The King reveals the future
24
📚And Jesus went outside, and was going away from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple.2 📚And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down”.
Signs of the end of the age
3 📚And while he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world?”
24:3 Observe that the disciples asked three questions. In the words which follow the Lord Jesus answered all three. In Luke 21:7 questions about Christ's second coming and the end of the age are omitted (Mark 13:4 also omits them). In Luke 21:8-28 Jesus answered the question about the destruction of Jerusalem and said little about the end of this age. But in Matthew (it seems to this writer) we have His answers to the questions about the end of the age and His second coming. In some respects the events of 70 AD are a picture of the situation as it will be at the end of this age.⚜
4 📚And Jesus answered and said to them, “Watch out that no one deceives you.
24:4 If Christians had heeded this warning there would not have been so many led astray throughout this age. Jesus knew how easily even the best of men can be deceived and how carefully they need to guard against it. Compare Matt 7:10; Rom 16:18; 1 Cor 6:9; Gal 3:1; Eph 5:6; Col 2:4; 2 Thess 2:3; Jam 1:22; 1 John 1:8; Rev 12:9; 20:8. It was more important for the disciples (and for us) that they be not deceived than that they should know what would happen at the end of this age.⚜
5 📚For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ, 📖’ and will deceive many.
24:5 This was true before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, and throughout this age. It will be true especially before Christ's second coming (vs 23-25).⚜
6 📚And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 📚For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and plagues and earthquakes in various places. 8 📚All these are the beginning of birth pains.
24:6-8 This was true before Jerusalem fell, and true ever since. Perhaps Jesus meant that there would be more of such things as the age came near its end. Christ's disciples should not be alarmed when such things happen, as though they were to be unexpected and strange.⚜
24:8 Notice the phrase “the beginning of birth pains”. The new age to come will be ushered in by many pains and sorrows in this present age (compare Rom 8:22). And wars, famines, and earthquakes will be only the beginning of those pains that will come at the age's end.⚜
9 📚“Then they will hand you over to suffering, and will kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake.
24:9 See Matt 10:17, 22; 23:34; John 15:18-21; 16:2, 33. The Lord Jesus never promised His disciples that they would have an easy time in life. Nor did His disciples promise this to other believers (Acts 14:22; 1 Thess 3:3; 1 Pet 4:12). The world which crucified Christ will not love those who live as He did and teach what He taught.⚜
10 📚And then many will be offended, and will betray one another and hate one another.
24:10 Trouble, better than anything else, reveals what people are. It strengthens and purifies those who have faith. It reveals that others who merely profess to have faith really do not. If they ever really love God they will not start hating God's true people, no matter what trouble comes.⚜
11 📚And many false prophets will arise and will deceive many.
24:11 Acts 20:30; Rom 16:17-18; 2 Cor 11:13-15; 1 Tim 4:1; 2 Tim 4:3; 2 Pet 2:1; 1 John 2:18; 4:1. There will be dangers from without, even greater danger from within the church.⚜
12 📚And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
24:12 Wickedness both outside the church and within it will have a chilling effect on Christians. At the end few will still be zealous in their love for God and man, most will go the way of the churches of Ephesus and Laodicea (Rev 2:4; 3:15). We must always remember that when love is gone all is gone (1 Cor 13:1-3).⚜
13 📚But he who endures to the end will be saved.
24:13 See Matt 10:22. This does not say “because” some endure to the end they will be saved. Salvation is not earned, is not a reward for enduring. Those who endure do so because God's salvation is at work in them; and those whom He has made new creations in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) He will enable to hold on to their faith to the end. See John 10:28; 17:11-15; Rom 5:3-5, 9, 10; 8:29-30; Phil 1:6; Heb 10:35-39.⚜
14 📚“And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.
24:14 Note on God's kingdom at Matt 4:17. Jesus preached the “good news” of the kingdom (Matt 4:23; 9:35). It is good news because it sets forth the reign of God among men and calls people to willingly submit to God and enter His kingdom. The preaching and teaching of the kingdom was prominent throughout the ministry of the apostles (Acts 8:12; 20:25; 28:23, 31; Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20; 6:9; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:5; Col 1:12-13; 4:11; 1 Thess 2:12; 2 Thess 1:5; 2 Tim 4:1; Jam 2:5; 2 Pet 1:11; Rev 1:6, 9).
