Luke 21:5

See here, I. With what admiration some spoke of the external pomp and magnificence of the temple, and they were some of Christ's own disciples too; and they took notice of it to him how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, Luk 21:5. The outside was built up with goodly stones, and within it was beautified and enriched with the presents that were offered up for that purpose, and were hung up in it. They thought their Master should be as much affected with those things as they were, and should as much regret the destruction of them as they did. When we speak of the temple, it should be of the presence of God in it, and of the ordinances of God administered in it, and the communion which his people there have with him. It is a poor thing, when we speak of the church, to let our discourse dwell upon its pomps and revenues, and the dignities and powers of its officers and rulers; for the king's daughter is all glorious within.

II. With what contempt Christ spoke of them, and with what assurance of their being all made desolate very shortly (Luk 21:6): "As for those things which you behold, those dear things which you are so much in love with, behold, the days will come, and some now living may live to see them, in which there shall not be left one stone upon another. This building, which seems so beautiful that one would think none could, for pity, pull it down, and which seems so strong that one would think none would be able to pull it down, shall yet be utterly ruined; and this shall be done as soon as ever the spiritual temple of the gospel church (the substance of that shadow) begins to flourish in the world." Did we by faith foresee the blasting and withering of all external glory, we should not set our hearts upon it as those do that cannot see, or will not look, so far before them.

III. With what curiosity those about him enquire concerning the time when this great desolation should be: Master, when shall these things be? Luk 21:7. It is natural to us to covet to know future things and the time of them, which it is not for us to know, when we are more concerned to ask what is our duty in the prospect of these things, and how we may prepare for them, which it is for us to know. They enquire what sign there shall be when these things shall come to pass. They ask not for a present sign, to confirm the prediction itself, and to induce them to believe it (Christ's word was enough for that), but what the future signs will be of the approaching accomplishment of the prediction, by which they may be put in mind of it. These signs of the times Christ had taught them to observe.

IV. With what clearness and fulness Christ answers their enquiries, as far as was necessary to direct them in their duty; for all knowledge is desirable as far as it is in order to practice.

1. They must expect to hear of false Christs and false prophets appearing, and false prophecies given out (Luk 21:8): Many shall come in my name; he does not mean in the name of Jesus, though there were some deceivers who pretended commissions from him (as Act 19:13), but usurping the title and character of the Messiah. Many pretended to be the deliverers of the Jewish church and nation from the Romans, and to fix the time when the deliverance should be wrought, by which multitudes were drawn into a snare, to their ruin. They shall say, hoti egō eimi - I am he, or I am, as if they would assume that incommunicable name of God, by which he made himself known when he came to deliver Israel out of Egypt, I am; and, to encourage people to follow them, they added, "The time draws near when the kingdom shall be restored to Israel, and all who will follow me shall share in it." Now as to this, he gives them a needful caution (1.) "Take heed that you be not deceived; do not imagine that I shall myself come again in external glory, to take possession of the throne of kingdoms. No, you must not expect any such thing, for my kingdom is not of this world." When they asked solicitously and eagerly, Master, when shall these things be? the first word Christ said was, Take heed that you be not deceived. Note, Those that are most inquisitive in the things of God (though it is very good to be so) are in most danger of being imposed upon, and have most need to be upon their guard. (2.) "Go you not after them. You know the Messiah is come, and you are not to look for any other; and therefore do not so much as hearken to them, nor have any thing to do with them." If we are sure that Jesus is the Christ, and his doctrine is the gospel, of God, we must be deaf to all intimations of another Christ and another gospel.

2. They must expect to hear of great commotions in the nations, and many terrible judgments inflicted upon the Jews and their neighbours. (1.) There shall be bloody wars (Luk 21:10): Nation shall rise against nation, one part of the Jewish nation against another, or rather the whole against the Romans. Encouraged by the false Christs, they shall wickedly endeavour to throw off the Roman yoke, by taking up arms against the Roman powers; when they had rejected the liberty with which Christ would have made them free they were left to themselves, to grasp at their civil liberty in ways that were sinful, and therefore could not be successful. (2.) There shall be earthquakes, great earthquakes, in divers places, which shall not only frighten people, but destroy towns and houses, and bury many in the ruins of them. (3.) There shall be famines and pestilences, the common effects of war, which destroys the fruits of the earth, and, by exposing men to ill weather and reducing them to ill diet, occasions infectious diseases. God has various ways of punishing a provoking people. The four sorts of judgments which the Old Testament prophets so often speak of are threatened by the New Testament prophets too; for, though spiritual judgments are more commonly inflicted in gospel times, yet God makes use of temporal judgments also. (4.) There shall be fearful sights and great signs from heaven, uncommon appearances in the clouds, comets and blazing stars, which frighten the ordinary sort of beholders, and have always been looked upon as ominous, and portending something bad. Now, as to these, the caution he gives them is, "Be not terrified. Others will be frightened at them, but be not you frightened, Luk 21:2. As to the fearful sights, let them not be fearful to you, who look above the visible heavens to the throne of God's government in the highest heavens. Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven, for the heathen are dismayed at them, Jer 10:2. And, as to the famines and pestilences, you fall into the hands of God, who has promised to those who are his that in the days of famine they shall be satisfied, and that he will keep them from the noisome pestilence; trust therefore in him, and be not afraid. Nay, when you hear of wars, when without are fightings and within are fears, yet then be not you terrified; you know the worst that any of these judgments can do to you, and therefore be not afraid of them; for," [1.] "It is your interest to make the best of that which is, for all your fears cannot alter it: these things must first come to pass; there is no remedy; it will be your wisdom to make yourselves easy by accommodating yourselves to them." [2.] "There is worse behind; flatter not yourselves with a fancy that you will soon see an end of these troubles, no, not so soon as you think of: the end is not by and by, not suddenly. Be not terrified, for, if you begin so quickly to be discouraged, how will you bear up under what is yet before you?"

3. They must expect to be themselves for signs and wonders in Israel; their being persecuted would be a prognostic of the destruction of the city and temple, which he had now foretold. Nay, this would be the first sign of their ruin coming: "Before all these, they shall lay their hands on you. The judgment shall begin at the house of God; you must smart first, for warning to them, that, if they have any consideration, they may consider, If this be done to the green tree, what shall be done to the dry? See Pe1 4:17, Pe1 4:18. But this is not all; this must be considered not only as the suffering of the persecuted, but as the sin of the persecutors. Before God's judgments are brought upon them, they shall fill up the measure of their iniquity by laying their hands on you." Note, The ruin of a people is always introduced by their sin; and nothing introduces a surer or sorer ruin than the sin of persecution. This is a sign that God's wrath is coming upon a people to the uttermost when their wrath against the servants of God comes to the uttermost. Now as to this,

(1.) Christ tells them what hard things they should suffer for his name's sake, much to the same purport with what he had told them when he first called them to follow him, Mt. 10: They should know the wages of it, that they might sit down and count the cost. St. Paul, who was the greatest labourer and sufferer of them all, not being now among them, was told by Christ himself what great things he should suffer for his name's sake (Act 9:16), so necessary is it that all who will live godly in Christ Jesus should count upon persecution. The Christians, having themselves been originally Jews, and still retaining an equal veneration with them for the Old Testament and all the essentials of their religion, and differing only in ceremony, might expect fair quarter with them; but Christ bids them not expect it: "No, they shall be the most forward to persecute you." [1.] "They shall use their own church-power against you: They shall deliver you up to the synagogues to be scourged there, and stigmatized with their anathemas." [2.] "They shall incense the magistrates against you: they shall deliver you into prisons, that you may be brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake, and be punished by them." [2.] "Your own relations will betray you (Luk 21:16), your parents, brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; so that you will not know whom to put a confidence in, or where to be safe." [4.] "Your religion will be made a capital crime, and you will be called to resist unto blood. Some of you shall they cause to be put to death; so far must you be from expecting honour and wealth that you must expect nothing but death in its most frightful shapes, death in all its dreadful pomp. Nay." [5.] "You shall be hated of all men for my name's sake." This is worse than death itself, and was fulfilled when the apostles were not only appointed to death, but made a spectacle to the world, and counted as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things, which every body loathes, Co1 4:9, Co1 4:13. They were hated of all men, that is, of all bad men, who could not bear the light of the gospel (because it discovered their evil deeds), and therefore hated those who brought in that light, flew in their faces, and would have pulled them to pieces. The wicked world, which hated to be reformed, hated Christ the great Reformer, and all that were his, for his sake. The rulers of the Jewish church, knowing very well that if the gospel obtained among the Jews their usurped abused power was at an end, raised all their forces against it, put it into an ill name, filled people's minds with prejudices against it, and so made the preachers and professors of it odious to the mob.

(2.) He encourages them to bear up under their trials, and to go on in their work, notwithstanding the opposition they would meet with.

[1.] God will bring glory both to himself and them out of their sufferings: "It shall turn to you for a testimony, Luk 21:13. Your being set up thus for a mark, and publicly persecuted, will make you the more taken notice of and your doctrine and miracles the more enquired into; your being brought before kings and rulers will give you an opportunity of preaching the gospel to them, who otherwise would never have come within hearing of it; your suffering such severe things, and being so hated by the worst of men, men of the most vicious lives, will be a testimony that you are good, else you would not have such bad men for your enemies; your courage, and cheerfulness, and constancy under your sufferings will be a testimony for you, that you believe what you preach, that you are supported by a divine power, and that the Spirit of God and glory rests upon you."

[2.] "God will stand by you, and own you, and assist you, in your trials; you are his advocates, and you shall be well furnished with instructions, Luk 21:14, Luk 21:15. Instead of setting your hearts on work to contrive an answer to informations, indictments, articles, accusations, and interrogatories, that will be exhibited against you in the ecclesiastical and civil courts, on the contrary, settle it in your hearts, impress it upon them, take pains with them to persuade them not to meditate before what you shall answer; do not depend upon your own wit and ingenuity, your own prudence and policy, and do not distrust or despair of the immediate and extraordinary aids of the divine grace. Think not to bring yourselves off in the cause of Christ as you would in a cause of your own, by your own parts and application, with the common assistance of divine Providence, but promise yourselves, for I promise you, the special assistance of divine grace: I will give you a mouth and wisdom." This proves Christ to be God; for it is God's prerogative to give wisdom, and he it is that made man's mouth. Note, First, A mouth and wisdom together completely fit a man both for services and sufferings; wisdom to know what to say, and a mouth wherewith to say it as it should be said. It is a great happiness to have both matter and words wherewith to honour God and do good; to have in the mind a storehouse well furnished with things new and old, and a door of utterance by which to bring them forth. Secondly, Those that plead Christ's cause may depend upon him to give them a mouth and wisdom, which way soever they are called to plead it, especially when they are brought before magistrates for his name's sake. It is not said that he will send an angel from heaven to answer for them, though he could do this, but that he will give them a mouth and wisdom to enable them to answer for themselves, which puts a greater honour upon them, which requires them to use the gifts and graces Christ furnishes them with, and redounds the more to the glory of God, who stills the enemy and the avenger out of the mouths of babes and sucklings. Thirdly, When Christ gives to his witnesses a mouth and wisdom, they are enabled to say that both for him and themselves which all their adversaries are not able to gainsay or resist, so that they are silenced, and put to confusion. This was remarkably fulfilled presently after the pouring out of the Spirit, by whom Christ gave his disciples this mouth and wisdom, when the apostles were brought before the priest sand rulers, and answered them so as to make them ashamed, Acts 4, 5, and Act 6:1-15.

[3.] "You shall suffer no real damage by all the hardships they shall put upon you (Luk 21:18): There shall not a hair of your head perish." Shall some of them lose their heads, and yet not lose a hair? It is a proverbial expression, denoting the greatest indemnity and security imaginable; it is frequently used both in the Old Testament and New, in that sense. Some think that it refers to the preservation of the lives of all the Christians that were among the Jews when they were cut off by the Romans; historians tell us that not one Christian perished in that desolation. Others reconcile it with the deaths of multitudes in the cause of Christ, and take it figuratively in the same sense that Christ saith, He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. "Not a hair of your head shall perish but," First, "I will take cognizance of it." To this end he had said (Mat 10:30), The hairs of your head are all numbered; and an account is kept of them, so that none of them shall perish but he will miss it. Secondly, "It shall be upon a valuable consideration." We do not reckon that lost or perishing which is laid out for good purposes, and will turn to a good account. If we drop the body itself for Christ's name's sake, it does not perish, but is well bestowed. Thirdly, "It shall be abundantly recompensed; when you come to balance profit and loss, you will find that nothing has perished, but, on the contrary, that you have great gain in present comforts, especially in the joys of a life eternal;" so that though we may be losers for Christ we shall not, we cannot, be losers by him in the end.

[4.] "It is therefore your duty and interest, in the midst of your own sufferings and those of the nation, to maintain a holy sincerity and serenity of mind, which will keep you always easy (Luk 21:19): In your patience possess ye your souls; get and keep possession of your souls." Some read it as a promise, "You may or shall possess your souls." It comes all to one. Note, First, It is our duty and interest at all times, especially in perilous trying times, to secure the possession of our own souls; not only that they be not destroyed and lost for ever, but that they be not distempered now, nor our possession of them disturbed and interrupted. "Possess your souls, be your own men, keep up the authority and dominion of reason, and keep under the tumults of passion, that neither grief nor fear may tyrannize over you, nor turn you out of the possession and enjoyment of yourselves." In difficult times, when we can keep possession of nothing else, then let us make that sure which may be made sure, and keep possession of our souls. Secondly, It is by patience, Christian patience, that we keep possession of our own souls. "In suffering times, set patience upon the guard for the preserving of your souls; by it keep your souls composed and in a good frame, and keep out all those impressions which would ruffle you and put you out of temper."

