MARK 13 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the

End Times

1 As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his

disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What

massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

BARNES, "What manner of stones - The stones here referred to were those used in the building of the temple, and the walls on the sides of Mount Moriah, on which the temple stood. The temple was constructed of white marble, and the blocks were of a prodigious size. Josephus says that these stones were, some of them, 50 feet long, 24 feet broad, and 16 feet in thickness.

CLARKE, "See what manner of stones - Josephus says, Ant. b. xv. chap. 11: “That these stones were white and strong, Fifty feet long, Twenty-Four broad, and Sixteen in thickness.” If this account can be relied on, well might the disciples be struck with wonder at such a superb edifice, and formed by such immense stones! The principal contents of this chapter are largely explained in the notes on Matt. 24, and to these the reader is requested to refer.

GILL, "And as he went out of the temple,.... The Ethiopic version reads, "as they went out"; Christ and his disciples: for when Christ went out of the temple, the disciples went out with him; or at least very quickly followed him, and came to him, as appears from what follows; though the true reading is, "as he went out": and the Syriac and Persic versions are more express, and read, "as Jesus went out": for having done all he intended to do there, he left it, never more to return to it:

one of his disciples: it may be Peter, who was generally pretty forward, and commonly the mouth of the rest, as this disciple was, whoever he was: the Persic version reads, "the disciples"; and Matthew and Luke represent them in general, as observing to Christ, the beauty and grandeur of the temple, as this disciple did: who

saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here. The temple, as repaired by Herod, was a very beautiful building, according to the account the Jews give of it, and its stones were of a very great magnitude; See Gill on Mat_24:1.

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HENRY, "We may here see,

I. How apt many of Christ's own disciples are to idolize things that look great, and have been long looked upon as sacred. They had heard Christ complain of those who had made the temple a den of thieves; and yet, when he quitted it, for the wickedness that remained in it, they court him to be as much in love as they were with the stately structure and adorning of it. One of them said to him, “Look, Master, what manner of stones, and what buildings are here, Mar_13:1. We never saw the like in Galilee; O do not leave this fine place.”

JAMIESON, "Mar_13:1-37. Christ’s prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem, and warnings suggested by it to prepare for his second coming. ( = Mat_24:1-51; Luk_21:5-36).

Jesus had uttered all His mind against the Jewish ecclesiastics, exposing their character with withering plainness, and denouncing, in language of awful severity, the judgments of God against them for that unfaithfulness to their trust which was bringing ruin upon the nation. He had closed this His last public discourse (Mat_23:1-39) by a passionate lamentation over Jerusalem, and a solemn farewell to the temple. “And,” says Matthew (Mat_24:1), “Jesus went out and departed from the temple” - never more to re-enter its precincts, or open His mouth in public teaching. With this act ended His public ministry. As He withdrew, says Olshausen, the gracious presence of God left the sanctuary; and the temple, with all its service, and the whole theocratic constitution, was given over to destruction. What immediately followed is, as usual, most minutely and graphically described by our Evangelist.

And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him — The other Evangelists are less definite. “As some spake,” says Luke (Luk_21:5); “His disciples came to Him,” says Matthew (Mat_24:2). Doubtless it was the speech of one, the mouthpiece, likely, of others.

Master — Teacher.

see what manner of stones and what buildings are here — wondering probably, how so massive a pile could be overthrown, as seemed implied in our Lord’s last words regarding it. Josephus, who gives a minute account of the wonderful structure, speaks of stones forty cubits long [Wars of the Jews, 5.5.1.] and says the pillars supporting the porches were twenty-five cubits high, all of one stone, and that of the whitest marble [Wars of the Jews, 5.5.2]. Six days’ battering at the walls, during the siege, made no impression upon them [Wars of the Jews, 6.4.1]. Some of the under-building, yet remaining, and other works, are probably as old as the first temple.

BARCLAY, "THE THINGS TO COME (Mark 13:1-37)

Mark 13:1-37 is one of the most difficult chapters in the New Testament for a

modern reader to understand. That is because it is one of the most Jewish

chapters in the Bible. From beginning to end it is thinking in terms of Jewish

history and Jewish ideas. All through it Jesus is using categories and pictures

which were very familiar to the Jews of his day, but which are very strange, and

indeed, unknown, to many modern readers. Even so, it is not possible to

disregard this chapter because it is the source of many ideas about the second

coming of Jesus. The difficulty about the doctrine of the second coming is that

nowadays people are apt either completely to disregard it or to be so completely

unbalanced about it that it becomes for them practically the only doctrine of the

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Christian faith. It may be that if we study this chapter with some care we shall

come to a sane and correct view about this doctrine.

We will first of all glance at the Jewish background against which this chapter

must be read. We will then try to make an analysis of the various elements which

go to make it up. We will then study it section by section in the usual way.

Finally, we will try to extract from it the great truths which are permanently

valid.

The Day Of The Lord (Mark 13:1-37)

This whole chapter must read with one thing in mind. Again and again we have

to return to this matter because there is so much of the New Testament which is

not intelligible without it. The Jews never doubted that they were the chosen

people, and they never doubted that one day they would occupy the place in the

world which the chosen people, as they saw it, deserved and were bound to have

in the end. They had long since abandoned the idea that they could ever win that

place by human means and they were confident that in the end God would

directly intervene in history and win it for them. The day of God's intervention

was the day of the Lord. Before that day of the Lord there would be a time of

terror and trouble when the world would be shaken to its foundations and

judgment would come. But it would be followed by the new world and the new

age and the new glory.

In one sense this idea is the product of unconquerable optimism. The Jew was

quite certain that God would break in. In another sense it was the product of

bleak pessimism, because it was based on the idea that this world was so utterly

bad that only its complete destruction and the emergence of a new world would

suffice. They did not look for reformation. They looked for a re-creating of the

entire scheme of things.

Let us look at some of the Old Testament passages about the day of the Lord.

Amos writes (Amos 5:16-20):

"In all the squares there shall be wailing; and in all the streets

they shall say, 'Alas! Alas!'. They shall call the farmers to

mourning and to wailing those who are skilled in lamentations, and

in all vineyards there shall be wailing, for I will pass through

the midst of you, says the Lord. Woe to you who desire the day of

the Lord! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness,

and not light ... gloom with no brightness in it."

Isaiah (Isaiah 13:6-16) has a terrible passage about the day of the Lord:

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"Wail! for the day of the Lord is near. As destruction from the

Almighty it will come.... Behold the day of the Lord comes, cruel

with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation, and

to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and

their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be

dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light....

Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be

shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of Hosts, in the

day of his fierce anger. . . ."

The second and third chapters of Joel (Joel 2:1-32; Joel 3:1-21) are full of

terrible

descriptions of the day of the Lord:

"The day of the Lord is coming ... a day of darkness and gloom, a

day of clouds and thick darkness.... I will give portents in the

heavens and on the earth, blood and fire, and columns of smoke.

The sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before

the great and terrible day of the Lord comes."

Again and again such passages of terror meet us in the Old Testament. The day

of the Lord will be sudden, shattering, terrifying. The world will reel with

destruction. The very course of nature will be uprooted, and God, the judge, will

come.

Between the Old and the New Testaments there was a time when the Jews knew

no freedom. It was therefore only natural that their hopes and dreams of the day

of the Lord would become even more vivid. In that time a kind of popular

religious literature grew up. Jesus would know it. AH the Jews would be familiar

with its picture. The writings of which this literature consisted were called

Apocalypses. Apokalupsis (Greek #602) means an unveiling. These books were

dreams and visions of what would happen when the day of the Lord came and in

the terrible time immediately before it. They continued to use the Old Testament

imagery, and to supplement it with new details. But, it must be noted, all these

books were dreams and visions. They were attempts to paint the unpaintable and

to speak the unspeakable. They were poetry, not prose. They were visions, not

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science. They were dreams, not history. They were never meant to be taken

prosaically as maps of the future and timetables of events to come.

We will see that every single detail in this chapter can be parallelled in the

visions of the Old Testament and of the literature between the Testaments. Jesus

was taking the language, the imagery, the apparatus of apocalyptic literature,

and using it to try to make people understand. He was working with the only

ideas that people knew. But he knew, as they knew, that these things were only

pictures, for no man could really tell what would happen when God broke in.

The Different Strands (Mark 13:1-37)

Further, in this chapter there are various strands of thought. The gospel writers

had a way of collecting Jesus' sayings on any subject. It was a wise way to write

and excellent for teaching purposes. Here Mark, as it were, collects Jesus'

sayings about the future. Now even a cursory reading, with no special

knowledge, shows that, though all these sayings were about the future, they were

not all about the same things. There are in fact in this chapter five different

strands.

(i) There are prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem. We get them in Mark

13:1-2, Mark 13:14-20. Jesus foresaw the end of the holy city. As we shall see,

Jesus was right. Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70. The Temple was destroyed and the

most terrible things happened.

(ii) There is warning of persecution to come. We get that in Mark 13:9-13. Jesus

foresaw that his followers would have to go through the most heart-breaking and

soul-searing experiences, and he warned them in advance.

(iii) There are warnings of the dangers of the last days. We get them in Mark

13:3-6 and Mark 13:21-22. Jesus saw quite clearly that men would come who

would twist and adulterate the Christian faith. It was bound to be so, for men

are always inclined to listen to their own proud minds rather than to the voice of

God. He wished to defend his people in advance from the heresies and lies which

would invade the Church.

(iv) There are warnings of the Second Coming. Now, these warnings of the

Second Coming are dressed in the language which has to do with the day of the

Lord. We get them in Mark 13:7-8 and Mark 13:24-27. The imagery of the day

of the Lord and of the Second Coming are inextricably mixed up. It had to be so,

because no man could possibly know what would happen in either case. It is with

visions and dreams that we have to deal. The only pictures Jesus could use about

his Second Coming were those which prophets and apocalyptists had already

used about the day of the Lord. They are not meant to be taken literally. They

are meant as impressionistic pictures, as seer's visions, designed to impress upon

men the greatness of that event when it should come.

(v) There are warnings of the necessity to be on the watch. We get them in Mark

13:28-37. If men live in the shadow of eternity, if they live with the constant

possibility of the intervention of God, if they live with the prospect of the

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consummation of the coming of Christ ever before them, if the times and the

seasons are known only to God, there is the necessity ever to be ready.

This chapter will make far more sense if we remember these various strands in it

and remember that every strand is unfolded in language and imagery which go

back to the Old Testament and apocalyptic pictures of the day of the Lord.

Because that is so, we will study the chapter not in consecutive verses, but in the

various passages of which the various strands consist.

A City's Doom (Mark 13:1-2)

13:1-2 As they were going out of the sacred precincts, one of his disciples said to

Jesus, "Teacher, see! What stones and what buildings!" Jesus said to him, "You

see this great budding? Not one stone will be left on another which will not be

thrown down!"

We begin with the prophecies of Jesus which foretold the doom of Jerusalem.

The Temple which Herod butt was one of the wonders of the world. It was begun

in 20-19 B.C. and in the time of Jesus was not yet completely finished. It was

built on the top of Mount Moriah. instead of levelling off the summit of the

mountain a kind of vast platform was formed by raising up walls of massive

masonry and enclosing the whole area. On these walls a platform was laid,

strengthened by piers which distributed the weight of the superstructure.

Josephus tells us that some of these stones were forty feet long by twelve feet high

by eighteen feet wide. It would be some of these vast stones that moved the

Galilaean disciples to such wondering amazement.

The most magnificent entrance to the Temple was at the south-west angle. Here

between the city and the Temple hill there stretched the Tyropoeon Valley. A

marvellous bridge spanned the valley. Each arch was forty-one and a half feet

and there were stones used in the building of it which measured twenty-four feet

long. The Tyropoeon valley was no less than two hundred and twenty-five feet

below. The breadth of the cleft that the bridge spanned was three hundred and

fifty-four feet, and the bridge itself was fifty feet in breadth. The bridge led

straight into the Royal Porch. The porch consisted of a double row of Corinthian

pillars all thirty-seven and a half feet high and each one cut out of one solid block

of marble.

Of the actual Temple building itself, the holy place, Josephus writes, "Now the

outward face of the Temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to

surprise men's minds or their eyes, for it was covered all over with plates of gold

of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery

splendour, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their

eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun's own rays. But this Temple

appeared to strangers, when they were at a distance, like a mountain covered

with snow, for, as to those parts of it which were not gilt, they were exceeding

white.... Of its stones, some of them were forty-five cubits in length, five in height

and six in breadth." (A cubit was eighteen inches.)

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It was all this splendour that so impressed the disciples. The Temple seemed the

summit of human art and achievement, and seemed so vast and solid that it

would stand for ever. But Jesus made the astonishing statement that the day was

coming when not one of these stones would stand upon another. In less then fifty

years his prophecy came tragically true.

"Pride of man and earthly glory,

Sword and crown betray his trust;

What with care and toil he buildeth,

Tower and temple, fall to dust.

But God's power,

Hour by hour,

Is my temple and my tower."

COFFMAN, "Topics appearing in this chapter are: Jesus' prophecy of the

destruction of the temple (Mark 13:1-2); four disciples inquire as to the time of it

and the sign preceding it (Mark 13:3-4); Jesus answers their compound question

with (a) a special charge to the apostles (Mark 13:5-13); (b) a specific sign of the

destruction of the temple (Mark 13:14-23); and (c) a prophecy of the Second

Advent scheduled "after that tribulation" (Mark 13:14-27); (d) a lesson from the

fig tree (Mark 13:28-29); (e) the promise that "this generation shall not pass

away until all these things shall be accomplished" (Mark 13:30-32); and (f) a

strong exhortation to watchfulness (Mark 13:33-37).

An astounding thing in this chapter, found also in the parallel accounts

(Matthew 24 and Luke 21), is the mingling of Jesus' prophecies of the

destruction of Jerusalem and the temple and the event of his second coming

(after the tribulation) in such a manner as to reveal the first event as a type of the

second. The total corpus of these extremely interesting prophecies appears in the

sum total of all three synoptics, which like the independent legs of a tripod are

each necessary, in order to have a full understanding of them.

Whatever this chapter is, acknowledged by all as "difficult and

controversial,"[1] it is not "a little apocalypse," as falsely alleged by a certain

school of scholars since the theory was first invented by T. Colani in 1864,[2] the

late date of it being alone sufficient grounds for rejecting it. McMillan is

obviously in error when he writes that "It is correct to think of this chapter as a

part of this broad literary phenomenon (that of apocalyptic writing)."[3]

Turlington declared that "The burden of the chapter is not apocalyptic ... unlike

other apocalyptic writing, there is no reference to Satan, no dwelling on the

destruction of evil forces, no drawn-out description of final judgment.[4]

Moreover, Cranfield wrote:

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This discourse differs radically from typical Jewish apocalyptic. While the

language of apocalyptic is indeed used, the purpose for which it is used and even

the form of the discourse are different. It is, in fact, exhortation, not ordinary

apocalyptic. Its purpose is not to impart esoteric information but to sustain faith

and obedience.[5]

We agree with Sanner who wrote, "It is heartening to read comments of scholars

like Barclay and Cranfield, who take the chapter as genuine."[6] Of course, the

whole purpose of the "Little Apocalypse" theory is to soften, or eliminate,

reference in this chapter to the final judgment in which "heaven and earth shall

pass away" and the cataclysmic appearance of the Son of God in the Second

Advent shall take place. Again, as Cranfield said, "the signs are reminders in the

midst of history of the coming of the Lord."[7]

Regarding the unity of this chapter, McMillan has a scholarly summary,

stressing the relevance of this chapter to the primitive church, then confronting

difficulties both in Rome and in Jerusalem (soon to be destroyed). The

generation which first received Mark were on the threshold of the great

persecutions against the church; and, as McMillan said, "One finds Mark 13 to

offer hope of the most profound kind."[8]

[1] Henry E. Turlington, The Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville, 1946), p.

369.

[2] C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel according to St. Mark (Cambridge: The

University Press, 1966), p. 387).

[3] Earle McMillan, The Gospel according to Mark (Austin, Texas: R. B. Sweet

Publishing Company, 1973), p. 158.

[4] Henry E. Turlington, op. cit., p. 371.

[5] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 388.

[6] A. Elwood Sanner, Beacon Bible Commentary (Kansas City: Beacon Hill

Press, 1964), p. 379.

[7] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 389.

[8] Earle McMillan, op. cit., p. 156.

And as he went forth out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him,

Teacher, Behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings. (Mark

13:1)

Mark had just recorded, at the first of the preceding chapter, one of the three

denunciatory parables in which Christ had categorically predicted that God

would send his "armies," destroy "those murderers," and burn "their city,"

prophecies which, in context, cannot refer to anything other than the city of

Jerusalem. The pall of that dire prophecy was still upon the disciples here who

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proudly pointed out the glory of the temple, implying two things, perhaps three:

(1) what a shame it would be to destroy so grand a building., (2) how difficult it

would be to destroy so great an edifice, and hinting, perhaps, that (3) God might

spare the glorious temple dedicated to his name, the pride of every Hebrew,

including the apostles. The sentiment of this exclamation by the four apostles

proves that Matthew's account of the three parables is accurate; for, if only the

single parable recorded by Mark (that of the wicked husbandmen) had been

spoken, it would not have prompted this emphasis on the temple by the apostles.

(See Matthew 22:7).

Jesus and his apostles had just passed through the temple for the last time and

were ascending the mount of Olives, which eminence afforded a most impressive

view. Hailed as one of the wonders of the world, the Jewish temple was a

building of exceedingly great magnificence; the wealth of the nation had been

lavished upon it for a full fifty years (see John 2:20, adding four years).

What manner of stones ... Such stones were indeed a marvel. Josephus described

them thus:

Now the temple was built of stones that were white and strong, and each of their

length was twenty-five cubits, their height was eight, and their breadth about

twelve; and the whole structure, and that of the royal cloister, were visible to all

who dwelt in the country for a great many furlongs.[9]

Stones of such immensity are hard to imagine. A check with manufacturers of

concrete in Houston, Texas, revealed that concrete weighs 120 to 150 pounds per

cubic foot; and allowing any kind of building stone to have a density of at least

4,000 pounds per cubic yard, and taking the cubit, as used by Josephus for

eighteen inches, the result is exactly 300 cubic yards in each stone, and the weight

1,200,000 pounds each! What manner of stones indeed!

And what manner of buildings ... Not the temple, merely, but the royal cloisters,

and the great tower of Antonio, adjacent to it, combined to form a most

impressive building complex.

ENDNOTE:

[9] Josephus, Life and Works of, translated by William Whiston (New York:

Holt, Rinehart, and Winston), p. 472.

BURKITT, "Our blessed Saviour being now ready to depart from the temple;

never more, after this, entering into it; and his disciples shewing him with

wonder and admiration the magnificent structures and buildings thereof,

apprehending that in regard to its invincible strength it could not be destroyed,

or that at least, in regard to its incredible magnificence, it was a great pity it

should be destroyed; they say to Christ, Master, Behold what buildings are here;

Not considering how sin would undermine and blow up the most famous

structures. Sin brings cities and kingdoms, as well as particular persons, to their

end; not one stone of that magnificent structure, says Christ, shall remain

unpulled down: which threatening was exactly fulfilled after Christ's death,

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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 Jeremiah 26:18.

Learn hence, 1. That sin has laid the foundation of ruin in the most flourishing

cities and kingdoms. That the threatenings of God are to be feared, and shall be

fulfilled, whatever appearing improbabilities there may be to the contrary. It is

neither the temple's strength nor beauty that can oppose or withstand God's

power.

BENSON, "Mark 13:1-2. See what manner of stones, &c. — Our Lord, in the

conclusion of his lamentation over Jerusalem, (Matthew 23:38-39,) had declared

that the temple should never be favoured with his presence any more; a

declaration which, doubtless, appeared very strange to the disciples, and affected

them much. For which reason they stopped him as he was going away, and

desired him to see what a fine, sumptuous building the temple was: insinuating,

probably, that they were surprised to hear him talk of leaving it desolate, for that

so rich and glorious a fabric ought not to be deserted rashly. Jesus said, There

shall not be left one stone upon another — This superb building, which you

behold, adorned with huge stones of great beauty, shall be razed to the very

foundation. It seemed exceedingly improbable that any thing like this should

happen in that age, considering the peace of the Jews with the Romans, and the

strength of their citadel, which forced Titus himself to acknowledge that it was

the singular hand of God which compelled them to relinquish fortifications

which no human power could have conquered. Bishop Chandler justly observes,

“That no impostor would have foretold an event so unlikely and so

disagreeable.” — Defence of Christianity, pp. 472, 473. Add to this, that it was

not usual with the Romans to destroy either the cities or the temples of the

countries they conquered. And with regard to this temple, Josephus tells us,

(Bell., Mark 7:9,) that Titus having held a council of his generals, who were for

burning the temple, declared that he would by all means save that edifice as an

ornament to the empire. But God had determined and declared that it should be

destroyed. Accordingly, the soldiers burned it without paying any regard to

Titus’s orders. See notes on Matthew 24:42.

CONSTABLE, "This discourse evidently followed Jesus' departure from the

temple on Wednesday with His disciples. The stones that caught the disciple's eye

were probably those above the floor of the temple courtyard. Herod the Great

had enlarged the temple esplanade and supported it with huge foundation stones.

At the southeast corner, the temple complex rose about 200 feet above the

Kidron Valley below. Some of these stones are still in place. In view of what

Jesus predicted and what happened, the disciples apparently referred to the

stones of the buildings and porches, not the foundation stones. The colonnades

that surrounded the temple courtyard were also very beautiful. The whole

temple complex was magnificent. [Note: See Josephus, Antiquities of . . .,

15:11:3-7; and Alfred Edersheim, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services, ch. 2.]

Mark probably called attention to the stones in view of what Jesus would say

about them (Mark 13:2).

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BI 1-2, "Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here.

Men admiring doomed things

“What manner of stones, and what buildings are here!” An outburst of admiration this. The stones were indeed beautiful. That sacred building was constructed of prodigious blocks of white marble, some of which seem to have been upwards of thirty feet long, eighteen broad, and sixteen thick. They did not view the temple in the light in which Christ viewed it. It is worthy of note that Christ, in His discourse, speaks in a very different spirit of doomed things to what He does of doomed people. Mind was infinitely more interesting to Him than masonry. When He refers to the temple He says, “As for these things” with an air of comparative indifference; but when He refers to doomed people He weeps, and says, “O Jerusalem,” etc. The language of Christ and His disciples here will apply-

I. To secular interests, which are doomed things. Markets, governments, navies, and armies are doomed.

II. To artistic productions, which are doomed things.

III. To social distinctions, which are doomed things.

IV. To religious systems, which are doomed things.

V. To the world itself, which is a doomed thing. Why set your hearts on doomed things? (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The destruction of Jerusalem

It is interesting to mark the site and trace the history of edifices built for God, some of which have been signally honoured by Him. The temple at Jerusalem was one of these. It stood contemporary with great events, and was the scene, for four hundred years, of the perpetual sacrifices, those august national solemnities, the divinely appointed services that distinguished the worship of the God of Israel. But that which piety erects, sin often lays in ruins. This temple accomplished its service and shared in the national fall, when the people by whom it had been profaned were carried to their seventy years’ captivity. The second temple was designated to still higher distinction, inasmuch as it was that which Messiah’s feet trod, and within whose walls He joined as a worshipper. What have been the bearings of the destruction of Jerusalem, upon Christianity on the one hand, and Judaism on the other?

I. This event furnished a most striking proof of the truth of our Lord’s predictions and consequently of His Divine mission and authority.

II. The destruction of Jerusalem served a most important purpose in reference to Christianity, by liberalising the minds of the believers and particularly by emancipating the Jewish converts from the authority of the Mosaic ritual.

III. The destruction of Jerusalem, by weaning the believing Hebrews from their national attachments, and scattering them abroad in the earth, contributed essentially to the diffusion of the knowledge and influence of the gospel. But what are its bearings upon Judaism?

1. Whether the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersion of the Jews is not to be regarded as an act of righteous judgment upon the nation, incurred by the dreadful crime of rejecting the promised Messiah?

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2. I ask whether the destruction of Jerusalem and of the temple was not a clear intimation of the final abolition of the Mosaic economy? Here only could the sacrifices be offered, so that when it was destroyed, the institution itself was abolished. (H. Gray, D. D.)

The discipline of destruction

“For as a physician, by breaking the cup, prevents his patient from indulging his appetite in a hurtful draught, so God withheld them from their sacrifices by destroying the city itself, and making the place inaccessible to all of them.” (Warburton’s Julian.)

The ruins of the earthly Jerusalem

In the very ruins of the earthly Jerusalem you will find a salutary memorial, not only of the transitory character of all this world’s glory, but of the exchange of the shadow for the substance; of the introduction of that kingdom which is not of this world, and of that temple, built upon everlasting foundations, in which all believers are living stones, fashioned after the model of “the chief cornerstone,” even Jesus Christ. (H. Gray.)

The religious use of archeology

What is the true religious aspect of archaeology? We must all profit by that warning voice which did for a moment check the enthusiasm of the antiquarian disciple. The admiration for stones and buildings, however innocent and useful, is yet not religion. The regard for antiquity and the love of the past, if pushed to excess, have often been the ruin of religion. Christianity is not antiquarianism, and antiquarianism is not Christianity. There must be times and places when antiquity must give way to truth, and the beauty of form to the beauty of holiness, and the charm of poetic and historic recollections to the stern necessities of fact and duty. It is well to remember that there is something more enduring than the stones of the temple. If archaeology is not everything, it is at least something.