This work is not yet finished but is going on throughout the earth. There are still some places, some tribes where the gospel has not gone. When every “nation” has heard it, the end of the age will come. In the Bible the words translated “nations” usually means simply non-Jewish peoples whoever and wherever they may be.⚜
The abomination of desolation
15 📚“Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand),
24:15 When Christ spoke these words to His disciples the “holy place” could mean only the temple in Jerusalem. On “abomination of desolation” see Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. Some think this was completely fulfilled in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the temple. However, the abomination of desolation Jesus speaks of here is connected with the end of this age and His second coming. A comparison of v 14 with vs 29-31 makes this clear. The abominable desolation at the hands of the Romans was only a picture, a shadow of what is yet to happen at the end. Compare 2 Thess 2:3-12.⚜
16 📚then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 📚Let him who is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house, 18 and let him who is in the field not return to take his clothes. 19 📚And woe to those who are with child, and to those who nurse infants in those days! 20 📚But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on the Sabbath.
21 📚“For then there will be great tribulation, 📖 such as has not been since the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be afterwards.
24:16-21 In 70 AD Christians fled from Jerusalem and escaped into the mountains across the Jordan River. But the tribulation to come at the end of this age will be greater and more terrible than that one, great as that was (Dan 12:1; Rev 7:14; 13:15-17). Verses 17,18 suggest the suddenness of the coming trouble. In 70 AD Titus besieged Jerusalem for many months. The reference to the “Sabbath” in v 20 is another indication that the land of Israel will be the focal point of the coming great tribulation. The distance Jewish leaders allowed people to travel on the Sabbath was less than a kilometer. In that future time in Israel all transportation may possibly be shut down on Sabbaths.⚜
24:21 This time of tribulation is still to come, as vs 29-31 make perfectly clear. We should not confuse it with the distresses and tribulations believers throughout this age have had to face (John 16:33; Acts 14:22; 1 Thess 3:3-4), though it will be similar in nature.⚜
22 📚And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the chosen those days will be shortened.
24:22 Satan and evil men will not have time to do all they would like to do. Observe that God can regulate times and activities on earth for the sake of His special people, the “chosen”.⚜
Possibilities of deception
23 📚“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ’, or, ‘There’, do not believe it. 24 📚For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so that, if it were possible, they would deceive even the chosen.
24:24 2 Thess 2:9-11; Rev 13:13; 16:14; 19:20. Signs and miracles alone do not prove that those who do them are sent by God. If they do not preach the truth in accordance with the Bible there is no truth in them, and their signs and wonders are deceiving (Matt 7:22-23; Acts 8:9-11; 13:6). The “chosen” are enlightened to see the truth of Christ (notes on enlightenment at Matt 11:27; 2 Cor 4:6; Eph 1:18). They will not be deceived by false Christs.⚜
25 📚Now I have told you beforehand. 26 Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the desert’, do not go out; or, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms’, do not believe it.
27 📚“For just as the lightning comes from the east, and shines as far as the west, so the coming of the Son of man will also be.
24:26-27 On Christ's second coming see Matt 25:31; 26:64; Luke 12:40; John 14:3; Acts 1:11; 1 Thess 4:16—5:4; 2 Thess 1:6-10; Heb 9:28; Rev 1:7; 19:11-16.⚜
28 📚For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
24:28 This comes after His warning about false prophets and false Christs (vs 24-26). So it could signify that they are like scavengers who fall on a nation, or a society, or a church, at its death. Or it could indicate the nations of earth, sent by God in judgment, falling on another nation. Compare Isa 46:11; Ezek 39:4. Or it might mean the destruction of earth's armies at the return of Christ (Rev 19:17-18).⚜
The second coming of the King
29 📚“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
24:29 The following verses prove that the “great tribulation” of which Jesus spoke in v 21 was not that of 70 AD, but one coming at the end of this age. These signs will occur immediately after the tribulation but before the great and terrible “day of the Lord” – that time when God arises to punish the earth for its wickedness.