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

CHRIST'S PROPHECY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND WARNINGS TO PREPARE FOR HIS SECOND COMING, SUGGESTED BY IT--HIS DAYS AND NIGHTS DURING HIS LAST WEEK. (Luke 21:5-38)

(See on Mat 24:1-3.)

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk_21:5-6

Adorned with goodly stones and gifts

On the object and use of the sanctuary

I.

THE CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH CHRIST UTTERED THESE WORDS. Every attentive reader of Holy Scripture must have remarked this fact, in the history of the Bible, viz., that whenever and wheresoever God revealed His choice of a spot among the sons of men, to place His Name there--where He might be especially present with them, to receive their worship, and to bestow on them His blessing--that spot was always directed and made to be as great a contrast, and as much superior as possible to all other places in which men ordinarily abode. But all this, as the same attentive reading of Holy Scripture must also convince us, was immediately directed to its own great and specific objects. It was designed by God to lead their thoughts upward to Himself. The temple had been a great probationary blessing to the Jews; it had been ordained of old by God, for the advancement of their essential and everlasting good; and it was now foredoomed to such ruin and desolation, that there should not be left in it one stone upon another, which should not be thrown down, only because of the way in which they had abused their privileges, trampled on their mercies, and forgotten the covenant while they walked in the very presence of their God.

II. APPLICATION:

1. These words of our Lord give no sort of encouragement to the notion which has often prevailed, and has been much repeated in our days, of its being utterly immaterial what kind of fabric we dedicate to the Most High; that all must be alike to Him, and the meanest sufficiently acceptable in His sight; inasmuch as He dwelleth not in temples made with hands, and can be as well honoured within walls of clay, as beneath the stateliest roof that ever was raised by man. When men live, according to their respective degrees, in a state which God has prospered--dwelling, if not, like David, in houses of cedar, at least in those of competence and comfort--it is not for them to suffer the Ark of God to remain within curtains; and though to the wanderer in the desert, or the colonist in his new settlement, the best tent or cot he could procure might be meet for the service of his God, yet it is not so for a society of Englishmen, dwelling in the very bosom of their highly favoured country and Church. How far are we using our Redeemers sanctuary upon earth, in such a manner as that, when this fails, we may be received into a building of God; a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens We must not forget the possibility there is that we might be walking in the judicial blindness of Israel, whilst we are possessed of all the light, and all the means of grace, with which the Christian Church is entrusted. (J. Puckle.)

Admiration for the outward form rather than for the spiritual meaning

Is there any one Christian, however austere, who, on entering the body of our cathedral not for the first time but the twentieth, and allowing his eye to wander along its avenue of columns, or into the depth at once so mysterious and so impressive, of the distant choir; or towards those arches, at once light and bold, which, like a vigorous vegetation on each pilaster, throw out and intertwine their stems at the centre--is there any one who has not said to himself, How beautiful this is! what harmony! what unison among all these stones! what music in this architecture! what poetry in this edifice! Those who reared it are dead, but though dead they still speak to us; and their conception, full of adoration, their conception, a species of prayer, is so united to their work, that we think we feel it and breathe it as we advance within these walls which carry us over a vista of ages. Such is our feeling; and if we are not alone, we can scarcely help giving it utterance. Thus, doing: what the disciples did when they exclaimed, What stones! what buildings! might we not hater ourselves addressed by our Lord in words of reproof, Is it this you are looking at? And why should we not be reproved if our soul goes no farther than our eye, if it stops where our eye is obliged to stop; if symbols, appearances, visible things, hold it captive; ii the splendours of art chain down our heart to the earth instead of raising it to heaven? This is the censure which Jesus Christ passes on His disciples. He had looked into their souls, and there detected that lust of the flesh, that lust of the eye, and that pride of life, which are the three connecting chains by which the enemy of God links us closely to outer darkness. The man and the Jew were equally revealed in that involuntary exclamation; man, dazzled by whatever is seen, and filled with contempt for what is not seen; the Jew, proud of the exterior pomp of a worship, the deep meaning and internal idea of which had long escaped him, and attaching himself obstinately to the law--in other words, a shadow, at the very moment when this law was more than ever a shadow.

Is it this you are looking at? What! these few grains of dust, which are large only because you are little? What! these gifts extorted by fear, vanity, and custom, from individuals who refused to begin by giving themselves to God? What! the gorgeous falsehood of these marbles and gildings, of all those ornaments, the pious import of which has long since been forgotten? Is it this you are looking at? (A. Vinet, D. D.)

Looking at the true grandeur of Christianity

Christianity has taken a form in the world; it has become visible. Travelling over ages, and propagating itself in the world, it has assumed a place among the things to which the world pays regard; and besides this grandeur of space and duration which procures it a species of respect on the part of the most indifferent, it has, by its intellectual grandeur (I mean by the grandeur of the ideas which it expresses, and those which it suggests), captivated the regard and admiration of thinkers. Thus is it great after the fashion of the world. Beware of admiring it most of all for that grandeur. Let us fear lest its true grandeur escape our notice. Let us not allow our eye to be misled, and oblige Jesus Christ to say to us again, Is it this you are looking at? How great our misfortune if we should have entered the empire of the invisible only to link ourselves more securely to the visible, and if in the kingdom of spirit we should have been able only to find the world! How miserable, if trusting to those vain and hollow words, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, we should neglect, as the prophet says in the same place, thoroughly to amend our ways and our doings (Jer_7:4-5). To look only to this twofold greatness of Christianity, the material and intellectual, is truly to do like the first companions of Jesus Christ, to fix our look upon stones. fast thoughts, secular traditions, splendid recollections, all these are stones; cold materials, hard and dead. There are other stones, living stones, which form together a spiritual building, a holy priesthood (1Pe_2:5). (A. Vinet, D. D.)

Warnings

1. That sin has laid the foundation of ruin in the most flourishing cities and kingdoms; Jerusalem, the glory of the world, is here by sin threatened to be made a desolation.

2. That the threatenings of God are to be feared, and shalt be fulfilled, whatever appearing improbabilities there may be to the contrary. It is neither the temples strength, nor beauty, that can oppose or withstand Gods power. (W. Burkitt.)

The destruction of the temple foretold

With this scene before them they must have found it harder still to acquiesce in the thought of the destruction of the city and temple. But the prediction of their overthrow contained an important lesson for the disciples and for us. It is this--

I. INSTITUTIONS AND SYSTEMS OF RELIGION OPPOSED TO CHRIST, HOWEVER STRONG AND SPLENDID THEY MAY APPEAR, ARE DOOMED TO DESTRUCTION. They have no guarantee for their continuance and perpetuity in the splendour and massive strength of their temples, Error is weak and on the road to downfall, no matter how strong it looks, and truth is strong and on the way to victory, no matter how weak and insignificant it appears. Other religions besides Judaism have illustrated these truths. It was thus with the ancient Greek and Roman religions. When Paul went to Ephesus, where the goddess Diana was worshipped, her temple so magnificent and stately was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world. What was thus witnessed in the ancient world, wherever and whenever its religions came in contact and conflict with Christianity, is repeated in every age. It is being witnessed to-day in Japan and in India where long-established systems of religion, with imposing rites and magnificent temples, are gradually being undermined by the influence of the gospel. The splendid and massive structures in which those religions have been enshrined have no power to preserve them. They are crumbling before the preaching of the Cross. They belong to those transitory human things, whose fate a brilliant English historian compares to that of icebergs drifting southward out of the frozen seas. So long as the equilibrium is sustained you would think they were stable as the rocks. But the sea-water is warmer than the air. Hundreds of fathoms down the tepid current washes the base of the berg. Silently in those far deeps the centre of gravity is changed, and then, in a moment, with one vast roll, the enormous mass heaves over, and the crystal peaks which had been glancing so proudly in the sunlight are buried in the ocean for ever.

II. THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST ARE TO EXPECT AND BE ON THEIR GUARD AGAINST IMPOSTORS AND FALSE CHRISTS. Many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many. The liability to be deceived by such impostors exists in all men. For in the souls of all there is an expectation of, or longing for, a mighty deliverer like the Messiah of the prophets. If Jesus is rejected, or not confidently believed in as the true Christ, some false Christ is likely to win their faith and lead astray.

III. JESUS TEACHES HIS DISCIPLES THAT BEFORE HIS RELIGION FINALLY TRIUMPHS THEY MUST HEAR AND SUFFER AND WITNESS MANY DREADFUL AND DISTRESSING THINGS AS INCIDENTS IN ITS CONQUEST OF THE WORLD. Ye shall hear, he said, of wars and rumours of wars … Nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be earthquakes in divers places; there shall be famines … They shall deliver you up to councils; and in synagogues ye shall be beaten; and before governors and kings shall ye stand for My sake for a testimony unto them. But the fearful prophecy was mingled with words that spanned the dark cloud with a rainbow of hope. Be not troubled, He said; these things must needs come to pass … these things are the beginning of travail. They must needs come to pass, because they were the inevitable consequences of sin--the retribution long delayed but steadily accumulating, for the sins ofthe nation in the past.

IV. IN THIS CONFLICT WITH SIN AND FALSE RELIGION THEY SHOULD RELY FOR DEFENCE AND FOR VICTORY UPON THE DIVINE HELP.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 21:5-6. And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones — Such as no engine now in use could have brought, or even set upon each other. Some of them (as an eye-witness who lately measured them writes) were forty-five cubits long, five high, and six broad, yet brought thither from another country. See this more fully elucidated Mat 24:1, and Mar 13:2. And gifts — Which persons delivered from imminent dangers, had, in accomplishment of their vows, hung on the walls and pillars. The hanging up such αναθηματα, or consecrated gifts, was common in most of the ancient temples. Tacitus speaks of the immense opulence of the temple at Jerusalem. (Hist. Luk 5:8.) Among others of its treasures, there was a golden table, given by Pompey; and several golden vines, of exquisite workmanship, as well as immense size; which some have thought referred to God’s representing the Jewish nation under the emblem of a vine, Isa 5:1-7; Psa 80:8; Eze 15:2; Eze 15:6. He said, The days will come when there shall not be left one stone upon another — The accomplishment of this prediction is proved and illustrated, Mat 24:2, and Mar 13:2.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

§ 118.—JESUS FORETELLS THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM, AND DISTINGUISHES IT FROM THE FINAL JUDGMENT, Luk_21:5-36.

Matthew 24, 25; Mark 13.

Of our Lord’s discourse, Matthew’s report reads like a somewhat verbal sketch of an actual hearer, yet so abridged as to omit parts requisite to a complete understanding. Mark’s is a smaller sketch, still more abbreviated; while Luke’s seems rather a report from memory, giving rather the substance than the words, yet supplying parts requisite for an exact understanding of Matthew.

As a somewhat dimmer report, Luke exhibits faint traces of the four points of the contrast between the destruction of Jerusalem and the judgment day, which we have found in Matthew. Without giving a warning of the distinction, (Luk_21:8-9,) he exhibits one great contrast between the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews (Luk_21:10-24) on the one hand, and the judgment day (Luk_21:25-27) on the other. Then Luk_21:28-33 furnish the warning, parallel to Mat_24:32-35, to provide for the troubles of the destruction; and Luk_21:34-38 are the compressed parallel of all the discourses of Matthew 25.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. The Secrets of the Future (Luk_21:5-36)

First Part (Luk_21:5-24)

(Parallel to Mat_24:1-21; Mar_13:1-19.)

