Matthew 24:21-25 sits inside this longer paragraph.
15“When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house. 18Let him who is in the field not return back to get his clothes. 19But woe to those who are with child and to nursing mothers in those days! 20Pray that your flight will not be in the winter, nor on a Sabbath, 21for then there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever will be. 22Unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.
23“Then if any man tells you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or, ‘There,’ don’t believe it. 24For there will arise false christs, and false prophets, and they will show great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones.
25“Behold, I have told you beforehand. 26If therefore they tell you, ‘Behold, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out; or ‘Behold, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it. 27For as the lightning flashes from the east, and is seen even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. 28For wherever the carcass is, that is where the vultures gather together. 29But immediately after the suffering of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken; 30and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31He will send out his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv22, 24 Those things which befell the people of the Jews,…
Those things which befell the people of the Jews, in the 34 years, when as the whole land was wasted, and at length the city of Jerusalem taken, and both it and their Temple destroyed, are mixed with those which shall come to pass before the last coming of our Lord.
The whole nation should utterly be destroyed: and this word Flesh is by a figure taken for man, as the Hebrews used to speak.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv21–25 21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as…
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
Ver. 21. Tribulation, such as was not, &c.] Those very days "shall be affliction;" so Mark hath it, Mar 13:19, εσονται αι ημεραι εκειναι θλιψις. As if the very time were nothing else but affliction itself. He who can read the history of it without tears hath hardly the heart of a man in him. Besides those many that perished within the walls, Josephus tells us of 1,100,000 of them slain by the Romans, and 97,000 carried captive. Oh, see the severity of God and tremble! Rom 11:22. Alterius perditio tua sit cautio. Scipio wept when he saw Carthage on fire. And when Saguntum was taken, the Romans were as much affected as if Hannibal fuisset ad portas, the enemy had been beating upon the walls of the Capitol.
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.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv22–23 Mark hath the same in effect, Mar 13:19,20. Luke…
Mark hath the same in effect, Mar 13:19,20. Luke speaks more particularly, Luk 21:23,24. For there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. These verses must be understood with reference to the Jewish nation, and whoso shall read in Josephus the history of the wars of the Jews, will easily agree there is nothing in all the foregoing Jewish story which we have recorded in Scripture like unto it; the final destruction of them by Titus was rather an abatement of miseries they suffered by the factions within themselves, than any thing else. And thus some think that God shortened those days of their misery by sending the Roman armies to quiet the seditions and factions amongst themselves, which were more cruel one to another. God promises to shorten these days for the elect’s sake that were amongst this sinful people. So that as the city was taken in less than six months, so was their whole country in less than eighteen months more. And if the Lord had not, in compassion to those amongst this people who belonged to his election of grace, shortened these days of calamity, both by sending the Roman armies to quiet their intestine divisions, and then giving these armies so quick a victory, none of the Jews would have been left alive, which indeed any one will judge that shall but read those histories.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On vv21, 23 The doleful miseries and dreadful calamities which were coming…
The doleful miseries and dreadful calamities which were coming upon the Jews in general, and upon Jerusalem in particular, are here foretold by our Saviour, partly from the Roman army without, and partly from the seditions and factions of the zealots within, who committed such outrages and slaughters, that there were no less than an hundred thousand slain, and ninety-seven thousand carried away captive, and made prisoners. They that bought our Saviour for thirty pence, were now themselves sold thirty for a penny. Now did the temple itself become a sacrifice, a whole burnt-offering, and was consumed to ashes.
Yet observe, Christ promises that these calamitous days shall be shortened for the elect’s sake. God had a remnant, which he determined should survive this destruction, to be an holy seed; and accordingly the providence of God so ordered, that the city was taken in six months, and the whole country depopulated in eighteen.