I. It awakens that love of the past which is so necessary a counterpoise to the excitement of the present and the future. “I have considered,” says the Psalmist, “the days of old, the years of the ancient time.” They were to him as a cool shade, a calm haven. The study of them carries us back from the days of the man to the days of the child; it opens to us a fresh world; it makes us feel that we do not stand alone in our generation on the earth, but that under God, we are what we are because of the deeds and thoughts of those who have lived before us, and to whom we thus owe a debt which we have constantly to repay to our posterity. How this insight into the past has been increased in our own age. Not only Greeks and Romans, but Egyptians and Assyrians, are familiar to us in this century.

II. The importance of these studies in developing those rarest of God’s gifts to man, a love of truth, and a love of justice-the will and the power to see things as they really are, and in their just proportions to one another.

III. The more thoroughly we can understand these ancient forms, the more eagerly we can restore and beautify ancient buildings, so much the better is the framework prepared for the reception of new thoughts and new ideas. It has been sometimes

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said that the great periods of building and of admiration for the past have been the precursors of the fall of the religion of the nations which they represented. It has been said, for example, that the burst of splendid architecture under the Herods, immediately preceded the fall of Judaism; that the like display under the Antonii preceded the fall of Paganism; that the like display at the beginning of the sixteenth century preceded the fall of the Church of the middle ages. There is no doubt a truth in this. There is a tendency in an expiring system to develop itself in outward form, when its inward spirit has died away. But this is not at all the whole truth, and the higher truth is something quite different, namely, that these magnificent displays of art, these profound investigations into the past, in those eras of which I have spoken, were part of the same throes, of the same mind and spirit, which accompanied the birth of the new and higher religion, which in each case succeeded. Those Augustan buildings suggested to the apostles’ hearts the imagery by which they expressed the most sublime of spiritual truths. “The chief cornerstone;” the stones joined and compacted together; the pillars which were never to be moved; the whole idea of what the apostles called “edification,”-that most expressive word when we understand it rightly-the architecture, so to speak, of the Christian soul-all these images were drawn from the superb edifices which everywhere rose before the apostles’ eyes. And so in the last great efflorescence of mediaeval architecture, religion, instead of dying out with that effort, took a third start throughout Europe. Oh! may God grant that the glory of the third temple, the glory of the living temple, may as much exceed the glory of the second, as the glory of the second exceeded the glory of the first! Cast not away the old, but see what it means, see what it embraces, see what it indicates, “See what manner of stones and what buildings are here,” and then, as in the case of sacred and of ancient words, so also in the case of sacred and ancient edifices, they will become as Luther said of words, not dead stones but living creatures with hands and feet; living stones which will cry out with a thousand voices; stones which will be full of “sermons;” dry bones which when we prophesy over them, will stand on their feet an exceeding great army; ancient, everlasting gates, which shall turn upon their rusty hinges and lift up their hoary doors that the Lord of Hosts may come in; a heavenly city within the earthly city, a city which hath foundations deeper than any earthly foundations, a city whose builder and maker is God! (Dean Stanley.)

Ruin ever near

Jesus and the disciples of Jesus differ in just this way about the strength and durability of a great many things in this world. The disciples point to the wealth of the millionaire, to the reputation of a man of worldwide fame, to the influence of a popular leader, to the power of a national government, to the strength of some system of wrong; and they say, “Behold what manner of stones and what manner of buildings!” Jesus says, “There shall not be left here one stone upon another.” And the word of Jesus never fails. Wealth is no sure support even for the life that now is. The splendid fabric of a fortune, which a man has toiled a life through to give as an inheritance to his family, crumbles in a night, and the millionaire’s children are beggars, or worse. The man whom all the world honoured has become a by-word of the scoffer and jester. He who swayed multitudes at his will, and who defied the voice of an outraged public sentiment, is a wretched outcast denied help or pity from the very creatures of his influence. A system of iniquity edged in by law, and venerable for ages, is overthrown and swept away as by the breath of Omnipotence. No nation on earth, today, is beyond the possibility of ruin tomorrow. A few pounds of dynamite may scatter the last vestiges of the strongest dynasty. The traditions of the

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ages, the superstitions of entire races, ignorance, vice, evil in high places, Satan himself, and all his hosts combined, cannot keep one stone on another, when the word of God is spoken for the fabric’s fall. If we only really believed this truth, which is as true as any other truth of God, and which has been verified anew before our own eyes again and again in the present generation, how much more restful we should be, and how much more courage we should have. (Sunday School Times.)

God’s great judgment on Israel

Privilege and responsibility go hand in hand, and the higher the opportunity, the greater the penalty for neglecting to improve it. The occasion of the uttering of this prediction is suggestive. The Saviour had marvelled at the widow’s mite; the disciples marvel at the temple’s magnificence. Forty and six years had the temple been in building, and had not long been completed. Occupying a site which seemed impregnable, its massive structure seemed to defy the destructive arts of war, while the exquisite beauty of its golden roof, of its courts, of its cloisters, of its pillars, of its gates, made it one of the wonders of the world. As today, a visitor to the cathedral of St. Isaac’s, at St. Petersburg, would mark outside the great pillars, made of single stones of granite, and within the marvellous pillars of Malachite and Lapis Lazuli, so the twelve point to stones of vast dimensions and beautiful in their veins and workmanship, and ask His admiration at once for these individual stones, and for the whole temple, which, like a jewel, crowned that hill of Zion, which the Psalmist had thought so beautiful for situation. It was a time of peace, for the horrors of war were being forgotten as a troubled dream. The absorption of Judaea in the Roman Empire seemed to promise a degree of security, which would be not an altogether unsatisfactory compensation for the loss of dignity of freedom. Just as our rule in India prevents wars amongst the various nations peopling that continent, so “The Roman peace,” as it has been termed, prevailed between and blessed the various peoples blended together in the great Roman Empire. The scene was made more impressive by the multitudes from every land who had gathered to the feast, wearing various costumes, speaking various languages. The candid observer would regret the absence of many of the signs of devotion he had hoped to find; but would at the same time indulge the feeling that there must be some vitality in the religion which felt such a mighty attraction to the House of God. A nation so united in what was deepest and holiest could not, he would think, fail to have some future still awaiting it. And whether the cloudless sun gilded the scene of cheerful activity, or the silver light of the passover full moon rested like a benediction on the whole, hope rather than solicitude would fill his heart; and the holiest spot on earth would seem destined to wear an eternal bloom of glory. Unexpected by His hearers, Christ’s words thrill them with horror. We still feel Christ’s sayings hard. We still find, on earnest study, that some hard sayings are yet helpful.

1. Taste is not everything in religion. The temple of Jerusalem was perhaps the most beautiful religious building ever raised by men; yet it was built by Herod the Great, a man as wicked in his life as he was exquisite in his taste. And all this beauty is so valueless in God’s sight that, costly and marvellous as it was, it had no endurance, but like the grass of the housetop, which withereth afore it groweth up, the world had hardly time to marvel at its aspect before they lamented its end. The true beauty of a church is that of hearts: the kindly thought, the gracious prayer, the consecrated life.

2. There is only one thing that can give endurance-righteousness. Where it is absent, nothing can secure man, city, or institution from a grave fate. So the Saviour begins His teaching on the judgment of Jerusalem. Was it any wonder

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that, sickened with the thought of such calamity, Christ could not enjoy the outward beauty of the temple as others did? (R. Glover.)

Christ’s double prophecy

The difficulty in explaining this discourse of our Lord lies in the appropriateness of its terms to two distinct and distant events,-the end of the world and the destruction of Jerusalem. But whether we assume, with some interpreters, that the one catastrophe was meant to typify the other; or, with another class, that the discourse may be mechanically divided by assuming a transition, at a certain point, from one of these great subjects to the other; or, with a third, that it describes a sequence of events to be repeated more than once, a prediction to be verified, not once for all, nor yet by a continuous progressive series of events, but in stages and at intervals, like repeated flashes of lightning, or the periodical germination of the fig tree, or the reassembling of the birds of prey whenever and wherever a new carcass tempts them; upon any of these various suppositions it is still true that the primary fulfilment of the prophecy was in the downfall of the Jewish state, with the previous or accompanying change of dispensations; and yet that it was so framed as to leave it doubtful until the event, whether a still more terrible catastrophe was not intended. However clear the contrary may now seem to us, there was nothing absurd in the opinion which so many entertained that the end of the world and of the old economy might be coincident. This ambiguity is not accidental, but designed, as in many other prophecies of Scripture. (J. A. Alexander, D. D.)

Beauty of Jerusalem

When I stood that morning on the brow of Olivet, and looked down on the city crowning those battlemented heights, encircled by those deep and dark ravines, I involuntarily exclaimed, “Beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion.” And as I gazed, the red rays of the rising sun shed a halo round the top of the castle of David; then they tipped with gold each tapering minaret, and gilded each dome of mosque and church, and at length bathed in one flood of ruddy light the terraced roofs of the city, and the grass and foliage, the cupolas, pavements, and colossal walls of the Haram. No human being could be disappointed who first saw Jerusalem from Olivet. (Dr. Porter.)

Trouble just ahead

The chapter now coming under our perusal for two Sundays in succession, is not easy of interpretation in a good many of its particulars, because the suggestions of doctrine glide so imperceptibly and fitfully between the predictions of Jerusalem’s downfall and the prophecies of the world’s end that we cannot always fix their exact application. It appears as if it might be as well on the present occasion to occupy ourselves with what is plain and practical, and not lose our time in speculation upon what is not certainly revealed.

I. We learn, in the beginning, that Jerusalem was openly announced as doomed to fall before it fell. Some specific incidents were related beforehand which would test the prophetic power of Jesus Christ there at once, and put within reach of His disciples a confutation or a confirmation of His claims. It hardly needs to be stated, for the whole matter is so familiar, that the predictions of this city’s overthrow

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showed that our Lord spoke with a perfect knowledge of the events He mentioned as coming on the earth. The site of that old town is a well-known fact; no one thinks of disputing the locality. The historic books of the Jews tell how Jerusalem was overthrown by the Romans. Any one can ask and answer whether the stones are large, whether they are in position or not. The city lies “on heaps.” Mount Zion is “ploughed.” The temple is gone. Those vast walls are scattered. Some few stones of prodigious size yet remain in what were the foundations of the edifices, and in the cavernous substructions underground. No one can pass out of the modern Jaffa gate, and push on around along the declivity of Zion till he enters again the gate of Stephen, without unconsciously saying to himself, “See what manner of stones!”

II. We learn, next, as we continue to read the verses (verses 3, 4), that it is lawful to inquire for the time of fulfilment of scriptural prophecy. It is not right to attempt to set it, but if it can be ascertained, so much the better for our understanding, and in that direction our duty lies. Christ makes no rebuke for what some consider their curiosity. On the contrary, He tells them most important facts concerning the great times coming.

III. We learn also, just here, that there will be one special token of the world’s end which will not fail: “the gospel must first be published among all nations” (verse 10): Very carefully chosen is this phraseology. We are not told that all the nations are to be converted by the gospel before the true Christ shall come again, but that they are all to hear it. It would seem as if it could not be a difficult thing to decide so evident a fact as this assumes, whenever it should occur. Most of us would, no doubt, be surprised to learn how many of the nations on the face of the earth have, really, already heard the tidings of salvation; and it is not impossible that the joyous moment is very nigh. It is time, certainly, to be thoughtful. It is within the memory of almost all of us that the fixed, and with some good old men the stereotyped, prayer for monthly concert, for many a year, was that God would open China to the gospel, and break down the barriers in Japan. Now there is in all the world nothing in the way except the hardness of men’s hearts. Growth has been made in evangelizing effort that startles us when we think of it. Lately, the sudden conversion of nations in a day, as once seemed to be the case in Madagascar, has come to appear less and less strange. Spiritual uprisings of whole peoples at a time have been recorded in our generation.

IV. We learn, also, that when the end of the world draws nigh, it will be heralded and accompanied with most dire convulsions and troubles (verses 19, 20).

VI. So we are ready for our final lesson from the passage: man need to prepare for such a day as this before it shall prove to be too late. It is easy for us to see now the relevancy of what has been given us as the golden text (Pro_22:3), “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself.” There is but one refuge for any human soul: Christ is our “hiding place;” He will “preserve us from trouble” (Psa_32:7). If we believe in Him, we are safe. It is revealed in the Scriptures that the coming of our Lord to judge the world will find men in a condition of apathy and listlessness. They will be eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, as they were in Noah’s time (Mat_24:37-39). They will be buying and selling, planting and building, as they were in Lot’s time (Luk_17:28-30). Better for us who are studying to know God’s will this impressive hour to call on the Lord at once, and be secure. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

EBC, "THINGS PERISHING AND THINGS STABLE

"And as He went forth out of the temple, one of His disciples saith unto Him, Master,

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behold, what manner of stones and what manner of buildings! And Jesus said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left here one stone upon another, which shall not be thrown down. And as He sat on the Mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when these things are all about to be accomplished? And Jesus began to say unto them, Take heed that no man lead you astray. Many shall come in My name, saying, I am He; and shall lead many astray. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be not troubled: these things must needs come to pass: but the end is not yet." Mar_13:1-7 (R.V.)

NOTHING is more impressive than to stand before one of the great buildings of the world, and mark how the toil of man has rivaled the stability of nature, and his thought its grandeur. It stands up like a crag, and the wind whistles through its pinnacles as in a grove, and the rooks float and soar about its towers as they do among the granite peaks. Face to face with one of these mighty structures, man feels his own pettiness, shivering in the wind, or seeking a shadow from the sun, and thinking how even this breeze may blight or this heat fever him, and how at the longest he shall have crumbled into dust for ages, and his name, and possibly his race, have perished, while this same pile shall stretch the same long shadow across the plain.

No wonder that the great masters of nations have all delighted in building, for thus they saw their power, and the immortality for which they hoped, made solid, embodied and substantial, and it almost seemed as if they had blended their memory with the enduring fabric of the world.

Such a building, solid, and vast, and splendid, white with marble, and blazing with gold, was the temple which Jesus now forsook. A little afterwards, we read that its Roman conqueror, whose race were the great builders of the world, in spite of the rules of war, and the certainty that the Jews would never remain quietly in subjection while it stood, "was reluctant to burn down so vast a work as this, since this would be a mischief to the Romans themselves, as it would be an ornament to their government while it lasted."

No wonder, then, that one of the disciples, who had seen Jesus weep for its approaching ruin, and who now followed His steps as He left it desolate, lingered, and spoke as if in longing and appeal, "Master, see what manner of stones, and what manner of buildings."

But to the eyes of Jesus all was evanescent as a bubble, doomed and about to perish: "Seest thou these great buildings, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down."

The words were appropriate to His solemn mood, for He had just denounced its guilt and flung its splendor from Him, calling it no longer "My house," nor "My Father’s house," but saying, "Your house is left unto you desolate." Little could all the solid strength of the very foundations of the world itself avail against the thunderbolt of God. Moreover, it was a time when He felt most keenly the consecration, the approaching surrender of His own life. In such an hour no splendors distract the penetrating vision; all the world is brief and frail and hollow to the man who has consciously given himself to God. It was the fitting moment at which to utter such a prophecy.

But, as He sat on the opposite slope, and gazed back upon the towers that were to fall, His three favored disciples and Andrew came to ask Him privately when should these things be, and what would be the sign of their approach.

It is the common assertion of all unbelievers that the prophecy which followed has

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been composed since what passes for its fulfillment. When Jesus was murdered, and a terrible fate befell the guilty city, what more natural than to connect the two events? And how easily would a legend spring up that the sufferer foretold the penalty? But there is an obvious and complete reply. The prediction is too mysterious, its outlines are too obscure; and the ruin of Jerusalem is too inexplicable complicated with the final visitation of the whole earth, to be the issue of any vindictive imagination working with the history in view.

We are sometimes tempted to complain of this obscurity. But in truth it is wholesome and designed. We need not ask whether the original discourse was thus ambiguous, or they are right who suppose that a veil has since been drawn between us and a portion of the answer given by Jesus to His disciples. We know as much as it is meant that we should know. And this at least is plain, that any process of conscious or unconscious invention, working backwards after Jerusalem fell, would have given us far more explicit predictions than we possess. And, moreover, that what we lose in gratification of our curiosity, we gain in personal warning to walk warily and vigilantly.

Jesus did not answer the question, When shall these things be? But He declared, to men who wondered at the overthrow of their splendid temple, that all earthly splendors must perish. And He revealed to them where true permanence may be discovered. These are two of the central thoughts of the discourse, and they are worthy of much more attention from its students than they commonly receive, being overlooked in the universal eagerness "to know the times and the seasons." They come to the surface in the distinct words, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away."

Now, if we are to think of this great prophecy as a lurid reflection thrown back by later superstition on the storm-clouds of the nation’s fall, how shall we account for its solemn and pensive mood, utterly free from vindictiveness, entirely suited to Jesus as we think of Him, when leaving forever the dishonored shrine, and moving forward, as His meditations would surely do, beyond the occasion which evoked them? Not such is the manner of resentful controversialists, eagerly tracing imaginary judgments. They are narrow, and sharp, and sour.

1. The fall of Jerusalem blended itself, in the though of Jesus, with the catastrophe which awaits all that appears to be great and stable. Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, so that, although armies set their bodies in the gap for these, and heroes shed their blood like water, yet they are divided among themselves and cannot stand. This prediction, we must remember, was made when the iron yoke of Rome imposed quiet upon as much of the world as a Galilean was likely to take into account, and, therefore, was by no means so easy as it may now appear to us.

Nature itself should be convulsed. Earthquakes should rend the earth, blight and famine would disturb the regular course of seed-time and harvest. And these perturbations should be the working out of a stern law, and the sure token of sorer woes to come, the beginning of pangs which would usher in another dispensation, the birth-agony of a new time. A little later, and the sun should be darkened, and the moon should withdraw her light, and the stars should "be falling" from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens should be darkened. Lastly, the course of history should close, and the affairs of earth should come to an end, when the elect should be gathered together to the glorified Son of Man.

2. It was in sight of the ruin of all these things that He dared to add, My word shall not pass away.

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Heresy should assail it, for many should come in the name of Christ, saying, I am He, and should lead many astray. Fierce persecutions should try His followers, and they should be led to judgment and delivered up. The worse afflictions of the heart would wring them, for brother should deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children should rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. But all should be too little to quench the immortality bestowed upon His elect. In their sore need, the Holy Ghost should speak in them: when they were caused to be put to death, he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.

Now these words were treasured up as the utterances of One Who had just foretold His own approaching murder, and Who died accordingly amid circumstances full of horror and shame. Yet His followers rejoiced to think that when the sun grew dark, and the stars were falling, He should be seen in the clouds coming with great glory.

It is the reversal of human judgment: the announcement that all is stable which appears unsubstantial, and all which appears solid is about to melt like snow.

And yet the world itself has since grown old enough to know that convictions are stronger than empires, and truths than armed hosts. And this is the King of Truth. He was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth, and every one that is of the truth heareth His voice. He is the Truth become vital, the Word which was with God in the beginning.

2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied

Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on

another; every one will be thrown down.”

GILL, "And Jesus answering said unto him,.... The Persic version reads, "unto them"; and so Beza's most ancient copy but as that question is put by one, the reply is made to him:

seest thou these great buildings? how beautiful and strong they are. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, add the word all; and the sense is, dost thou take a survey of all these buildings, and of the whole of this stately edifice? and dost thou not admire the strength and grandeur of them? and dost thou not think they will be of long duration, and that the demolition of them is scarcely possible?

HENRY, "And Jesus answering said unto him,.... The Persic version reads, "unto them"; and so Beza's most ancient copy but as that question is put by one, the reply is made to him:

seest thou these great buildings? how beautiful and strong they are. The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions, add the word all; and the sense is, dost thou take a survey of all these buildings, and of the whole of this stately edifice? and dost thou not admire the strength and grandeur of them? and dost thou not think they will be of long duration, and that the demolition of them is scarcely possible?

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JAMIESON, "And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? — “Ye call My attention to these things? I have seen them. Ye point to their massive and durable appearance: now listen to their fate.”

there shall not be left — “left here” (Mat_24:2).

one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down — Titus ordered the whole city and temple to be demolished [Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 7.1.1]; Eleazar wished they had all died before seeing that holy city destroyed by enemies’ hands, and before the temple was so profanely dug up [Wars of the Jews, 7.8.7].

COFFMAN, "The questioner (and presumably all the apostles) were wrong. The

temple would not be spared. The impending wreck of Jerusalem would be total

and complete; even the great stones would be broken up and the entire structure

demolished. This astounding prophecy was not a mere clever prediction of Jesus,

based upon political considerations, and the probabilities indicated by the

rebellious nature of Israel and the character of the Roman authority. As a matter

of fact, Rome would never have destroyed the temple of its own volition; and

when Titus who had charge of the siege (A.D. 70) drew his armies around the

city, he gave a specific commandment to his entire army forbidding its

demolition, intending to preserve it as a "monument to the empire."[10]

Therefore, Christ was here stating the purpose and intention of Almighty God.

Since the destruction of the temple must then be viewed as contrary to the will of

both the Jews and the Romans, being accomplished by providential

circumstances utterly beyond the power of either to alter them, it is fitting to

inquire as to God's reasons for determining that it should be destroyed.

WHY GOD DESTROYED THE TEMPLE

(1) It had served its purpose, having pertained to a system that was about to be

terminated. One greater than the temple had already appeared (Matthew 12:6).

(2) The daily sacrifices, which were the center of temple functions, would no

longer be needed, after the Great Sacrifice would be offered upon Calvary, thus

rendering the temple useless in its major function.

(3) It was in the way of the holy apostles themselves, who were so obviously awed

in the account before us. It tended to blind them to the truly spiritual nature of

the kingdom of God.

(4) All Israel loved the temple; and it would be a great stumblingblock,

preventing many of them from accepting Christ. They loved it, along with the

dazzling ritual and exceedingly impressive ceremonial - they loved it too much.

(5) Its official custodians rejected and murdered the rightful heir of the temple,

who was Christ, bringing upon them and the temple a weight of guilt that could

not be forgiven. Divine justice required that the "den of thieves and robbers" be

demolished.

(6) Its destruction would prove an effective symbol of God's "taking away the

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old" and establishing a new system. "He taketh away the first, that he may

establish the second" (Hebrews 10:3).

(7) The temple, through abuse by its custodians, failed of its highest purpose,

which was to have recognized the King when he came, and to take the lead in

accepting him and advocating his acceptance by the whole world. Having failed

in that, it was no longer God's house. It became, therefore, a house merely of

Israel. "Behold your house is left unto you desolate" (Matthew 23:38).

(8) Any further use of the temple, after the coming of Christ, for any truly

spiritual purpose, being thereafter impossible, God could not allow a building of

such hallowed associations to be made a vehicle of shameful and unworthy

enterprises. See under (10) below.

(9) The destruction of the temple and Jerusalem was a part of the divine sentence

of hardening pronounced against Israel by Christ, as prophesied by Isaiah

(Matthew 13:14). Judicial hardening always was followed by the destruction of

those hardened, with a consequence of their total removal from any historical

progression; but in the case of Israel, the historical removal of those hardened

was altered, a fact prophetically declared by the apostle Paul (Romans 11:25).

See extensive discussion of this in my Commentary on Romans, Romans 11.

However, the repeated hardening of Israel by themselves was at last followed by

God's execution upon them of the sentence of judicial hardening; and the

demolition of the temple and ruin of Jerusalem were definitely a part of that

sentence. That Israel should indeed escape total annihilation, thus enabling their

"generation" to continue, was the will of God; but it was not the will of God that

the most summary execution of destruction upon the temple and city should be

avoided. Christ loved the city and wept over it upon the occasion of his

sentencing her to destruction (Matthew 23:37-39).

(10) Before that week was out, the high priests and the temple hierarchy would

demand of Pilate that he "release Barabbas unto them" (Mark 15:11), and it was

appropriate that the consequences of such a choice should be received by them

making it. Josephus devoted twenty pages to the details of how the most sordid

and reprobate "robbers" took charge of the whole city, along with the sacred

temple (long before the Romans came), and who "omitted no kind of barbarity,

rapines, plunderings, and murderings," over twelve thousand of the nobility

alone perishing in blood.[11] They filled up the Holy of Holies itself with dead

bodies. Countless thousands of the common people were killed. "The robbers fell

upon the people as upon a flock of profane animals and cut their throats ... in

what place soever they caught them."[12] All of the nobility were destroyed; and

Josephus said, "I cannot but think that it was because God had doomed this city

to destruction, as a polluted city, ... that he cut off those great defenders (that is,

the nobility)."[13] How tragic was it that the priests demanded Barabbas; and

what a fulfillment of their request was this horrible rule of robbers that sacked

the city far in advance of the Roman legions! This has been mentioned in some

detail here, because of its bearing upon Mark 13:14, which see.

There shall not be left here one stone upon another ... In view of the size of the

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stones, this must have seemed a most unreasonable prophecy, even to the Twelve.