5And as some spake of the temple, how [or, that] it was adorned with goodly stones 6and gifts [offerings, ἀνθέμασιν], he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down [καταλυθήσεται]. 7And they asked him, saying, Master [Teacher], but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall [are about to] come to pass? 8And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye nottherefore [om., therefore3] after them. 9But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by [but not immediately is the end].—10Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 11And great earthquakes shall [there] be in divers places, and [put “and” after “be”4] famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 12But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. 13And it shall turn 14[result] to you for a testimony. Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 15For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay [oppose5] nor resist. 16And ye shall be betrayed [delivered up] both [or, even] by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death [shall they put to death, θανατώσουσιν.] 17, 18And ye shall be hated of [by] all men for my name’s sake. But [Καί] there shall not a hair of [ἐκ] your head perish. 19In your patience possess ye your souls [By your endurance shall ye gain your souls (or, lives, ψυχά6)]. 20And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it [i. e., Jerusalem] depart out; and let not them that are in the countries [country parts] enter thereinto. 22For these be [are] the [om., the] days of 23vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But [om., But] woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land [or, upon the earth], and wrath upon this people. 24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all [the] nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles [shall be a city trodden down by Gentiles], until the times [καιροί] of the Gentiles be [are] fulfilled.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

The eschatological discourse with which our Saviour, according to all the Synoptics, closes His public work as Teacher, has been at all times and justly reckoned among the greatest of the cruces interpretum. It is easier to propose a greater or less number of objections against any explanation of it than ourselves to give an interpretation thereof which should leave no difficulties remaining. The principal literature on this question we find given in Lange on Matthew and Mark, to which may yet be added an unquestionably interesting dissertation by E. Scherer, upon Jesus’ prophecies of the end, in the Beiträge zu den theologischen Wissenschaften von Reuss und Cunitz, ii. pp. 63–83, Jena, 1851. Comp. the critical Comm. on the Eschatological Discourse, Mat_24:25, by J. C. Meyer, Franf. a. d. O. 1857, and an exegetical exposition by H. Cremer, Ueber die Eschatol. Rede J. Chr., Mat_24:25, Stuttg. 1860. So much we may well assume, as indeed almost all are now agreed, that as well the view of those who here understand exclusively (Michaelis, Bahrdt, Eckermann, Henke, and others), as also the opinion of those who here will allow no reference to Jerusalem’s destruction (Baur, Kan. Ev., p. 605), is entirely untenable. It is therefore established that here the discourse is of the destruction of Jerusalem, and at the same time of the end of the world, and it can only be the question in what connection these two events stand to one another in the prophetic portraiture of our text. For the solution of this enigma it is, above all, necessary that we well understand the question which the disciples addressed to the Master, and which in its original form Matthew has most faithfully communicated to us. They ask when these things (ταῦτα) shall be, and can on psychological grounds be thinking of nothing else than of the destruction of the city and the temple, the prophecy of which had just before shaken them to their inmost soul. They inquire besides after the sign of the coming of the Lord and the end of the world. By no means have they here two different events, but only two sides of one and the same event in their mind. Yet mindful of the declaration, Mat_23:37-39, they coördinate the fall of the temple, His παρουσία, and the conclusion of the present world-period (αἰών). They had, that is, as genuine Jews, hitherto ever conceived that the temple would stand eternally, and Jerusalem be the centre whither all the nations should stream together, in order to enjoy with the Jews the blessings of the Messianic reign (the assertion of Ebrard, Ev. Krit., p. 611, that the Jews had expected even in the Messianic time a severe conflict and with it the destruction of the temple, is at least unproved; better has De Wette, on Mat_24:3, elucidated the subject); but now they have in the days and hours immediately preceding heard something by which this conception of theirs has been disturbed. They had believed that the Christ would remain eternally here below, and that the temple would outlast time; but now they hear that the Christ shall die, and the temple become a heap of ruins. How could they, as born Israelites, after this last fact, imagine any further continuance of the earthly economy? And yet they still expect as ever a glorious παρουσία of the Messiah, which in everything shall be the opposite of His present humble manifestation. Naturally they conceived this as occurring not after, but contemporaneously with, the fall of the temple, and desire therefore to know by what previous tokens they might recognize the approach of the decisive catastrophe, in which the great double event shall break in.

What now shall our Lord do in order to speak to them according to their receptivity and their need? Shall He say to them that the one fact shall be separated from the other by an interval of so many centuries? Then He would have had to give entirely up His own principle, Joh_16:12. With deep wisdom He places Himself, therefore, upon the position of the inquirers, and starts, it is true, from the destruction of Jerusalem, but in order at the same time to attach to this a delineation of the συντέλεια τοῦ αἰῶος. However, we must from our point of view hold the different attempts to indicate a definite point in this discourse, when our Lord leaves the first object and afterwards speaks exclusively of the second, as rather doubtful. It has, for instance, been believed that we find such in Mat_24:29, but Luk_21:34, impartially explained, gives us plainly to see that even after this He yet speaks of events which the generation then living should behold. If we, therefore, will not assume that our Lord Himself erred in so important a case, or that the Evangelists have not at all understood His eschatological discourse, or have inaccurately reported it—assumptions which, from a believing point of view, the Christian consciousness condemns in the strongest manner,—there then is nothing left for us but to assume that our Lord speaks indeed of the destruction of Jerusalem, but all this regarded as a type of the last judgment of the world. In other words, that He speaks prophetically of the earlier as a type of the later. Jerusalem’s destruction, but apprehended in its ideal significance, is and remains, therefore, the theme of the discourse, yet so that He from this point of view at the same time beholds and prophesies the destruction of the earthly economy in general that follows afterwards. Here also the peculiarity of prophetic vision is to be borne in mind, in which the conception of time recedes before that of space, and what is successive appears as coördinate. “Prophetia est ut pictura regionis cujusdam, quœ in proximo tecta et colles et pontes notat distincte, procul valles et montes latissime patentes in angustum cogit: sic enim debet etiam esse eorum, qui prophetiam legunt, prospectus in futurum, cui se prophetia accommodat.” Bengel. Both events flow in His representation so together, that the interval almost wholly recedes, and the tokens of His coming, which already begin to reveal themselves before the destruction of the City and of the Temple, are repeated in ever-increasing measure, the nearer the last judgment draws on. Therefore the interpreter must content himself if he is able to point out that all the here-threatened tribulations have already had a beginning of fulfilment in the period which immediately preceded the destruction of Jerusalem,—a beginning which then again bears the germ of subsequent fulfilments in itself, even as the fruit lies hidden in the bud.

On this interpretation, therefore, the eschatological discourse contains the exact answer to the question of the disciples, and it is from this sufficiently explained why in the apostolic epistles the expectation of a speedy return of our Lord arose, so that, for instance, Paul could entertain the thought of a possibility of himself even living to see it (1Th_4:15; 2Co_5:4, and elsewhere). They saw the signs foretokening the destruction of Jerusalem come nearer and nearer, and had not yet learned from the Lord that even after this event the present economy should endure, yea, for centuries. The attentive reader will, however, not overlook the intimations which are plainly given here and there in this discourse, that the coming of the Lord should, nevertheless, not take place so soon as many believed, and that with Jerusalem’s destruction the last word of the world’s history would not by any means be yet uttered (comp. Mat_24:48; Mat_25:5; Mat_25:19; Luk_21:24). As concerns, finally, the relation of the different Synoptics to one another, in reference to the setting forth of this discourse of Jesus, we cannot agree with the expositors who think that the praise of greater originality or exactness belongs to Mark or Luke. Unquestionably, in this respect, Matthew deserves the preference, while we, on the other hand, meet, especially in Luke, with a freer, more fragmentary redaction of the whole discourse. Many utterances of special importance are preserved more complete by Matthew and Mark; on the other hand, we meet in Luke with particular singularia, which in and of themselves deserve the highest attention, and assist the view over the great whole of this discourse in many relations. For the locality of the discourse, Matthew and Mark must be compared. An admirable picture by Begas seizes the moment when our Lord is sitting with His four friends at evening-time upon the Mount of Olives, and is disclosing to them the secrets of the future.

Luk_21:5. And as some spake of the temple.—Manifestly these words were not uttered after but during the leaving of the temple. It is as though the disciples, most deeply moved by the farewell to the temple (Mat_23:37-39), now seek to become the intercessors for the heavily-doomed sanctuary. They show Him the building (Matthew), which yet, far from being completed, appears to promise to the sanctuary a longer duration; the masses of stone (Mark), which may yet defy many centuries; the votive offerings with which (Luke) munificence and ostentation had adorned the house of the Lord. These ἀναθήματα had been for the greatest part offered by heathens; for instance, the holy vessels by the Emperor Augustus, other vessels again by the Egyptian Philadelphus, especially the magnificent golden vine which Herod the Great had presented, as Josephus relates, De Bell. Jud. vi. 5, 2, A. J. xv. 11, 8. If we now consider that according to the prophetic declarations, for instance, Psalms 72; Isaiah 60, the heathen also should bring their gifts and offerings to Zion, it is then doubly intelligible that the Apostles found in these very objects one ground the more for their hope of the continuance of the sanctuary.

Luk_21:6. As for these things which ye behold.—Nominative absolute, to indicate the subject, which now in our Saviour’s discourse is to be made sufficiently plain. By this very construction the antithesis becomes the stronger, which prevails between the light in which that which is seen there yet displays itself, and the fate that impended over it. “It is very remarkable that the Hellenic Gospel, which, according to the words of Christ, has especially kept in mind the relation between beauty of manifestation in its truth and beauty of manifestation in empty guise, has attached His prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the judgment of the world, immediately to an allusion to the beauty and rich splendor of the temple.”

There shall not be left one stone upon another.—Comp. Luk_19:43-44. In order rightly to comprehend the full force of the antithesis, we must represent to ourselves the whole magnificence of the sanctuary, over which later Jewish scholars exclaimed with wonder, “He that has not seen the temple of Herod has never beheld anything glorious.” See the notes on the parallels in Matthew and Mark.

Luk_21:7. When … and what sign.—Their question is, therefore, a double one; they wish to know precisely the point of time, and to recognize the tokens of this approaching catastrophe. Our Lord answers only the last question, while He in reference to the first gives to them only general intimations (comp. Mat_24:34-36). The signs which He gives are at the same time of such a nature that they, in fact, are only to be seen precursorily at the destruction of Jerusalem, but will appear decisively and in their full force only at the end of the world. It is here as with the boxes containing one within the other [Chinese boxes].

Luk_21:8. Take heed.—In Luke, as in Matthew and Mark, the warning against being seduced by false Messiahs stands first. It is not to be denied that before the destruction of Jerusalem, so far as we know, no deceivers appeared to play a strictly Messianic part; Bar Cochba, the first of these more than sixty deceivers, did not come up till afterwards. See Eusebius, H. E., iv. 6. But, certainly, there already lay in the misleading influence of a Jonathan, Theudas, Dositheus, Simon, Menander, and others, the germs of the same delusion which afterwards appeared more decidedly in the form of a false Messiahship. Bear in mind how the Goëtæ, by promises of miracles, allured many thousands into the wilderness, and thereby into destruction. Comp. Act_5:36-37; Act_21:38; Homily 76 of Chrysostom on Matthew. Thus did the general signs of the world’s end begin really to go into fulfilment with the destruction of Jerusalem.

Luk_21:10. Then said He unto them.—According to the representation of Luke the warning against misleaders was only something preliminary, an introduction, as it were, after which our Lord goes on to handle the question proposed, particularly and regularly.

Nation shall rise against nation.—The insurrections, earthquakes, famines, and other plagues, which are here adduced, were before the destruction of Jerusalem by no means so insignificant as, for instance, De Wette asserts. Bear in mind the massacres at Cæsarea, between Syrians and Jews, in which 20,000 of the latter fell, while in Syria almost every city was divided into two armies, which stood opposed to one another as deadly enemies; the quick succession of the five emperors in Rome within a few years, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, and the tumults connected therewith in wider and narrower circles; the famine under Claudius, Act_11:30; the earthquakes at the time of Nero in Campania and Asia, in which whole cities perished; the singular and terrifying signs in Judæa of which Josephus and Tacitus speak, and we have historical cases enough for the explanation of this mysterious declaration of our Lord. Yet, above all, we should lay the emphasis on His declaration in Matthew and Mark, that all these things are only ἀρχαὶ ὠδίνων, so that we have by no means to understand exclusively the wars, &c., which were to take place in the interval of forty years; but all the calamities of this Kind which in continually increasing measure should precede the end of the world, of which the destruction of Jerusalem was only the type. In another form the same thought is still more intimated than expressed in that which immediately follows, Luk_21:12.

Luk_21:12. But before all these.—The assertion of Meyer, ad loc., that this statement of time is, perhaps, a later modification of the tradition, ex eventu, rests upon the dogmatic preconception that our Lord could not have predicted to His disciples that their personal persecution should precede these last calamities. But the farther the last words of Luk_21:11 extend beyond the great catastrophe of Jerusalem’s destruction, so much the more natural is it also that our Lord points His disciples to that which awaits them even before.—Shall lay their hands on you, ἐπιβάλλειν.—Of course, with a hostile intent. A noticeable climax is found in the here-indicated persecutions. The lightest form is in a certain sense the delivery over to the synagogues, namely, in order to be there scourged, comp. Mat_10:17. A severe conflict impends over them when they are brought before kings and governors to give a testimony to the faith, comp. Mat_10:18. The worst awaits them when they (Luk_21:16) shall be delivered up by their parents, relatives, and friends. However, they have in the midst of this distress a threefold consolation: 1. All this is done for the sake of the Lord’s name (έ̓νεκα), comp. Act_5:41; Acts 2. it shall turn to them for a testimony; ἀποβήσεται, here, as in Php_1:19, the intimation of a salutary result; the persecutions mentioned shall serve as opportunity to the apostles to give a witness concerning their Lord, which here, as in Act_18:11, is represented as something great and glorious. Finally, they shall in such moments be least wanting in the sense of the nearness of their Lord.

Luk_21:14. Settle it therefore in your hearts.—See on Luk_12:11; Mat_10:19-20. A promise of so high significance might be fittingly repeated. What they, according to our Lord’s will, are to settle in their hearts is, as it were, an antidote to the care which should afterwards fill their hearts. “Id unum laborate, ne laboretis.” Bengel. The ground of the encouragement is the ἐγὼ δώσω of our Lord, that involuntarily reminds us of the Divine word which Moses received at his calling at the burning bush, Exo_4:12.—Mouth and wisdom.—Mouth, concrete expression for the words themselves which they were to utter; wisdom, the gift of delivering these words befittingly, according to time, place, and the like. Thus is everything needful promised them as well for the material as for the formal part of their defence, so that continued opposition should become extremely hard for their antagonists. It is, of course, understood that here it is not an absolute but a relative impossibility that is spoken of, and that, therefore, not only Act_6:10, but also Act_7:51; Act_13:8-10, and other passages, must be compared.