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Whence observe, How the Lord intermixes some mercy with the extremest misery that doth befall a people for their sin. On this side hell, no sinners can say that they feel the strokes of justice to the utmost, or that they have judgment without mercy.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv21–25 For then shall be great tribulation,.... This is urged…
For then shall be great tribulation,.... This is urged as a reason for their speedy flight; since the calamity that would come upon those who should remain in the city, what through the sword, famine, pestilence, murders, robberies, &c. would
be such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be. The burning of Sodom and Gomorrha, the bondage of the children of Israel in Egypt, their captivity in Babylon, and all their distresses and afflictions in the times of the Maccabees, are nothing to be compared with the calamities which befell the Jews in the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. Great desolations have been made in the besieging and at the taking of many famous cities, as Troy, Babylon, Carthage, &c. but none of them are to be mentioned with the deplorable case of this city. Whoever reads Josephus's account will be fully convinced of this; and readily join with him, who was an eyewitness of it, when he says (m), that
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"never did any city suffer such things, nor was there ever any generation that more abounded in malice or wickedness.''
And indeed, all this came upon them for their impenitence and infidelity, and for their rejection and murdering of the Son of God; for as never any before, or since, committed the sin they did, or ever will, so there never did, or will, the same calamity befall a nation, as did them.
(m) De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 11.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv21–24 Then shall be great tribulation - Have not many…
Then shall be great tribulation - Have not many things spoken in the chapter, as well as in Mark xiii, , Luke xxi, . a farther and much more extensive meaning than has been yet fulfilled?
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv21, 22, 23, 25 Verse 21. For then shall be great tribulation] No…
Verse 21. For then shall be great tribulation] No history can furnish us with a parallel to the calamities and miseries of the Jews:-rapine, murder, famine, and pestilence within: fire and sword, and all the horrors of war, without. Our Lord wept at the foresight of these calamities; and it is almost impossible for any humane person to read the relation of them in Josephus without weeping also. St. Luke, Lu 21:22, calls these the days of vengeance, that all things which were written might be fulfilled. 1. These were the days in which all the calamities predicted by Moses, Joel, Daniel, and other prophets, as well as those predicted by our Saviour, met in one common centre, and were fulfilled in the most terrible manner on that generation. 2. These were the days of vengeance in another sense, as if God's judgments had certain periods and revolutions; for it is remarkable that the temple was burned by the Romans in the same month, and on the same day of the month, on which it had been burned by the Babylonians. See Josephus, WAR, b. vi. c. 4.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv22–23 Mat 24:22. Except those days should be shortened, &c.…
Mat 24:22. Except those days should be shortened, &c. — If these wars and desolations were to continue for any length of time, none of the Jews would escape destruction; they would all be cut off, root and branch. For the calamities will be so severe that, like fire, they would soon consume all, and leave nothing for themselves to prey on. But for the elect’s sake — For the sake of those Jews that shall embrace the gospel; those days shall be shortened — The elect, is a well-known appellation in Scripture and antiquity for the Christians; and the Christian Jews, partly through the fury of the Zealots on the one hand, and the hatred of the Romans on the other; and partly through the difficulty of subsisting in the mountains without houses or provisions; would in all probability have been almost all destroyed, either by sword or by the famine, if the days had not been shortened. But providentially the days were shortened. Titus himself was desirous of putting a speedy end to the siege, having Rome, and the riches and pleasures there, before his eyes. Some of his officers proposed to him to turn the siege into a blockade, and since they could not take the city by storm, to starve it into a surrender; but he thought it not becoming to sit still with so great an army; he feared lest the length of the time should diminish the glory of his success. The besieged, too, helped to shorten the days, by their divisions and mutual slaughters; by burning their provisions, which would have sufficed for many years, and fatally deserting their strongest holds, where they could never have been taken by force, but by famine alone. Indeed, Jerusalem was so well fortified, and so well fitted to sustain a longer siege, that it could not have been taken in so short a time by the enemy without, had it not been for the factions and seditions within. Titus himself could not but ascribe the success to God, as he was viewing the fortifications after the city was taken. His words to his friends were very remarkable. “We have fought,” said he, “with God on our side, ο Θεος ην ο των δε ερυματων Ιουδαιους καθεκων, it is God who hath pulled the Jews out of these strong holds; for what could the hands of men, or machines, do against these towers?” God, therefore, in the opinion of Titus, as well as of the evangelist: shortened these days. After the destruction of Jerusalem too, God inclined the heart of Titus to take some pity upon the remnant of the Jews, and to restrain the nations from exercising the cruelty that they would have exercised against them. At Antioch, particularly, the senate importuned him to expel the Jews from the city: but he answered that their country being laid waste, there was no place to receive them. They then requested him to deprive the Jews of their former privileges; but those he permitted them to enjoy as before. Thus, for the elect’s sake those days of persecution were shortened.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv21–25 There shall be great tribulation - The word “tribulation”…
There shall be great tribulation - The word “tribulation” means calamity or “suffering.” Luke Luk 21:24 has specified in what this tribulation would consist: “They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled.” That is, until the time allotted for the Gentiles “to do it” shall be fully accomplished, or as long as God is pleased to suffer them to do it.