The stones weighed over one million pounds each! The manner of fulfilling it was

spectacular. Many of the temple furnishings, and even the roof within, were

overlaid with pure gold; and the fire which broke out melted the yellow metal,

causing it to run down in crevices of the great stones. Defying the order of their

commander, the soldiers, using the military engines available to them, broke up

and dismantled the masonry, seeking the gold. The temple was never rebuilt, but

it seems that a little work was done on the walls. "One of the foundation stones

measured in recent times proved to be twenty-four by about four feet,"[14] only

a fraction of the size of the originals. "Modern investigation shows that the

present wall has been rebuilt, probably on the foundation of the older one."[15]

This "rebuilt" wall never attained any status except that of a futile attempt at

starting construction.

[10] James Macknight, A Harmony of the Four Gospels (Grand Rapids,

Michigan: Baker Book House, 1950), p. 412.

[11] Josephus, op. cit., p. 745.

[12] Ibid., p. 755.

[13] Ibid.

[14] E. Bickersteth, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William

B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), Vol. 16, p. 197.

[15] Ibid.

CONSTABLE, "Jesus predicted the complete destruction of the temple buildings

(cf. Jeremiah 7:11-14). This happened in A.D. 70 when Titus the Roman

destroyed the city of Jerusalem. He razed the buildings and porches on the

temple esplanade so thoroughly that no trace of them remains today. Not even

their exact location on the temple mount is certain.

"Up to this point during this day, Jesus had acted as God's Forthteller, applying

the truth of God to the scene before Him; with this statement, He turned to

predictive prophecy, declaring the near future." [Note: Hiebert, pp. 315-16.]

However this prophecy has not yet attained complete fulfillment. There are still

many stones still standing on one another in the temple complex, specifically in

its foundations. What Jesus proceeded to predict shows that complete fulfillment

would not come until the future (i.e., the Tribulation).

3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives

opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and

22

Andrew asked him privately,

BARNES, "On the mount of Olives, over against the temple - The Mount of Olives was directly east of Jerusalem, and from it there was a fine view of the temple.

GILL, "And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives,.... On the east of Jerusalem:

over against the temple: where he could have a full view of it; the eastern wall of the temple being lower than the rest; See Gill on Mat_24:3.

Peter, and John, and James, and Andrew, asked him privately; apart from the rest of the disciples, they being, especially the first three, his favourites, and very familiar with him.

HENRY, "III. How natural it is to us to desire to know things to come, and the times of them; more inquisitive we are apt to be about that than about our duty. His disciples knew not how to digest this doctrine of the ruin of the temple, which they thought must be their Master's royal palace, and in which they expected their preferment, and to have the posts of honour; and therefore they were in pain till they got him alone, and got more out of him concerning this matter. As he was returning to Bethany therefore, he sat upon the mount of Olives, over against the temple,where he had a full view of it; and there four of them agreed to ask him privately,what he meant by the destroying of the temple, which they understood no more than they did the predictions of his own death, so inconsistent was it with their scheme. Probably, though these four proposed the question, yet Christ's discourse, in answer to it, was in the hearing of the rest of the disciples, yet privately, that is, apart from the multitude.

JAMIESON, "And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, over against the temple — On their way from Jerusalem to Bethany they would cross Mount Olivet; on its summit He seats Himself, over against the temple, having the city all spread out under His eye. How graphically is this set before us by our Evangelist!

Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately — The other Evangelists tell us merely that “the disciples” did so. But Mark not only says that it was four of them, but names them; and they were the first quarternion of the Twelve.

BARCLAY, "The Dangers Of The Last Days (Mark 13:3-6; Mark 13:21-23)

13:3-6,21-23 As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, opposite the sacred

precincts of the Temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew privately asked

Jesus, "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what sign will there be when

these things are going to be completed?" Jesus began to say to them, "See that no

one misleads you. Many will come in my name, and say, 'I am he' and they will

lead many astray."

"And if some one then says to you, 'See! Here is the Messiah!' or, 'See! There he

23

is!' do not believe them. For false Messiahs and false prophets will arise, and

they will produce signs and wonders to lead the elect astray, if it is possible. But

do you look to yourselves! See! I have told you beforehand all that will happen."

Jesus was well aware that, before the end, heretics would arise; and, indeed it

was not long before the church had its heretics. Heresy arises from five main

causes.

(i) It arises from constructing doctrine to suit oneself. The human mind has an

infinite capacity for wishful thinking. In a famous sentence, the Psalmist said,

"The fool hath said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" The fool about whom the

Psalmist was speaking was not a fool in the sense that he had no intelligence. He

was a moral fool. His statement that there was no God was made because he did

not wish God to be. If God existed so much the worse for him; therefore he

eliminated him from his doctrine and from his universe.

One particular heresy has always been with us, that is antinomianism. The

antinomian begins with the principle that law has been abolished--and in a sense

he is right. He goes on to say that there is nothing but grace--and again in a sense

he is right. He then goes on to argue--as Paul shows us in Romans 6:1-23 -- on

lines like these. "You say that God's grace is wide enough to cover every sin?"

"Yes." "You say that God's grace can forgive any sin?" "Yes." "You say that

God's grace is the greatest and the most wonderful thing in the universe?"

"Yes." "Then," the antinomian concludes, "let us go on sinning to our hearts'

content, for the more we sin, the more chances we give to God's amazing grace to

operate. Sin is a good thing for sin gives grace a chance to work. Therefore, let us

do whatever we like." The grace of God has been twisted to suit the man who

wants to sin.

The same kind of argument is used by the man who declares that the only

important thing in life is the soul and that a man's body does not matter. If that

is so, the argument runs, then a man can do what he likes with his body. If he is

so inclined he can sate its desires.

One of the commonest ways to arrive in heresy is to mould Christian truth to suit

ourselves. Can it be that the doctrine of hell and the doctrine of the Second

Coming have dropped out of much religious thought because they are both

uncomfortable doctrines? No one would wish to bring either back in its crude

form, but can it be that they have dropped too far out of Christian thought

because it does not suit us to believe in them?

(ii) Heresy arises from overstressing one part of the truth. It is, for instance,

always wrong to overstress one attribute of God. If we think only of God's

holiness, we can never attain to any intimacy with him, but rather tend to a

deism in which he is entirely remote from the world. If we think only of God's

justice, we can never be free of the fear of God. We become haunted and not

helped by our religion. If we think only of God's love, religion can become a very

easy-going sentimental thing. There is more in the New Testament than Luke

15:1-32 .

24

Always there is paradox in Christianity. God is love, yet God is justice. Man is

free, yet God is in control. Man is a creature of time, yet also a creature of

eternity. G. K. Chesterton said that orthodoxy was like a man walking along a

knife-edge ridge with a yawning chasm on either side. One step too much to right

or left and disaster follows. We must, as the Greeks insisted, see life steady and

see it whole.

(iii) Heresy arises from trying to produce a religion which will suit people, one

which will be popular and attractive. To do that it has to be watered down. The

sting, the condemnation, the humiliation, the moral demand, have to be taken

out of it. It is not our job to alter Christianity to suit people, but to alter people to

suit Christianity.

(iv) Heresy arises from divorcing oneself from the Christian fellowship. When a

man thinks alone he runs a grave danger of thinking astray. There is such a

thing as the tradition of the church. There is such a conception as the church

being the guardian of truth. If a man finds that his thinking separates himself

from the fellowship of men, the chances are that there is something wrong with

his thinking. It is the Roman Catholic principle that a man cannot have God for

his Father unless he has the church for his mother--and there is truth there.

(v) Heresy arises from the attempt to be completely intelligible. Here is one of the

great paradoxes. We are under the bounden duty of trying to understand our

faith. But because we are finite and God is infinite we can never fully

understand. For that very reason a faith that can be neatly stated in a series of

propositions and neatly proved in a series of logical steps like a geometrical

theorem is a contradiction in terms. As G. K. Chesterton said, "It is only the fool

who tries to get the heavens inside his head, and not unnaturally his head bursts.

The wise man is content to get his head inside the heavens." Even at our most

intellectual we must remember that there is a place for the ultimate mystery

before which we can only worship, wonder and adore.

"How could I praise,

If such as I could understand?"

"I believe," as Tertullian said, "because it is impossible."

CONSTABLE, "Evidently the disciples pondered Jesus' prophecy as they

crossed the Kidron Valley that separated the temple complex from Mt. Olivet to

the east. When they sat down on the mountain and looked west into the temple

courtyard, Jesus' first four disciples (Mark 1:16-20) asked two questions.

The first question dealt with the time of the temple's destruction. Matthew's

account shows that their second question had two parts. They asked what the

sign of Jesus' coming and of the end of the present age would be. Mark combined

these two parts into one simple question about the sign of "all these things"

being fulfilled. The disciples viewed the destruction of the temple and the end of

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the present age as occurring together. In His answer Jesus taught them that these

events would not happen at the same time. Again a question from the disciples

led to a teaching session (cf. Mark 4:10-32; Mark 7:17-23; Mark 9:11-13; Mark

9:28-29; Mark 10:10-12).

COFFMAN, ""Mark, going more into detail, gives the names of those who asked

him."[16] Here is another example of the illogical and erroneous attribution to

Mark of "more detail." Amazingly, this instance of it comes in the very context

where Mark left out the most important details of all, namely that the disciples

also asked Jesus what would be the sign of his coming and of the end of the

world (Matthew 24:3). Of course, it is impossible to understand the chapter

unless the other two questions are taken into consideration. If Mark wrote after

Matthew, he might have thought mention of the first question sufficient. Scholars

certainly need to re-examine the Markan theory. Besides that, most, if not all, of

the apostles at that time believed that all three events: (1) the destruction of

Jerusalem and the temple; (2) the sign of Jesus' coming; and (3) the end of the

world would be simultaneous events.

The inherent conclusion demanded by the statement of the three questions at one

time (Matthew 24:3) mandates the understanding of most scholars that Jesus'

answer commingles the reply to all three. Sanner said, "At least two themes are

interwoven: prophecies concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, and warnings

concerning the second coming of Christ."[17] In fact, Jesus did far more than

commingle the replies; he actually made the reply applicable to both of the two

major events in view, requiring us to understand that the destruction of

Jerusalem is a type of the destruction of the cosmos, the "coming of Christ"

being an essential element in both. First, he came in judgment upon Jerusalem;

finally, he will appear in the Second Advent at the end of all things. No adequate

understanding of this prophecy is possible without taking this into consideration.

THE FIRST AND SECOND FULFILLMENTS

Divine prophecies often combine type and anti-type in the same word. Boles cited

two examples of this as follows:

Jehovah told Adam that he would die in the day that he ate the forbidden fruit

(Genesis 2:17); yet Adam lived 930 years. There was a primary fulfillment of this

when Adam was separated from the garden of Eden, and a secondary fulfillment

in his death (Romans 5:12). Isaiah foretold the birth of a son by a virgin, yet

added a prophecy which confined it to his own generation (Isaiah 7:14-17). The

prophet combined type and antitype in the same words.[18]

There are many examples of this in the word of God. Rachel's weeping for her

children (Jeremiah 31:15) was fulfilled primarily by the captivity, and

secondarily by the slaughter of the innocents by Herod (Matthew 2:13).

Likewise, Hosea 11:1, "Out of Egypt have I called my son," has its first

fulfillment in the deliverance of the whole nation from Egypt, and secondarily in

the coming of the Saviour out of Egypt when "they that sought the young child's

life" were dead (Matthew 2:18).

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The rainbow, to which repeated reference has been made in this series, is a

natural phenomenon suggesting the nature of prophecy. There are often TWO

BOWS, the secondary and the primary, with a reversal of the colors. See a

specific elaboration of this in my Commentary of John, regarding the "bread

from heaven" (John 6).

[16] Ibid.

[17] A. Elwood Sanner, op. cit., p. 379.

[18] H. Leo Boles, Commentary on Matthew (Nashville: The Gospel Advocate

Company, 1936), p. 472.

BURKITT, "A double question is here propounded to our Savioiur by his

disciples; namely, When the destruction of Jerusalem shall be? and, What shall

be the sign of that destruction? See here, what an itching curiosity there is in the

best of men to know futurities; to know things that shall come to pass hereafter;

and when that hereafter is to come to pass.

O how happy were we, if as forward to obey the declaration of God's revealed

will, as we are to pry into the hidden counsels of his secret will! Tell us, say the

disciples, When shall these things be?

BENSON, "Mark 13:3-8. As he sat upon the mount of Olives, over against the

temple — As this mountain stood eastward from the city, it must have been the

eastern wall of the temple, fronting that mountain, which the disciples desired

their Master to look at, and which, being built from the bottom of the valley to a

prodigious height with stones of incredible bulk, firmly compacted together,

made a very grand appearance at a distance. (Josephus Antiq., Mark 15:14;

Bell., Mark 6:6.) And in Mr. Mede’s opinion, this eastern wall was the only part

of Solomon’s structure that remained after the Chaldeans burned the temple.

Hence the portico, built on the top of it, obtained the name of Solomon’s porch,

or portico, John 10:23. Peter, James, &c., asked him privately — When Jesus

was come to the mount of Olives, and had taken a seat on some eminence, from

whence the temple and a part of the city could be seen, these disciples, while the

rest were at a distance on the road, or absent on some occasion or other, drew

near to him and inquired privately, when these things should be, and what

should be the sign when they should be fulfilled? See notes on Matthew 24:3-8.

Many shall come in my name, &c. — Christian writers have always, with great

reason, represented Josephus’s History of the Jewish War as the best

commentary on this chapter; and many have justly remarked it, as a wonderful

instance of the care of Providence for the Christian Church, that he, an eye-

witness, and in these things of so great credit, should (especially in such an

extraordinary manner) be preserved, to transmit to us a collection of important

facts, which so exactly illustrate this noble prophecy in almost every

circumstance. Compare Bell., Mark 3:8, al. 14. There shall be famines and

troubles — Matthew says, famines and pestilences. Concerning these Josephus

writes thus: (Bell., Mark 7:17 :) “Being assembled together from all parts to the

feast of unleavened bread, presently and on a sudden they were environed with

27

war. And first of all a plague fell among them, by reason of the straitness of the

place, and immediately after a famine worse than it.” Besides, in the progress of

the siege, the number of the dead, and the stench arising from their unburied

carcasses, must have infected the air, and occasioned pestilence. For Josephus

tells us, (Bell., 6. fine,) that there were no fewer than six hundred thousand dead

bodies carried out of the city, and suffered to lie unburied. All these are the

beginning of sorrows — Greek, ωδινων. The expression properly signifies the

pains of child-bearing, which at the beginning are but light in comparison of

what they become afterward. Therefore our Lord’s meaning was, that the evils

which he mentioned were but small in comparison of those which were yet to fall

upon the nation.

4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And

what will be the sign that they are all about to

be fulfilled?”

GILL, "Tell us when shall these things be?.... When the temple will be destroyed, and these fine buildings shall be demolished, and not one of these large stones shall be left upon another:

and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? And what is the sign of his coming, and of the end of the world, as Matthew relates; See Gill on Mat_24:3.

HENRY, "Their enquiry is, When shall these things be? They will not question, at least not seem to question, whether they shall be or no (for their Master has said that they shall), but are willing to hope it is a great way off. Yet they ask not precisely the day and year (therein they were modest), but say, “Tell us what shall be the sign, when all these things shall be fulfilled? What presages shall there be of them, and how may we prognosticate their approach?”

JAMIESON, "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled? — “and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?” They no doubt looked upon the date of all these things as one and the same, and their notions of the things themselves were as confused as of the times of them. Our Lord takes His own way of meeting their questions.

BI, "Tell us, when shall these things be?

Date fixing

That’s it! Fix the date of the coming failure, or the coming triumph. All of us are

28

ready to join in that request. How we long to have the veil of the future lifted; and how well it is that the Lord does not gratify our longing in this. There is no greater blessing to us than God’s concealment of our future. There could be no surer curse from God than his opening before our eyes the pathway of our lives, so that we could see it to its very end. What heart breaking that would bring into a myriad homes! What a checking too, on every side, of hope and aspiration and noble endeavour! How it would paralyze loving effort, and check or destroy needed tenderness of love and deed in kindly ministry! We know not what we ask, when we crave an insight into the future. God knows what He does, and why, when He refuses every request of this kind from His loved and loving ones. (Sunday School Times.)

Leading astray

It is quite as important not to be led astray by false religious teachers as by any other class of deceivers or deceived; and there is quite as much danger in this line as in any other. Sincerity on our part is no guard against deception or wandering; nor is sincerity a safeguard to a religious teacher. Those who are themselves both honest and sincere would lead us astray if we followed them in their wrong path. There is danger of our being led astray by the sermons we hear, the papers or the books we read, the counsel or example of those whom we have supposed to be godly, or by the impulses or convictions of our own minds and hearts. There is such a thing as conscientious error teaching and devil serving. The warning of Jesus is, that ye take heed that no man lead you astray in doctrine or morals, through holding up a false standard of conduct, or a false interpretation of God’s Word. (Sunday School Times.)

5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one

deceives you.

GILL, "And Jesus answering them,.... His four disciples, Peter, John, James, and Andrew: "began to say"; or "said", a way of speaking frequent with this evangelist: take heed lest any man deceive you; See Gill on Mat_24:4.

HENRY, "Our Lord Jesus, in reply to their question, sets himself, not so much to satisfy their

curiosity as to direct their consciences; leaves them still in the dark concerning the times and seasons, which the father has kept in his own power, and which it was not for them to know; but gives them the cautions which were needful, with reference to the events that should now shortly come to pass.

JAMIESON, "Mar_13:5-31. Prophecies of the destruction of Jerusalem.

And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:

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COFFMAN, "Although primarily addressed to the apostles, there are

nevertheless overtones in this extending to eternity.

Many shall come in my name ... Matthew quoted Christ as saying that these

impostors shall claim to be the Christ. Bickersteth said, "Such (false christs)

were Theudas (Acts 5:36) and Simon Magus (Acts 8:10)."[19] The latter,

according to Jerome, claimed to be Almighty God in the flesh, clearly an example

of a false Christ. The apostles were admonished not to be led astray by such

claims; and the admonition is binding upon Christians of all generations who are

continually tempted by all kinds of impostors and charlatans pretending divine

honors.

I am he ... There is a variation in Mark's record that should be noted. The Greek

text omits "he," evidently supplied by the translators with respect to Matthew's

account. However, it is not necessary to "reconcile" the two by any such device,

for the Lord made both statements. Mark's quotation of the Lord refers to

impostors claiming to be "God," that being the meaning of "I AM," as in

Exodus 3:6,14; Matthew 22:32; John 8:58, etc. The current era has had several

such.

ENDNOTE:

[19] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 197.

CONSTABLE, "The first word of the discourse proper means "take heed" (Gr.

blepete). This word occurs four times in the following verses indicating that

warning is an important theme (Mark 13:9; Mark 13:23; Mark 13:33). Here

Jesus warned the disciples about people who would claim to be the Messiah.

There would be many of them before He would return. Mark's "I am" is a

divine name (cf. Exodus 3:14; John 8:58). Jesus said these false Messiahs would

claim to be God as well as Messiah.

BURKITT, "Here, and in the following verses, our Saviour gives his disciples the

signs which should forerun the destruction of Jerusalem. The first of which was

this, that there should arise false Christs, false prophets, and seducers; such as

Theudas, and others, under the name and person of the Messiah, some affirming

themselves to be Christ personal, or the promised Messiah; others to be Christ

doctrinal, affirming their erroneous opinions to be the mind and doctrine of

Jesus Christ.

Learn hence, That as there will be many seducers before the end of the world

(for Jerusalem's destruction was a type and emblem of the world's destruction)

and many will be seduced and misled by them: so it is the duty of Christ's own

disciples to take heed lest they, being also led away by the error of the wicked, do

fall from their own stedfastness: Take heed, says Christ, that no man deceive

you: for many will come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and will deceive many.

The second sign of Jerusalem's destruction was, wars and rumors of wars; that

is, civil broils, and intestine commotions among themselves; as also famines and

30

earthquakes.

Whence note, That war and fire, earthquakes and famines, are judgments and

calamities inflicted by God upon sinful people, for their contempt of Christ and

gospel grace.

2. That although these be very terrible judgments, and desolating calamities, yet

to an incorrigible and irreclaimable people are they the forerunners of worse

judgments. These are, says Christ, the beginnings of sorrows.

The third sign of this approaching destruction, was a general persecution of the

ministers of the gospel, for preaching the doctrine of the gospel to a lost world;

Ye shall be beaten, and brought before kings for my sake, for a testimony.

From whence note, That the preaching of the gospel wherever it comes, will be

for a testimony to them to whom it comes; either a testimony for them, or against

them: to the humble it is a testimony for, to despisers and scorners it is a

testimony against; if the dust of ministers feet bear witness against the despisers

of the gospel, their sermons much more.

The word of God delivered in the scriptures, and dispensed in the ministry

thereof, hath its divers and contrary effects upon different and contrary

subjects; from both which ye Almighty God knows how to raise his own glory; to

the humble and teachable, the gospel is in adjutorium: to some, the saviour of life

unto life; to others, the saviour of death unto death.

CONSTABLE, ". Warnings against deceptions 13:5-8 (Matthew 24:4-8; Luke

21:8-11)

Jesus first answered the disciples' second question about the sign of the end of

the present age. He did so negatively by warning them of false signs (Mark

13:5-13). Then He gave them positive information about the event that will signal

great tribulation followed by His second coming (Mark 13:14-27). Finally Jesus

answered their first question about the destruction of Jerusalem with a parable

(Mark 13:28-32). The central part of this revelation is eschatological (Mark

13:14-27) flanked by moral exhortations. Mark 13:5-37 contain 19 imperative

verbs in the Greek text. This discourse is a good example of the practical nature

of biblical prophecy.

"The conditions associated with the impending local crisis of Jerusalem's fall

foreshadow those connected with the worldwide end-time crisis. Thus Jesus'

words, relevant to His first disciples, remain so for all disciples who face similar

conditions throughout this Age." [Note: Grassmick, p. 167.]

6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am

he,’ and will deceive many. 31

CLARKE, "Saying, I am - The Christ, is added by eight MSS., Coptic, Armenian, Saxon, and four of the Itala.

GILL, "For many shall come in my name,.... Taking upon them the name of the Messiah: saying,

I am Christ; the word "Christ", is rightly supplied from Mat_24:5; otherwise in the original it is only, "I am"; which the Persic version doubles, reading it, "I am indeed, I am": he that was promised and expected, the true Messiah; he that was to come:

and shall deceive many; See Gill on Mat_24:5.

HENRY, "I. They must take heed that they be not deceived by the seducers and imposters that should now shortly arise (Mar_13:5, Mar_13:6); “Take heed lest any man deceive you, lest, having found the true Messiah, you lose him again in the crowd of pretenders, or be inveigled to embrace others in rivalship with him. Many shall come in my name (not in the name of Jesus), but saying, I am the Christ, and so claiming the dignities which I only an entitled to.” After the Jews had rejected the true Christ, they were imposed upon, and so exposed by many false Christs, but never before; those false Christs deceived many; Therefore take heed lest they deceive you.Note, When many are deceived, we should thereby be awakened to look to ourselves.

JAMIESON, "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ — (see Mat_24:5) - “and the time draweth nigh” (Luk_21:8); that is, the time of the kingdom in its full splendor.

and shall deceive many — “Go ye not therefore after them” (Luk_21:8). The reference here seems not to be to pretended Messiahs, deceiving those who rejected the claims of Jesus, of whom indeed there were plenty - for our Lord is addressing His own genuine disciples - but to persons pretending to be Jesus Himself, returned in glory to take possession of His kingdom. This gives peculiar force to the words, “Go ye not therefore after them.”

MACLAREN, "THE CREDULITY OF UNBELIEF

Mar_13:6; Luk_18:8

It was the same generation that is represented in these two texts as void of faith in the Son of Man, and as credulously giving heed to impostors. Unbelief and superstition are closely allied. Religion is so vital a necessity, that if the true form of it be cast aside, some false form will be eagerly seized in order to fill the aching void. Men cannot permanently live without some sort of a faith in the Unseen, but they can determine whether it shall be a worthy recognition of a worthy conception of that Unseen, or a debasing superstition. An epoch of materialism in philosophic thought has always been followed by violent reaction, in which quacks and fanatics have reaped rich harvests. If the dark is not peopled with one loved Face, our busy imagination will fill it with a crowd of horrible ones.

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Just as a sailor, looking out into the night over a solitary, islandless sea, sees shapes; intolerant of the islandless expanse, makes land out of fogbanks; and, sick of silence, hears ‘airy tongues’ in the moanings of the wind and the slow roll of the waves, so men shudderingly look into the dark unknown, and if they see not their Father there, will either shut their eyes or strain them in gazing it into shape. The sight of Him is religion, the closed eye is infidelity, the strained gaze is superstition. The second and the third are each so unsatisfying that they perpetually pass over into one another and destroy one another, as when I shut my eyes, I see slowly shaping itself a coloured image of my eye, which soon flickers and fluctuates into black nothingness again, and then rises once more, once more to fade. Men, if they believe not in God, then do service to ‘them which by nature are no gods.’

But let us come to more immediately Christian thoughts. Christ does what men so urgently require to be done, that if they do not believe in Him they will be forced to shape out for themselves some fancied ways of doing it. The emotions which men cherish towards Him so irrepressibly need an object to rest on, that if not He, then some far less worthy one, will be chosen to receive them.

It is just to the illustration of these thoughts that I seek to turn now, and in such alternatives as these-

I. Reception of Christ as the Revealer is the only escape from unmanly submission to unworthy pretenders.

That function is one which the instincts of men teach them that they need.

