Matthew 24:3 - Exposition

As he eat upon the Mount of Olives. On his way to Bethany towards the close of this day, he rested for a while and communed with the disciples, uttering the wonderful eschatological discourse which follows in this and the next chapter. It is noted that the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans began on the very spot where this prophecy of its destruction was delivered, strategical reasons compelling them to make their attack from this quarter. "A sudden turn in the road," writes Dr. Edersheim (2.431), "and the sacred building was once more in full view. Just then the western sun was pouring his golden beams on tops of marble cloisters and on the terraced courts, and glittering on the golden spikes on the roof of the holy place. In the setting, even more than in the rising sun, must the vast proportions, the symmetry, and the sparkling sheen of this mass of snowy marble and gold have stood out gloriously. And across the black valley, and up the slopes of Olivet, lay the dark shadows of those gigantic walls built of massive stones, some of them nearly twenty-four feet long. Even the rabbis, despite their hatred of Herod, grow enthusiastic, and dream that the very temple walls would have been covered with gold had not the variegated marble, resembling the waves of the sea, seemed more beauteous. It was probably, as they [the disciples] now gazed on all this grandeur and strength, that they broke the silence imposed on them by gloomy thoughts of the near desolateness of that house which the Lord predicted." Privately . Such questions were not to be asked openly in the hearing of any who might have followed him from the city. There was nothing more resented by the average Jew than any intimation of the destruction of the temple. It was one of the charges against Stephen that he had said that Jesus would destroy the temple ( Acts 6:14 ). When, therefore, some of the apostles wished for more definite information on this subject, they took care to make their inquiry in private. Their questions were twofold—they desired to know the time of the events, and the signs which should precede Christ's coming and the end of the world. When shall these things be? "These things" refer to the destruction of the temple, and the course of events which, as they conceive, are dependent thereupon (comp. Matthew 23:36 ). To their minds, this catastrophe could only occur contemporaneously with the coming of Christ in glory and the end of the world. They saw in it a great revolution which should usher in the final consummation. But when should this come to pass?—in their own day, or after many ages? in the lifetime of this generation, or at some far-distant period? It was not mere wanton curiosity to know the future which prompted the question, but rather a reverent desire to prepare for these great events, of the certainty of which they were now fully assured. So the next question shows no doubt concerning the facts, and asks, not the mode of the accomplishment, but only what anticipatory warning and indication were to be given. Sign of thy coming ( τῆς σῆς παρουσι ì ας ), and of the end of the world ( συντελει ì ας τοῦ αἰῶνος ) . They look upon these two events as synchronous, or very closely connected. The word parousia, which in classical Greek means "presence," or "arrival," is used in the New Testament specially for the second advent of Christ to set up his eternal kingdom in full power and glory. Referring to the same event, we find in some places the term "epiphany" used (see 1 Timothy 6:14 ; 2 Timothy 4:1 ), and in others "revelation" ( ἀποκα ì λυψις , 1 Corinthians 1:7 ; 2 Thessalonians 1:7 ); but the three expressions denote simply the open establishment of Messiah's kingdom, indefnitely as to time and manner. The phrase translated "the end of the world "means literally the consummation of the age (cf. Matthew 13:39 ; Hebrews 9:26 ); consummationis saeculi (Vulgate); i.e. the close of this present seen, in contradistinction from the future aeon, or the world to come. This is "the last time," "the last days," spoken of elsewhere (see 1 Peter 1:5 ; 1 John 2:18 ; and comp. Isaiah 2:2 ; Micah 4:1 ).