Luk_21:16. And ye shall he delivered up.—The notices of the Acts and of the Epistles are too brief to admit of the mention of special examples of the fulfilment of this prophecy. This declaration, moreover, is not addressed to the Apostles as such, but so far as they were the representatives of the first believers generally.—Some of you shall they put to death.—More definitely expressed than the general ἀποκτενοῦσιν ὑμᾶς in Matthew. Among the four auditors of our Lord was found James, who was to be the first martyr [among the Apostles.—C. C. S.], and Peter, upon whom the subsequent prophecy (Joh_21:18-19) was fulfilled. But these were to be only the first fruits of an incalculable harvest of martyrs, who in the course of the centuries should fall for the cause of the Saviour, and the Apocalypse gives us only a vague foreboding of what outbreaks of iniquity, even in this respect, are hidden in the bosom of the mysterious future.

Luk_21:17. Hated by all men.—In the apostolic epistles, e. g., Rom_8:35-37; 1Co_4:9-10; 2Co_11:23-29; Heb_10:32-34, we find a rich array of proofs for the exact fulfilment of this word, even in the first period of the church. Bear in mind also the dangers which the flight of the first Christians to the Trans-Jordanic Pella gave occasion to, and, above all, do not overlook how this hatred also in its different phases becomes more and more intense the more rapidly the history and development of God’s kingdom hastens to its end.

Luk_21:18. But there shall not a hair.—Comp. Luk_12:7; Mat_10:30. Of course no assurance that they should in no case be slain, but only that they should be inviolable upon earth so long as they were necessary for the service of the Lord, as also that even their death should redound εἰς σωτηρίαν and to the glory of Christ; Php_1:19. And with this promise of absolute security in a negative respect, they are at the same time also assured of their absolute security on the positive side: By your endurance, &c.

Luk_21:19. Gain your souls. Κτήσεσθε.—Although the κτήσασθε of the Recepta is strongly supported by external authority, yet the internal arguments in favor of the reading of A., B. [not Cod. Sin.] are in our eyes of prevailing weight. “The Recepta is an interpretamentum of the future understood imperatively.” Meyer. We have here, therefore, the obverse of the promise, Luk_21:18; so far from a hair of their head being hurt (comp. Act_27:34), they should on the other hand, by their perseverance in the midst of all these persecutions, preserve their souls, their life. By ὑπομονή we are not to understand patience, but, as in Rom_5:4; Jam_1:3-4, endurance; and to explain κτᾶσθαι not (De Wette) in the sense of εὑρίσκειν, Mat_16:25; but rather in that of “maintain, preserve.” (1Th_4:4.) It is moreover of course understood, that we are by the preservation of the soul not to understand the natural life in itself, but the true life, whose loss or maintenance is for the disciple of the Saviour the greatest question of life. [It is difficult to indicate in English the double meaning of ψυχή, which denotes both soul and life.—C. C. S.] By endurance they were to preserve this true life, even if they for it should lose the life of the body. We find here therefore, in other words, the same promise which is given Mat_24:13; Rev_2:10, and elsewhere, while, on the other hand, the admonition which, according to the common explanation, is found in this verse: Maintain the soul in patience (comp. Heb_10:36), rests upon an incorrect reading, and without doubt would have had to be otherwise expressed.

Luk_21:20. And when ye shall see Jerusalem.—Comp. Lange on Mat_24:15. The mention of the armies stands in Luke in the place of the abomination of desolation mentioned by Matthew and Mark, and the prophecy of Daniel, which is very especially important for the Jewish Christians of Matthew, Luke leaves out in his representation. The very uncertainty of so many expositors in reference to the proper signification of the βδέλυγμμ τῆς ἐρημώσεως, is a proof the more how much has been done for the desecration of the holy ground, so that we scarcely know any longer what we have principally to understand. According to the redaction of Luke, even the appearance of the hostile hosts before Jerusalem is an ominous sign, and the disciples are to know that even with the most valiant defence, there is no deliverance any longer to be hoped for.

Luk_21:21. Then let them which are in Judæa.—Commendation of a hasty flight as the only means of deliverance. In Judæa one finds himself in the heart of the population, and therefore he must seek to reach the lonesome mountains; at any cost he must leave the city, and if he is happy enough to get out of it at the right time he shall under no pretext return.—Ἐν ταῖς χῶραις, not in regionibus (Bretschneider, De Wette), but in agris, where the principal Jews often inhabited country houses. For more particular directions as to their flight, see Matthew.

Luk_21:22. Days of vengeance.—That is, not days in which the one people takes vengeance on the disobedience and refractoriness of the other people, but in which God the Lord accomplishes His judgments upon His enemies. Here the declaration of Moses (Psa_90:11), finds its application.—May be fulfilled.—According to the express declaration of our Lord, therefore, the fall of the city and the temple also is already prophesied in the Old Testament. We may call to mind Deuteronomy 28, which in a certain sense may be named the ground-theme which was afterwards further carried out in the prophetical Scriptures. Daniel also may be included, yet he is by no means especially and exclusively meant. Instead of a citation of the prophetic word, we find in Luke only a general statement, which however evidently shows that this whole prophesying of our Lord is nothing else than the prolongation and continuance of the line which had been drawn centuries before. It is moreover noticeable how recognizably the stamp of Divine retribution was impressed upon the fate of Jerusalem and the temple, even for heathen eyes. We may call to mind the expression even of a Titus: “That God was so angry with this people that even he feared His wrath if he should suffer grace to be shown to the Jews,” and how he refused every mark of honor on account of the victory obtained, with the attestation that he had been only an instrument in God’s hands to punish this stiff-necked nation. Comp. the well-known expressions of Josephus, as to the height which the wickedness of his contemporaries had reached.

Luk_21:23. Woe unto them that are with child.—An οὐαί not of imprecation, but of bitter lament, in which the compassion and sympathy of the Saviour expresses itself. [Equivalent to: Alas, for them!—C. C. S.] Comp. Luk_23:29. Such women would be less fitted for rapid flight, without, however, on account of their condition finding compassion. The ground of this fact is a double one: great distress upon earth (entirely general), and especially great wrath upon this people. Thus nowhere does a refuge present itself, neither in nor out of Judæa. Comp. Isa_26:20; Rev_6:16-17.

Luk_21:24. And they shall fall.—A more particular setting forth of the fate of the Jews, which the result confirmed most terrifically. According to Josephus, the number of the slain amounted to 1,100,000; 97,000 were dragged as prisoners mostly to Egypt and the provinces. Comp. Deu_28:64.—Ἔσται πατουμένη, Jerusalem shall be a city trodden down by the heathen; not alone an intimation of her desecration by a heathen garrison (De Wette), but a designation of all the scornful outrages to which the capital should be given over. Comp. Lamentations 4. Nor is there any more reason here by the entirely general mention of έ̓θνη to understand the Romans exclusively. On the other hand, we may here find the announcement of the interval of centuries in which the most different nations, in almost uninterrupted succession, have trodden down Jerusalem:—Titus, Hadrian, Chosroes, the Mussulmen, the Crusaders, and the later dominion of Islam,—an interval that yet endures, and whose end shall be appointed only when the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled.

The times of the Gentiles, καιροὶ ἐθνῶν.—Not the times of the calling of the Gentiles (Stier), by which an entirely foreign thought would be interpolated; but the times which are predestined to the Gentiles for the fulfilment of these Divine judgments. That by καιροί a long interval is intimated (Dorner), appears, it is true, not from this plural in itself, but from the whole connection, according to which these καιροί shall endure even to the final term, and (comp. Mat_24:29) shall finally be cut short by the last act of the drama of the history of the world. Remarkable is this expression in the first place, because an evident intimation lies hidden therein, that, after the fall of Jerusalem, there is yet a period of indefinite duration to be awaited; and secondly, because a thought of the restoration of Jerusalem gleams through, which is elsewhere expressed even more plainly.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. Without ground have some taken offence at the manner in which our Lord here speaks of His Parusia, and wished to discover therein an irreconcilable antagonism between the Synoptics and the fourth Gospel. John also knows an ἐσχάτη ἡμέρα and a personal παρουσία of the Lord, although this in His spiritual Gospel comes forward with less prominence into the foreground; on the other hand, the Synoptical representation has nothing that would favor a grossly sensuous conception in reference to the secrets of the future. We should have good right to wonder at the eschatological conceptions which are found, for instance, in Paul’s Epistles to the Corinthians and Thessalonians, if they had not the least Christian historical foundation in just such sayings of our Lord as we meet with in this discourse. The narrative of the Synoptics must in the nature of the case be offensive to all those who from dogmatical grounds find it incredible that the Lord should so long beforehand have with entire exactness foreseen and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem; but never will a purely historical criticism allow itself to be guided or intimidated by such a purely arbitrary conclusion a non posse ad non esse. And whoever attentively compares the prophecy with the result, will soon discover that it is entirely impossible to think here of a vaticinium post eventum. A so intimate amalgamation of two so heterogeneous events as the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, was in the nature of the case only possible before, but no longer after the former event had taken place; besides that it would have been psychologically impossible for the inventor who, after the fall of Jerusalem, had composed this discourse and put it in the mouth of our Lord, to give so simple, so general, so brief and incomplete, a portrayal of the destruction of Jerusalem, since certainly the result offered him abundant material, and therewith an irresistible temptation, to embellish his picture with richer colors, and to make his prophecy more exciting. Had the Synoptics not written until after the destruction of Jerusalem, it would have been easier for them, like John, to be entirely silent about the event, than to place it in such a light that the very event seemingly convicted the prophecy of falsehood.

2. It is by no means arbitrary that our Lord joins the destruction of the temple and the end of the world so intimately together. For on the one hand it is historically proved that the fall of the Jewish state was the indispensably necessary condition to free the youthful Christendom from the limits of a confined nationality, to elevate it into the religion of the world, and therefore mightily to prepare the revelation of the glory of the Lord, and the triumph of His kingdom over the heathen world. On the other hand, Jerusalem and the temple, even in the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament, bear a typical and symbolical character. Zion stands there not alone as the local seat, but also as the visible image of the whole theocracy in its settled strength and beauty, and the whole Christianized world may in a certain sense be called a new spiritual Jerusalem Is it, therefore, a wonder if the judgment upon Jerusalem serves at the same time as a mirror for the last judgment of the world? The destruction of the city and the temple was the first of those great world-events which forwarded the brilliant, triumphant, continually more powerful coming of the Lord. Herewith the series of events is opened which in the course of centuries was destined to coöperate powerfully for the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. Ever more glorious does Christ appear on the ruins of annihilated temples and thrones; in continually greater measure do the here-indicated tokens of His coming appear; misleadings, persecutions, insurrections, &c. Finally, the kingdom of light celebrates its highest triumph, after the might of darkness has immediately before concentrated its highest energy, and the destruction of the whole earthly economy is only the continuance and completion of the fall of the original seat of the Israelitish Theocracy. Whoever shall hereafter at the end of the world look back as the Lord here looked forward, he will discover that the long course of time between the destruction of the Temple and the destruction of the World, was nothing else than a great interval of continually richer manifestations of grace, and of continually severer judgments.

3. “Die Weltgeschichte, das Weltgericht.” “The history of the world is the world’s judgment.” Schiller. The eschatological discourse of our Lord is especially adapted to bring into view as well the relative truth as also the superficial one-sidedness of this famous word of the poet. That facts like the fall of Jerusalem are Divine judgments, and that, therefore, the history of the world may be called the striking revelation of an inexorable Nemesis, our Lord said centuries ago. But that all these Divine judgments are only preliminary, only typical, only prophecies of that which hereafter shall take place before the eyes of heaven and earth at the expiration of the earthly economy, must be just as little forgotten. The Johannean idea of κρίσις finds its complement precisely in the Synoptical delineation of the ἐσχάτη ἡμέρα, and it remains therefore true, that the poet’s utterance of the world-judgment of history must be complemented in this manner: that it is not yet for that the final judgment.

4. The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Jews stands forth here not only as a destiny tragical beyond compare, but as a Divine judgment, whose ultimate cause can be obscure to no believing Christian, The present condition of Israel is the grand argument for the authority of the Prophet who, proclaimed all this eighteen centuries ago and whom they therefore unthankfully rejected. For that very reason we clearly see the decided unchristianness of such an emancipation of the Jews as is wont to be urged in our days, under the motto of freedom and culture. The right of hospitality for the banished ones of Judah cannot be ardently enough enjoined, nor too large-heartedly practiced; but it becomes an actual injustice when Christians suffer themselves to be by these very Jews, only temporarily abiding among them, in any way hindered in the enjoyment of their Christian privileges and in the practice of their Christian duties. But this modern denial of Christ, therefore, avenges itself not less than the Jewish rejection of the Messiah; when Christians bring the Jews their Christ as a sacrifice, the Jews begin with material and moral power to control the Christian state, and liberalism, which is especially upheld, moreover, by Jewish Deistic influence, prepares the way for indifferentism, which finally—of course always under the excellent motto of enlightenment and right—leads to Atheism. Here also holds good our Saviour’s word: βλέπετε, μλανθῆτε.

[Without pretending to concur unqualifiedly in all these remarks of our author, which in part rest upon Millenarian views that I do not share, it appears to me that there is great force, nevertheless, in his words: “When Christians bring the Jews their Christ as a sacrifice, the Jews begin with material and moral power to control the Christian state.” Take, as an instance, the assumption of the Jews—an insignificant fraction of our population—to dictate the forms of the fast and thanksgiving proclamations issued by our civil authorities, and to insist on every distinctively Christian feature—except the date—being expunged from them. How long will the Christians of our country tolerate this studious omission of the name of Christ in documents inviting the people to a worship which, for nine-tenths of them, can only be a Christian worship?—C. C. S.]