It is a mistake to confuse the great tribulation (which is caused by Satan and evil men) with the time when God pours out His wrath on the world. In our interpretation of prophecy it is important to understand this. Compare this verse with Acts 2:19-20; and Rev 6:12-14. See note on the “day of the Lord” at 1 Thess 5:2. Something very striking is going to happen to the sun, moon, and stars before Christ's second coming. It will happen after the great tribulation and before the day of the Lord.⚜
30 📚And then the sign of the Son of man will appear in the sky. And then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of man coming in the clouds 📖 of heaven with power and great glory. 31 📚And he will send his angels 📖 with a great sound of a trumpet, 📖 and they will gather his chosen 📖 from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
32 📚“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch is still tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 📚So in the same way, when you see all these things, 📖 know that he is near, right at the doors. 📖
34 📚“Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled.
24:34 The Greek word here translated “generation” may also be translated “race”, and (it seems to the author of these notes) might well be so translated here. If so, it would mean that the race of Israel, the Jewish people, would not be destroyed. The generation living when Jesus spoke these words did pass away before all these things came to pass. No such things as described in vs 27-29 happened in the generation of the apostles. But some think that “generation” here means the generation living when the signs at the end of the age begin to take place. And this interpretation is certainly not impossible.⚜
35 📚Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
24:35 Compare with Matt 5:18. Jesus knew that both the law God gave, and His own words were the very words of God and would endure for all time.⚜
36 📚“But as for that day and hour, no man knows, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
24:36 The general time just before Christ's coming can be known by the events Jesus foretold, the signs for which He tells us to watch (v 33; Luke 21:28, 31). But the exact time of His coming no one can predict. If Jesus is God (who knows everything) how could it be that He would not know the day and hour of His coming? Rather we should say, since Jesus is God incarnate (John 1:1, 14), He could choose not to know something if He wished. (In the same way, though He was all-powerful He could choose not to do things by His own power.) In any case, is it wise to insist that the Son of God is not free to limit His knowledge of a particular thing if He chooses to do so? Compare Gen 18:20-21.⚜
37 📚But just as it was in the days of Noah, 📖 so the coming of the Son of man will also be. 38 📚For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah went into the ark, 39 📚and did not know what would happen until the flood came, and took them all away, so the coming of the Son of man will also be.
24:38,39 Jesus here emphasizes the suddenness of the disaster that overtook the people of Noah's day, and the ignorance of the people then. They were abandoned to their own way of life, did not know what God was going to do, and did not want to know (compare 2 Pet 2:5).⚜
40 📚“Then two will be in the field. The one will be taken away, and the other left behind. 41 📚Two people will be grinding at the mill. The one will be taken, and the other left.
24:40-41 Verse 31.⚜
42 📚So watch, for you do not know what hour your Lord comes.
24:42 Verse 36; Matt 25:13; Mark 13:37; Phil 3:20; 1 Thess 5:1-6; Titus 2:13; Heb 9:28; 2 Pet 3:12-13; Rev 3:3.⚜
43 📚“But understand this: If the owner of the house had known what time of the night the thief would come, he would have watched and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 📚Therefore, you also be ready, for the Son of man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.
24:44 In verse 42 Jesus says “watch”. Here he says “be ready”. These are two duties of His disciples regarding His coming. Actually they are more or less the same. See note at Matt 25:13. “Watching” does not mean to be like spectators at some public event. We cannot know the exact time, so we are to be on the lookout and keep ourselves spiritually prepared at all times – Matt 25:10; 1 Thess 5:6-8; 1 John 2:28.⚜
Being ready for His coming
45 📚“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord has made ruler over his household, to give them food at the proper time?
24:45 See Matt 25:21, 23. Jesus refers to pastors and teachers in the churches. They are to give spiritual food to God's people (John 21:15-17). This is far more important than trying to figure out the times and dates God has set (Acts 1:7). To feed God's people well, much wisdom and faithfulness are required – 1 Cor 4:2; 2 Tim 2:2; Jam 1:5-6.⚜
46 📚When his master comes, blessed is that servant whom he finds doing so. 47 📚Truly I say to you, he will make him ruler over all his goods.
24:47 See Matt 25:21, 23; Luke 19:17, 19; Rom 8:17; 1 Cor 3:21-23; Rev 21:7. This will take place at Christ's second coming.⚜
48 📚“But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is putting off his coming’, 49 📚and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with drunkards, 50 📚the master of that servant will come in a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour of which he is not aware, 51 📚and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with hypocrites. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth 📖.
24:48-51 There are those who profess to be servants of God, who are pastors and teachers in churches, yet who are “wicked” and like hypocrites. Their doom is certain (2 Pet 2:1-3; Jude 4,12-15).⚜