Christ comes to satisfy the need as the visible true embodiment of the Father’s love, of the Father’s wisdom.

If He be rejected-what then? Why, not that the men who reject will contentedly continue in darkness-that is never possible; but that some manner or other of satisfying the clamant need will be had recourse to, and then that to it will be transferred the submission and credence that should have been His. If we have Him for our Teacher and Guide, then all other teachers and guides will take their right places. We shall not angrily repel their power, nor talk loudly about ‘the right of private judgment,’ and our independence of all men’s thoughts. We are not so independent. We shall thankfully accept all help from all men wiser, better, more manly than ourselves, whether they give us uttered words of wisdom and beauty, having ‘grace poured into their lips,’ or whether they give us lives ennobled by strenuous effort, or whether they give us greater treasure than all these-the sight once more of a loving heart. All is good, all is helpful, all we shall receive; but in proportion to the felt obligations we are laid under to them will be the felt authority of that saying, ‘Call no man your master on earth, for One is your Master, even Christ.’ That command forbids our slavishly accepting any human domination over our faith, but it no less emphatically forbids our contemptuously rejecting any human helper of our joy, for it closes with ‘and all ye are brethren’-bound then to mutual observance, mutual helpfulness, mutual respect for each other’s individuality, mutual avoidance of needless division. To have Him for his Guide makes the human guide gentle and tender among his disciples ‘as a nurse among her children,’ for he remembers ‘the gentleness of Christ,’ and he dare not be other than an imitator of Him. A Christian teacher’s spirit will always be, ‘not for that we have dominion over your faith, but we are helpers of your joy’; his most earnest word, ‘I beseech you, therefore, brethren’; his constant desire, ‘He must increase. I must decrease.’ And to have Christ for our Guide makes the taught lovingly submissive to all who by largeness of gifts and graces are set by Him above them, and yet lovingly recalcitrant at any attempt to compel adhesion or force dogmas. The one freedom from undue dependence on men and men’s opinions lies in this submission to Jesus. Then we can

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say, when need is, ‘I have a Master. To Him I submit; if you seek to be master, I demur: of them who seemed to be somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me.’

But the greatest danger is not that our guides shall insist on our submission, but that we shall insist on giving it. It is for all of us such a burden to have the management of our own fate, the forming of our own opinions, the fearful responsibility of our own destiny, that we are all only too ready to say to some man or other, from love or from laziness, ‘Where thou goest, I will go; thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.’

Few things are more strange and tragic than the eagerness with which people who are a great deal too enlightened to render allegiance to Jesus Christ will install some teacher of their own choosing as their authoritative master, will swallow his dicta, swear by him, and glory in being called by his name. What they think it derogatory to their mental independence to give to the Teacher of Nazareth, they freely give to their chosen oracle. It is not in ‘the last times’ only that men who will not endure sound teaching ‘heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts,’ and have ‘the ears’ which are fast closed to ‘the Truth’ wide open ‘to fables.’

On the small scale we see this melancholy perversity of conduct exemplified in every little coterie and school of unbelievers.

On the great scale Mohammedanism and Buddhism, with their millions of adherents, write the same tragic truth large in the history of the world.

II. Faith in the reconciling Christ is the only sure deliverance from debasing reliance on false means of reconciliation.

In a very profound sense ignorance and sin are the same fact regarded under two different aspects. And in the depths of their natures men have the longing for some Power who shall put away sin, as they have the longing for one that will dispel ignorance. The consciousness of alienation from God lies in the human heart, dormant indeed for the most part, but like a coiled, hibernating snake, ready to wake and strike its poison into the veins. Christ by His great work, and specially by His sacrificial death, meets that universal need.

But closely as His work fits men’s needs, it sharply opposes some of their wishes, and of their interpretations of their needs. The Jew ‘demands a sign,’ the Greek craves a reasoned system of ‘wisdom,’ and both concur in finding the Cross an ‘offence.’

But the rejection of Jesus as the Reconciler does not quiet the cravings, which make themselves heard at some time or other in most consciences, for deliverance from the dominion and from the guilt of sin. And men are driven to adopt other expedients to fill up the void which their turning away from Jesus has left. Sometimes they fall back on a vague reliance on a vague assertion that ‘God is merciful’; sometimes they reason themselves into a belief-or, at any rate, an assertion-that the conception of sin is an error, and that men are not guilty. Sometimes they manage to silence the inward voice that accuses and condemns, by dint of not listening to it or drowning it by other noises.

But these expedients fail them some time or other, and then, if they have not cast the burden of their sin and their sins on the great Reconciler, they either have to weary themselves with painful and vain efforts to be their own redeemers, or they fall under the domination of a priest.

Hence the hideous penances of heathenism; and hence, too, the power of sacramentarian and sacerdotal perversions of evangelical truth.

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III. Faith in Christ as the Regenerator is the only deliverance from baseless hopes for the world.

The world is today full of moaning voices crying, ‘Art thou He that should come, or do we look for another?’ and it is full of confident voices proclaiming other means of its regeneration than letting Christ ‘make all things new.’

The conviction that society needs to be reconstituted on other principles is spread everywhere, and is often associated with intense disbelief in Christ the Regenerator.

Has not the past proved that all schemes for the regeneration of society which do not grapple with the fact of sin, and which do not provide a means of infusing into human nature a new impulse and direction, will end in failure, and are only too likely to end in blood? These two requirements are met by Jesus, and by Him only, and whoever rejects Him and His gift of pardon and cleansing, and His inbreathing of a new life into the individual, will fail in his effort, however earnest and noble in many aspects, to redeem society and bring about a fair new world.

It is pitiable to see the waste of high aspiration and eager effort in so many quarters today. But that waste is sure to attend every scheme which does not start from the recognition of Christ’s work as the basis of the world’s transformation, and does not crown Him as the King, because He is the Saviour, of mankind.

7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars,

do not be alarmed. Such things must happen,

but the end is still to come.

GILL, "And when ye shall hear of wars, and rumours of wars,.... Among the Jews themselves, and with the Romans:

be not troubled; keep your place, abide by your work, go on preaching the Gospel, without distressing yourselves about the event of things:

for such things must needs be: being decreed by God, foretold by Christ, and made necessary by the sins of the people:

but the end shall not be yet; of the temple, of Jerusalem, and of the Jewish state and nation; See Gill on Mat_24:6.

HENRY, "II. They must take heed that they be not disturbed at the noise of wars, which they should be alarmed with, Mar_13:7, Mar_13:8. Sin introduced wars, and they come from men's lusts. But at some times the nations are more distracted and wasted with wars than at other times; so it shall be now; Christ was born into the world when there was a general peace, but soon after he went out of the world there were general wars; Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.And what will become of them then who are to preach the gospel to every nation? Inter arma silent leges - Amidst the clash of arms, the voice of law is not heard. “But

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be not troubled at it.” 1. “Let it be no surprise to you; you are bid to expect it, and such things must needs be, for God has appointed them, in order to further accomplishment of his purposes, and by the wars of the Jews” (which Josephus has given us a large account of) “God will punish the wickedness of the Jews.” 2. “Let it be no terror to you, as if your interest were in danger of being overthrown, or your work obstructed by these wars; you have no concern in them, and therefore need not be apprehensive of any damage by them.” Note, Those that despise the smiles of the world, and do not court and covet them, may despise the frowns of the world, and need not fear them. If we seek not to rise with them that rise in the world, why should we dread falling with them that fall in the world? 3. “Let it not be looked upon as an omen of the approaching period of the world, for the end is not yet, Mar_13:7. Think not that these wars will bring the world to a period; no, there are other intermediate counsels to be fulfilled betwixt that end and the end of all things, which are designed to prepare you for the end, but not to hasten it out of due time.” 4. “Let it not be looked upon as if in them God has done his worst; no, he has more arrows in his quiver, and they are ordained against the persecutors; be not troubled at the wars you shall hear of, for they are but the beginnings of sorrows, and therefore, instead of being disturbed at them, you ought to prepare for worse; for there shall also be earthquakes in divers places, which shall bury multitudes in the ruins of their own houses, and there shall be famines, by which many of the poor shall perish for want of bread, and troubles and commotions; so that there shall be no peace to him that goes out or comes in. The world shall be full of troubles, but be not ye troubled;without are fightings, within are fears, but fear not ye their fear.” Note, The disciples of Christ, if it be not their own fault, may enjoy a holy security and serenity of mind, when all about them is in the greatest disorder.

JAMIESON, "And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled — (See on Mar_13:13, and compare Isa_8:11-14).

for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet — In Luke (Luk_21:9), “the end is not by and by,” or “immediately.” Worse must come before all is over.

BARCLAY, "His Coming Again (Mark 13:7-8; Mark 13:24-27)

13:7-8,24-27 Jesus said, "When you hear of wars and reports of wars, do not be

disturbed. These things must happen. But the end is not yet. Nation shall rise

against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. In certain places there will be

earthquakes. There will be famines. These things are the beginning of the birth-

pangs of the new age."

"And in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the

moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the

powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man

coming in the clouds with much power and glory. And then he will send his

angels and they will gather the chosen ones from the four winds, from the edge of

the earth to the edge of the heaven."

Here Jesus unmistakably speaks of his coming again. But--and this is

important--he clothes the idea in three pictures which are part and parcel of the

apparatus connected with the day of the Lord.

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(i) The day of the Lord was to be preceded by a time of wars. 4Ezra declares that

before the day of the Lord there will be,

"Quakings of places

Tumult of peoples,

Scheming of nations,

Confusion of leaders,

Disquietude of princes." (4Ezra 9:3).

The same book says,

"And there shall come astonishment of mind upon the dwellers on

earth. And they shall plan to war one against another, city

against city, place against place, people against people, and

kingdom against kingdom." (4Ezra 13:31).

The Sibylline Oracles foresee that,

"King captures king and takes his land, and nations ravage nations

and potentates people, and rulers all flee to another land, and

the land is changed in men and a barbarian empire ravages Hellas

and drains the rich land of its wealth, and men come face to face

in strife." (4Ezra 3:633-647).

Second Baruch has the same ideas. In Baruch 27:5-13 this book singles out

twelve things which will precede the new age.

"In the first part there will be the beginning of commotions. In

the second part there shall be the slayings of great ones. In the

third part the fall of many by death. In the fourth part the

sending of the sword. In the fifth part famine and withholding of

rain. In the sixth part earthquakes and terrors...(there is a

blank in the manuscript here).... In the eighth part a multitude

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of spectres and attacks of the evil spirits. In the ninth part the

fall of fire. In the tenth part rapine and much oppression. In the

eleventh part wickedness and unchastity. In the twelfth part

confusion from the mingling together of all those things

aforesaid."

"All the inhabitants of the earth shall be moved against one

another." (Baruch 48:32.)

"And they shall hate one another,

And provoke one another to fight.

And it shall come to pass that whosoever comes safe out of the

war shall die in the earthquake,

And whosoever gets safe out of the earthquake shall be burned by

the fire,

And whosoever gets safe out of the fire shag be destroyed by

famine."

It is abundantly clear that when Jesus spoke of wars and rumours of wars he

was using pictures which were part and parcel of Jewish dreams of the future.

(ii) The day of the Lord was to be preceded by the darkening of sun and moon.

The Old Testament itself is full of that (Amos 8:9, Joel 2:10, Joel 3:15, Ezekiel

32:7-8, Isaiah 13:10, Isaiah 34:4); again the popular literature of Jesus' day is

full of it, too.

"Then shall the sun suddenly shine forth by night,

And the moon by day.

The outgoings of the stars shall change."

(4Ezra 5:4-7.)

2Baruch 4:1-37 Ezra 32:1 speaks of "the time in which the mighty one is to shake

the whole creation." The Sibylline Oracles (3:796-806) talk of a time when

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"swords in the star-lit heaven appear by night towards dusk and towards

dawn...and all the brightness of the sun fails at midday from the heaven, and the

moon's rays shine forth and come back to earth, and a sign comes from the rocks

with dripping streams of blood." The Assumption of Moses foresees a time

when:

"The horns of the sun shall be broken and he shall be turned into

darkness,

And the moon shall not give her light, and be turned wholly into

blood,

And the circle of the stars shall be disturbed." (10:5.)

Once again it is clear that Jesus is using the popular language which everyone

knew.

(iii) It was a regular part of the imagery that the Jews were to be gathered back

to Palestine from the four corners of the earth. The Old Testament itself is full of

that idea (Isaiah 27:13; Isaiah 35:8-10; Micah 7:12; Zechariah 10:6-11); once

more the popular literature loves the idea:

"Blow ye in Zion on the trumpet to summon the saints,

Cause ye to be heard in Jerusalem the voice of him that

bringeth good tidings,

For God hath had pity on Israel in visiting them.

Stand on the height, O Jerusalem, and behold thy children,

From the East and the West gathered together by the Lord."

(Wisdom of Solomon 11:1-3.)

"The Lord will gather you together in faith through His tender

mercy, and for the sake of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob."

(The Testament of Asher 7:5-7.)

When we read the pictorial words of Jesus about the Second Coming we must

remember that he is giving us neither a map of eternity nor a timetable to the

future, but that he is simply using the language and the pictures that many a Jew

knew and used for centuries before him.

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But it is extremely interesting to note that the things Jesus prophesied were in

fact happening. He prophesied wars and the dreaded Parthians were in fact

pressing in on the Roman frontiers. He prophesied earthquakes and within forty

years the Roman world was aghast at the earthquake which devastated

Laodicaea and by the eruption of Vesuvius which buried Pompeii in lava. He

prophesied famines, and there was famine in Rome in the days of Claudius. It

was in fact such a time of terror in the near future that when Tacitus began his

histories he said that everything happening seemed to prove that the gods were

seeking, not salvation, but vengeance on the Roman Empire.

In this passage the one thing that we must retain is the fact that Jesus did foretell

that he would come again. The imagery we can disregard.

CONSTABLE, "Verse 7-8

Wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, and famines will precede Jesus' return, but

they are not signs of the end of the age. There will be many of these things before

the end comes. The messianic kingdom will appear in history similar to an infant

who emerges from a very painful birth experience (cf. Isaiah 66:8; Jeremiah

22:23; Hosea 13:13; Micah 4:9-10). Jesus compared wars, rumors of war,

earthquakes, and famines to the beginning of these pains. These phenomena

show that the kingdom is coming, but they do not enable observers to date its

arrival precisely. They are part of God's program for the present age that

includes judgment as well as salvation. They do not necessarily indicate that the

Tribulation has begun. However these things will also mark the first part of the

Tribulation (cf. Revelation 6). Mark 13:5-8 probably describe conditions before

and during the first half of the Tribulation, and Mark 13:9-23 describe

conditions during the second half. [Note: Cf. Bailey, p. 91.]

BI, "And when ye shall hear of wars.

Troublous times

I. We are here forewarned to expect trouble, “Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars”; and it follows, “such things must needs be”; look for no other. Is not our life a warfare?

1. This points immediately at those wars which brought on the final ruin and overthrow of the Jewish church and nation.

2. It looks further, and is intended as an intimation to us all, and to all Christians, to count upon trouble in this world. When ye hear wars (so the word is), when ye hear war at home, the noise of it, for war in a country makes a noise; never more than since the invention of guns, the most noisy way of fighting; yet of old they complained of the noise of war (Nah_3:2; Exo_32:17-18). When we hear the rumours of wars, the reports or tidings of wars. We commonly call uncertain reports rumours, and in time of war we often hear such, but the original word signifies intelligences, that of which we hear. Doctrine: That though it be very sad, yet it is not at all strange in this world, to hear of wars and rumours of wars.

There are three sorts of wars:

1. Law wars among neighbours and relations, bad enough, and very common, through too much love of the world, and too little of our brother. There are few of the spirit of Abram (Gen_13:8).

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2. Book wars among scholars and Christians. Different sentiments maintained by each side with great heat, too often greater than the occasion demands.

3. Sword wars among nations and public interests: of these the text speaks. Whence is it that so much mischief should be done in the world by wars? considering

(1) What principles there are in the nature of man. Is there not such a thing as humanity? Man is not born for war, but naked and unarmed; not fierce, as birds and beasts of prey.

(2) What promises there are in the Word of God. It seems hard to reconcile this text with Isa_2:4. and with Isa_11:6, etc. The Jews object it, Christ Himself has said otherwise (Luk_12:51, and in the text). How shall we reconcile these two? I reply, Those promises are in part fulfilled already. Christ was born at a time of general peace. The gospel has prevailed much to the civilizing of the nations, and as far as it is received, it disposes men to peace. The primitive Christians were of a peaceable disposition. They will have a more full accomplishment in the latter days. Though contrary events come between, that word shall not fall to the ground. Yet the commonness of war in every age takes off the strangeness of it. What do we hear of at this day so much as of wars? Now this we are not to think strange. Because men are so provoking to God, and He does thus in a way of righteous judgment punish them for their sins (Isa_34:5). War is one of God’s sore judgments, with which He corrects the people of His wrath (Eze_14:17; Eze_14:21). Sometimes God thus makes wicked men a scourge one to another, as Nebuchadnezzar was to the nations. Sometimes a scourge to His own people (Isa_10:6). Because men are so provoking one to another, and they do thus give way to their own lusts (Jas_4:1-2). No war carried on but there is certainly a great deal of sin on both sides, as 2Ch_28:9.

But as to the cause of war.

1. Sometimes men’s lusts on both sides begin the war, and where there may be a right and colour of reason on both sides, yet not such as on either to justify the taking up of arms, and while there are such follies set in great dignity (Ecc_10:6), no marvel if we hear much of wars; punctilios of honour, inconsiderable branches of right, to which lives and countries are sacrificed by jealous princes; the mouth justly opened to denounce war, but the ear unjustly deaf to the proposals of peace.

2. Where the war on the one side is just and necessary, it is men’s lusts on the other side that make it so. And if we see it, we need not marvel at the matter. Here is the original of war and bloodshed.

(1) Men’s pride and ambition sometimes make a war just and necessary.

(2) Men’s covetousness and injustice sometimes make a war just and necessary.

(3) Men’s treachery sometimes makes war. No marvel we hear of wars, when all men are liars, and no confidence is to be put in them.

(4) Oppression and persecution sometimes make war just.

II. We are here forearmed against the trouble we are bid to expect. When you are yourselves disturbed with the alarms of war, be not troubled, i.e., be not inordinately dejected and cast down, be not terrified, whatever happens; keep trouble from your heart (Joh_14:1) if war come to your door. It is both for caution and comfort. You

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need not be troubled, therefore give not way to it. Doctrine: That the faithful disciples of Jesus Christ ought not to be inordinately troubled, when there are wars and rumours of wars.

1. As for others, they have reason to be troubled. Those that are not the disciples of Jesus Christ, and are not interested in His merit and grace, have cause for trouble when God’s judgments are abroad (see Isa_33:14). Terrors belong to them, and as for comforts, they have no part nor lot in the matter (see Luk_21:25-26). Those that have the most cause to be troubled commonly put trouble furthest from them.

2. There is cause for the disciples of Christ themselves, upon some accounts, and in some degree, to be troubled. Christ would not have His followers to be without feeling. God calls to mourning at such a time. This is a doctrine that needs explication and limitation. When you hear of wars be ye troubled after a godly sort. There is a three-fold trouble commendable:

(1) Sympathy with the sufferers.

(2) Sorrow for sin. It is sin that makes all the mischief. Mourn for the sin that is the cause of the war, and the sin that is the effect of it.

(3) Solicitude for the ark of God. For this our hearts should tremble, lest religion in its various interests suffer damage. The desolations of the sanctuary should trouble us more than the desolations of the earth: this is a holy fear.

3. Christians ought not to be inordinately troubled. When ye hear this, be not troubled, i.e.,

(1) Be not disquieted, but make the best of it. It is not our wisdom to aggravate to ourselves the causes of trouble, nor to make them worse than they are.

(2) Be not affrighted, but hope the best from it. When we hear the rumours of war, we must not be of doubtful mind; not as Ahaz (Isa_7:2; Isa_8:11-12). We must not give up all for lost upon every disaster and disappointment. Courage is an excellent virtue in time of war, and needful at home as well as abroad.

(3) Be not amazed, but prepare for worse after it. There seems to be this also intended in the caution; compare Mar_5:8, “These are the beginnings of sorrows.” Weep not for this, but get ready for the next (Luk_23:28-29.) Faint not in these lesser conflicts, for then what will you do when greater come (see Jer_12:5). Several considerations will be of use to keep trouble from the heart of good Christians, when we hear of wars.

(a) The righteous God sits in the throne judging right, therefore be not troubled. God is King of nations, and presides in the affairs of nations. Men talk of the fortune of war, but it is not a blind fortune; the issue is determined by a wise God.

(b) The church is built upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, therefore be not troubled.

(c) Christ is His people’s peace, therefore be not troubled. The remnant of those that fear God, find rest in Christ, even in troublous times (see Mic_5:5; Joh_16:33).

(d) The name of the Lord is a strong tower, therefore be not troubled. Into this citadel the vanquished may retire and find shelter, and a refuge

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that they cannot be beaten out of (Pro_18:10). This is a stronghold, inaccessible, insuperable, and which cannot be taken. The power and providence of God are fortifications which cannot be scaled, nor battered, nor undermined. What need good people fear? (Psa_46:1-2) They have always a God to whom they may go.

(e) Men are God’s hand, therefore be not troubled. God is doing their own work by them all this while, and they are accomplishing His purpose, though they mean not so (Isa_10:5; Isa_10:7; Isa_10:15; Psa_17:13-14).

(f) There will come a reckoning day, when all these things shall be reviewed; therefore be not troubled. Behold, the Judge standeth before the door and the mighty men shall shortly stand at His bar (Isa_26:21; Rev_6:10).

(g) The wars of the nations perhaps may end in the peace of the church. God can bring light out of darkness and meat out of the eater.

(h) However, we are sure in heaven there are no wars nor rumours of wars, therefore be not troubled. All will be well there. To conclude:

1. Let us thankfully own God’s great goodness to us in this nation-that we have peace at home, a happy government, peaceable habitations, a defence on our glory (Isa_33:20).

2. Let us not complain of the inconveniences that attend our being interested in the present war; the expense of it, or the abridging and exposing of our trade and property.

3. Let rumours of wars drive us to our knees. Pray, pray, and do not prophesy. Spread the matter before God, and you may greatly help the cause by your supplications.

4. Patiently wait the issue with a humble submission to the will of God. Do not limit Him, nor prescribe to Him. Let Him do His own work in His own way and time. (Matthew Henry.)

The sorrow of war

The conqueror of Bonaparte at Waterloo wrote, on the day after the 19th of June, to the Duke of Beaufort:-“The losses we have sustained have quite broken me down, and I have no feeling for the advantages we have acquired.” On the same day, too, he wrote to Lord Aberdeen:-“I cannot express to you the regret and sorrow with which I look round me and contemplate the loss which I have sustained, particularly in your brother. The glory resulting from such actions, so dearly bought, is no consolation to me, and I cannot suggest it as any to you and his friends; but I hope that it may be expected that this last one has been so decisive as that no doubt remains that our exertions and our individual losses will be rewarded by the early attainment of our just object. It is then that the glory of the actions in which our friends and relations have fallen will be some consolation for their loss.” He who could write thus had already attained a greater victory than that of Waterloo; and the less naturally follows the greater. (Julius C. Hare.)

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8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom

against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in

various places, and famines. These are the

beginning of birth pains.

BARNES, "The beginnings - For αρχαι, many MSS. and versions have αρχη, the

beginning, singular.

GILL, "For nation shall rise against nation,.... The nations of the world one against another, and the Romans against the Jews, and the Jews against them:

and kingdom against kingdom; which is a synonymous phrase with the former,

and what the Jews call, שונות different words", expressing the same thing, often" ,מלות

used in their commentaries:

and there shall be earthquakes in divers places; of the world:

and there shall be famines: especially in Judea, as in the times of Claudius Caesar, and at the siege of Jerusalem:

and troubles; public ones of various sorts, as tumults, seditions, murders, &c. This word is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions.

These are the beginnings of sorrows; as of a woman with child, as the word signifies; whose pains before, though they are the beginnings and pledges of what shall come after, are not to be compared with those that immediately precede, and attend the birth of the child: and so all those troubles, which should be some time before the destruction of Jerusalem, would be but small, but light afflictions, the beginning of sorrows, in comparison of what should immediately go before, and attend that desolation; See Gill on Mat_24:7, Mat_24:8.

JAMIESON, "These are the beginnings of sorrows — “of travail-pangs,” to which heavy calamities are compared. (See Jer_4:31, etc.). The annals of Tacitus tell us how the Roman world was convulsed, before the destruction of Jerusalem, by rival claimants of the imperial purple.

BI, "These are the beginnings of sorrows.

The beginnings of sorrows

I. The value of these facts in relation to the life and character of the Lord. He is the prophet of the church. He was a revealer of secrets. His word was verified to the letter. The church lives in evil times on the word of her unseen Lord.

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II. There is also a suggestion of the connection of sorrows and sins. Jerusalem’s fate is a series of such sorrows. They arise out of religious unfaithfulness and moral deterioration. Nations are doomed by their own acts.

III. If we do not and will not learn the Divine uses of adversity, then the things we regret, and which are most painful to us, will only prove to be the beginnings of sorrows. If lesser Divine chastisements do not raise us to higher moods of being, there must be held in reserve some hotter fire of discipline. We should immediately yield to the disciplines of God. (The Preacher’s Monthly.)