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

Appearances deceive.—The temple in the days of Jesus, a beautiful form without life.—Earthly pomp: 1. In its outward brilliancy; 2. in its inward perishableness.—With the disciple of the Lord the sensuous perception must become a viewing with the spiritual eye.—The Apocalyptical tendency in the Christian life of faith not condemned or opposed by our Lord, but satisfied and sanctified.—The peculiar dangers to which the disciple of the Lord is exposed by the view into the future.—The false Christs who precede the coming of the true: 1. The judgment that precedes them; 2. the brilliancy that accompanies them; 3. the shame that follows them.—Diabolus simia Dei.—How the disciple of the Lord: 1. Must tremble when every one goes carelessly along; 2. must not be terrified when every one is seized with horror.—The end is not yet: 1. A word of righteous joy; 2. a word of holy earnestness.—New periods of development in the kingdom of Christ joined with mighty convulsions in the kingdom of nature: 1. So was it ever; 2. so is it yet; 3. so will it hereafter be in the highest measure.—The persecution of the disciples a sign of the coming of the Lord which: 1. Will be given first of all; 2. longest of all.—How the loss of the servants of the Lord becomes a gain to His cause and to the kingdom of God.—“Persecuted but not forsaken,” the fate of the disciple of Christ.—“I will give you a mouth and wisdom,”—how this word has been fulfilled: 1. In the apostles, 2. in the first apologists; 3. in the martyrs; 4. in the reformers; 5. in the heroes of faith and witnesses of every time, even the present.—The conflict between the ties of blood and the requirements of the Spirit.—The security of the Christian, even in the most threatening danger.—How endurance preserves the life of the soul.—No striving to preserve externa things helps when God has resolved to destroy.—The destruction of Jerusalem: 1. The fulfilment of the Old Testament prophesying; 2. the touchstone of the New Testament prophesying.—Jerusalem considered in its different periods: 1. The city of Melchisedek; 2. the capital of David; 3. the dwelling-place of God; 4. the murderess of the prophets and of the Messiah; 5. the city defiled by the abomination of desolation; 6. the city trodden down by the heathen; 7. hereafter the Salem of another Melchisedek.—Jerusalem’s past, present, and future.—The destruction of Jerusalem an event which proclaims: 1. The shame of Israel; 2. the greatness of our Lord; 3. the glory of the kingdom of God; 4. the vocation of the Christian; 5. the judgment of the future.

Starke:—Hedinger:—Great sin, great judgments.—Look not so much at the visible and perishable, as at the invisible and eternal.—Nova Bibl. Tub.:—To put Christ’s name forward, to come in Christ’s name, to be called Christian, is not all. All this deceivers also can do.—Convulsions in church and state, but especially persecution of the truth, is an omen of destruction.—One ungodly man must ever punish another; how holy, righteous, and terrible are God’s judgments.—It is, in truth, something terrible that when the judgments of God break in, men do not become better, but much worse.—If the righteous man has a righteous cause he need fear nothing.—Osiander:—Although in persecutions many a confessor of Jesus has left his life behind, yet the Gospel cannot be blotted out.—Cramer:—Let no one be surprised that he must suffer innocently.—Brentius:—A patient spirit is better than a lofty spirit.—Woe to the land, the people, the city, from which God hath departed,—there is nothing more left than: haste to deliver thy soul, Gen_19:22.—Luther:—Upon the days of grace follow the days of vengeance.—The married state also sometimes a state of woe.—Bibl. Wirt.:—So often as we behold the dispersed Jews, we should be terrified at God’s wrath, sigh over them and pray; Rom_11:20.

Heubner:—God solemnly proclaimed the abrogation of the Mosaic institute when He destroyed the temple.—Let not the true Christ betaken from thee; there is only one.—God decrees gradually heavier and heavier trials; yet the time of suffering is defined by Him.—Perseverance and faith under all afflictions is the condition of the deliverance of the soul.—There is a holy vengeance of God, and Jerusalem’s fall is a manifest monument of His retributive righteousness.—Arndt:—The future of Jerusalem and the world,—the inquiry as to the future: 1. When is it permitted us? 2. How is it answered by the Lord? 3. Whereto should the answer serve us?—Vinet:—Etudes évangéliques, p. 265. Les pierres du temple.—Schleiermacher:—Sermon, Jan. 24, 1808, upon Mat_24:1-2. The right honoring of native greatness of an earlier time.—J. J. L. ten Kate:—The Wandering Jew:—1. An unexampled wonder in the annals of the world; 2. a living testimony of the truth of Christianity; 3. a future revelation of the glory of God; 4. a legitimate creditor of every believer.

Footnotes:

[3]Luk_21:8.—The ουν of the Recepta should be expunged, as by Lachmann and Tischendorf, [Meyer, Tregelles, Alford.]

[4]Luk_21:11.—According to the arrangement of Tischendorf, [Tregelles, Alford]: σεισμοί τε μεγάλοι καὶ κατὰ τόπους λοιμοί, κ.τ.λ.

[5][Luk_21:15.—Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Van Oosterzee put ἀντιστῆναι before ἀντειπεῖν.—C. C. S.]

[6]Luk_21:19.—With Griesbach, Rinck, Lachmann, Tischendorf, [Meyer, Tregelles, Alford,] we give to the reading of A., B., &c., the preference. See Exegetical and Critical remarks. [Cod. Sin. here agrees with the Recepta.—C. C. S.]

Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

21:5-38 When Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem (21:6), his disciples questioned when it would take place and what signs would accompany it (21:7). Jesus responded by describing the events surrounding the destruction of the Temple and the return of the Son of Man (21:8-36). This sermon is known as the Olivet Discourse because the Mount of Olives was the site of Jesus’ teaching (see Matt 24:3; Mark 13:3).

21:5 majestic stonework: Herod the Great rebuilt and restored the Jerusalem Temple, producing one of the great structures of the ancient world. According to Josephus, the massive white stones reflected the sun with such brilliance that from a distance the Temple looked like snow-covered mountains (War 5.5.6). • The memorial decorations were probably funded by offerings given by worshipers to fulfill vows.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Luk 21:5. Ἀναθήμασι, dedicatory offerings) There were various precious memorials dedicated to it for ever. See Josephus. [Such are in our day, for instance, banners, monumental slabs, and other things of the kind, which are wont to be hung up and erected in temples (churches).—V. g.]

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk_21:5-6. Καί τινων λεγ. κ.τ.λ.] These expressions gave the occasion for Jesus to utter the following discourse, and that, as is plain from the discourse itself, to His disciples (the apostles also included), to whom, moreover, the τινές belonged.

ἀναθήμασι] Lachmann and Tischendorf, following A D X א, have the Hellenistic form ἀναθέμασι (see Lobeck, ad Phryn. p. 249, 445; Paralip. p. 391 ff., 417, 424). On the many votive offerings of the temple, partly also such as the two Herods had given, and even Ptolemy Euergetes, see Joseph. Bell. vi. 5. 2; Antt. xv. 11. 3, xvii. 6. 3; c. Apion. I. 164; Ottii Spicileg. p. 176 f., and generally, Ewald, Alterth. p. 81 ff. The most splendid was the golden vine, presented by Herod the Great. See Grotius. For the votive gifts of Julia, see in Philo, p. 1036 D.

ταῦτα ἃ θεωρ.] Nominative absolute. See on Mat_7:24; Bernhardy, p. 69; Buttmann, Neut. Gr. p. 325 f. [E. T. 379 f.].

Luk_21:5-38. See on Mat_24:25; Mark 13. In Luke a very free reproduction from the Logia and Mark. That this discourse was spoken on the Mount of Olives (Matt. Mark), there is in him no trace. Rather, according to him, it still belongs to the transactions in the temple, which began Luk_20:1 (comp. Luk_21:37); hence, moreover, the ἀναθήματα are found only in Luke.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE APOCALYPTIC DISCOURSE (Luk 21:5-38 ).

Luk 21:5-7 . Introduction to the discourse (Mat 24:1-3 , Mar 13:1-4 ). καί τινων λεγόντων , and some remarking. A most unemphatic transition, as if what follows were simply a continuation of discourse in the temple on one of many topics on which Jesus spoke. No indication that it was disciples (any of the Twelve) who asked the question, or that the conversation took place outside. Cf. the narrative in Mk. The inference that Lk. cannot have known Mk.’s narrative (Godet) is inadmissible. Lk. omits many things he knew. His interest is obviously in the didactic matter only, and perhaps we have here another instance of his “sparing the Twelve”. He may not have cared to show them filled with thoughtless admiration for a building (and a system) which was doomed to judicial destruction. λίθοις καλοῖς , beautiful stones: marble, huge; vide Joseph., B. J., Luk 21:5 ; Luk 21:2 . καὶ ἀναθήμασι , and votive or sacred gifts, in Lk. only; the reference implies that the spectators are within the building. These gifts were many and costly, from the great ones of the earth: a table from Ptolemy, a chain from Agrippa, a golden vine from Herod the Great. The temple was famous for its wealth. Tacitus writes: “illic immensae opulentiae templum,” Hist. , vi. 8. κεκόσμηται : perfect, expressing the permanent result of past acts of skilful men and beneficent patrons a highly ornamented edifice, the admiration of the world, but marked for destruction by the moral order of the universe.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5–7. THE DOOM OF THE TEMPLE, AND THE QUESTION ABOUT THE END

5. τινων λεγόντων. The question was asked by the Apostles as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives, perhaps gazing on the Temple as it shone in the last rays of sunset.

λίθοις καλοῖς. Bevelled blocks of stone, of which some are described as having been forty cubits long and ten high; double cloisters; monolithic columns; alternate slabs of red and white marble, &c. See Jos. B. J. Luk 21:5 and Bab. Succa, f. 51, 1.

ἀναθήμασιν. ‘Sacred offerings’ (Psalms 62), such as the golden chain of Agrippa; gifts of Ptolemy Philadelphus, Augustus, Julia, Helen of Adiabene, and crowns, shields, goblets, &c.; the golden vine with its vast clusters given by Herod. Jos. B. J. Luk 21:5, § 4. See 2Ma 5:16; and Jos. Antt. XIII. 3, xv. 11, § 3. Hence Tacitus calls it “a temple of immense opulence,” Hist. Luk 21:8. The word ἀναθήματα does not occur again in the N. T., though in reality ἀνάθεμα is only a desynonymised form of the same word. Indeed אADX La[366] Ti[367] here read ἀναθέμασιν.

[366] La. Lachmann.

[367] Ti. Tischendorf.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Third Cycle: The Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, Luk 21:5-38.

This piece contains a question put by the disciples (Luk 21:5-7), the discourse of Jesus in answer to their question (Luk 21:8-36), and a general view of the last days (Luk 21:37-38).

1. The Question: Luk 21:5-7.

To the preceding declaration, some of the hearers might have objected, that if only such gifts as the widow’s had been made in that holy place, those magnificent structures and those rich offerings would not have existed. It was doubtless some such reflection which gave rise to the following conversation. This conversation took place, according to Mat 24:1 and Mar 13:1, as Jesus left the temple, and on occasion of an observation made by His disciples (Matthew), or by one of them (Mark). According to Matthew, this observation was certainly connected with the last words of the previous discourse (not related by Mark and Luke), Luk 23:38: “Your house is left unto you [desolate].” How can it be asserted that three evangelists, copying the same document, or copying from one another, could differ in such a way?

In the answer of Jesus (Luk 21:6), the words, ταῦτα ἃ θεωρεῖτε, these things which ye behold, may be taken interrogatively: “These are the things, are they, which ye are beholding?” Or we may take them as in apposition to λίθος, and the subject of ἀφεθήσεται, which is more categorical and solemn: “As to these things which ye behold...there shall not be left one stone upon another.”

It was evening (Luk 5:37), at the moment perhaps when the setting sun was casting his last rays on the sacred edifice and the holy city.

Several critics think that Luke places this discourse also in the temple. But this opinion does not agree either with Luk 21:5-6, where the temple buildings are contemplated by the interlocutors, which supposes them to be at some distance from which they can view them as a whole, or with Luk 21:7, which conveys the notion of a private conversation between the disciples and the Master. According to Mark (Mar 13:3), Jesus was seated with Peter, James, John, and Andrew, on the Mount of Olives, over against that wonderful scene. Here is one of those details in which we recognise the recital of an eye-witness, probably Peter. Matthew, while indicating the situation in a way similar to Mark, does not, any more than Luke, name the four disciples present. Luke and Matthew would certainly not have omitted such a circumstance, if they had copied Mark; as, on the contrary, Mark would not have added it at his own hand, if he had compiled from the text of the other two.