The first thing mentioned by Luke is, that they should fall “by the edge of the sword” - that is, would be slain in war, as the sword was then principally used in war. This was most strikingly fulfilled. Josephus, in describing it, uses almost the very words of our Saviour. “All the calamities, says he, which had befallen any nation from the beginning of the world” were but small in comparison with those of the Jews. - Jewish Wars, b. i. preface, section 4.
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He has given the following account of one part of the massacre when the city was taken: “And now, rushing into the city, they slew whomsoever they found, without distinction, and burned the houses and all the people who had fled into them; and when they entered for the sake of plunder, they found whole families of dead persons, and houses full of carcasses destroyed by famine, then they came out with their hands empty. And though they thus pitied the dead, they had not the same emotion for the living, but killed all they met, whereby they filled the lanes with dead bodies. “The whole city ran with blood,” insomuch that many things which were burning were extinguished by the blood.” - “Jewish Wars,” b. 6 chapter 8, section 5; chapter 9, section 2, 3. He adds that in the siege of Jerusalem not fewer than “eleven hundred thousand” perished (Jewish Wars, b. 6 chapter 9, section 3) - a number almost half as great as are in the whole city of London. In the adjacent provinces no fewer than “two hundred and fifty thousand” are reckoned to have been slain; making in all whose deaths were ascertained the almost incredible number of “one million three hundred and fifty thousand” who were put to death.
These were not, indeed, all slain with the sword. Many were crucified. “Many hundreds,” says Josephus (“Jewish Wars,” b. v. chapter 11, section 1), “were first whipped, then tormented with various kinds of tortures, and finally crucified; the Roman soldiers nailing them (out of the wrath and hatred they bore to the Jews), one after one way and another after another, to crosses, “by way of jest,” until at length the multitude became so great that room was lacking for crosses, and crosses for the bodies.” So terribly was their imprecation fulfilled - “his blood be on us and on our children,” Mat 27:25. If it be asked how it was possible for so many people to be slain in a single city, it is to be remembered that the siege of Jerusalem commenced during the time of the Passover, when all the males of the Jews were required to be there, and when it is estimated that more than “three million” were usually assembled. See Josephus, Jewish Wars, b. 6 chapter 9, section 3, 4.
A horrible instance of the distress of Jerusalem is related by Josephus. The famine during the siege became so great that they ate what the most sordid animals refused to touch. A woman of distinguished rank, having been plundered by the soldiers, in hunger, rage, and despair, killed and roasted her own babe, and had eaten one half of it before the deed was discovered. - Jewish Wars, b. 6 chapter 3, section 3, 4. This cruel and dreadful act was also in fulfillment of prophecy, Deu 28:53, Deu 28:56-57.
Another thing added by Luke Luk 21:24, was, that “they should be led away captive into all nations.” Josephus informs us that the captives taken during the whole war amounted to “ninety-seven thousand.” The tall and handsome young men Titus reserved for triumph; of the rest, many were distributed through the Roman provinces to be destroyed by wild beasts in theaters; many were sent to the works in Egypt; many, especially those under seventeen years of age, were sold for slaves. - Jewish Wars, b. vi. chapter 9, section 2, 3.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv22–23 No flesh: a Hebraism for no person; denoting that…
No flesh: a Hebraism for no person; denoting that no one would have escaped death, had the war continued. (Witham) --- All the Jews would have been destroyed by the Romans, or all the Christians by Antichrist. (Maldonatus) --- From this place, Jesus Christ foretells the coming of Antichrist, and forewarns Christians of latter ages, to guard all they can against seduction.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv21–25 21. Great tribulation, such as was not since the…
21. Great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world — That is, in Jewish history. Yet the statement of Josephus would warrant a stronger interpretation than this. “Our city,” says he, “of all those subjugated to the Romans, was raised to the highest felicity, and was thrust down again to the lowest depth of misery. For if the misfortunes of all from the beginning of the world were compared with those of the Jews, they would appear much inferior in the comparison.”