The Christian’s support in troublous times

Whatever happens, we must calm ourselves by remembering that the great Christ is still in heaven, ruling by the changeless laws of righteousness. In presence of extraordinary events, the ordinary methods of God’s grace and providence will seem too slow, and the common gospel too calm; but it is exactly at such times that we most need to maintain our faith in them. (R. Glover.)

Horrors of famine at the siege of Jerusalem

During this dreadful time, the extremity of the famine was such, that a Jewess of noble family, urged by the cravings of hunger, slew her infant child, and prepared it for a meal. She had actually eaten one-half of it, when the soldiers, attracted by the smell of food, threatened her with instant death if she refused to show them where she had hidden it. Intimidated by this menace, she immediately produced the remains of her son; but, instead of sitting down to eat, they were utterly horror struck; and the whole city stood aghast, when they heard the horrible tale, congratulating those whom death had hurried away from such heartrending scenes. Indeed, humanity at once shudders and sickens at the narration; nor can any one of the least sensibility reflect upon the pitiable condition to which the female part of the inhabitants must at this time have been reduced, without experiencing the tenderest emotion of sympathy, or refraining from tears, when he reads our Saviour’s pathetic address to the women who bewailed Him as He was led to Calvary; for in that address He evidently refers to these very horrors and calamities.

9 “You must be on your guard. You will be

handed over to the local councils and flogged in

the synagogues. On account of me you will stand

before governors and kings as witnesses to

them.

BARNES, "Take heed to yourselves - Be cautious that no man deceive you; or,

45

take care of your lives, not to run into unnecessary danger.

To councils - The higher ecclesiastical courts of the Jews, including the Sanhedrin, or great council of the nation.

Rulers and kings - Referring to Roman officers.

For a testimony against them - Rather to bear testimony to them, or to be witnesses “before them” of the truth. This was” for the sake” of Jesus, or because they were attached to him; and God would overrule it so that at the same time they should bear witness “to” the rulers of the truth, as was the case with Peter and John, Acts 4; with Stephen, Acts 6–7; and with Paul, Acts 23; Act_24:24-25.

CLARKE, "Councils - Συνεδρια, Sanhedrins. The grand Sanhedrin consisted of

seventy-two elders; six chosen out of each tribe; this was the national council of state; and the small Sanhedrins, which were composed of twenty-three counsellors.

Synagogues - Courts of justice for villages, etc., consisting of three magistrates, chosen out of the principal directors of the synagogue in that place.

Rulers - Or governors. The Roman deputies, such as Pontius Pilate, etc.

Kings - The tetrarchs of Judea and Galilee, who bore this name. See Mar_6:27.

GILL, "But take heed to yourselves,.... This does not so much regard their doctrine and conversation, they were to take heed to; in which sense this phrase is sometimes used; but the security of their persons and lives; and the advice is, to take care of them selves, as much as in them lay, how they came into the hands of the persecuting Jews, and exposed themselves to danger, when at any time it could be avoided:

for they shall deliver you up to councils; their greater and lesser sanhedrim; the one consisting of seventy one persons, the other of twenty three, and the least of three only; and before the greater of these, Peter and John were brought, quickly, after the ascension of Christ:

and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten; with forty stripes, save one, as the Apostle Paul was, five, times:

and ye shall be brought before rulers; governors of Roman provinces, as the same apostle was, before Gallio, Festus, and Felix:

and kings for my sake; for the sake of professing Christ, and preaching his Gospel; as some of the apostles were, before Herod, Agrippa, Nero, Domitian, and others:

for a testimony against them: both against the rulers and kings before whom they should be brought, and bear a testimony for Christ, and against the Jews, who should bring them thither; See Gill on Mat_10:17; see Gill on Mat_10:18.

HENRY, "III. They must take heed that they be not drawn away from Christ, and from their duty to him, by the sufferings they should meet with for Christ's sake. Again, he saith, “Take heed to yourselves, Mar_13:9. Though you may escape the sword of war, better than some of your neighbours, because you interest not

46

yourselves in the public quarrels, yet be not secure; you will be exposed to the sword of justice more than others, and the parties that contend with one another, will unite against you. Take heed therefore lest you deceive yourselves with the hopes of outward prosperity, and such a temporal kingdom as you have been dreaming of, when it is through many tribulations that you must enter into the kingdom of God.Take heed lest you needlessly expose yourselves to trouble, and pull it upon your own head. Take heed what you say and do, for you will have many eyes upon you.” Observe,

1. What the trouble is which they must expect.

(1.) They shall be hated of all men; trouble enough! The thoughts of being hatedare grievous to a tender spirit, and the fruits of that hatred must needs be a constant vexation; those that are malicious, will be mischievous. It was not for any thing amiss in them, or done amiss by them, that they were hated, but for Christ's name sake, because they were called by his name, called upon his name, preached his name, and wrought miracles in his name. The world hated them because he loved them.

(2.) Their own relations shall betray them, those to whom they were most nearly allied, and on whom therefore they depended for protection; “They shall betray you,shall inform against you, and be your prosecutors.” If a father has a child that is a Christian, he shall become void of natural affection, it shall be swallowed up in bigotry, and he shall betray his own child to the persecutors, as if he were a worshipper of other gods, Deu_13:6-10.

(3.) Their church-rulers shall inflict their censures upon them; “You shall be delivered up to the great Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, and to the inferior courts and consistories in other cities, and shall be beaten in the synagogues with forty stripes at a time, as offenders against the law which was read in the synagogue.” It is no new thing for the church's artillery, through the treachery of its officers, to be turned against some of its best friends.

(4.) Governors and kings shall use their power against them. Because the Jews have not power to put them to death, they shall incense the Roman powers against them, as they did Herod against James and Peter; and they shall cause you to be put to death, as enemies to the empire. They must resist unto blood, and still resist.

JAMIESON, "But take heed to yourselves: for — “before all these things” (Luk_21:12); that is, before these public calamities come.

they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten — These refer to ecclesiastical proceedings against them.

and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings — before civil tribunals next.

for my sake, for a testimony against them — rather “unto them” - to give you an opportunity of bearing testimony to Me before them. In the Acts of the Apostles we have the best commentary on this announcement. (Compare Mat_10:17, Mat_10:18).

BARCLAY, "The Hard Way (Mark 13:9-13)

13:9-13 Take heed to yourselves, for they will hand you over to councils, and

they will scourge you in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and

kings for my sake, and it will be your opportunity to bear your witness to them.

The gospel must first be preached to all nations. And when they hand you over

and bring you before authorities, do not worry beforehand about what you will

say, but speak whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak but

47

the Holy Spirit. Brother shall hand over brother to death, and father child. All

children will rise up against parents, and will kill them. And you will be hated of

all for the sake of my name. But the man who has endured to the end, he will be

saved;

Now we come to the warnings of persecution to come. Jesus never left his

followers in any doubt that they had chosen a hard way. No man could say that

he had not known the conditions of Christ's service in advance.

The handing over to councils and the scourging in synagogues refer to Jewish

persecution. In Jerusalem there was the great Sanhedrin, the supreme court of

the Jews, but every town and village had its local Sanhedrin. Before such local

Sanhedrins the self-confessed heretics would be tried, and in the synagogues they

would be publicly scourged. The governors and kings refer to trials before the

Roman courts, such as Paul faced before Felix and Festus and Agrippa.

It was a fact that the Christians were wonderfully strengthened in their trials.

When we read of the trials of the martyrs, even though they were often ignorant

and unlettered men, the impression often is that it was the judges and not the

Christians who were on trial. Their Christian faith enabled the simplest folk to

fear God so much that they never feared the face of any man.

It was true that even those of a man's own family sometimes betrayed him. In the

early Roman Empire one of the curses was the informer (delator). There were

those who, in their attempts to curry favour with the authorities, would not

hesitate to betray their own kith and kin. That must have been the sorest blow of

all.

In Hitler's Germany a man was arrested because he stood for freedom. He

endured imprisonment and torture with stoic and uncomplaining fortitude.

Finally, with spirit still unbroken, he was released. Some short time afterwards

he committed suicide. Many wondered why. Those who knew him well knew the

reason--he had discovered that his own son was the person who had informed

against him. The treachery of his own broke him in a way that the cruelty of his

enemies was unable to achieve.

This family and domestic hostility was one of the regular items in the catalogue

of terror of the last and terrible days, "Friends shall attack one another

suddenly" (4 Ezra 5:9). "And they shall hate one another and provoke one

another to fight" (Baruch 70:3). "And they shall strive with one another, the

young with the old, and the old with the young, the poor with the rich, the lowly

with the great, the beggar with the prince" (Jubilees 23:19). "Children shall

shame the elders, and the elders shall rise up before the children" (The Mishnah,

Sotah 9:15). "For the son treats the father with contempt, the daughter rises up

against her mother, the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. A man's

enemies are the men of his own house" (Micah 7:6).

Life becomes a hell upon earth when personal loyalties are destroyed and when

there is no love which a man may trust.

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It was true that the Christians were hated. Tacitus talked of Christianity as an

accursed superstition; Suetonius called it a new and evil superstition. The main

reason for the hatred was the way in which Christianity cut across family ties.

The fact was that a man had to love Christ more than father or mother, or son or

daughter. And the matter was complicated by the way that the Christians were

much slandered. It is beyond doubt that the Jews did much to encourage these

slanders. The most serious was the charge that the Christians were cannibals, a

charge supported by the words of the sacrament which speak of eating Christ's

body and drinking his blood.

In this, as in all other things, it is the man who endures to the end who is saved.

Life is not a short, sharp sprint; it is a marathon race. Life is not a single battle;

it is a long campaign. Dr. G.J. Jeffrey tells of a famous man who refused to have

his biography written when he was still alive. "I have seen too many men fall out

on the last lap of the race," he said. Life is never safe until it reaches journey's

end. It was Bunyan who, in his dream, saw that from the very gates of heaven

there was a way to hell. It is the man who endures to the end who will be saved.

CONSTABLE. "The disciples could anticipate persecution from the Jews and

the Gentiles, from religious and secular courts. However such treatment would

provide opportunity to bear witness for Jesus. This warning is appropriate for

all disciples in the inter-advent era as are all the warnings in this discourse.

COFFMAN, "This paragraph (here and through Mark 13:13) is particularly

addressed to the apostles themselves, as indicated by the prophecy of their being

beaten in synagogues (tying it to that generation), and the further promise of

direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit promised in Mark 13:11, a promise nowhere

made to any except apostles. These things foretold here were circumstantially

fulfilled, as abundantly testified by the book of Acts.

COKE, "Mark 13:9. In the synagogues ye shall be beaten:— It is certain that

whipping and beating were punishments inflicted in the synagogues. Thus Paul

punished the Christians, Acts 22:19; Acts 26:11. And that it was customary to

whip both their wise men and their disciples, when guilty of any perverseness,

may be fully proved from Vitringa de Synag. vet. lib. 3: cap. 2: All that is

mentioned in this verse was exactly accomplished; for Peter and John were

called before the Sanhedrim, Acts 4:6-7. James and Peter before Herod, Acts

12:2-3 and Paul before Nero, as well as before the Roman governors, Gallio,

Felix, and Festus; and some were beaten, as Paul and Silas, &c. See the note on

Matthew 10:17-18.

BENSON, "Mark 13:9. Take heed to yourselves — Walk circumspectly, and arm

yourselves both with patience and fortitude, that you may be able to perform your duty

amid all the opposition and persecution which you shall meet with. For they shall

deliver you up to councils, &c. — See note on Matthew 10:17; Matthew 24:9. And in

the synagogues ye shall be beaten — “It is certain,” says Whitby, “both from Scripture

and the Jewish writers, that whipping and beating were punishments used in the

synagogues of the Jews. Thus Paul says, he punished the Christians oft in every

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synagogue, Acts 26:11; and that he did beat in the synagogue those that believed, Acts

22:19 : and that it was usual to whip both their wise men and their disciples, when

they had acted perversely, in their synagogues, is fully proved by Campegius Vitringa

de Synag. Ver.” And ye shall be brought before rulers and kings — Thus Peter and

John were called before the sanhedrim; James and Peter before Herod; and Paul

before Nero the emperor, as well as before the Roman governors, Gallio, Felix, and

Festus; and some were beaten, as Peter and John, (Acts 5:40,) Paul and Silas. For a

testimony against them — The persecutions which you shall suffer shall become a

glorious proof, both of your innocence, and of their guilt in rejecting the gospel. See

note on Matthew 10:18.

CONSTABLE, "3. Warnings about personal danger during persecution 13:9-13 (cf.

Matthew 24:9-13; Luke 21:12-19)

These warnings also occur in other contexts of Jesus' ministry (cf. Matthew 10:17-22;

Luke 12:11-12). Jesus evidently voiced them more than once.

Mark stressed the idea of persecution by recording the Greek word paradidomi three

times in this pericope. The NASB translated this word "deliver up" in Mark 13:9;

Mark 13:11-12. The NIV rendered it "handed over" in Mark 13:9, "arrested" in Mark

13:11, and "betray" in Mark 13:12.

10 And the gospel must first be preached to all

nations.

CLARKE, "And the Gospel must first be published among all nations. -Many of the Evangelistaria omit this verse. Its proper place seems to be after verse the thirteenth.

GILL, "And the Gospel must first be published among all nations. The Syriac version reads, "my Gospel"; the Gospel which Christ was the author, subject, and preacher of; this "must be published". There was a necessity of the promulgation of it by the will of God, the command and commission of Christ; and for the gathering in of the Jews, that were the elect of God, "among all nations" of the world, especially in the Roman empire; and that "first", or before the destruction of Jerusalem; See Gill on Mat_24:14.

HENRY, " What they shall have to comfort themselves with, in the midst of these great and sore troubles.

(1.) That the work they were called to should be carried on and prosper, notwithstanding all this opposition which they should meet with in it (Mar_13:10); “The gospel shall, for all this, be published among all nations, and before the

50

destruction of Jerusalem the sound of it shall go forth into all the earth; not only through all the nation of the Jews, but to all the nations of the earth.” It is comfort to those who suffer for the gospel, that, though they may be crushed and borne down, the gospel cannot; it shall keep its ground, and carry the day.

(2.) That their sufferings, instead of obstructing their work, should forward it; “Your being brought before governors and kings shall be for a testimony of them (so some read it, Mar_13:9); it shall give you an opportunity of preaching the gospel to those before whom you are brought as criminals, to whom otherwise you could not have access.” Thus St. Paul's being brought before Felix, and Festus, and Agrippa, and Nero, was a testimony to them concerning Christ and his gospel. Or, as we read it, It shall be for a testimony against them, against both the judges and the prosecutors, who pursue those with the utmost rage that appear, upon examination, to be not only innocent but excellent persons. The gospel is a testimony to us concerning Christ and heaven. If we receive it, it will be a testimony for us: it will justify and save us; if not, it will be a testimony against us in the great day.

JAMIESON, "And the gospel must first be published among all nations — “for a witness, and then shall the end come” (Mat_24:14). God never sends judgment without previous warning; and there can be no doubt that the Jews, already dispersed over most known countries, had nearly all heard the Gospel “as a witness,” before the end of the Jewish state. The same principle was repeated and will repeat itself to “the end.”

COFFMAN, "(1) The primary fulfillment of this was in the apostolic age,

whereof Paul affirmed that it had indeed been done (Colossians 1:23), and that

well ahead of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

(2) the secondary fulfillment will take place before the Second Advent of Christ.

As Crain accurately declared:

The meaning of this verse is that it is part of God's eschatological purpose that

before the End all nations shall have an opportunity to hear the gospel ... It is a

promise that the gospel will be preached, not that it will necessarily be

believed.[20]

Bickersteth noted that "The whole face of the earth is now laid open to us; and

there is now hardly any part of the world which has not at some time or another

received the message of salvation."[21] The great increase of missionary activity

over the whole earth today provides a strong suggestion that the world is

hastening to the End.

Thus, in the two fulfillments of this verse, the relative scope of the two events (the

destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of this dispensation) appears. The apostles'

preaching the gospel to all the nations was restricted to the nations known at that

time; but the preaching of the gospel to all nations now is a complete and total

thing, even including the reading of Genesis from the other side of the moon to

everyone on earth!

[20] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 399.

[21] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 198.

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BENSON, "Mark 13:10. The gospel must first be published among all nations —

“The fulfilment of this part of the prophecy we learn chiefly from the writings of

the New Testament, which inform us that the gospel was preached by Paul in

Arabia, and through the vast tract from Jerusalem to Iconium in Lycaonia, and

in Galatia, and through all Asia Minor, and in Greece, and round about to

Illyricum, and in Crete and Italy, probably also in Spain and Gaul. Besides, the

gospel reached much farther than this apostle carried it; for we find him writing

to Christians who had never seen his face. Also, we have still remaining Peter’s

epistles to the converted Jews in Pontus, Asia, Cappadocia, and Bythynia.

Probably the gospel was preached in these and many other countries by the Jews

who sojourned there, and who, having come to Jerusalem to the passover, were

converted on the day of pentecost. The Ethiopian eunuch, converted by Philip,

would carry it likewise into his country. But whatever way it happened, the fact

is certain, that in most of these countries churches were planted within thirty

years after Christ’s death, or about ten years before the destruction of

Jerusalem. Hence we find the apostle telling the Romans, (Romans 10:18,) that

the sound of the gospel had gone forth into all the world, and that the faith of the

Christians at Rome was spoken of throughout the world, chapter Mark 1:8. And

hence, too, he tells the Colossians 1:23, that the truth of the gospel was come to

all the world, and was preached to every creature. And when Mark wrote his

gospel the apostles had gone forth, and preached everywhere, Mark 16:20. The

preaching of the gospel, through the whole world, by twelve illiterate fishermen,

and the destruction of Jerusalem, were events extremely improbable, and

therefore the prediction and accomplishment of them deserve to be particularly

taken notice of; and the rather, because they were both absolutely necessary for

bringing about the conversion of the world to Christianity, and are mentioned in

this prophecy as such.” — Macknight.

CONSTABLE, ""Unto all the nations" is in the emphatic first position in the

Greek text. All the nations must hear the gospel before the end of the age (cf.

Matthew 24:14). This is the responsibility of every generation of disciples

(Matthew 28:19). The generation of believers alive during the Tribulation

immediately preceding Jesus' return will accomplish this task in their generation

(Revelation 7). "Must" (Gr. dei) indicates divine necessity. God wants this to

happen, and it will happen.

"It is part of God's eschatological purpose that before the End [of this age] all

nations shall have an opportunity to accept the gospel." [Note: Cranfield, p. 399.]

This verse is not a promise that if disciples will preach the gospel to all nations in

a particular generation God will then begin the kingdom, as postmillennialists

teach. Man cannot bring in the kingdom by the universal preaching of the

gospel. God will bring it in at His appointed time. This is not a promise that

everyone will become a believer in Jesus either.

BI, "And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

Extent of apostolic missionary labours

Doubtless this prediction will only receive its complete accomplishment in the

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secondary application of the prophesy, but we hardly realize how near it was to fulfilment before the destruction of Jerusalem. “The Acts of the Apostles” fill us with amazement at the rapid progress of Christianity in Europe and Asia, under the teaching of two of them. What should we not learn if the whole Twelve had found chroniclers to record their labours? Scattered traditions, with more or less of certainty, show at least this, that missionary work was carried on throughout the then known world. There is little doubt that St. Thomas established the church in Parthia and on the shores of India; that St. Andrew penetrated far into Russia; that Bartholomew preached in Arabia and among the fire worshippers of Persia; and it has been said that even Central Africa, which the present generation burns to win back to Christ, was the scene of St. Matthew’s labours eighteen centuries ago. St. Paul’s appeal to “the hope of the gospel which was preached to every creature which is under heaven” (Col_1:23), though doubtless written with Oriental exaggeration, testifies to a widespread diffusion of the truth. (H. M. Luckock, D. D.)

Progress of the gospel

I remember hearing a story in connection with our battlefields. One weary, dreary night, while our army was on the eve of a great and important battle, a soldier paced up and down before the tent of his general. Wearied with his work, he began to sing half to himself, “When I can read my title clear.” After a little his voice grew louder, and he sang the hymn as though it were a song of victory. His tones rang out on the still night air. After a little another soldier, off yonder, hearing the music, and fascinated by it, joined in. There was a duet. A little longer, and another voice, farther off, joined, and there was a chorus, and it was not long before the whole army, as far as the mind could reach on either side, were joining in that wondrous chorus, and singing in the presence of the enemy,

“When I can read my title clear,

To mansions in the sky.”

Well, brethren, when I heard the story, it seemed to me that I could see in the far-off distance that wondrous carpenter’s Son of Nazareth, standing alone and singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace and goodwill to men.” After a little twelve disciples took up the refrain, and joined in the chorus. After a little longer, in the next century, a still larger company gathered and sang it with all their hearts. In the next century a still larger number added their voices, and now, after eighteen hundred years have gone by, the music of that wondrous song, which began with Him who stood in His father’s workshop, is sung, and echoed, and re-echoed the whole wide world over. It is our revelation from God, and it is the impulse that lifts us all up to God. (Christian Mirror.)

11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to

trial, do not worry beforehand about what to

say. Just say whatever is given you at the time,

for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

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BARNES, "Neither do ye premeditate - Do not think beforehand, or “prepare” an answer. You know not what the accusations will be, and God will furnish you with a reply that shall be adapted to the occasion.

Not ye that speak, but the Holy Spirit - This is a full promise that they should be inspired, and consequently their defenses recorded in the Acts of the Apostles are the words of the Holy Spirit. There could be no more explicit promise that they should be under an infallible guidance, and we are not left to doubt that they were taught of God. At the same time, this was a most desirable and gracious aid. They were illiterate, unknown, without power. They were unfit of themselves to make the important statements of religion which were requisite, but God gave them power, and they spake with a wisdom, fearlessness, pungency, and ability which no other men have ever manifested - full proof that these illiterate fishermen were under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

CLARKE, "Neither - premeditate - This is wanting in BDL, five others, Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala. Griesbach leaves it doubtful. On this verse see Mat_10:19 (note).

GILL, "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up,.... Lead to councils and courts of judicature, and deliver up to kings and rulers, to the civil magistrate, to be punished by the secular arm:

take no thought before hand; be not previously anxious, and carefully solicitous, in a distressing way:

what ye shall speak: to kings and rulers, by way of apology for yourselves, and your own innocence, and in defence of the Gospel:

neither do ye premeditate; or "meditate", as the generality of copies read: Beza says in one copy it is read, "premeditate": and so in one of Stephens's, as we render it: this clause is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions:

but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour; whatever shall be immediately suggested to your thoughts, be put into your minds, and laid upon your hearts:

that speak ye; freely and boldly without the fear of men:

for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost: not but that they did speak, but they were not the principal authors, either of the matter they spoke, or of the words and language in which they spoke; they were only the instruments of the Holy Ghost; they spoke as they were moved by him: hence their wisdom and eloquence in their self-defence, were amazing, and their arguments strong and unanswerable; See Gill on Mat_10:19, Mat_10:20,

HENRY, " That, when they were brought before kings and governors for Christ's sake, they should have special assistance from heaven, to plead Christ's cause and

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their own (Mar_13:11); “Take no thought before-hand what he shall speak, be not solicitous how to address yourselves to great men, so as to obtain their favour; your cause is just and glorious, and needs not be supported by premeditated speeches and harangues; but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, whatsoever shall be suggested to you, and put into your minds, and into your mouths” (pro re natâ - on the spur of the occasion), “that speak ye, and fear not the success of it, because it is off-hand, for it is not ye that speak, purely by the strength of your own wisdom, consideration, and resolution, but it is the Holy Ghost.” Note, Those whom Christ calls out to be advocates for him, shall be furnished with full instructions: and when we are engaged in the service of Christ, we may depend upon the aids of the Spirit of Christ.

JAMIESON, "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand — “Be not anxious beforehand.”

what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate — “Be not filled with apprehension, in the prospect of such public appearances for Me, lest ye should bring discredit upon My name, nor think it necessary to prepare beforehand what ye are to say.”

but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost — (See on Mat_10:19, Mat_10:20.)

CALVIN, "Mark 13:11.Neither premeditate. This sentence, as well as the one

which immediately follows, we have explained (131) under Matthew 10:19 Our

Lord’s design in these words is, to relieve the disciples from that anxiety which

interferes with the cheerful discharge of our duty, when we doubt our inability to

sustain the burden. Not that he wishes us to fall asleep in indolent security, for

nothing is more advantageous than to have such a consciousness of our weakness

as produces humility and excites to prayer. But Christ advises us to cast all our

cares into the bosom of our Father, so that, relying on his promised aid, we may

pursue our course with cheerfulness. The promise is stated in different words by

Luke; not that Christ will deliver his people from death, (for this must not

always be expected,) but that he will give them a mouth and wisdom, to confound

their adversaries. Now though Christ supplies them both with presence of mind

and with ability to speak, yet I look upon these two words as connected by that

figure of speech which is called hypallage; as if Christ had promised that he

would guide their tongues, so as to enable them to make a wise and suitable

reply.