The form of the disciples’ question, Luk 21:7, differs in Luke and Mark, but the sense is the same: the question in both refers simply to the time of the destruction of the temple, and to the sign by which it shall be announced. It is, no doubt, possible the disciples more or less confounded this catastrophe with the event of the Parousia; but the text does not say so. It is quite otherwise in Matthew; according to him, the question bears expressly on those two points combined: the time of the destruction of the temple, and the sign of the coming of Christ. Luke and Matthew each give the following discourse in a manner which is in keeping with their mode of expressing the question which gives rise to it. In Luke, this discourse contemplates exclusively the destruction of Jerusalem. If mention is made of the end of the world (Luk 21:25-27), it is only in passing, and as the result of an association of ideas which will be easily explained. The Parousia in itself had been previously treated of by Luke in a special discourse called forth by a question of the Pharisees (chap. 17). On his side, Matthew combines in the following discourse the two subjects indicated in the question, as he has expressed it; and he unites them in so intimate a way, that all attempts to separate them in the text, from Chrysostom to Ebrard and Meyer, have broken down. Comp. Luk 21:14; Luk 21:22, which can refer to nothing but the Parousia, while the succeeding and preceding context refer to the destruction of Jerusalem; and on the other hand, Luk 21:34, which points to this latter event, while all that precedes and follows this verse applies to the Parousia. The construction attempted by Gess is this: 1. From Luk 21:4-14, the general signs preceding the Parousia, that believers may not be led to expect this event too soon; 2. From Luk 21:15-28, the destruction of the temple as a sign to be joined to those precursive signs; 3. Luk 21:29-31, the Parousia itself. But (a) this general order is far from natural. What has the destruction of the temple to do after the passage Luk 21:4-14, which (Gess acknowledges) supposes it consummated long ago? The piece (No. 2) on the destruction of Jerusalem is evidently out of place between the description of the signs of the Parousia (No. 1) and that of the Parousia itself (No. 3). (b) This division cannot be carried out into detail: Luk 21:22, which Gess is obliged to refer to the destruction of Jerusalem, can apply only to the Parousia. And the “all these things” of Luk 21:34, which he restricts to the destruction of Jerusalem and the first preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles, as first signs of the Parousia, has evidently a much wider scope in the evangelist’s view. It must therefore be admitted, either that Jesus Himself confounded the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, and that those two events formed, in His judgment, one and the same catastrophe, or that two distinct discourses uttered by Him on two different occasions appear in Matthew united in one. Different expedients have been used to save the accuracy of Matthew’s account, without prejudice to the Saviour’s infallibility. It has been supposed that the description of the Parousia, Matthew 24, refers exclusively to the invisible return of Jesus to destroy Jerusalem. This explanation is incompatible with the text, especially Luk 21:29-31. It has also been alleged that in the prophetic perspective the final coming of the Messiah appeared to the view of Jesus as in immediate connection with His return to judge Israel. But (a) this hypothesis does not at all attain the end which its authors propose, that of saving our Lord’s infallibility. (b) Jesus could not affirm here what He elsewhere declares that He does not know (Mar 13:32), the time of the Parousia. Even after His resurrection He still refuses to give an answer on this point, which is reserved by the Father in His own power (Act 1:6-7). (c) We can go further, and show that Jesus had a quite opposite view to that of the nearness of His return. While He announces the destruction of Jerusalem as an event to be witnessed by the contemporary generation, He speaks of the Parousia as one which is possibly yet very remote. Consider the expression, ἐλεύσονται ἡμέραι, days will come (Luk 17:22), and the parable of the widow, the meaning of which is, that God will seem to the Church an unjust judge, who for a protracted time refuses to hear her, so that during this time of waiting the faith of many shall give way (Luk 18:1 et seq.). The Master is to return; but perhaps it will not be till the second, or the third watch, or even till the morning, that He will come (Mar 13:35; Luk 12:38). The great distance at which the capital lies (Luk 19:12) can signify nothing else than the considerable space of time which will elapse between the departure of Jesus and His return. In Mat 25:5 the bridegroom tarries much longer than the bridal procession expected; Luk 24:48, the unfaithful servant strengthens himself in his evil-doing by the reflection that his Lord delayeth His coming. Mat 24:14, the gospel is to be preached in all the world and to all the Gentiles (Mar 16:15, to every creature); and Mat 26:13, Mary’s act is to be published in the whole world before Jesus shall return. In fine, the gospel shall transform humanity not by a magical process, but by slow and profound working, like that of leaven in dough. The kingdom of God will grow on the earth like a tree which proceeds from an imperceptible seed, and which serves in its maturity to shelter the birds of heaven. And Jesus, who knew human nature so deeply, could have imagined that such a work could have been accomplished in less than forty years! Who can admit it? The confusion which prevails in this whole discourse, Matt. xxiv (as well as in Mark 13), and which distinguishes it from the two distinct discourses of Luke, must therefore be ascribed not to Jesus, but to the account which Matthew used as the basis of his recital.

This confusion in Matthew is probably closely connected with the Judeo-Christian point of view, under the sway of which primitive tradition took its form. In the prophets, the drama of the last days, which closes the eschatological perspective, embraces as two events nearly following one another, the judgment whereby Israel is purified by means of the Gentiles, and the punishment of the Gentiles by Jehovah. Preoccupied with this view, the hearers of Jesus easily overlooked in His discourses certain transitions which reserved the interval between those two events usually combined in the O. T.; and that so much the more, as, on looking at it closely, the destruction of Jerusalem is really the first act of the world’s judgment and of the end of the days. The harvest of an early tree announces and inaugurates the general harvest; so the judgment of Jerusalem is the prelude and even the first act of the judgment of humanity. The Jew has priority in judgment, because he had priority of grace (comp. the two corresponding πρῶτον, Rom 2:9-10). With the judgment on Jerusalem, the hour of the world’s judgment has really struck. The present epoch is due to a suspension of the judgment already begun,—a suspension the aim of which is to make way for the time of grace which is to be granted to the Gentiles (καιροὶ ἔθνων, the times of the Gentiles). The close combination of the destruction of Jerusalem with the end of the world in Matthew, though containing an error in a chronological point of view, rests on a moral idea which is profoundly true.

Thus everything authorizes us to give the preference to Luke’s account. 1. Matthew’s constant habit of grouping together in one, materials belonging to different discourses; 2. The precise historical situation which gave rise to the special discourse of chap. 17 on the coming of Christ, and which cannot be an invention of Luke 3. The established fact, that the confusion which marks the discourse of Matthew was foreign to the mind of Jesus; 4. Finally, we have a positive witness to the accuracy of Luke; that is Mark. For though his great eschatological discourse (chap. 13) presents the same confusion as that of Matthew in the question of the disciples which calls it forth, it is completely at one with Luke, and, like him, mentions only one subject, the destruction of Jerusalem.

Might Mark have taken the form of his question from Luke, and that of the discourse from Matthew, as Bleek alleges? But the incongruity to which such a course would have led would be unworthy of a serious writer. Besides, the form of the question is not the same in Mark as in Luke. Finally, the original details which we have pointed out in Mark, as well as those special and precise details with which his narrative abounds, from the day of the entry into Jerusalem onwards, do not admit of this supposition. No more can Luke have taken his question from Mark. He would have borrowed at the same time the details peculiar to Mark which he wants, and the form of the question is too well adapted in his Gospel to the contents of the discourse to admit of this supposition. It must therefore be concluded, that if in the compilation of the discourse Mark came under the influence of the tradition to which Matthew’s form is due, the form of the question in his Gospel nevertheless remains as a very striking trace of the accuracy of Luke’s account. The form of the question in Matthew must have been modified to suit the contents of the discourse; and thus it is that it has lost its original unity and precision, which are preserved in the other two evangelists.

Frédéric Louis Godet — Commentaries on Luke, John, Romans, and 1 Corinthians — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1870s–1890s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

There were things that were hanged upon walls and pillars.

The destruction of the Temple is foretold, that that true spiritual building may be built up, whose head builders must and ought to be circumspect.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 5. Goodly stones] Or, costly stones. It has been thought by some that this relates not so much to the stones of which the temple was built, as to the precious stones with which it was decorated. For an account of the stones of the temple, See Clarke on Mr 13:1.

And gifts] Or, consecrated things, αναθημασι. αναθημα properly signifies a thing consecrated to sacred uses: αναθεμα signifies a thing devoted to a curse, or to destruction. They both come from the same root, ανατιθημι, I lay up, separate; and though two meanings cannot be more opposite than those assigned to these words, yet in the words themselves a short vowel (ε) in the place of a long one (η) makes all the difference between blessing and cursing.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(5, 6) And as some spake of the temple.—See Notes on Mat_24:1-2; Mar_13:1-2, where the “some” are identified with the disciples.

Goodly stones.—These were probably so called, either as being sculptured, or as being of marble, or porphyry, or other of the more precious materials used in building.

Gifts.—St. Luke uses the more strictly classical word for “offerings,” according to some of the best MSS., in the self-same form as the Anathĕma (1Co_12:3; 1Co_16:12), which elsewhere in the New Testament is confined to the idea of that which is set apart, not for a blessing, but a curse. The fact that he is the only writer to use it in its good sense is characteristic of his Gentile and classical training. Other MSS., however, give the more usual term, Anathçma, as if it had been found necessary to distinguish the form of the word according to its uses.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5-7. The Doom of the Temple, and the Question about the End.

5. as some spake] We learn from the other Evangelists that those who spoke were the Apostles, and that the question was asked as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives opposite to the Temple, perhaps gazing on it as it shone in the last rays of sunset.

with goodly stones] bevelled blocks of stone, of which some are described as having been forty cubits long and ten high; double cloisters; monolithic columns; alternate slabs of red and white marble, &c. See Jos. B. J. v. 5 and Bab. Succa, f. 51, 1.

and gifts] Rather, sacred offerings (Psalms 62), such as the golden chain of Agrippa; gifts of Ptolemy Philadelphus, Augustus, Helen of Adiabene, and crowns, shields, goblets, &c.; the golden vine with its vast clusters given by Herod. (Jos. B. j. v. 5, § 4. See 2Ma_5:16; and Jos. Antt. xiii. 3, xv. 11, § 3.) Hence Tacitus calls it “a temple of immense opulence,” Hist. Luk_5:8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And as some spake of the temple,.... These were the disciples; Mark says, one of them; but it seems there were more than one; one might begin the discourse, and others join him:

how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts; See Gill on Mat 24:1.

he said; what follows. This was as he went out of the temple.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:

4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,

Ver. 5. {See Trapp on "Mat 24:1"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Goodly stones - Beautiful stones. Either referring to the large, square, and well-finished stones of which the eastern wall was built, or to the precious stones which might have been used in decorating the temple itself. See the notes at Mar 13:1.

Gifts - This word properly denotes anything devoted or dedicated to God. Anciently warriors dedicated to their gods the spoils of war - the shields, and helmets, and armor, and garments of those slain in battle. These were suspended in the temples. It would seem that something of this kind had occurred in the temple of Jerusalem, and that the people, to express their gratitude to God, had suspended on the pillars and perches of the temple gifts and offerings. Josephus mentions particularly a golden “vine” with which Herod the Great had adorned the columns of the temple (“Antiq.” xiii. 8). See also 2 Macc. 5:16; 9:16.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Matthew and Mark say, that some of his disciples spake these words to him, and received this answer, as he was going out of the temple. For the

goodly stones which the disciples admired, we are told that there were some of them forty-five cubits long, five in depth, and six in breadth. The gifts here mentioned are called in the Greek, αναθηματα, not αναθεματα, nor δωρα. The latter word, δωρα, signified any gifts, money or plate, &c., which men voluntarily offered. Αναθεματα signified things accursed, or devoted to God, as all the goods of Ai were, Jos 7:1-26. But this word signified such gifts or presents made to God, as might be hung up and exposed to open view. Our Lord, to take off his disciples eyes from those gay and stately things, prophesieth the utter ruin of the temple, to that degree that one stone should not be left upon another; which how it was afterwards fulfilled within less than forty years, See Poole on "Mat 24:1-2", and See Poole on "Mar 13:1-2". God by that providence not only destroying the vain confidence of the Jews, who took their temple to be an asylum, or sanctuary, for them from the providence of God, or his justice rather; but also severely punishing them for their profanation of his holy place; and also lets them know that the time was come, when God would put an end to all types of the Messiah, and also to all that worship, which could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; but stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation, Heb 9:9,10.

See Poole on "Mat 24:1-2", and See Poole on "Mar 13:1-2".

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 5-7. The temple its impending ruin. The disciples" questions.

And as some spake of the temple. After the Lord"s remark upon the alms-giving of the rich men and the poor widow to the treasury of the temple, the Master left the sacred building for his lodging outside the city walls. As far as we know, his comment upon the widow"s alms was his last word of public teaching. On their way home, while crossing the Mount of Olives, they apparently halted for a brief rest. It was then that some of his friends called attention to the glorious prospect of the temple, then lit up by the setting sun. It was, no doubt, then in all its perfect beauty, a vast glittering mass of white marble, touched here and there with gold and color. Whosoever had not gazed on it, said the old rabbis, had not seen the perfection of beauty. It is possible that the bystander"s remark was suggested by the memory of the last bit of Divine teaching they had listened to. "Lord, is not the house on Zion lovely? But if only such gifts as those you have just praised with such unstinting praise had been made, never had that glorious pile been raised in honor of the Eternal King." More probable, however, the sight of the great temple, then bathed in the golden glory of the fast-setting sun, recalled some of the Master"s sayings of that eventful day, notably such as, "Your house is left unto you desolate," which occurred in the famous twice-spoken apostrophe, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets!". (Mat_23:38 Luk_13:35) "What, Lord I will that house, so great, so perfect in its beauty, so loved, the joy of the whole earth, will that house be left desolate and in shapeless ruins?" With goodly stones. The enormous size of the stones and blocks of marble with which the temple of Jerusalem was built excited the surprise of Titus when the city fell. Josephus mentions ("Bell. Jud:," 5:5) that some of the levelled blocks of marble or stone were forty cubits long and ten high. And gifts; better rendered, sacred offerings, such as the "golden vine," with its vast clusters, the gift of Herod which probably suggested the discourse, "I am the true Vine" (reported in Joh 15) such as crowns, shields, vessels of gold and silver, presented by princes and others who visited the holy house on Zion. The temple was rich in these votive offerings. The historian Tacitus, for instance, calls it "a temple of vast wealth" ("Hist.," 5. 8).

Vers. 5, 6. The destructible and the indestructible.