It is important to note that this term “tribulation” covers, according to this verse, not merely the incipient parts of the downfall, but its height and close also. The “tribulation” which was the severest part of human history, must have been the severest part of the whole series of woes, and that was the late and latest stages. It is also evident from the fact that the Roman eagles are already in the temple in the fifteenth verse, and the consequences of that decisive event are the subject of the verses following, including this twenty-first verse and farther. The tribulation is then a term embracing the whole process of the downfall and desolation of Jerusalem.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–23 21. great tribulation] “Jerusalem, a city that had been…
21. great tribulation] “Jerusalem, a city that had been liable to so many miseries during the siege, that had it enjoyed as much happiness from its first foundation, it would certainly have been the envy of the world.” Josephus, B. J. vii. 6. 5.
No words can describe the unequalled horrors of this siege. It was the Passover season, and Jews from all parts were crowded within the walls. Three factions, at desperate feud with each other, were posted on the heights of Sion and on the Temple Mount. These only united to fling themselves at intervals upon the Roman entrenchments, and then resumed their hate. The Temple-courts swam with the blood of civil discord, which was literally mingled with the blood of the sacrifices. Jewish prisoners were crucified by hundreds in view of their friends, while within the city the wretched inhabitants were reduced by famine to the most loathsome of food and to deeds of unspeakable cruelty. Jerusalem was taken on the 10th August, a. d. 70. 1,100,000 Jews perished in the siege, 100,000 were sold into slavery. With the fall of Jerusalem Israel ceased to exist as a nation. It was truly the end of an æon.
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.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv21–24 (21) Such as was not since the beginning .…
(21) Such as was not since the beginning . . .—The words come from Dan_12:1. One who reads the narrative of Josephus will hardly hesitate to adopt his language, “that all miseries that had been known from the beginning of the world fell short” of those of the siege of the Holy City (Wars, v. 13, §§ 4, 5). Other sieges may have witnessed, before and since, scenes of physical wretchedness equally appalling, but nothing that history records offers anything parallel to the alternations of fanatic hope and frenzied despair that attended the breaking up of the faith and polity of Israel.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv21–25 Nor then. Jesus gives the reason why this precipitate…
Nor then. Jesus gives the reason why this precipitate flight (vers. 16-20) was rendered necessary at the moment spoken of in ver. 15. Great tribulation. The miseries suffered in the siege of Jerusalem were stupendous To the skilful and fierce attacks of the Romans from without were added from within dire famine and pestilence, dissensions, violence, and continual bloodshed and murder. Josephus estimates the number of those who fell in the siege and capture of Jerusalem at 1, 000, 000, the usual population being largely increased by the influx of pilgrims attending the Feast of the Passover, and by thousands of fugitives who had flocked in from the country (Josephus. "Bell. Jud:," 6:9, 3). He adds that 97, 000 were carried away captive during and after the war. Such as was not...nor ever shall be. (Dan_12:1) This is not mere hyperbole, but sober fact. Josephus ("Bell. Jud.," Pro 4) himself bears similar testimony: "Of all the cities under the dominion of Rome, ours was once the most happy, and afterwards the most utterly miserable. For the misfortunes of all the nations upon earth that have ever happened, if they are compared with the calamities to which the Jews were exposed, will, in my opinion, fall far short." Chrysostom sums up the matter thus: "Whence came there thus upon them wrath from God intolerable, and more sore than all that had befallen aforetime, not in Judaea only, but in any part of the world? Is it not quite clear that it was for the deed of the cross and for this rejection? Mark, I pray thee, the exceeding greatness of the ills, when not only compared with the time before, they appear more grievous, but also with all the time to come. For not in all the world, neither in all time that is past, and that is to come, shall any one be able to say such ills have been. And very naturally; for neither had any man perpetrated, not of these that ever have been, nor those to come hereafter, a deed so wicked and horrible" ("Hom.," in loc. ). The "affliction" spoken of refers not only to bodily sufferings, but to that anguish of mind occasioned by acute apprehension and. expectation of danger, such as was felt in the days before the Flood, and at the time of the oppression of Antiochus Epiphanes.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo,…
Mat_24:23-26
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ.