He adds, that this wisdom will be victorious against all their enemies, because

they will not be able to contradict, or to oppose it. Not that their impudence will

yield the palm to truth, but because that truth, which they in vain strive to

oppose, will triumph over their mad presumption. Would that all who are called

upon to make a confession of their faith would rely on that assurance; for the

power and majesty of the Spirit would be displayed in a different manner for

overthrowing the ministers of Satan. Now that we are partly carried away by our

own feelings, and, swelled with pride, rush on heedlessly, or advance farther

than is proper, and partly confine ourselves within the limits of improper

timidity, sad experience shows that we are deprived of the grace of God and the

assistance of the Spirit. As Christ affirms, according to Matthew and Mark, that

it is the Spirit of the Father that speaketh in us, (Matthew 10:10; Mark 13:11,)

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and here declares that he will give a mouth, we infer that it is His prerogative to

fortify us by the Spirit.

COFFMAN, "Barnes understood this as directed to the Twelve, saying, "God

gave them power; and they spake with wisdom, fearlessness, pungency, and

ability which no other men have ever manifested."[22] The inspiration of the

New Testament is also affirmed by this promise. That this promise pertains to

any except the holy apostles is a false interpretation, proved to be so by the fact

that it was never true for any EXCEPT THEM. Perversions of this text have

persisted, however; and as Ryle put it:

A perversion of this consists in supposing that this passage warrants ministers in

getting up to preach unprepared every Sunday, and expecting help of the Holy

Ghost![23]

[22] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Baker Book House, 1955), p. 378.

[23] J. C. Ryle, Expository Notes on the Gospels (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Zondervan Publishing House), Matthew-Mark, II, p. 280.

BURKITT, "Here our Saviour acquaints his disciples, that for preaching the

gospel they should be brought before kings and rulers; but advises them, when

they should be so brought, not to be anxiously thoughtful and solicitous what

they shall say: for it should be suggested to them by the Holy Ghost what to say

in that hour.

Note here, That this promise seems to be peculiar to the apostles, and that is

belonged to them only, when they were brought before kings and rulers, to plead

the cause of Christ.

Learn hence, That though the truth of Christ may be opposed, yet the defenders

of it should never be ashamed: for rather than they shall want a tongue to plead

for it, God himself will prompt them by his Holy Spirit, and suggest such

arguments to them as all their enemies shall not be able to gainsay.

Observe, farther, How our Saviour describes the enmity of the world against the

preachers of the gospel, to be such as would overcome and extinguish even the

natural affection of the dearest relations one towards another: The brother shall

betray the brother to death.

Observe, lastly, How our Saviour comforts his disciples, that there would be an

end of these their sharp and bitter sufferings: assuring them, that if their faith

and patience did hold out unto the end, they should be saved. This is our

comfort, our sufferings for Christ must be sharp, but they shall be short; if our

sufferings for Christ end not in our lifetime, they will end with our lives.

BENSON, "Mark 13:11. Take no thought what ye shall speak — Be not

solicitous beforehand what ye shall say in your defence, to vindicate yourselves

and your religion from the unrighteous charges and aspersions of your enemies.

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But whatsoever shall be given you — And strongly suggested to your minds; in

that hour, that speak ye — Boldly and resolutely; for it is not you that speak, but

the Holy Ghost — Who shall assuredly direct, and even dictate to you what you

shall say at such times. For, as it is really my cause in which you are engaged,

therefore, though you are ignorant and unlearned men, and so may be

apprehensive you shall be confounded in the presence of persons who are, in

rank and education, so much your superiors; yet depend upon it, I will give you

such wisdom and eloquence, that your persecutors shall be even astonished at the

freedom and propriety with which you shall express yourselves, according to the

various occasions which arise. See notes on Matthew 10:19; Luke 21:14-18.

CONSTABLE, "Jesus promised that God will give special grace (help) to

disciples who want to bear a good testimony when arrested and tried for their

faith (Mark 13:9). The Holy Spirit will give such disciples the appropriate words

to speak then. Jesus did not forbid thought but anxious care (cf. Luke 21:15).

[Note: Taylor, p. 508.] This promise should give disciples in these situations

freedom from unnecessary anxiety. However, Jesus did not promise release from

suffering.

"History bears ample witness to the fact that Christians on trial for their faith

have been amazed themselves at the aptness of the answers that flashed into their

minds at the opportune moment." [Note: Hiebert, p. 321.]

BI, "But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up.

The disciples led, delivered, and taught

Our Lord is here foretelling the persecutions which the disciples would be called upon to suffer for the gospel’s sake, and is arming them against the errors, the deceits, and the cruelties of those times. He is also enjoining upon them how they are to conduct themselves under the subtlety and fury of the oppressor, and is giving them directions which, if they rightly follow, will not only determine the excellence of their discipleship, but the certainty of their triumph over the jeopardy and envy of circumstances and foes. (See Mar_13:9-13.) Dealing directly with the eleventh verse, we see-

I. That when suffering persecution the disciples were to be led, and not driven. “But when they shall lead you.” It is always better to be led than forced; more is to be gained from obedience than coercion. We are led, or we lose that obedience which constitutes the soul of godliness. We follow, or we are not led as Christ was and would have us to be. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, etc. Stephen, the martyr, was led; so Paul the apostle. So also was Ridley and Latimer, each ending their earthly lives in the very track and spirit of their Lord and Master. But observe again-

II. The disciples were to be delivered in opposition to becoming resistful and violently taken sacrifices. “But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up.” Both led and delivered. Not to be led, and then to take a final stand of opposition. The deliverance must not be less loyal and true than the leading has been. The sacrifice must be complete. Begun in being led, in true following, it must not end in rebellious resistance and forsaking. No; we are to be delivered up, not thrust up-self-offered and complying rather than conflicting with our foes. (See Isa_50:6; 1Pe_2:21-23). Then further, the text teaches-

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III. That in times of persecution the disciples were not to prepare and to rely upon mechanical defences. “Take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate; but whatsoever,” etc. The reasons for this are evident. Self-thought, self-prepared plans of defence, would-

1. Disturb and disorder their minds. Scheming for words of reply and methods of escape would result in mental distraction. They would be confused. And, moreover, trusting to means of self-defence would-

2. Deny and neutralize the proper office and power of the Holy Spirit. “Whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye; for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.” Thus, then, acting as true believers should-serving Christ fearlessly, all our self-reserve given up to His guidance and power-we shall find the Holy Spirit (in all those cases morally correspondent to the circumstances of our text) to-

(a) Sufficiently enlighten our minds.

(b) To be timely and powerful in the exercise of His help. Either the help of deliverance, or that of loyal resignation; complete escape, or patient endurance.

In illustration and proof of these, see Exo_4:10-12; Jer_1:7-9; Luk_21:14-15; 1Co_2:13. In this aspect of heaven’s cause the answer and the help must be from heaven, and not from the earth. “A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven” (Joh_3:27). Here alone is the true light and the power that prevails. It is therefore plain-

IV. That where the Holy Spirit thus operates all human self-assertion is suppressed. “For it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.” And this takes place-

1. For our sake as Christ’s true disciples. This is the victory He gives, and without which we could not overcome the world.

2. To prevent self-glorying. In these crises the tongue of the learned and the pen of a ready writer come from God. Human sagacity can claim no credit. This wisdom is not of man, lest he should boast. And-

3. To secure the Divine victory and praise. To Him who directs and speaks belongs the glory. “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Thine, therefore is the victory, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. (Thomas Colclough.)

12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a

father his child. Children will rebel against their

parents and have them put to death.

BARNES, "The brother shall betray ... - The brother shall give up in a treacherous manner his brother to be put to death, on account of his attachment to Jesus. Through fear, or from the hope of reward and from the hatred of the gospel,

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he will overcome all the natural ties of brotherhood. and give up his own kindred to be burnt or crucified. Perhaps nothing could more clearly show the dreadful evil of those times, as well as the natural opposition of the heart to the religion of Christ.

GILL, "Now the brother shall betray the brother to death,.... Signifying, that such should be the rage of men, particularly the Jews, against Christ and his Gospel, that those that were in the nearest relation, were of the same flesh and blood, children of the same parents, should betray and deliver up each other into the hands of the civil magistrate, in order to be put to death:

and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death; things unnatural and shocking; See Gill on Mat_10:21.

HENRY, "And ye shall be hated of all men,.... Not only of your friends and relations of your countrymen the Jews; but of all men, the generality of men, in, all nations of the world, wherever they came:

for my name's sake; for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, they professed and preached:

but he that shall endure; reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions, patiently; or persevere in the faith of Christ, in the profession of his name, and in preaching his Gospel:

to the end; of such troubles, and of life:

the same shall be saved; if not with a temporal, yet with an everlasting salvation; See Gill on Mat_10:22, Mat_24:13.

JAMIESON, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake — Matthew (Mat_24:12) adds this important intimation: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many” - “of the many,” or “of the most,” that is, of the generality of professed disciples - “shall wax cold.” Sad illustrations of the effect of abounding iniquity in cooling the love even of faithful disciples we have in the Epistle of James,written about the period here referred to, and too frequently ever since.

but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved — See on Mat_10:21, Mat_10:22; and compare Heb_10:38, Heb_10:39, which is a manifest allusion to these words of Christ; also Rev_2:10. Luke (Luk_21:18) adds these reassuring words: “But there shall not an hair of your heads perish.” Our Lord had just said (Luk_21:16) that they should be put to death; showing that this precious promise is far above immunity from mere bodily harm, and furnishing a key to the right interpretation of Psa_91:1 -18 and such like.

BI, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Of letting go and giving up

The tower of a lofty Christian character and life is not going to push itself up in a night like Jonah’s gourd. You cannot wake up some fine morning, in glad surprise, to find it finished to the turret stone. To build that tower costs. It costs sacrifice. It costs skill. It costs patience. It costs resolution. As gravitation pulls stones downward and glues them to the earth, and as, if they go into the tower at all, they must be lifted

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there with wrench and strain, so this tower of a noble Christian life must be builded in the face of opposition, and at the cost of fight with it. But history has borne out the words of Christ. In other times it has come to that. The Inquisition made it come to that. The massacre of St. Bartholomew, for which Rome sang Te Deums, made it come to that. Philip the Second of Spain made it come to that. The Duke of Alva, during his government of the Netherlands, made it come to that. Thank God, Torquemada cannot torture now! Thank God, there is no fuel for Smithfield fires now! But still now, in our time, in this worldly world, no man can give himself in utter consecration to the unworldly Christ, and put his feet squarely in His exemplifying footprints, and go on in resolute practice after Him, and not meet various opposition. It is well worth noting how constant is the insistence of the Scripture on, not simply foundation laying, but also on turret stone lifting, on finishing. “I have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes always, even unto the end,” sings David. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope unto the end,” urges the Apostle Peter. “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end,” declares the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. And the Epistles to the Seven Churches in the Revelation are full of this doctrine of the importance of the end. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” This, I am certain, is one of the commonest assaults of evil; this toward discouragement, toward despondency in the practice of the true life; this toward letting go and giving up. “Well, you have laid the foundation,” Satan says; “you have accepted Christ and been baptized and joined the church, and professed yourself a Christian. You have started, but think how long it is before you can come to that turret stone. You are a fool to try. Give up. Have done with it. Anyway, you are a fool to try in your circumstances; or certainly you are a fool to try with your disposition. What may under more favourable circumstances, or with another sort of inherited disposition, be possible for others, is surely impossible for you. Why strain and struggle and wrench at the impossible? Don’t! Quit!” Who has not felt the subtle acid of this temptation eating out the substance of his high endeavour? Some time since, I was talking with a young Christian business man in another city. He was troubled with the very problem which tormented the Psalmist long ago: “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” That is precisely what he was saying: “Here am

I. I have determined to be straight and true, and Christian in my business; and I have been. But look at that man; he isn’t, but see how he gets on. What’s the use of my toiling at this tower of a Christian business integrity, when it is work so hard and slow? Why wouldn’t it be better for me to stop toiling at this Christian tower, and go on with one which men would call-well, at least measurably decent, like that man’s, but which mounts into the sky of success in such swift and easy fashion?” It was only a momentary temptation. But I am sure he is not the only Christian business man, be he young or old, who has felt the force of it. Or, here again, is a young Christian. He has laid the foundation of this Christian tower well and thoroughly in prayer and penitence and faith in Christ. He is full of the beautiful enthusiasm of the new life. He has confessed his Lord and is going on in the rejoicing purpose of building a life his Lord can smile on. And then, as sometimes in the early summer the flowers come upon a frost that bites and draggles them, the chill of the inconsistencies of some older Christians smites all his beautiful enthusiasm down. Why am I under obligations to be any better than they, the older, more experienced, more prominent Christians? Why cannot I at least loosen the tug of my endeavour, if I do not altogether give up and let go?”

Or, here is a Christian wife and mother. To be the sole source and centre of religious influence in the home is very hard; to seek to breathe about the home a Christian

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atmosphere, when the husband, if he do no more, does meet and chill it by the icy air of his indifference; to have to train the children away from, instead of towards, the example of the father in the topmost and most important thing, the matter of religion; to have to meet this objection, falling from the lips of her own child: “Father never prays; why should I? Father never cares much for Sunday; why should I? Father never says he loves the Saviour; why should I try to?”-well, I do not wonder that she feels sometimes like letting go and giving up. I do not wonder that sometimes her cross seems too rugged and too heavy. And now that we may arm ourselves against this so common temptation of letting go and giving up, let us attend together to certain principles opposed to it.

I. Let us get cheer for ourselves by remembering that the world’s best work has been done and the noblest lives have been lived by men and women who, like ourselves, have sometimes felt like letting go and giving up. There is a verse of Scripture which many a time has been to me both a comfort and a girding. It is written in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, in the tenth chapter and at the thirteenth verse: “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” “So I am not,” I have said to myself, in darker and more despairing moments, “one singled out for unusual and separate trial; others have been wrapped in clouds similar, others have stood in ways as thorny.” That is a twisted and bubble-blown and distorting glass, which trial so often bids us look through, out upon the landscape of our lives-that nobody else has ever had to meet such chastening discipline as our own. Why, there was Moses; he had just this very feeling toward letting go and giving up. It was immensely hard to satisfy those Israelites. There was David, hunted and hounded; turned against and betrayed by his trusted counsellor, Ahithophel. “Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh! that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” There was Elijah under the juniper tree, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life.” What failing feeling toward letting go and giving up in him! And if you leave the Scripture and turn to the record of great lives anywhere, you shall find that in them, too, feeling faltered, and suggestion came to cease from their great tower building this side the turret stone. I suppose a sermon scarcely ever did more, both for the man himself and the great cause it advocated, than Dr. Wayland’s sermon on the Moral Dignity of the Missionary Enterprise. But the evening of its preaching was chill and rainy, and possibly fifty persons made up the audience, and the church was so cold that the preacher had to wear his great coat throughout the service, and nobody seemed to listen, nor anybody to care; and the next day the discouraged preacher, throwing himself on the lounge in the house of one of his parishioners, in one of his most despairing moods, exclaimed: “It was a complete failure; it fell perfectly dead!” I am sure he felt like letting go and giving up, when he remembered that he had rewritten that sermon eleven times that he might make it more worthy, and that such was the outcome of it. But that sermon, published, made him, and, more than any other influence in those beginning days of the Foreign Missionary enterprise, made the cause. The Duke of Wellington, when a subaltern, was anxious to retire from the army, where he despaired of advancement, and actually applied to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the poor post of a commissioner of customs. And his great antagonist, the great Napoleon, was in early life tempted to commit suicide because he could do nothing and could get no chance, and was only saved from it by a cheerful word from somebody. Oh! friend of mine, you are not the only person in the world who has been assaulted by this suggestion of letting go and giving up. There has never been a noble or achieving life anywhere that has not had to push its tower

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up in spite of it.

II. Let us remember that this failing to endure to the end, this giving up and letting go, must necessary carry with itself a complete forfeiture of the past. If our Past has been true and noble, we may be helped by it in the Present. But we cannot live upon the Past. The tower is unfinished if we stop this side of the turret stone. It is but an unturning and useless wheel if we do not take advantage of the present water. All its previous turning helps it not. There at Muckross Abbey I saw a yew tree hundreds of years old, as old as the crumbling abbey rising round it, yet still growing bravely on. It was growing, because, standing on the Past of gnarled trunk and spreading branches, it was using the Present, forming its leaf buds every season, and drinking in the dew and light. But the abbey in whose court it stood was only a disintegrating pile of crumbling stone, because it had ceased relation with the Present. It had no use for the Present, nor the Present for it; no longer were busy hands of inmates putting it to function, keeping it in repair. It was a Past thing, so the severe Present was treading it under foot. To give up and let go is to forfeit what we have done and have been. The Past is useful only as a preparation for the Present; and if in the Present we will not steadily push on toward the finishing, we lose the value and meaning of the Past. Resist, therefore, the temptation of letting go and giving up.

III. Let us resist the temptation of letting go and giving up, by holding ourselves to the short view of life, by doing the next thing. Each day’s stone laid in each day’s time; the short view method, the next thing method, that is the only method of strong endurance and shining achievement. Wise words those which George Macdonald puts into the mouth of Hugh Sutherland in his story of David Elginbrod; they are words worthy the careful heeding of every one of us: “Now, what am I to do next?” asks Hugh, and he goes on thinking with himself: “It is a happy thing for us that this is really all we have to concern ourselves about, what to do next. No man can do the second thing. He can do the first. If he omits it, the wheels of the social Juggernaut roll over him, and leave him more or less crushed behind. If he does it, he keeps in front and finds room to do the next again; and so he is sure to arrive at something, for the onward march will carry him with it. There is no saying to what perfection of success a man may come who begins with what he can do, and uses the means at hand; he makes a vortex of action, however slight, toward which all the means instantly begin to gravitate.” True words, the very gospel of achievement, these. So against this temptation toward letting go and giving up, let me take the short view, let me seize the next thing, and not trouble myself about the fortieth thing, sure that God’s grace will give the strength for the coming day to which the fortieth thing belongs; but that, if I want God’s strengthening grace for that, I must use God’s strengthening grace which offers itself today, and for this next thing, which belongs to no other day in all time’s awful calendar but this.

IV. Let us remember that refusing to yield to the temptation of letting go and giving up is the constant fixing ourselves but the more firmly in the habit of going on in righteousness. Dark law that, which through and because of momentary decisions against righteousness, ends in the awful doom, “Let him that is filthy be filthy still.” But that same law has a sunward side bright as the light that flashes from God’s throne, viz., that momentary and constant decisions towards righteousness end at last in that celestial turret stone, piercing the far radiances of Heaven-“Let him that is righteous be righteous still.”

V. Let us remember that for us, keeping hold and refusing to let go, there is the constant help of Christ toward triumphing. That is a sweet legend hanging about an old church in England, and it tells the great truth well; how centuries ago, when the monks were rearing it, a new temple for the worship of their God, there came among the workers a strange monk, unasked, who always took on himself the heaviest tasks;

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and how at last, when a particularly gigantic beam was needed for a position as important as that of the keystone of an arch, and how when, with sweating strain and united effort, it was lifted to its place, it was strangely found to be some feet too short. No device of the builders could remedy it; they had tried their best with it, they had used the most careful measurement they knew, but how sadly they had failed! There it was, too short, and their utmost skill could not find remedy. The night shut down upon the tired workers, and they went to their rest with sore hearts, leaving only this unknown monk, who would go working on. But when the morning came, and the workers came forth again, they saw the sunlight falling on the beam exactly in its place, lengthened to the precise dimensions needed, and resting accurately on its supports. But the unknown monk had disappeared. Yet the workers knew Him now, and were certain they could carry the temple onward to its topmost turret. For He who had been working with them and supplying their lack of perfect work, they came now to know, was none other than the Lord Himself. They were not unhelped toilers. Nor are we. “Lo! I am with you always,” declares our Lord! It is our privilege to answer with the apostle, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.”

VI. And now for the last word. Let us determine that as we hope to carry the tower of a Christian life and service onward to its finishing ourselves, we will be very careful not to discourage anyone beside us, toiling like ourselves at the same achievement. Once a building was wrapped in flame; at a high window, a little child was seen vainly endeavouring to escape; a brave fireman started up a ladder to try to rescue it. He went up, and still further up: he had almost gained the window, but the flames darted at him and the flames smote him, and he began to falter; he hesitated, looked upward at the raging fire; he shook his head; he was just about to turn back. Just then someone in the throng below cried: “Cheer him! Cheer him!” From a thousand throats a loud heart-helping cheer went up. He did not turn back. He went on toward the finishing, and in a minute he was seen through the thick drifts of smoke, with the little child safe in his arms. So let us, everyone, see to it that we cheer on all we can who, like ourselves, are struggling upward toward any nobleness. (W. Hoyt, D. D.)

Unflinching endurance

I have read of that noble servant of God, Marcus Arethusius, minister of a church in the time of Constantine, who in Constantine’s time had been the cause of overthrowing an idol’s temple; afterwards, when Julian came to be emperor, he would force the people of that place to build it up again. They were ready to do it, but he refused; whereupon those that were his own people, to whom he preached, took him, and stripped him of all his clothes, and abused his naked body, and gave it up to the children, to lance it with their pen knives, and then caused him to be put in a basket, and anoint his naked body with honey, and set him in the sun, to be stung with wasps. And all this cruelty they showed because he would not do anything towards the building up of this idol temple; nay, they came to this, that if he would do but the least towards it, if he would give but a half-penny to it, they would save him. But he refused all, though the giving of a half-penny might have saved his life: and in doing this, he did but live up to that principle that most Christians talk of, and all profess, but few come up to, viz., that we must choose rather to suffer the worst of torments that men and devils can invent and inflict, than to commit the least sin, whereby God should be dishonoured, our consciences wounded, religion reproached, and our own souls endangered. (Brooks.)

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Enduring to the end

Under this revival of the persecuting spirit, in a few days nineteen Christians, conspicuous for their character and zeal, were apprehended, and it was resolved to make a severe example. All were condemned to die; the four nobles (one of them a lady) were ordered to be burned alive; fifteen others were to be thrown over a precipice. At one o’clock the night before their execution, a large gathering of their companions secretly took place, not to break prison or attempt a rescue, but to commend the sufferers specially to God in prayer. “At one at night, we met together and prayed.” With the early dawn the whole city was astir: it had been whispered that the Christians were to die, and an immense multitude gathered to witness the sight. On the west side of Antananarivo, is a steep precipice of granite, a hundred and fifty feet high; the terrace above which has long been used as a place of execution. Above the terrace the ground rises rapidly to the crest of the ridge, on which the city is built, and on which the palace enclosure, with its lofty dwellings, stands conspicuous. Beneath the precipice the ground is a mass of jagged rocks and boulders, upon which the unhappy criminal would fall headlong, when rolled or thrown over the ledge. The refined cruelty which invented this terrible punishment has, in the modern world, been repeated in but one country and among one people, the half-savage population of Mexico. Through the thousands that had crowded every point of the sloping hill the condemned brethren were carried, wrapped in mats and slung on poles. But they prayed and sang as they passed along the roadway; “and some who beheld them, said that their faces were like the faces of angels.” One by one they were thrown over the precipice, the rest looking on. “Will you cease to pray?” was the only question. “No,” was the firm answer in every case. And in a moment the faithful martyr lay bleeding, and mangled, and dead, among the rocks below.

(Trophies of Grace in Madagascar.)

The finally saved

I. It is a fair subject of inquiry: where and from whence do we expect these trials?

1. From our own heart.

2. The wiles and the machinations of Satan.

3. The world will assault you.

4. Sin in all its phases, its fascinating aspects, will seek to seduce you.

5. Error will assail you.

II. Those forms of religion, those shades and systems of belief, which will not endure, but must collapse in the ordeals to which they will be subjected in a world which tests the real every day and rejects all that is pretentious. Nothing will endure but vital, scriptural Christianity.

1. The religion of mere impulse. Excitement is not conviction.

2. The religion of sentiment, not the religion of conviction nor of the adoption of the heart, but purely of the imagination.

3. The religion of intellect. A very striking and, so far, commendable form. The understanding is convinced that Christianity is true. It is orthodoxy, not regeneration; it is light in the head without love in the heart.

4. The religion of the conscience.

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5. The religion of the natural affections, than which nothing is more amiable, beautiful, or lovely; and yet it is a religion that will not endure.

6. The religion of tradition.

7. The religion of form. There is no endurance in it; it collapses the moment it is exposed to trouble. (J. Cumming, D. D.)

Perseverance

The leopard doth not run after his prey like other beasts, but pursues it by leaping; and if at three or four jumps he cannot seize it, for very indignation he gives over the chase. There be some who, if they cannot leap into heaven by a few good works, will even let it alone; as if it were to be ascended by leaping, not by climbing. But they are more unwise who, having got up many rounds of Jacob’s ladder, and finding difficulties in some of the uppermost-whether wrestling with assaults and troubles, or looking down upon their old allurements-even fairly descend with Demas and allow others to take heaven. (T. Adams.)

Constancy

Some dyes cannot bear the weather, but alter colour presently; but there are others that, having something that gives a deeper tincture, will hold. The graces of a true Christian hold out in all sorts of weather, in winter and summer, prosperity and adversity, when superficial counterfeit holiness will give out. (R. Sibbes.)

Incentives to perseverance

Here are some grounds or motives to the patient suffering of persecution and troubles for the profession of Christ and of the gospel.

1. Of all afflictions and troubles, those are the most comfortable to suffer and endure, which are suffered for Christ.

2. By these kinds of sufferings we glorify God, and bring honour to the name of Christ, and credit to the gospel, more than by any other sufferings.