We have our Lord"s own authority for comparing the temple with a human being. (Joh_2:19) He, however, compared it with his body; we may without any impropriety make the comparison with a human spirit with the man himself. We look at it in regard to its destructibleness.

I THE BUILDING ITSELF, AND OUR BEING ITSELF. The temple was the pride and the delight of every Jew. Among other things that gratified him, he rejoiced in its strength; he felt that it was secure. Generations of men would come and go, but that building would remain. Built of the most durable materials, it would defy the action of the elements; placed in the strong city and guarded with such ramparts, the enemy would assail it in vain. Where it then stood, there after many centuries it would be found. But the Jew was wrong; already those elements were at work which would bring on the fatal conflict, and that generation was not to pass (ver. 33) until that glorious fabric should be cast down and "not one stone left upon another." A very slight thing in comparison with such a great and imposing structure seems a human being How easily destroyed I "crushed before the moth;" "destroyed between the morning and the evening." Yet is there within the compass of the smallest and feeblest man that which is more lasting than the temple, that which will survive the strongest structure that art or nature ever reared. Not that the human soul is absolutely indestructible: "He can create and he can destroy it." But it is created and intended for immortality. And if only it be on the side of truth and in the service of God in Christ Jesus, it is destined for immortality; it will survive the strongest temples and the most impregnable castles; no wrath of man, no lapse and wear of time, no shock of material forces, can destroy it; it is indestructible.

II ITS STRENGTH AND BEAUTY, AND OUR OWN. The temple was "adorned with goodly stones and gifts." But strong as these massive stones were, and carefully as those gifts were guarded, the day came, and came in the experience of that very generation, when not one stone was left upon another, and nothing of the exquisite offerings was preserved; everything perished in the fire or was ploughed up by the ruthless share. Now, there is one thing which no fire can consume and no violence shatter a spiritually strong and spiritually beautiful character; a holy and lovely character rooted in Christ and sustained by his indwelling Spirit. Buildings massive and solid, fortunes large and brilliant, kingdoms fortified by great armies and costly navies, these may be broken to pieces and perish. But the character of a Christian man, who is simply loyal to his Master, cannot be broken. Character that is not rooted in faith and that is not sustained by devotion may fall and be broken, and great and sad is the fall of it. But

(1) let a man build on the foundation which is laid for it, even Jesus Christ;

(2) let him abide in Christ by a living faith;

(3) let him seek the continual sustenance of the Spirit of God; and no opposing or wasting forces will touch him to harm him. The strength and beauty of his character will remain, will become stronger and fairer with the passing years, will be the object of commendation when the eye of the great Judge shall rest upon them at last. C.

HOMILIES BY R.M. EDGAR Vers. 5-38. Preliminaries of the second advent.

It would seem that, as an interlude amid his diligent teaching in Jerusalem, Jesus and the disciples, on their way back to Bethany, had paused on the Mount of Olives and contemplated the temple. The building was a superb one, and so well put together that the disciples and people generally believed it would last till doomsday. Hence, amid their admiration for the gorgeous pile, came their question about the end of the world, which would, they believed, synchronize with that of the temple. Now, our Lord, while prophesying its destruction, warns them not to be mistaken about times and signs.

I OUR LORD WARNS THE DISCIPLES AGAINST FALSE ALARMS. (Vers. 7-9) He indicates that many false Messiahs will arise, declaring their Messiahship and the speedy approach of the end. They are to be for the most part of the military type, for this was the kind of Messiah Israel wanted. The result will of necessity be "wars and tumults." But the disciples ought not to be alarmed at these mere preliminaries. The end would not be "immediately" (Revised Version). It is well known that between our Lord"s time and the destruction of Jerusalem quite a number of military and mushroom Messiahs arose, "making confusion worse confounded." They were only the outcome of the people"s false hopes, and of no prophetic import.

II THE DISCIPLES, AS THEIR LORD"S WITNESSES, WOULD EXPERIENCE BOTH PERSECUTIONS AND INSPIRATIONS. (Vers. 10-19) And here the Lord states that persecution of his people would precede national and natural troubles. War, earthquake, and pestilence would be the providential judgment upon unrighteous persecution. But the persecuted witnesses should receive the inspiration needful to speak resistlessly. They might be betrayed and martyred, but no real injury would overtake them. "There shall not a hair of your head perish." In this remarkable deliverance of our Lord about persecution he implies that his people are really imperishable. The world might do its best to annihilate them by fire and sword; their bones might be scattered, no marble tells whither; but the Lord who loves and prizes his people"s dust will reorganize the scattered remains, and demonstrate how absolutely imperishable his people are. Hence he urges patience. "In your patience," he declares, "ye shall win your souls." So that it was a most wonderful preparation of these marked men for martyrdom and all preceding tribulation. Were we more dependent on Divine inspirations, we should be There calm and influential before a hostile world.

III THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. IS DISTINCTLY FORETOLD AS AN INSTANCE OF DESERVED VENGEANCE. (Vers. 20-24) And here the Lord gives his people directions to escape from the doomed city as soon as they should see the armies gathering round it. The siege was drawn upon it by no misconduct of theirs, but by the misconduct of their enemies: why, therefore, should the Christians lay down their lives for a false policy and cause? Their duty was, if possible, to escape. He also hires at the horrors of the siege, and how mothers with their infant children would suffer terribly. The issue of the investment would be the slaughter of multitudes and the exile of the rest, The Jews became wanderers and exiles from that moment. "Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, How shall ye flee away and be at rest! The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his cave, Mankind their country Israel but the grave!

IV REDEMPTION MAY BE DISCERNED AS DRAWING NIGH. (Vers. 25-33) Our Lord. indicates that distress of nations, perplexity, and faint-heartedness through fear will precede his second coming. But his people need be no sharers in this fear. So far from this, as soon as the judgment-signs begin they are to lift up their heads, assured that redemption is drawing nigh. The outlook may be wintry for the world, but it is summer for the saints of God. And here we may notice:

1. The parable of the spring trees. (Vers. 29, 30) Our Lord reminds the disciples that every spring, in the buds and shoots of the various trees there is the promise of the summer. The progress is gradual, yet noticeable. In the same way his people are to look for the signs of coming summer, and to manifest a hopeful spirit in beautiful contrast to the despairing spirit of the world.

2. The imperishable character of the Christian stock. (Vers. 31-33) All the world"s opposition and persecution will not annihilate the Christian stock. As the martyrs fall before their persecutors, it is only to summon fresh witnesses for the Master from the ranks of their enemies. The Christian stock abides. There need be no fear. Let this be left to the unbelieving world.

V THE LORD"S PEOPLE OUGHT CONSEQUENTLY TO BE WATCHING AND PRAYING FOR THE ADVENT. (Vers. 34-38) And in the conclusion of this discourse our Lord clearly indicates:

1. That it is possible to escape the judgments which are coming on the earth before the advent. For there is no merit in allowing one"s self to be involved in judgments which others by their unbelief have invited. It is our duty to escape, if possible, the catastrophe.

2. It can only be by a watchful and prayerful spirit. Self indulgence, everything that would dull our sense of the impending advent, must be avoided. It is to come as a thief and a snare upon those that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Hence the imperative necessity of watching. And it is prayer which will help us in our watching. We must wrestle with the coming King, that he may count us worthy to escape the world"s judgments and to stand before him.

3. How great a privilege it will be to be permitted to stand in the presence of the Son of man! No such privilege is afforded even by the greatest of earthly kings. It becomes us, therefore, to be in downright earnest about this privilege, and by persevering prayer to secure it.

VI OUR LORD GAVE THE DISCIPLES THE EXAMPLE OF THE WATCHFUL PRAYER REQUIRED. (Vers. 37, 38) For it would seem that, in the closing days, the people came so early to the temple to be taught, that he could not go as far as Bethany to spend the night. He went out, therefore, at nightfall to the Mount of Olives, and spent the night-watches more in prayer than in sleep. He was showing what persevering prayer in the crises of history must be. Let our Lord"s Gethsemane habits call each of us to privacy and patient prayer such as will alone secure the proper public spirit. R.M.E.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Goodly stones - Such as no engines now in use could have brought, or even set upon each other. Some of them (as an eye witness who lately measured them writes) were forty - five cubits long, five high, and six broad; yet brought thither from another country. And gifts - Which persons delivered from imminent dangers had, in accomplishment of their vows, hung on the walls and pillars. The marble of the temple was so white, that it appeared like a mountain of snow at a distance. And the gilding of many parts made it, especially when the sun shone, a most splendid and beautiful spectacle. Matt. xxiv, 1; Mark xiii, 1.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

The Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World.

The beginning of the discourse:

v. 5. And as some spake of the Temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, He said,

v. 6. As for these things which ye behold, the days will come in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.

v. 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 evening was drawing near, and Jesus was on the point of leaving the Temple for Bethany, where He lodged with friends. But while they were walking out through the courts, some of His disciples remarked in admiration on the Temple itself, on its various buildings, porticoes, halls, and chambers, and especially did they mention the beautiful stones, the huge marble monoliths, which formed the Corinthian columns, and the gifts that were consecrated to the Lord, the many articles of adornment which were so conspicuous throughout the Temple. Among the votive gifts of the Temple were some very costly ones, such as a table from King Ptolemy of Egypt, a chain from Herod Agrippa, a golden vine from Herod the Great, which made the Temple famous for its wealth as far as Rome. But Jesus told them: As to all these things which ye see, the enormous wealth, the gorgeous beauty of the Temple, the days will come in which not one stone will remain upon the other that would not be utterly cast down in the general destruction. It was an announcement which must have filled the disciples with the greatest consternation and surprise. They may now have thought the matter over or discussed it among themselves for a part of the trip across the valley of the Kidron and up the slope of Mount Olivet. But when Jesus had then sat down opposite the city, where He and His disciples had a full view of the wonderful edifice, which, by Christ’s word, was marked for destruction, some of the disciples approached Him with a double question. They wanted to know the precise time, and also to recognize the special tokens of the approaching catastrophe. In their question they connected the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple with the end of the world. And this is altogether in accordance with the prophecies which make the judgment upon Jerusalem the beginning and the introduction of the judgment of the world. Mat 16:27-28; 1Th 2:16.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Our blessed Saviour being now ready to depart from the temple, nevermore after this entering into it, and his disciples showing him, with wonder and admiration, the magnificent structures and buildings thereof, apprehending that in regard of its invincible strength it could not be destroyed; not considering, that sin will undermine and blow up the most magnificent and famous structures; for sin brings cities and kingdoms, as well as particular persons, to their end. Not one stone, says Christ, shall be left upon another; which threatening was exactly fulfilled after Christ’s death, when Titus the Roman emperor destroyed the city, burnt the temple and Turnus Rufus, the general of his army, ploughed up the very foundation on which the temple stood; thus was the threatening of God fulfilled, Zion shall be ploughed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become an heap. Jer 26:18

Learn hence,

1. That sin has laid the foundation of ruin in the most flourishing cities and kingdoms; Jerusalem, the glory of the world, is here by sin threatened to be made a desolation.

2. That the threatenings of God are to be feared, and shall be fulfilled, whatever appearing improbabilities there may be to the contrary. ’Tis neither the temple’s strength nor beauty that can oppose or withstand God’s power.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

J. W. McGarvey's The Fourfold Gospel [CXIII. Destruction of Jerusalem].

CXIII. DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM FORETOLD. aMATT. XXIV. 1-28; bMARK XIII. 1-23; cLUKE XXI. 5-24.

