them, and coming again. When he at any time spake of his dying and rising from the dead, they seemed not to understand it: wherefore this coming of his, the sign of which, they inquire, is not to be understood of his coming a second time to judge the world, at the last day; but of his coming in his kingdom and glory, which they had observed him some little time before to speak of; declaring that some present should not die, till they saw it: wherefore they wanted to be informed, by what sign they might know, when he would set up his temporal kingdom; for since the temple was to be destroyed, they might hope a new one would be built, much more magnificent than this, and which is a Jewish notion; and that a new state of things would commence; the present world, or age, would be at a period; and the world to come, they had so often heard of from the Jewish doctors, would take place; and therefore they ask also, of the sign of the end of the world, or present state of things in the Jewish economy: to this Christ answers, in the latter part of this chapter, though not to the sense in which they put the questions; yet in the true sense of the coming of the son of man, and the end of the world; and in such a manner, as might be very instructive to them, and is to us.