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I. Let us settle what we really want in life, and we may safely shut our ears to many counsellors.
II. Let us learn more and more of the true Christ, and we shall not be led astray by false Christs.
III. Let us give ourselves to earnest practical living, and not gape after wonders.
IV. Let us not think that some other Christ is needed when we are surrounded by great and unwonted troubles. (Anon.)
The glory of the coming of Christ
The coming of Christ will be-
I. Preceded by frequent delusive turnouts.
II. A self-evident manifestation.
III. A time of judgment.
IV. A time of great distress of nations.
V. With power and great glory.
VI. For the salvation of the elect. (Anon.)
I. The Christian dispensation is disturbed by attempts of impostors to delude the unwary.
II. These attempts at imposture are accompanied by credentials likely to deceive many.
III. There is in our possession a test sufficient to unmask all pretenders. (Anon.)
Forewarned
Our Lord forewarns-
I. His own people of the danger of being led astray.
II. Of the manner of His coming-sudden, unmistakable.
III. Sinners of the certainty of judgment. Do we heed the warnings? Do we live as if we gave attention to them? (Anon.)
Christs advent not restricted
Take as an example of the twilight condition in which the Christian world stands to-day, the different opinions that its members have concerning the Lords second coming. Some say He came in judgment when the Roman army encompassed and subdued Jerusalem. Lo I Christ was there; and so He was, in that Divine Word of His which then and thus became visibly true. Others affirm that He came in the descent of the Holy Ghost; and so He certainly did, and by that Spirit He still abides and works here on earth, remaining with and in His Church always even unto the end of the world. Yes, Christ is here as well as there, in this temple as well as in that where the first disciples were gathered. Yet another voice says, The Redeemer comes in every signal manifestation of spiritual life, in each great reformation and revival of faith, in each social uplifting of the people to holier desires and to a better life. In all of these Christ is, no doubt, present. By and in them He is evermore coming. And He comes, moreover, to each individual soul at baptism, at conversion, and in the Holy Communion. He comes into the secret closet of prayer and meditation. He comes to every open heart, and outside the closed door of others He stands, and knocks, and waits. Blessed truths are these, all of them. Christ does come by many paths to help the needy, and He comes with power. But no one of these comings is exclusive of the others. We are not to believe that Christ is altogether here or there, that His presence is entirely restricted to any single one of the many ways by which He has promised to bestow the blessings of His risen life. And all of these comings put together should not exclude from our minds the belief or the constant thought of that other coming, which is to be not as a combination or succession of separate star-gleams, but as the lightning, a body of glory covering the whole world, and reaching at once from the east even unto the west. (E. E. Johnson, M. A.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv21–23 21. Great tribulation. The account given by Josephus, the…
21. Great tribulation. The account given by Josephus, the Jewish historian who witnessed and recorded the war, is almost an echo of the predictions of Christ. Women ate their own children from starvation; the Jews within the city fought each other as well as the Roman army; on August 10, a.d. 70, the city was stormed and there was a universal massacre; 1,100,00 persons perished, and 100,000 survivors were sold into slavery.
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.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v23 The attack upon the faith:
The attack upon the faith:
v. 23. Then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not.
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v. 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
v. 25. Behold, I have told you before.
v. 26. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert, go not forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers, believe it not.