a1 And Jesus went out from the temple [leaving it to return no more], and was going on his way; and his disciples came to him bas he went forth ato show him the buildings of the temple. bone of his disciples saith unto him, Teacher, behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings! c5 And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, he said [The strength and wealth of the temple roused the admiration of the Galilæans. The great stones in its fortifications promised safety from its enemies, and the goodly offerings bespoke the zeal of its friends. According to Josephus, some of the stones were nearly seventy feet in length, twelve feet in height, and eighteen feet in breadth. The same historian tells us of the gifts or offerings which adorned it: crowns, shields, goblets, chain of gold present by Agrippa, and a golden vine with its vast clusters which was the gift of Herod. The temple was built of [619] white limestone, and its beauty and strength made it admired of all nations. It took forty-six years to finish, and ten thousand skilled workmen are said to have been employed in its construction.] { a2 But bJesus aanswered and said unto them, bhim, Seest thou these great buildings? aSee ye not all these things? c6 As for these things which ye behold, averily I say unto you, cthe days will come, in which there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that bwhich shall not be thrown down. [In the very hour when the disciples exulted in the apparent permanency of their glorious temple, Jesus startled them by foretelling its utter destruction, which, within forty years, was fulfilled to the letter. The emperor Vespasian, and his son Titus, after a three years' siege, took Jerusalem and destroyed its temple, A. D. 70. Of the temple proper not a vestige was left standing, but the vast platform upon which it stood, composed partly of natural rock and partly of immense masonry, was for the most part left standing. The destruction of the city and temple, however, was so complete that those who visited it could hardly believe that it had ever been inhabited--Jos. Wars vii. 1.] 3 And as he sat on the mount of Olives, over against the temple [he was in the middle portion of the mountain, for that is the part which is opposite the temple], athe disciples bPeter and James and John and Andrew [on this occasion Andrew was in company with the chosen three when they were honored by a special revelation, but is put last as being the least conspicuous of the four] acame unto him privately, basked him privately, asaying, cTeacher, b4 Tell us, when ctherefore shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are about to come to pass? bto be accomplished? aand what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? [Dismayed by the brief words which Jesus had spoken as he was leaving the temple, these four disciples asked for fuller details. Their question is fourfold. 1. When shall the temple be destroyed? 2. What shall be the signs which precede its destruction? 3. [620] What shall be the sign of Christ's coming? 4. What shall be the sign of the end of the world? Jesus had said nothing of his coming nor of the end of the world; but to these four disciples the destruction of the temple seemed an event of such magnitude that they could not but associate it with the end of all things. Jesus deals with the first two questions in this section, and with the two remaining questions in Act_4:3, Act_5:18, Act_5:40, Act_7:59, Act_8:3, Act_12:1, Act_12:2, Act_14:19, Act_16:19-24, Act_22:30, Act_24:1, Act_25:2, Act_25:3. Peter, James the elder and James the younger, and Paul, and doubtless many more of the apostles suffered martyrdom before the destruction of the temple. Tacitus bears testimony to the hatred and blind bigotry of the age when he speaks of Christians as "a class of men hated on account of their crimes" (Annals, xv. 44). See also Suetonius on Nero 16, and Pliny (Ep. x. 97). For comments on a similar passage see Col_1:23). Of course the language of both Jesus and Paul must be understood with reference to the geography of the earth as then known. Paul's declaration was written about the year A. D. 63, or seven years before the destruction of Jerusalem. His meaning is not that every creature had actually heard the gospel, but that each had been given an opportunity to hear because the gospel had been so universally preached.] 11 And when they lead you i to judgment, and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak: c14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate beforehand how to answer: 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to withstand or to gainsay. bbut whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit. [See 2Co_11:13-15, Gal_2:1-4, 1Ti_1:3-7, 1Ti_1:19, 1Ti_1:20, 2Ti_3:8, 2Ti_3:9; Tit_1:10, Tit_1:11, 2Pe_2:1-3, Jud_1:4, Jud_1:8, Jud_1:10, Jud_1:12, Jud_1:16, Jud_1:19.] 12 And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold. [The prevalence of sin tempts and encourages the feeble to commit it.] c16 But ye shall be delivered up even by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolk, and friends; b12 And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. cand some of you shall they cause to be put to death. [Hatred against Christianity would prove stronger than all family ties.] 17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. [See Dan_4:11], standing in the holy place bwhere he ought not [for comment, see end of the paragraph, Deu_28:49-57, Dan_9:26, Dan_9:27, Dan_12:1, Dan_12:11, Joe_2:2.] b17 But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! [because their condition would impede their flight] cfor there shall be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto this people. [The city of Jerusalem was divinely sentenced to punishment for her sins.] 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations [According to Josephus, one million one hundred thousand perished during the siege, and ninety-seven thousand were taken captive. Of these latter, many were tortured and slain, being crucified, as he tell us, till "room was wanted for the crosses, and crosses wanted for the bodies"]: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. [By comparing this passage with Rom_11:1-36., we find that the times of the Gentiles signify that period wherein the church is made up of Gentiles to the almost exclusion of the Jews. The same chapter shows that this period is to be followed by one wherein the Jew and the Gentile unite together in proclaiming the gospel. This prophecy, therefore, declares that until this union of the Jew and the Gentile takes place, the city of Jerusalem shall not only be controlled by the Gentiles, [625] but shall be trodden under foot--i. e., oppressed--by them. The history of Jerusalem, to this day, is a striking fulfillment of this prophecy.] b18 And pray ye that it ayour flight bbe not in the winter. [Because the flight will be so precipitate that it would necessitate much exposure to the weather, sleeping under the open heaven, etc.] aneither on a sabbath [Jewish tradition limited travel on the Sabbath day to a distance of seven furlongs. The early training of many Christians led them to have scruples about breaking the Sabbath. It is possible that Jesus had these scruples in view, but by no means conclusive, for in fleeing they would need the support and friendship of their Jewish brethren, who would be apt, not only to hinder, but even in those troublous and turbulent days, to show violence to any who openly disregarded the Sabbath. For it must be remembered that the Jews, not being guided by the admonitions of Christ, would regard the sudden flight of the Christians as unnecessarily hasty]: 21 for then { bthose days ashall be great tribulation, bsuch as there hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation athe world bwhich God created until now, and never, ano, nor ever shall be. [These words spoken before the event are strikingly verified by the statements of Josephus written after it. "No other city," says he, "ever suffered miseries, nor did any age, from the beginning of the world, ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness that this was." And again: "If the miseries of all mankind from the creation were compared with those which the Jews then suffered, they would appear inferior." The promise that there shall be no days like it of course excludes the terrors and miseries of the judgment day, since it belongs to celestial rather than terrestrial history. Having now the whole paragraph before us, we are ready to discuss the phrase "abomination of desolation" mentioned in Matt. xxiv. 15 ( Luk_21:20, Luk_21:21) forbids us to make the flight from Judæa subsequent to the flight from Jerusalem, for both flights were to begin when the Romans appeared. Again it should be noted that the phrase "the holy place" is apt to mislead, especially when coupled with Mark's "where it ought not." The words when seen in English cause us to think of some person or thing polluting the sanctuary of the temple by standing in its holy place. But it is evident that the words do not refer to the temple at all. When the New Testament speaks of the holy place in the temple it styles it en too hagioo (in the holy), while the words here are en topoo hagioo (in a place holy). Moreover, after a careful perusal of the LXX. we are persuaded that they used the two terms to distinguish between the holy place in the sanctuary and other holy places, a distinction which the Revised Version recognizes ( Lev_6:16, Lev_6:26, Lev_6:27, etc.). As none but priests could enter [627] the holy place, it is evident that another is meant at Psa_24:3; but in this place the Septuagint gives us en topoo hagioo. We, therefore, conclude that in this place Matthew uses the term "holy place" to designate the holy territory round about the Holy City, and that the combined expression of Matthew and Mark signifies the investiture of the city by the Roman armies and is equivalent to the plainer statement made by Luke. The Roman armies were fittingly called the abomination of desolation, because, being heathen armies, they were an abomination to the Jews, and because they brought desolation upon the country. The sight of them, therefore, became the appointed sign for Christians to quit the city.] 22 And except those days had been shortened, b20 And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved [since the Lord is speaking to the Jews, this means that if God had not shortened the siege and restrained the Romans, they would have exterminated the Jewish race]; but for the elect's sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days. athose days shall be shortened. [since the term "elect" in Mat_24:24, Mat_24:31 evidently means Christians, it doubtless means that here, though it may mean that God spared a remnant of the Jewish people because he had covenanted with the patriarchs that they should be his chosen people, for the Jews are also God's elect ( Rom_11:28, Rom_11:29). Moreover, it should be noted that there were few, if any, Christians remaining in the city, and that those who were spared were spared as Jews without discrimination.] b21 And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ; aor, Here; bor, Lo, there; believe it not: 22 for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show agreat signs and wonders; so as to bthat they may lead astray, if possible, aeven the elect. [For accounts of these lying prophets who appeared before and during the siege, see Josephus, Wars iv., v., vi. Christ warns his followers: 1. Not to be deceived by spurious Christs. 2. Not to believe that he himself has again appeared. This latter warning is further enforced by what follows.] b23 But take [628] ye heed: behold, I have told you all things beforehand. a26 If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the coming of the Son of man. [The coming of Christ would be an event needing no herald; every man would see it for himself. See p. 531.] 28 Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. [See pp. 533, 534.]

[FFG 619-629]

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

5–33. When shall these things be? This discourse to the disciples on the Overthrow of the Temple, Jerusalem, the Jewish Nation and the Second Coming of our Lord, is reported here, in Mark, chapter 13, and in Matthew, chapter 24. Matthew's account is much the fullest, where see notes.

Not a hair of your head shall perish. You shall be in the Father's hand, saved, even if put to death, gaining eternally by suffering.

When ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies. Matthew says: “The abomination of desolation” instead of “Jerusalem compassed with armies.” See notes on Matt. 24:15. This was the warning to Christians to flee. In the first attack the Romans, under Cestus Gallus, were beaten off and retreated. The Christians then left the city.

And Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles. It has been ever since its destruction. It has been held by the Romans, the Parthians, the Saracens, the Crusaders and the Turks, but never by the Jews.

There shall be signs in the sun. See notes on Matt. 24:27–31.

This generation shall not pass away. See notes on Matt. 24:34, 35. The word race instead of generation gives the meaning.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Jesus switches from talking about the widow to teaching about the temple.

offerings

things people had given to God

these things that you see

This refers to the beautiful temple and its decorations.

the days will come when

"there will be a time when" or "someday"

left on another which will not be torn down

A new sentence can be started here. AT: "left on another. They will all be torn down" or "left on another. Enemies will tear down every stone" (See: Active or Passive)

not one stone will be left ... not be torn down

This can be stated in positive form. AT: "every stone will be removed from its place and they will all be torn down"

left on another which will not be torn down

A new sentence can be started here. AT: "left on another. They will all be torn down" or "left on another. Enemies will tear down every stone" (See: Active or Passive)

translationWords

temple

sacrifice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

5-36.] Prophecy of his coming, and of the times of the end. Mat 24:1-51 (25:1-46). Mar 13:1-37. See notes on both, but especially on Matt. Meyer says truly in loc. that there is no trace in Luke of the discourse being delivered on the Mount of Olives—but he adds, that it belongs to the discourses in the temple, which begin ch. 20:1, and that therefore Luke alone mentions ἀναθήματα. He seems to have overlooked the break at ver. 7, corresponding to the change of scene. All three speak of the opening incident as happening while He was departing from the temple; and Matt. and Mark, of the enquiry being made afterwards, on the Mount of Olives,—i.e. in the evening, when He had retired thither (ver. 37).

5.] Meyer has made the same mistake here, and spoken of the τινές as those to whom the discourse was delivered. The ἀναθήματα were many and precious. Tacitus, Hist. v. 8, calls it immensæ opulentiæ templum: and Jos., B. J. v. 5. 4, gives an account of the gilding, and golden vines (presented by Herod the Great) with bunches of grapes as large as a man, &c. in the temple: see also Antt. xv. 11. 3.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5-36. The destruction of the Temple and of Jerusalem foretold. Mat 24:1-36; Mar 13:1-32. The section falls into three divisions: the Occasion of the Prophecy (5-7), the Prophecy (8-28), the Exhortation to Vigilance based on the Parable of the Fig Tree (29-36). Edersheim has shown in detail how different contemporary Jewish opinion respecting the end of the world was from what is contained in this prediction, and therefore how untenable is the hypothesis that we have here only a reflexion of ordinary Jewish tradition (L. & T. 2. pp. 434-445).

5-7. Lk. gives no indication of time or place. Mk. and Mt. tell us that it was as Jesus was leaving the precincts that the remark of the disciples was made. The discourse as to the comparative merits of the offerings made in the Temple would easily lead on to thoughts respecting the magnificence of the temple itself and of the votive gifts which it received.

5. τινων λεγόντων. Mt. and Mk. tell us that these were disciples.

Here again Cod. Bezae has a reproduction of the gen. abs in Latin. quorundam dicentium: comp. Ver. 26.

λίθοις καλοῖς. Some of the stones of the substructure were enormous. The columns of the cloister or portico were monoliths of marble over forty feet high. See Josephus, whose account should be read in full (B. J. v. 5), Tacitus (Hist. v. 12), Milman (Hist. of the Jews, 2. bk. 16, p. 332), Edersheim (Temple, p. 21.), Renan (V. de J. p. 210). “It is almost impossible to realise the effect which would be produced by a building longer and higher than York Cathedral, standing on a solid mass of masonry almost equal in height to the tallest of our church spires” (Wilson, Recovery of Jerusalem, p. 9).

ἀναθήμασιν. Mt. and Mk. say nothing about the rich offerings, which were many and various, from princes and private individuals (2 Mal 3:2-7): e.g. the golden vine of Herod, with bunches as tall as a man (Jos. B. J. v. 5, 4; Ant. xv. 11, 3: comp. 17:6, 3; 18:3, 5, 19:6, 1). Illic immensæ opulentiæ templum (Tac. Hist. v. 8, 1). For ἀνάθημα comp. 2 Mac. 9:16; 3 Mal 3:17; Hdt. i. 183, 6. Here only in N.T.

On the relation between ἀνάθημα and ἀνάθεμα see Ellicott and Lft. on Gal 1:8; Trench, Syn. v.; Crerner, Lex. p. 547. In MSS. the two words are often confounded. Here א A D X have ἀναθέμασιν, which Tisch. adopts.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Stones. See on Mr 13:1.

Offerings [αναθημασιν] . Only here in New Testament. From ajnatiqhmi, to set up. Hence of something set up in the temple as a votive offering. Such were the golden vines presented by Herod the Great, with bunches of grapes as large as a man, and mounted above the entrance to the holy place. The magnificent porch of the temple was adorned with many such dedicated gifts, such as a golden wreath which Sosius offered after he had taken Jerusalem in conjunction with Herod; and rich flagons which Augustus and his wife had given to the sanctuary. Gifts were bestowed by princes friendly to Israel, both on the temple and on provincial synagogues. The word ajnaqema, (Gal 1:8, Rev.), is the same word, something devoted, and so devoted to evil and accursed. Luke uses the classical form. The other is the common or Hellenistic form. The two forms develop gradually a divergence in meaning; the one signifying devoted in a good, the other in a bad sense. The same process may be observed in other languages. Thus knave, lad, becomes a rascal villian, a farmer, becomes a scoundrel : cunning, skilful, becomes crafty.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.