3. It is a most honourable thing unto us, yea, the greatest glory that may be in this world, to suffer anything for Christ.

4. Consider how much Christ has suffered for us, and for our salvation; how great reproach and shame; what bitter pain and torment of soul and body; and let this move us, patiently and willingly to suffer any persecution and trouble for His sake.

5. Consider how much wicked men suffer in the practice of sin, and to satisfy their wicked lusts, and let this move us to suffer any persecution for Christ.

6. Consider the great and excellent reward promised to those who endure for Christ’s sake. (George Petter.)

Endurance

This is another word for constancy or perseverance. Suppose, now, the case of

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individuals desirous of realizing, as a matter of experience, the great vital truths of the gospel in the heart. They have great doubts about the correctness and safety of their former mode of life, and consequently feel in some measure attracted towards the hopes, and aspirations, and privileges of the Christian. But they have to stand up against many oppositions; they have to withdraw from the society of the giddy and thoughtless, and from habits of dissipation and worldliness. They have to contend with disinclinations for public and private religious duties, for prayer and Scripture reading. They begin to find that it is no easy thing to act the part of self-denial-to wrestle against the warm passions and earnest longings of a corrupt nature. They feel, too, the trial of a wayward and treacherous heart, ever tending downwards, cleaving to the dust. Such persons as these are like the Israelites upon the shores of the Red Sea, with its surging breakers and rolling waves before them, and the Egyptians behind them. And yet God said unto Moses, “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” They must not turn back to Egypt again, but must step onward to brave the sea. And so with those in the state described. Do not turn back. Do you not yield to tempting solicitations to return to former haunts. Be faithful to your convictions. By perseverance in treading the path of duty the victory shall be yours-the path shall be ever brighter and broader as you near your everlasting home. The young eaglet looking up from its nest upon the high floating clouds and the broad expanse of the clear blue sky, may, perhaps, in its first efforts to mount through and above them, sink with discouragement; but the parent bad is close at hand to give help; and so by perseverance, at last the eaglet soars in the path of its mother, and rivals her in distance as well as in rapidity. Even so the weak in faith shall be made strong. (W. D. Horwood.)

Enduring to the end

Among the different games and races at Athens, there was one in which they carried a burning torch in their hand. If they reached the goal without its being extinguished, they obtained the prize. Thus, they only shall be saved, says the Saviour, who endure to the end. It is not the man who makes a splendid profession for a season-it is not the man who appears to carry the torch of truth only a part of the way-that shall be crowned; but he who perseveres, and whose lamp is trimmed, and who holds fast his confidence, and the rejoicing of his hope, unto the end. Yet, alas! how many seem to bid fair for a season, but in time of temptation fall away. Epictetus tells us of a gentleman returning from banishment, who, on his journey homewards, called at his house, told a sad story of an imprudent life; the greater part of which being now spent, he was resolved for the future to live philosophically; to engage in no business, to be candidate for no employment, not to go to court, nor to salute Caesar with ambitious attendances; but to study, and worship the gods, and die willingly when nature or necessity called him. Just, however, as he was entering his door, letters from Caesar, inviting him to court, were delivered to him; and, then, alas; he forgot all his promises, and grew pompous, secular, and ambitious. Thus many form resolutions in their own strength, and make for a season some pretensions to seriousness; but prove like the children of Ephraim, who, though armed and carrying bows, yet turned back in the day of battle.

Enduring to the end

To endure, that is the great point. It does not simply signify that a man should hold on, but that a man should hold on in spite of, and in the face of discouragements, and difficulties, and disappointments. It is more than “dure,” it is “endure.” It is a very great mistake for Christian people to imagine that all will be light and liberty, and peace and joy. There are representations in the Word of God of the Christian course

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that seem to be contrary, but they are only different aspects of the whole subject. For instance: “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” “Your joy no man taketh from you.” “Rejoice in the Lord alway.” Yet, on the other hand, as we had it this morning, “If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross daily.” Again, we are told, we must “mortify” our evil and corrupt affections; that we must “crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts;” that “the right hand” must be “cut off,” and the “right eye plucked out,” in order that we may follow and obey our Lord and Master. Now all these things are not contrary, but they are reconciled. There is joy, but it is joy in the midst of trouble; there is peace, but it is peace maintained by constant warfare; and there is blessed rest, but it is rest in labour and toil. If we have a battle to fight, if we have a race to run, if we have a building to erect, it must be with toil, and trouble, and effort. We shall have to “endure to the end.” It will not avail to be constant and enduring in the outset, but we must endure to the end. Many will try to prevent our following the Lord fully, they will try to discourage us. And then, too, do we not find very many, from following into different companies, and amongst gay, thoughtless, and worldly companionships, get absorbed in the vortex of life, their holiness is gone, they tumble down in the mire, their hope is withered, and passes away as a dream. Then, again, are there not very many who get into some peculiar state of trial from persecution, or reproach, or something they did not count upon; they are ashamed of Jesus, they are ashamed of the cross, and so they betray the Master with a kiss. Then, again, how many are disheartened and discouraged with the struggle in their own hearts. They set out with much emotion, but feeling too little faith, How many things lead a man to come short of eternal life! It is, perhaps, more beautiful to see a man in little comfort and in darkness, holding on, than one who walks in the full sunshine. Job was able to say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Was not that a beautiful instance of enduring to the end? When he was stripped of everything,-without were fightings, and within were fears; clouds, and tribulations, and adversity were about him; yet he says, “though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” We have not full salvation now; it is in progress, it is not complete; it is the man that endures to the end that attains the full recompense, and enters into the joy of the Lord. This is the great purpose and end. We do not set out on a voyage just for the purpose of setting out; we have to seek to reach the haven. We do not cover ourselves in armour simply for the sake of being ready for the battle, but that we may fight and win the victory, and gain the crown; therefore, after all, this is the grand test of our having true faith in Christ, that we continue in Christ, that we abide as branches in the vine, and bear fruit. How much blossom of promise there is that has no measure of fruit? Let us never forget that there may be a good deal of seeming fruit; but if it does not last, if it drops off it is because it is worthless, rotten at the core. You sometimes see under a fruit tree the ground strewn with fallen fruit. Somebody may say, perhaps, some great storm has passed over, or some sudden frost, when probably the truth has been that the fruit itself was unsound at the core, and that, therefore, it rotted and fell off. Brethren, it is so with the fruits that grow in the orchard of God; many are fair and seeming good to the sight, but they are not sound at the core. The proof that they are sound is, that they still cling to the tree and ripen, until, as it is beautifully said, “the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” (Hugh Stowell, M. A.)

COFFMAN, "No one may doubt the literal fulfillment of such familial treachery

against the Lord's disciples; for such would naturally have occurred: (1) because

of craven hatred of the truth; (2) hope of saving one's own life; or even (3) from

hope of sordid gain.

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And ye shall be hated ... As Sanner said,

Has our time forgotten the chilling words of Jesus, "Ye shall be hated of all ... for

my name's sake"? Let a man of God disturb entrenched ignorance, prejudice, or

evil, personal and social, and he will face the sinister, stolid face of hate.[24]

He that endureth to the end ... Sanner noted that this means "He who endures to

the last degree,"[25] or, as Bickersteth stated: "It means, not the end of the age,

but the end of the moral probation of the individual."[26]

[24] A. Elwood Sanner, op. cit., p. 382.

[25] Ibid.

[26] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 198.

BENSON, "Mark 13:12-13. The brother shall betray the brother to death — The

unbelieving Jews and heathen shall discover, betray, and deliver to be

imprisoned, tortured, and put to death, their believing relatives, even their

brethren, fathers, or children. With respect to the Jews in particular, their

known zeal and cruelty render it abundantly credible that, in the persecution of

the Christians, the bigots to the law of Moses, overlooking the ties of nature,

would be instrumental in putting their own relations to death, who followed the

standard of Christ. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake — That

the disciples of Christ were hated of all men in the first ages of Christianity, is

well known. Their opposition to idolatry was the cause of the ill-will which the

heathen bore toward them; their preaching that the law of Moses was abrogated,

enraged the Jews: and in this temper both Jews and heathen continued during

the first three centuries, till Constantine, declaring himself a Christian, put an

end to the cruelties that had been so long exercised upon the disciples of Christ.

“That not only the apostles,” says Dr. Doddridge, “but all the primitive

Christians, were in general more hated and persecuted than any other religious

sect of men, is most notorious to all who are at all acquainted with ecclesiastical

history: a fact which might seem unaccountable, when we consider how

inoffensive and benevolent their temper and conduct was, and how friendly an

aspect their tenets had on the security of any government under which they lived.

The true reason of this opposition was, that while the different pagan religions,

like the confederated demons honoured by them, sociably agreed with each

other, the gospel taught Christians, not only, like Jews, to bear their testimony to

the falsehood of them all; but also with the most fervent zeal to urge the

renunciation of them, as a point of absolute necessity, requiring all men, on the

most tremendous penalties, to believe on Christ, and in all things to submit

themselves to his authority: a demand which bore so hard, especially on the

pride and licentiousness of their princes, and the secular interests of their priests,

that it is no wonder they raised so violent a storm against it; which, considering

the character and prejudices of the populace, it must be very easy to do.” But he

that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved — He who is neither

made to apostatize by the persecutions I have described, nor led astray by the

seduction of unbelieving Jews or false Christians, shall escape out of the

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destruction that is about to fall on this land; and, persevering in faith and piety

to the end of his life, shall be saved eternally.

CONSTABLE, "Verse 12-13

Betrayal even by family members will be another trial disciples may have to bear

(cf. Micah 7:2-6; Luke 12:51-53). Persecution would come through official

channels but also from blood relatives. All kinds of people would hate them for

their testimony.

"As there is nothing that excites such love as the gospel, when intelligently

received, so there is nothing that occasions such hate as this same gospel, when

passionately rejected." [Note: Morison, p. 359.]

The last part of Mark 13:13 states a general principle. Faithful endurance of

persecution to its end results in deliverance. Disciples who endure their

persecution faithfully to the end of that persecution will experience deliverance

from it while they are alive. Disciples who endure their persecution faithfully to

the end of their lives will experience deliverance from it by death. Disciples living

just before Jesus returns who endure their persecution faithfully to the end of

the present age will experience deliverance at Jesus' second coming.

Faithful endurance of persecution also results in the privilege of reigning with

Jesus in His kingdom (cf. 2 Timothy 2:12). Note that Jesus did not teach that all

will endure to the end faithfully. Unfortunately some disciples do not (2 Timothy

2). Notwithstanding, our ultimate salvation does not depend on enduring

persecution faithfully but on God's faithfulness to His promises to keep us secure

(2 Timothy 2:13; cf. John 10:27-28; Romans 8:31-39; et al.).

This pericope should be a special encouragement for disciples undergoing

persecution for their faith, including Mark's original readers. It is easier to

endure suffering for our faith when we view it in the context of God's plan for

the future. This perspective gives us hope.

13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but

the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

GILL, "And ye shall be hated of all men,.... Not only of your friends and relations of your countrymen the Jews; but of all men, the generality of men, in, all nations of the world, wherever they came:

for my name's sake; for the sake of Christ and his Gospel, they professed and preached:

but he that shall endure; reproaches, afflictions, and persecutions, patiently; or persevere in the faith of Christ, in the profession of his name, and in preaching his

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Gospel:

to the end; of such troubles, and of life:

the same shall be saved; if not with a temporal, yet with an everlasting salvation; See Gill on Mat_10:22, Mat_24:13.

HENRY, "(4.) That heaven at last would make amends for all; “You will meet with a great deal of hardship in your way, but have a good heart on it, your warfare will be accomplished, and your testimony finished, and he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved,” Mar_13:13. Perseverance gains the crown. The salvation here promised is more than a deliverance from evil, it is an everlasting blessedness, which shall be an abundant recompence for all their services and sufferings. All this we have, Mat_10:17, etc.

JAMIESON, "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake — Matthew (Mat_24:12) adds this important intimation: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many” - “of the many,” or “of the most,” that is, of the generality of professed disciples - “shall wax cold.” Sad illustrations of the effect of abounding iniquity in cooling the love even of faithful disciples we have in the Epistle of James,written about the period here referred to, and too frequently ever since.

but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved — See on Mat_10:21, Mat_10:22; and compare Heb_10:38, Heb_10:39, which is a manifest allusion to these words of Christ; also Rev_2:10. Luke (Luk_21:18) adds these reassuring words: “But there shall not an hair of your heads perish.” Our Lord had just said (Luk_21:16) that they should be put to death; showing that this precious promise is far above immunity from mere bodily harm, and furnishing a key to the right interpretation of Psa_91:1 -18 and such like.

BI, "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Of letting go and giving up

The tower of a lofty Christian character and life is not going to push itself up in a night like Jonah’s gourd. You cannot wake up some fine morning, in glad surprise, to find it finished to the turret stone. To build that tower costs. It costs sacrifice. It costs skill. It costs patience. It costs resolution. As gravitation pulls stones downward and glues them to the earth, and as, if they go into the tower at all, they must be lifted there with wrench and strain, so this tower of a noble Christian life must be builded in the face of opposition, and at the cost of fight with it. But history has borne out the words of Christ. In other times it has come to that. The Inquisition made it come to that. The massacre of St. Bartholomew, for which Rome sang Te Deums, made it come to that. Philip the Second of Spain made it come to that. The Duke of Alva, during his government of the Netherlands, made it come to that. Thank God, Torquemada cannot torture now! Thank God, there is no fuel for Smithfield fires now! But still now, in our time, in this worldly world, no man can give himself in utter consecration to the unworldly Christ, and put his feet squarely in His exemplifying footprints, and go on in resolute practice after Him, and not meet various opposition. It is well worth noting how constant is the insistence of the Scripture on, not simply foundation laying, but also on turret stone lifting, on finishing. “I have inclined mine heart to perform Thy statutes always, even unto the end,” sings David. “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope unto the end,” urges the Apostle Peter. “For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold

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the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end,” declares the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews. And the Epistles to the Seven Churches in the Revelation are full of this doctrine of the importance of the end. “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” This, I am certain, is one of the commonest assaults of evil; this toward discouragement, toward despondency in the practice of the true life; this toward letting go and giving up. “Well, you have laid the foundation,” Satan says; “you have accepted Christ and been baptized and joined the church, and professed yourself a Christian. You have started, but think how long it is before you can come to that turret stone. You are a fool to try. Give up. Have done with it. Anyway, you are a fool to try in your circumstances; or certainly you are a fool to try with your disposition. What may under more favourable circumstances, or with another sort of inherited disposition, be possible for others, is surely impossible for you. Why strain and struggle and wrench at the impossible? Don’t! Quit!” Who has not felt the subtle acid of this temptation eating out the substance of his high endeavour? Some time since, I was talking with a young Christian business man in another city. He was troubled with the very problem which tormented the Psalmist long ago: “For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.” That is precisely what he was saying: “Here am

I. I have determined to be straight and true, and Christian in my business; and I have been. But look at that man; he isn’t, but see how he gets on. What’s the use of my toiling at this tower of a Christian business integrity, when it is work so hard and slow? Why wouldn’t it be better for me to stop toiling at this Christian tower, and go on with one which men would call-well, at least measurably decent, like that man’s, but which mounts into the sky of success in such swift and easy fashion?” It was only a momentary temptation. But I am sure he is not the only Christian business man, be he young or old, who has felt the force of it. Or, here again, is a young Christian. He has laid the foundation of this Christian tower well and thoroughly in prayer and penitence and faith in Christ. He is full of the beautiful enthusiasm of the new life. He has confessed his Lord and is going on in the rejoicing purpose of building a life his Lord can smile on. And then, as sometimes in the early summer the flowers come upon a frost that bites and draggles them, the chill of the inconsistencies of some older Christians smites all his beautiful enthusiasm down. Why am I under obligations to be any better than they, the older, more experienced, more prominent Christians? Why cannot I at least loosen the tug of my endeavour, if I do not altogether give up and let go?”

Or, here is a Christian wife and mother. To be the sole source and centre of religious influence in the home is very hard; to seek to breathe about the home a Christian atmosphere, when the husband, if he do no more, does meet and chill it by the icy air of his indifference; to have to train the children away from, instead of towards, the example of the father in the topmost and most important thing, the matter of religion; to have to meet this objection, falling from the lips of her own child: “Father never prays; why should I? Father never cares much for Sunday; why should I? Father never says he loves the Saviour; why should I try to?”-well, I do not wonder that she feels sometimes like letting go and giving up. I do not wonder that sometimes her cross seems too rugged and too heavy. And now that we may arm ourselves against this so common temptation of letting go and giving up, let us attend together to certain principles opposed to it.

I. Let us get cheer for ourselves by remembering that the world’s best work has been done and the noblest lives have been lived by men and women who, like ourselves, have sometimes felt like letting go and giving up. There is a verse of Scripture which many a time has been to me both a comfort and a girding. It is written in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, in the tenth chapter and at the thirteenth verse: “There

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hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able, but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” “So I am not,” I have said to myself, in darker and more despairing moments, “one singled out for unusual and separate trial; others have been wrapped in clouds similar, others have stood in ways as thorny.” That is a twisted and bubble-blown and distorting glass, which trial so often bids us look through, out upon the landscape of our lives-that nobody else has ever had to meet such chastening discipline as our own. Why, there was Moses; he had just this very feeling toward letting go and giving up. It was immensely hard to satisfy those Israelites. There was David, hunted and hounded; turned against and betrayed by his trusted counsellor, Ahithophel. “Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. And I said, Oh! that I had wings like a dove, for then would I fly away and be at rest. I would hasten my escape from the windy storm and tempest.” There was Elijah under the juniper tree, “It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life.” What failing feeling toward letting go and giving up in him! And if you leave the Scripture and turn to the record of great lives anywhere, you shall find that in them, too, feeling faltered, and suggestion came to cease from their great tower building this side the turret stone. I suppose a sermon scarcely ever did more, both for the man himself and the great cause it advocated, than Dr. Wayland’s sermon on the Moral Dignity of the Missionary Enterprise. But the evening of its preaching was chill and rainy, and possibly fifty persons made up the audience, and the church was so cold that the preacher had to wear his great coat throughout the service, and nobody seemed to listen, nor anybody to care; and the next day the discouraged preacher, throwing himself on the lounge in the house of one of his parishioners, in one of his most despairing moods, exclaimed: “It was a complete failure; it fell perfectly dead!” I am sure he felt like letting go and giving up, when he remembered that he had rewritten that sermon eleven times that he might make it more worthy, and that such was the outcome of it. But that sermon, published, made him, and, more than any other influence in those beginning days of the Foreign Missionary enterprise, made the cause. The Duke of Wellington, when a subaltern, was anxious to retire from the army, where he despaired of advancement, and actually applied to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland for the poor post of a commissioner of customs. And his great antagonist, the great Napoleon, was in early life tempted to commit suicide because he could do nothing and could get no chance, and was only saved from it by a cheerful word from somebody. Oh! friend of mine, you are not the only person in the world who has been assaulted by this suggestion of letting go and giving up. There has never been a noble or achieving life anywhere that has not had to push its tower up in spite of it.

II. Let us remember that this failing to endure to the end, this giving up and letting go, must necessary carry with itself a complete forfeiture of the past. If our Past has been true and noble, we may be helped by it in the Present. But we cannot live upon the Past. The tower is unfinished if we stop this side of the turret stone. It is but an unturning and useless wheel if we do not take advantage of the present water. All its previous turning helps it not. There at Muckross Abbey I saw a yew tree hundreds of years old, as old as the crumbling abbey rising round it, yet still growing bravely on. It was growing, because, standing on the Past of gnarled trunk and spreading branches, it was using the Present, forming its leaf buds every season, and drinking in the dew and light. But the abbey in whose court it stood was only a disintegrating pile of crumbling stone, because it had ceased relation with the Present. It had no use for the Present, nor the Present for it; no longer were busy hands of inmates putting it to function, keeping it in repair. It was a Past thing, so the severe Present was treading it under foot. To give up and let go is to forfeit what we have done and have

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been. The Past is useful only as a preparation for the Present; and if in the Present we will not steadily push on toward the finishing, we lose the value and meaning of the Past. Resist, therefore, the temptation of letting go and giving up.

III. Let us resist the temptation of letting go and giving up, by holding ourselves to the short view of life, by doing the next thing. Each day’s stone laid in each day’s time; the short view method, the next thing method, that is the only method of strong endurance and shining achievement. Wise words those which George Macdonald puts into the mouth of Hugh Sutherland in his story of David Elginbrod; they are words worthy the careful heeding of every one of us: “Now, what am I to do next?” asks Hugh, and he goes on thinking with himself: “It is a happy thing for us that this is really all we have to concern ourselves about, what to do next. No man can do the second thing. He can do the first. If he omits it, the wheels of the social Juggernaut roll over him, and leave him more or less crushed behind. If he does it, he keeps in front and finds room to do the next again; and so he is sure to arrive at something, for the onward march will carry him with it. There is no saying to what perfection of success a man may come who begins with what he can do, and uses the means at hand; he makes a vortex of action, however slight, toward which all the means instantly begin to gravitate.” True words, the very gospel of achievement, these. So against this temptation toward letting go and giving up, let me take the short view, let me seize the next thing, and not trouble myself about the fortieth thing, sure that God’s grace will give the strength for the coming day to which the fortieth thing belongs; but that, if I want God’s strengthening grace for that, I must use God’s strengthening grace which offers itself today, and for this next thing, which belongs to no other day in all time’s awful calendar but this.

IV. Let us remember that refusing to yield to the temptation of letting go and giving up is the constant fixing ourselves but the more firmly in the habit of going on in righteousness. Dark law that, which through and because of momentary decisions against righteousness, ends in the awful doom, “Let him that is filthy be filthy still.” But that same law has a sunward side bright as the light that flashes from God’s throne, viz., that momentary and constant decisions towards righteousness end at last in that celestial turret stone, piercing the far radiances of Heaven-“Let him that is righteous be righteous still.”

V. Let us remember that for us, keeping hold and refusing to let go, there is the constant help of Christ toward triumphing. That is a sweet legend hanging about an old church in England, and it tells the great truth well; how centuries ago, when the monks were rearing it, a new temple for the worship of their God, there came among the workers a strange monk, unasked, who always took on himself the heaviest tasks; and how at last, when a particularly gigantic beam was needed for a position as important as that of the keystone of an arch, and how when, with sweating strain and united effort, it was lifted to its place, it was strangely found to be some feet too short. No device of the builders could remedy it; they had tried their best with it, they had used the most careful measurement they knew, but how sadly they had failed! There it was, too short, and their utmost skill could not find remedy. The night shut down upon the tired workers, and they went to their rest with sore hearts, leaving only this unknown monk, who would go working on. But when the morning came, and the workers came forth again, they saw the sunlight falling on the beam exactly in its place, lengthened to the precise dimensions needed, and resting accurately on its supports. But the unknown monk had disappeared. Yet the workers knew Him now, and were certain they could carry the temple onward to its topmost turret. For He who had been working with them and supplying their lack of perfect work, they came now to know, was none other than the Lord Himself. They were not unhelped toilers. Nor are we. “Lo! I am with you always,” declares our Lord! It is our privilege

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to answer with the apostle, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.”

VI. And now for the last word. Let us determine that as we hope to carry the tower of a Christian life and service onward to its finishing ourselves, we will be very careful not to discourage anyone beside us, toiling like ourselves at the same achievement. Once a building was wrapped in flame; at a high window, a little child was seen vainly endeavouring to escape; a brave fireman started up a ladder to try to rescue it. He went up, and still further up: he had almost gained the window, but the flames darted at him and the flames smote him, and he began to falter; he hesitated, looked upward at the raging fire; he shook his head; he was just about to turn back. Just then someone in the throng below cried: “Cheer him! Cheer him!” From a thousand throats a loud heart-helping cheer went up. He did not turn back. He went on toward the finishing, and in a minute he was seen through the thick drifts of smoke, with the little child safe in his arms. So let us, everyone, see to it that we cheer on all we can who, like ourselves, are struggling upward toward any nobleness. (W. Hoyt, D. D.)

Unflinching endurance

I have read of that noble servant of God, Marcus Arethusius, minister of a church in the time of Constantine, who in Constantine’s time had been the cause of overthrowing an idol’s temple; afterwards, when Julian came to be emperor, he would force the people of that place to build it up again. They were ready to do it, but he refused; whereupon those that were his own people, to whom he preached, took him, and stripped him of all his clothes, and abused his naked body, and gave it up to the children, to lance it with their pen knives, and then caused him to be put in a basket, and anoint his naked body with honey, and set him in the sun, to be stung with wasps. And all this cruelty they showed because he would not do anything towards the building up of this idol temple; nay, they came to this, that if he would do but the least towards it, if he would give but a half-penny to it, they would save him. But he refused all, though the giving of a half-penny might have saved his life: and in doing this, he did but live up to that principle that most Christians talk of, and all profess, but few come up to, viz., that we must choose rather to suffer the worst of torments that men and devils can invent and inflict, than to commit the least sin, whereby God should be dishonoured, our consciences wounded, religion reproached, and our own souls endangered. (Brooks.)