v. 27. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
v. 28. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
The Lord still has in mind principally the days preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, though His words may be said to find a general application. The external afflictions would become still more unbearable owing to the fact that the attacks on the faith of the disciples of Christ would be more subtle and be managed with much boldness. False Messiahs would attempt to gain power, at least for a time. The manner and circumstances of their conduct are here briefly sketched, and they find their application to this day. They would present to an astonished world great signs and wonders, such in appearance as well as such in truth, such as are easily explained by reference to religious psychology and plain swindle, and such as baffle the investigators. There is need of careful distinction here to keep the false Christs separate from the true Christ, the false teachers from the true teachers. "Here you may consider whereon the right doctrine, from which we dare not budge, depends. Here remember: The right doctrine does nothing else than to show and set before thee Christ, in order that thou mayest comfort thy heart through Him against sin and death. This is done thus that we are taught Christ is the true, eternal, almighty God, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, come down to us men on earth, conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary into this world; that He finally died on the cross, not on account of His sins, for He, as God, could not sin, but on account of our sins, in order that God by such death might be satisfied and our debt be paid, and we by Christ’s resurrection from the dead might also come to eternal life; that therefore Christ conquered sin and death for our benefit, that sin and death should not harm us; and now henceforth sits at the right hand of God, in order to defend us against the devil, mercifully grant us His Spirit, and hear us in all things which we need for body and soul and ask in His name. That is preaching correctly concerning Christ, and agrees in every detail with the Word; therefore one need not worry about the Antichrist and his lies in that case. " In case one’s faith is firmly based upon this Gospel of Jesus, he will not be disturbed by the signs and wonders of the false Christs. "This we should remember, in order that we may meet such as praise the miraculous signs so highly and say: I know the devil, he can imitate God (for he is God’s ape), he can do all miraculous signs, but they are false miraculous signs. The people imagine, indeed, that they are true signs; even those upon whom they are performed, have no other feeling than that they are blind, dead. But they are false signs, which are done for the purpose that we desert God and pledge ourselves to some saint. But when the people have pledged themselves, then the devil removes the ghost. Then the people say: This or that saint has helped me, and are strengthened in their idolatry. Such false miraculous signs, which the devil has done to substantiate his lies and errors, and that idolatry might become all the greater in the world, the Pope has confirmed and strengthened with his indulgences. " Thus the subtlety of the false Christs might succeed, if such a thing were possible, if God should permit such an outrage, in deceiving even those that are believers. But no man can pluck them out of His hands, Joh 10:28.
Two further characteristics of false teachers are that they always aim to pique curiosity by making their teachings as obscure as possible, either by going out into desert places or by hiding themselves in inner chambers. Such cases are mentioned not only in the Bible, Act 21:38, and by the historian Josephus, but they have had their logical successors in the ascetics, the monks and nuns of all times, that shut themselves away from the world in the foolish effort to know Christ more fully. Many such people were regarded with the greatest veneration by the ignorant and vested with the personality and power of Christ Himself. Such fanaticism is branded in the words of Christ: Behold, I have told you in advance; believe it not! And He emphasizes His words by a picture, that of the unexpectedness of the lightning, whose brightness nevertheless illumines the earth. So will Christ come to Judgment, first of all upon the Jews that had rejected Him and His Word. The clouds may have been coming up for some time and the thunder reverberated in the distance, but the sudden flash of lightning, sending its bolt in fearful destruction, is unexpected. So the signs preceding the fall of Jerusalem, as those presaging the Judgment Day, will make the watchful more alert, and yet the actual appearance of the Judge will be like a bolt of lightning, sudden, terrible. Hence the striking, though homely admonition: wherever the dead body is lying, there the carrion vultures will assemble. Where Christ is, there shall His elect also be. "Thus the Lord has made use of two parables, first of a heavenly one, that of the lightning, which is a fine light, to indicate that His kingdom is unfettered and uncaptured. For since Jerusalem is now destroyed, where the kingdom of Christ was formerly, the question is asked where the kingdom will now be, since Jerusalem is now torn to pieces. There it is said: Where the lightning and where the carcass will be, that is, where the divine Word will be, whether it be here or in another place, there will the Church be."
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v23 Connecting Statement:
Connecting Statement:
Jesus continues speaking to his disciples.
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do not believe it
"do not believe the false things they have said to you"
so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect
Here "lead astray" is a metaphor for persuading someone to believe something that is not true. This can be translated as two sentences. AT: "so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect" or "so as to deceive people. If possible, they would even deceive the elect"
translationWords
Christ
believe
false prophet
miracle
chosen one
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv21, 22, 24 24:21 greater anguish: Similar language is found in Neh…
24:21 greater anguish: Similar language is found in Neh 9:37; Jer 11:16; Dan 12:1; Joel 2:1-17. The blatant savagery of the times has been documented by Josephus (see War 5.10.2-3).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.