Our blessed Saviour being now ready to depart from the temple; never more, after this, entering into it; and his disciples shewing him with wonder and admiration the magnificent structures and buildings thereof, apprehending that in regard to its invincible strength it could not be destroyed, or tha... [ Continue Reading ]
A double question is here propounded to our Savioiur by his disciples; namely, When the destruction of Jerusalem shall be? and, What shall be the sign of that destruction? See here, what an itching curiosity there is in the best of men to know futurities; to know things that shall come to pass herea... [ Continue Reading ]
Here, and in the following verses, our Saviour gives his disciples the signs which should forerun the destruction of Jerusalem. The first of which was this, that THERE SHOULD ARISE FALSE CHRISTS, FALSE PROPHETS, AND SEDUCERS; such as Theudas, and others, under the name and person of the Messiah, som... [ Continue Reading ]
Here our Saviour acquaints his disciples, that for preaching the gospel they should be brought before kings and rulers; but advises them, when they should be so brought, not to be anxiously thoughtful and solicitous what they shall say: for it should be suggested to them by the Holy Ghost what to sa... [ Continue Reading ]
The sense is, "When ye shall se the Roman army, which is an abomination unto you, and an occasion of great desolation wherever it goes: when you shall see that abominable desolating army, begirting the city of Jerusalem, in order to her ruin and being laid waste, then call to mind the prophecy of Da... [ Continue Reading ]
The meaning is, "As soon as ye shall see the Roman army appear before the city of Jerusalem, let everyone that values his own safety fly, as far and as fast as he can, as Lot fled from the flames of Sodom; and be glad if by flight he can save his life, though he lose goods and clothes, and all thing... [ Continue Reading ]
The dreadful calamities which were coming upon the Jews in general, and Jerusalem in particular, are here foretold by our blessed Saviour, partly from the Roman army without, and partly from the seditions and factions of the zealots within; who committed such outrages and slaughters, that there were... [ Continue Reading ]
The Jews had all along cherished in themselves. vain expectation, that the promised Messias should be. temporal deliverer; and set them at liberty from the power and slavery of the Romans; and accordingly, our Saviour declares to his discples here, That, immediately before Jerusalem's destruction, s... [ Continue Reading ]
Our Saviour goes on in figurative expressions, to set forth the calamities that should befall the Jewish nation immediately after Jerusalem's destruction. THE SUN SHALL BE DARKENED; that is, all their glory and excellency shall be eclipsed, all their wealth and prosperity shall be laid waste, their... [ Continue Reading ]
Here our blessed Saviour declares two things with reference to his coming. 1. The certainty of the thing itself. 2. The uncertainty of the time. The certainty of his coming he sets forth by tihs similitude of the fig-tree, whose beginning to bud DECLARES THE SUMMER AT HAND. Thus our Saviour tells... [ Continue Reading ]
Our blessed Saviour takes occasion, from the foregoing doctrine of the certainty and suddenness of his coming to judgment, to enforce the duty of diligent and industrious watchfulness upon his disciples and followers; that is, to be upon their guard against all sin, and to be in an actual readiness... [ Continue Reading ]