Matthew 24:1-31

1: When Jesus had left the precincts of the Temple, he was going away; and his disciples came to him to point out to him the 2: buildings of the Temple area. He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? This is the truth I tell you--one stone will not be left here upon another that will not be thrown down." 3: His disciples came to him privately when he was sitting on the Mount of Olives. "Tell us," they said, "when these things shall be. And tell us what will be the sign of your coming, and of the 4: consummation of the age." Jesus answered, "Be on the look-out 5: lest anyone lead you astray, for many will come in my name saying, 'I am God's Anointed One,' and they will lead many 6: astray. You will hear of wars and reports of wars. See that you are not disturbed; for these things must happen; but the end is not 7: yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various 8: places. All these things are the beginning of the agonies. Then 9: they will deliver you to affliction, and they will kill you, and you 10: will be hated by all nations because of my name. And then many will stumble, and will betray each other, and will hate each other. 11: And many false prophets will arise, and they will lead many 12: astray. And the love of many will grow cold, because lawlessness 13: will be multiplied. But it is he who endures to the end who will be 14: saved. And the gospel will be proclaimed to the whole inhabited world, for a testimony to all nations--and then the end will come. 15: When you see the desolating abomination, which was spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place (let him who 16: reads understand), then let him who is in Judaea flee to the 17: mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down to 18: remove his goods from his house; and let him who is in the field 19: not come back to remove his cloak. Alas for those who in those days are carrying children in the womb, and who are suckling 20: children. Pray that your flight may not be in the winter time, nor 21: on a Sabbath. For at that time there will be great affliction, such as has never happened from the beginning of the world until now, 22: and such as never will happen. And, if the days had not been shortened, no human being would have survived. But the days 23: will be shortened for the sake of the elect. At that time, if anyone says to you, 'Look you, here, or here, is the Anointed One of 24: God,' do not believe him. For false Messiahs and false prophets will arise, and they will produce great signs and wonders, the consequences of which will be, if possible, to lead astray the elect. 25: Look you, I have told you about these things before they happen. 26: If anyone says to you, 'Look you, he is in the wilderness,' do not go out. 'Look you, he is in the inner chambers,' do not believe him. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as 28: the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of Man. Where the 29: body is, there the vultures will be gathered. Immediately after the affliction of these days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the 30: powers of heaven will be shaken. Then there will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the tribes of the earth will lament, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the 31: clouds of heaven with power and much glory. And he will send his angels with a great trumpet call, and they will gather the elect from the four winds, from one boundary of heaven to the other."

The Interweaving Of The Strands

There then is the composite vision of the future which Matthew collects for us; we must now try to disentangle the various strands in it. At this stage we only indicate the strands and leave fuller explanation for the detailed commentary.

(i) Some verses which foretell the terrible days of the siege of Jerusalem by Titus, the Roman general, a siege which was one of the most terrible in all history. These are Matthew 24:15-22.

(ii) Some verses tell of the ultimate complete destruction of Jerusalem and its reduction to a heap of ruins. These are Matthew 24:1-2.

(iii) Some verses paint pictures taken from the Jewish conception of the Day of the Lord. We have spoken about that conception before but we must briefly outline it again. The Jews divided all time into two ages--this present age, and the age to come. The present age is wholly bad and beyond all hope of human reformation. It can be mended only by the direct intervention of God. When God does intervene the golden age, the age to come, will arrive. But in between the two ages there will come the Day of the Lord, which will be a time of terrible and fearful upheaval, like the birth-pangs of a new age.

In the Old Testament itself there is many a picture of the Day of the Lord; and in the Jewish books written between the Old and the New Testaments these pictures are further developed and made still more vivid and still more terrible.

It will be a time of terror. "A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness" (Zephaniah 1:14-18). The pictures of that terror became ever more lurid.

It will come suddenly. "The Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night" (1 Thessalonians 5:2). "Three things, said the Rabbis, "are sudden--the coming of the Messiah, a discovery, and a scorpion."

The universe will be shattered to pieces. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood (Joel 2:30-31; Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 13:13).

It will be a time of moral chaos, when moral standards will be turned upside down, and when even nature will act contrary to herself, and when wars and violence and hatred will be the common atmosphere of life.

Schurer (The Jewish People in the Time of Christ ii, 154) sums up the Jewish ideas of the day of the Lord, ideas with which Jewish literature was full and which everyone knew in the time of Jesus. "The sun and moon will be darkened, swords appear in heaven, trains of horses and foot march through the clouds. Everything in nature falls into commotion and confusion. The sun appears by night, the moon by day. Blood trickles from wood, the stone gives forth a voice, and salt is found in fresh water. Places that have been sown will appear as unsown, full barns be found empty, and the springs of wells be stopped. Among men all restraints of order will be dissolved, sin and ungodliness rule upon earth. And men will fight against each other as if stricken with madness, the friend against the friend, the son against the father, the daughter against the mother. Nation will rise against nation, and to war shall be added earthquake, fire and famine, whereby men shall be carried off."

Such were the terrible pictures of the day of the Lord.. The verses are Matthew 24:6-8 and Matthew 24:29-31.

(iv) Some verses deal with the persecution which the followers of Christ will have to endure. These are Matthew 24:9-10.

(v) Some verses deal with the threats which will develop against the life and purity of the Church. These are Matthew 24:4-5; Matthew 24:11-13 and Matthew 24:23-26.

(vi) Some verses speak directly of the Second Coming of Christ. These are Matthew 24:3; Matthew 24:14 and Matthew 24:27-28.

So, in this amazing and difficult chapter of Matthew, we have in Matthew 24:1-31 a kind of sixfold vision of the future. We now go on to look at this vision, not taking the verses of the chapter consecutively, but taking together in turn those which deal with each strand.

The Doom Of The Holy City (Matthew 24:1-2)