Enduring to the end

Under this revival of the persecuting spirit, in a few days nineteen Christians, conspicuous for their character and zeal, were apprehended, and it was resolved to make a severe example. All were condemned to die; the four nobles (one of them a lady) were ordered to be burned alive; fifteen others were to be thrown over a precipice. At one o’clock the night before their execution, a large gathering of their companions secretly took place, not to break prison or attempt a rescue, but to commend the sufferers specially to God in prayer. “At one at night, we met together and prayed.” With the early dawn the whole city was astir: it had been whispered that the Christians were to die, and an immense multitude gathered to witness the sight. On the west side of Antananarivo, is a steep precipice of granite, a hundred and fifty feet high; the terrace above which has long been used as a place of execution. Above the terrace the ground rises rapidly to the crest of the ridge, on which the city is built, and on which the palace enclosure, with its lofty dwellings, stands conspicuous.

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Beneath the precipice the ground is a mass of jagged rocks and boulders, upon which the unhappy criminal would fall headlong, when rolled or thrown over the ledge. The refined cruelty which invented this terrible punishment has, in the modern world, been repeated in but one country and among one people, the half-savage population of Mexico. Through the thousands that had crowded every point of the sloping hill the condemned brethren were carried, wrapped in mats and slung on poles. But they prayed and sang as they passed along the roadway; “and some who beheld them, said that their faces were like the faces of angels.” One by one they were thrown over the precipice, the rest looking on. “Will you cease to pray?” was the only question. “No,” was the firm answer in every case. And in a moment the faithful martyr lay bleeding, and mangled, and dead, among the rocks below.

(Trophies of Grace in Madagascar.)

The finally saved

I. It is a fair subject of inquiry: where and from whence do we expect these trials?

1. From our own heart.

2. The wiles and the machinations of Satan.

3. The world will assault you.

4. Sin in all its phases, its fascinating aspects, will seek to seduce you.

5. Error will assail you.

II. Those forms of religion, those shades and systems of belief, which will not endure, but must collapse in the ordeals to which they will be subjected in a world which tests the real every day and rejects all that is pretentious. Nothing will endure but vital, scriptural Christianity.

1. The religion of mere impulse. Excitement is not conviction.

2. The religion of sentiment, not the religion of conviction nor of the adoption of the heart, but purely of the imagination.

3. The religion of intellect. A very striking and, so far, commendable form. The understanding is convinced that Christianity is true. It is orthodoxy, not regeneration; it is light in the head without love in the heart.

4. The religion of the conscience.

5. The religion of the natural affections, than which nothing is more amiable, beautiful, or lovely; and yet it is a religion that will not endure.

6. The religion of tradition.

7. The religion of form. There is no endurance in it; it collapses the moment it is exposed to trouble. (J. Cumming, D. D.)

Perseverance

The leopard doth not run after his prey like other beasts, but pursues it by leaping; and if at three or four jumps he cannot seize it, for very indignation he gives over the chase. There be some who, if they cannot leap into heaven by a few good works, will even let it alone; as if it were to be ascended by leaping, not by climbing. But they are more unwise who, having got up many rounds of Jacob’s ladder, and finding

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difficulties in some of the uppermost-whether wrestling with assaults and troubles, or looking down upon their old allurements-even fairly descend with Demas and allow others to take heaven. (T. Adams.)

Constancy

Some dyes cannot bear the weather, but alter colour presently; but there are others that, having something that gives a deeper tincture, will hold. The graces of a true Christian hold out in all sorts of weather, in winter and summer, prosperity and adversity, when superficial counterfeit holiness will give out. (R. Sibbes.)

Incentives to perseverance

Here are some grounds or motives to the patient suffering of persecution and troubles for the profession of Christ and of the gospel.

1. Of all afflictions and troubles, those are the most comfortable to suffer and endure, which are suffered for Christ.

2. By these kinds of sufferings we glorify God, and bring honour to the name of Christ, and credit to the gospel, more than by any other sufferings.

3. It is a most honourable thing unto us, yea, the greatest glory that may be in this world, to suffer anything for Christ.

4. Consider how much Christ has suffered for us, and for our salvation; how great reproach and shame; what bitter pain and torment of soul and body; and let this move us, patiently and willingly to suffer any persecution and trouble for His sake.

5. Consider how much wicked men suffer in the practice of sin, and to satisfy their wicked lusts, and let this move us to suffer any persecution for Christ.

6. Consider the great and excellent reward promised to those who endure for Christ’s sake. (George Petter.)

Endurance

This is another word for constancy or perseverance. Suppose, now, the case of individuals desirous of realizing, as a matter of experience, the great vital truths of the gospel in the heart. They have great doubts about the correctness and safety of their former mode of life, and consequently feel in some measure attracted towards the hopes, and aspirations, and privileges of the Christian. But they have to stand up against many oppositions; they have to withdraw from the society of the giddy and thoughtless, and from habits of dissipation and worldliness. They have to contend with disinclinations for public and private religious duties, for prayer and Scripture reading. They begin to find that it is no easy thing to act the part of self-denial-to wrestle against the warm passions and earnest longings of a corrupt nature. They feel, too, the trial of a wayward and treacherous heart, ever tending downwards, cleaving to the dust. Such persons as these are like the Israelites upon the shores of the Red Sea, with its surging breakers and rolling waves before them, and the Egyptians behind them. And yet God said unto Moses, “Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward.” They must not turn back to Egypt again, but must step onward to brave the sea. And so with those in the state described. Do not turn back.

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Do you not yield to tempting solicitations to return to former haunts. Be faithful to your convictions. By perseverance in treading the path of duty the victory shall be yours-the path shall be ever brighter and broader as you near your everlasting home. The young eaglet looking up from its nest upon the high floating clouds and the broad expanse of the clear blue sky, may, perhaps, in its first efforts to mount through and above them, sink with discouragement; but the parent bad is close at hand to give help; and so by perseverance, at last the eaglet soars in the path of its mother, and rivals her in distance as well as in rapidity. Even so the weak in faith shall be made strong. (W. D. Horwood.)

Enduring to the end

Among the different games and races at Athens, there was one in which they carried a burning torch in their hand. If they reached the goal without its being extinguished, they obtained the prize. Thus, they only shall be saved, says the Saviour, who endure to the end. It is not the man who makes a splendid profession for a season-it is not the man who appears to carry the torch of truth only a part of the way-that shall be crowned; but he who perseveres, and whose lamp is trimmed, and who holds fast his confidence, and the rejoicing of his hope, unto the end. Yet, alas! how many seem to bid fair for a season, but in time of temptation fall away. Epictetus tells us of a gentleman returning from banishment, who, on his journey homewards, called at his house, told a sad story of an imprudent life; the greater part of which being now spent, he was resolved for the future to live philosophically; to engage in no business, to be candidate for no employment, not to go to court, nor to salute Caesar with ambitious attendances; but to study, and worship the gods, and die willingly when nature or necessity called him. Just, however, as he was entering his door, letters from Caesar, inviting him to court, were delivered to him; and, then, alas; he forgot all his promises, and grew pompous, secular, and ambitious. Thus many form resolutions in their own strength, and make for a season some pretensions to seriousness; but prove like the children of Ephraim, who, though armed and carrying bows, yet turned back in the day of battle.

Enduring to the end

To endure, that is the great point. It does not simply signify that a man should hold on, but that a man should hold on in spite of, and in the face of discouragements, and difficulties, and disappointments. It is more than “dure,” it is “endure.” It is a very great mistake for Christian people to imagine that all will be light and liberty, and peace and joy. There are representations in the Word of God of the Christian course that seem to be contrary, but they are only different aspects of the whole subject. For instance: “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” “Your joy no man taketh from you.” “Rejoice in the Lord alway.” Yet, on the other hand, as we had it this morning, “If any man will come after Me, let him take up his cross daily.” Again, we are told, we must “mortify” our evil and corrupt affections; that we must “crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts;” that “the right hand” must be “cut off,” and the “right eye plucked out,” in order that we may follow and obey our Lord and Master. Now all these things are not contrary, but they are reconciled. There is joy, but it is joy in the midst of trouble; there is peace, but it is peace maintained by constant warfare; and there is blessed rest, but it is rest in labour and toil. If we have a battle to fight, if we have a race to run, if we have a building to erect, it must be with toil, and trouble, and effort. We shall have to “endure to the end.” It will not avail to be constant and enduring in the outset, but we must endure to the end. Many will try to prevent our following the Lord fully, they will try to discourage us. And then, too, do we not find very many, from following into different companies, and amongst gay,

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thoughtless, and worldly companionships, get absorbed in the vortex of life, their holiness is gone, they tumble down in the mire, their hope is withered, and passes away as a dream. Then, again, are there not very many who get into some peculiar state of trial from persecution, or reproach, or something they did not count upon; they are ashamed of Jesus, they are ashamed of the cross, and so they betray the Master with a kiss. Then, again, how many are disheartened and discouraged with the struggle in their own hearts. They set out with much emotion, but feeling too little faith, How many things lead a man to come short of eternal life! It is, perhaps, more beautiful to see a man in little comfort and in darkness, holding on, than one who walks in the full sunshine. Job was able to say, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” Was not that a beautiful instance of enduring to the end? When he was stripped of everything,-without were fightings, and within were fears; clouds, and tribulations, and adversity were about him; yet he says, “though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him.” We have not full salvation now; it is in progress, it is not complete; it is the man that endures to the end that attains the full recompense, and enters into the joy of the Lord. This is the great purpose and end. We do not set out on a voyage just for the purpose of setting out; we have to seek to reach the haven. We do not cover ourselves in armour simply for the sake of being ready for the battle, but that we may fight and win the victory, and gain the crown; therefore, after all, this is the grand test of our having true faith in Christ, that we continue in Christ, that we abide as branches in the vine, and bear fruit. How much blossom of promise there is that has no measure of fruit? Let us never forget that there may be a good deal of seeming fruit; but if it does not last, if it drops off it is because it is worthless, rotten at the core. You sometimes see under a fruit tree the ground strewn with fallen fruit. Somebody may say, perhaps, some great storm has passed over, or some sudden frost, when probably the truth has been that the fruit itself was unsound at the core, and that, therefore, it rotted and fell off. Brethren, it is so with the fruits that grow in the orchard of God; many are fair and seeming good to the sight, but they are not sound at the core. The proof that they are sound is, that they still cling to the tree and ripen, until, as it is beautifully said, “the righteous shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger.” (Hugh Stowell, M. A.)

14 “When you see ‘the abomination that causes

desolation’[a] standing where it[b] does not

belong—let the reader understand—then let

those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

CLARKE, "Let him that readeth understand - What he readeth, is added by D, and three of the Itala, perhaps needlessly.

GILL, "But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation,.... The Roman army encompassing Jerusalem, which was an abomination to the Jews, and an

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"impure sign" of their destruction, as the Syriac and Persic versions render it; and a desolating one to their nation, city, and temple:

spoken of by Daniel the prophet, in Dan_9:27. This clause is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, and was not found by Beza, in two of his copies, and is thought to be transcribed from Matthew:

standing where it ought not; round about the city, in the midst of it, and even in the temple: in one of Beza's exemplars it is added, "in the holy place", as in Matthew; and so it is read in the Ethiopic version:

let him that readeth understand; either the passage in Daniel, or the citation of it by the evangelist, when he shall see this come to pass: this seems to be rather the words of the evangelist, than of Christ; since this was not written (and so not to be read), but spoken by Christ; and since his usual phrase was, "he that hath ears, let him hear": though indeed the same exhortation is in Matthew, and may be understood of Christ, as it may refer to the written prophecy in Daniel, and indeed to the Gospel, which might be read before this event came to pass: See Gill on Mat_24:15.

Then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains; they that are in Jerusalem, or in any of the cities and towns of Judea, let them make their escape, as soon as possible, to the mountainous parts of the country; where they may be more safe from, the devastations of the Roman army; See Gill on Mat_24:16.

HENRY, "The Jews, in rebelling against the Romans, and in persecuting the Christians, were hastening to their own ruin apace, both efficiently and meritoriously, were setting both God and man against them; see 1Th_2:15. Now here we have a prediction of that ruin which came upon them within less than forty years after this: we had it before, Mat_24:15, etc. Observe,

I. What is here foretold concerning it.

1. That the Roman armies should make a descent upon Judea, and invest Jerusalem, the holy city. These were the abomination of desolation, which the Jews did abominate, and by which they should be made desolate. The country of thine enemy is called the land which thou abhorrest, Isa_7:16. Therefore it was an abomination, because it brought with it nothing but desolation. They had rejected Christ as an abomination, who would have been their salvation; and now God brought upon them an abomination that would be their desolation, thus spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Dan_9:27), as that by which this sacrifice and offering should be made to cease. This army stood where it ought not, in and about the holy city, which the heathen ought not to have approached, nor would have been suffered to approach, if Jerusalem had not first profaned the crown of their holiness. This the church complains of, Lam_1:10, The heathen entered into her sanctuary, whom thou didst command that they should not enter into the congregation; but sin made the breach, at which the glory went out, and the abomination of desolation broke in, and stood where it ought not. Now, let him that readeth this, understand it, and endeavor to take it right. Prophecies should not be too plain, and yet intelligible to those that search them; and they are best understood by comparing them first with one another, and at last with the event.

JAMIESON, "But when ye shall see — “Jerusalem compassed by armies” - by encamped armies; in other words, when ye shall see it besieged, and

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the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not — that is, as explained in Matthew (Mat_24:15), “standing in the holy place.”

(let him that readeth understand) — readeth that prophecy. That “the abomination of desolation” here alluded to was intended to point to the Roman ensigns, as the symbols of an idolatrous, and so unclean pagan power, may be gathered by comparing what Luke says in the corresponding verse (Luk_21:20); and commentators are agreed on it. It is worthy of notice, as confirming this interpretation, that in 1 Maccabees 1:54 - which, though apocryphal Scripture, is authentic history - the expression of Daniel (Dan_11:31; Dan_12:11) is applied to the idolatrous profanation of the Jewish altar by Antiochus Epiphanes.

then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains — The ecclesiastical historian, Eusebius, early in the fourth century, tells us that the Christians fled to Pella, at the northern extremity of Perea, being “prophetically directed” - perhaps by some prophetic intimation more explicit than this, which would be their chart - and that thus they escaped the predicted calamities by which the nation was overwhelmed.

BARCLAY, "A City's Agony (Mark 13:14-20)

13:14-20 When you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought

not (let him who reads understand), then let those who are in Judaea flee to the

mountains. Let him who is on the house-top not come down, nor let him go in to

take anything out of his house. And let him who is working in the field not turn

back to pick up his cloak. Woe to women who are with child and to those whose

babes are at their breasts in these days! Pray that it may not happen in the

stormy weather. These days will be a tribulation such as has never happened

from the beginning of the creation which God has created until now, and such as

will never happen again. Unless the Lord had shortened the days no living

creature could have survived. But, for the sake of the chosen ones whom he

chose, he shortened the days.

Jesus forecasts some of the awful terror of the siege and the final fall of

Jerusalem. It is his warning that when the first signs of it came people ought to

flee, not even waiting to pick up their clothes or to try to save their goods. In fact

the people did precisely the opposite. They crowded into Jerusalem, and death

came in ways that are almost too terrible to think about.

The phrase the abomination of desolation has its origin in the book of Daniel

(Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31; Daniel 12:11). The Hebrew expression literally means

the profanation that appals. The origin of the phrase was in connection with

Antiocheius. We have already seen that he tried to stamp out the Jewish religion

and introduce Greek thought and Greek ways. He desecrated the Temple by

offering swine's flesh on the great altar and by setting up public brothels in the

sacred courts. Before the very Holy Place itself he set up a great statue of

Olympian Zeus and ordered the Jews to worship it. In connection with that the

writer of First Maccabees says (1 Maccabees 1:54) "Now the fifteenth day of the

month Casleu, in the hundred and forty-fifth year, they set up the abomination

of desolation upon the altar and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda

on every side." The phrase the abomination of desolation, the profanation that

appals, originally described the heathen image and all that accompanied it with

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which Antiocheius desecrated the Temple. Jesus prophesies that the same kind of

thing is going to happen again. It very nearly happened in the year A.D. 40.

Caligula was then Roman Emperor. He was an epileptic and mad. But he

insisted that he was a god. He heard of the imageless worship of the Temple of

Jerusalem and planned to set up his own statue in the Holy Place. His advisers

besought him not to do so, for they knew that, if he did, a bloody civil war would

result. He was obstinate, but fortunately he died in A.D. 41 before he could carry

out his plan of desecration.

What does Jesus mean when he speaks about the abomination of desolation?

Men expected not only a Messiah, but also the emergence of a power who would

be the vary incarnation of evil and who would gather up into himself everything

that was against God. Paul called that power the Man of Lawlessness (2

Thessalonians 2:3). John of the Revelation identified that power with Rome

(Revelation 17:1-18 ). Jesus is saying "Some day, quite soon, you will see the very

incarnate power of evil rise up in a deliberate attempt to destroy the people and

the Holy Place of God." He takes the old phrase and uses it to describe the

terrible things that are about to happen.

It was in A.D. 70 that Jerusalem finally fell to the besieging army of Titus, who

was to be Emperor of Rome. The horrors of that siege form one of the grimmest

pages in history. The people crowded into Jerusalem from the countryside. Titus

had no alternative but to starve the city into subjection. The matter was

complicated by the fact that even at that terrible time there were sects and

factions inside the city itself. Jerusalem was torn without and within.

Josephus tells the story of that terrible siege in the fifth book of The Wars of the

Jews. He tells us that 97,000 were taken captive and 1,100,000 perished by slow

starvation and the sword. He tells us, "Then did the famine widen its progress

and devoured the people by whole houses and families. The upper rooms were

full of women and children dying of starvation. The lanes of the city were full of

the dead bodies of the aged. The children and the young men wandered about

the market places like shadows, all swelled with famine, and fell down dead

wheresoever their misery seized them. As for burying them, those that were sick

themselves were not able to do it. And those that were hearty and well were

deterred by the great multitude of the dead, and the uncertainty when they

would die themselves, for many died as they were burying others, and many

went to their own coffins before the fatal hour. There was no lamentation made

under these calamities...the famine confounded all natural passions.... A deep

silence and a kind of deadly night had seized upon the city."

To make it still grimmer there were the inevitable ghouls who plundered the

dead bodies. Josephus tells grimly how when not even any herbs were available

"some persons were driven to such terrible distress as to search the common

sewers and old dung-hills of cattle, and to eat the dung which they got there, and

what they could not endure so much as to see, they now used for food." He paints

a grim picture of men gnawing the leather of straps and shoes, and tells a terrible

story of a woman who killed and roasted her child, and offered a share of that

terrible meal to those who came seeking food.

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The prophecy that Jesus made of terrible days ahead for Jerusalem came most

abundantly true. Those who crowded into the city for safety died by the hundred

thousand, and only those who took his advice and fled to the hills were saved.

COFFMAN, "The abomination of desolation ... This paragraph through Mark

13:23 has a double application to the approaching destruction of the Holy City

and to the second coming of Christ. As Cranfield expressed it:

Neither an exclusively historical nor an exclusively eschatological interpretation

is satisfactory; ... we must allow for a double reference, for a mingling of

historical and eschatological.[27]

We shall study the passage as it applies to both.

I. As applied to the approaching historical disaster to be wrought in the

destruction of Jerusalem and the temple:

There is no way to avoid a reference here to the prophecy of Daniel, quoted here

by the Son of God with the admonition "Let him that readeth understand." The

scholar's assumption that these latter words were injected by Mark and

interpolated by Matthew cannot be true (Matthew 24:15-17). Cranfield allowed

this interpretation as altogether legitimate. Daniel 9:27 is the key to the synoptics

on this point:

Abomination of desolation ... This means "the abomination that maketh

desolate,"[28] and as noted above is quoted from this passage in the book of

Daniel:

Therefore, UNDERSTAND THE MATTER and consider the vision. Seventy

weeks are determined upon the people and upon the holy city, and to finish the

transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for

iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and

prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. KNOW THEREFORE AND

UNDERSTAND, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and

build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and

threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in

troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off,

but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the

city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood and unto the

end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant

with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice

and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall

make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined (wrath) shall

be poured upon the desolate (Daniel 9:23-27, KJV).

Let him that readeth understand ... See capitals in above quotation where the

equivalent of these words appears twice, the same being sufficient grounds for

the conclusion that they were spoken by Jesus Christ who indubitably referred

to this passage by his use of this very admonition. Therefore, we reject the

position of McMillan who thought that "It is Mark, not Jesus, who said, `Let the

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reader understand.'"[29] This prophecy from Daniel, and the Saviour's

undeniable reference to it here, as also confirmed by the parallel in Matthew,

requires that a little further attention be devoted to this remarkable passage

from Daniel.

DANIEL'S PROPHECY OF THE END

It should not be lost on the student that by these words Christ placed the stamp

of divine authority upon the prophecy of Daniel, nor should anyone be troubled

by critical allegations to the contrary. As Tom U. Fauntleroy said, "Is it possible

that men of wisdom and understanding should look to the devil for proof and

confirmation of the Bible which pronounces the sentence of death upon

him?"[30]

This prophecy pinpointed the exact date of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

In the seventh year of Artaxerxes, Ezra and his companions left Babylon and

came to Jerusalem (for the purpose of rebuilding it, with the undeniable

implication that the king had given such an order). That was in B.C. 458.

Starting with this date, the end of the 490 years is A.D. 32, and the end of the 69

weeks (equivalent to 483 years) is A.D. 25.[31]

This means that Daniel prophesied the beginning of the ministry of the Messiah

as 25 A.D. It was however, "in the midst of the week," that is, the week of

Messiah's ministry, that Messiah would be cut off, thus pinpointing the length of

Jesus' ministry as three and one-half years. Christ was crucified on April 6, A.D.

30 (see article in Mark 15), cutting short the projected week (seven years) of his

ministry by some two years and nine months, making his death to have been "in

the midst of the week."

To finish the transgression ... refers to finishing of the apostasy of Israel, that

they should "fill up the measure of their fathers" (Matthew 23:32).

To make an end of sins... means to provide the remedy for them.

To make reconciliation for iniquity ... refers to the atonement.

To bring in everlasting righteousness ... This is the righteousness of Christ,

brought in through his death on the cross.

And to anoint the Most Holy ... refers to the setting forth of the Messiah and his

universal recognition as the Christ of glory.

The people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the

sanctuary ... A reference to the armies of Caesar who should destroy Jerusalem

and the temple.

And the end thereof shall be with a flood ... The end of Jerusalem shall be with a

flood of terrors.

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He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week ... Christ shall confirm

the new covenant by his teachings and vicarious death, not for a full week, but

finishing it in the midst of the final week of the seventy.

And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to

cease ... The death of Christ nullified and abrogated the daily sacrifices and

oblations (Hebrews 10:11).

For the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate ... When the

grossest of vile abominations should finally come into the Holy Place, God would

make an end of it. (See article above in this chapter, re: "Why God Destroyed the

Temple)."

Even until the consummation ... refers to the same period of time as that

mentioned in Luke 21:24 and Romans 11:15, that is, "until the times of the

Gentiles be fulfilled." "An end shall be set sometime to the desolation of Zion,

although that end may coincide with the end of all things."[32]

In view of the above, there is no wonder why Jesus referred to the passage, nor is

there any wonder at the rage and screams of unbelievers who would like to deny

the whole prophecy of Daniel if they could. We rest in the supreme assurance

that Jesus believed it and here quoted from it! (See Matthew 24:25).

Luke did not mention "abomination of desolation," except by inference, saying,

"And when ye see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her

desolation is at hand" (Luke 21:20). From this, it has often been concluded that

the "abomination of desolation" referred to the Roman ruin of the city and

temple; but from Daniel's prophecy it is clear that the armies were not primarily

the abomination but rather the instrument of desolation that should follow the

"overspreading abominations," the two being closely related of course. The

Roman armies were a sign from without, but the abomination was a sign from

within the temple itself. Josephus relates how:

There was a certain ancient oracle of those men (the Jews), that the city should

be taken and the sanctuary burnt, by right of war, when a sedition should invade

the Jews, and their own hand should pollute the temple of God.[33]

That such a sedition and pollution actually occurred at the hand of Jews

themselves is clear. See item (10) under "Why God Destroyed the Temple,"

above in this chapter. They filled the entire temple with dead bodies, and the

sanctuary became a "refuge and shop of tyranny."[34] We agree with

Bickersteth that "their outrages against God were the special cause of the

desolation of Jerusalem ... the abomination that filled up the measure of their

iniquities and caused the avenging power of Rome to come down upon them and

crush them."[35]

Thus there were two phases of the abomination that desolated Jerusalem: (1) the

utter reprobacy of the Jews themselves in filling the Holy of Holies with dead

bodies, etc.; and (2) the avenging wrath of the Roman armies. The Jews made the

sanctuary desolate morally; the Romans made it desolate by their ruthless

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destruction of it. Therefore the New Testament writers warned both Jews and

Christians concerning the approach of such a disaster.

Eusebius tells how the Christians fled from Jerusalem on the occasion when the

Romans most unpredictably lifted the siege, without any apparent reason, how

they fled to Pella, established the church there, and how not one of them lost his

life during the awful siege. The army of Titus was commanded by Cestius Gallus,

who for some unexplainable reason lifted the siege, providing the Christians a

chance to flee. Josephus said, "Cestius removed his army, and having received

no loss, very unadvisedly departed from the city."[36]

Having now examined this remarkable verse (Mark 13:14) as it applied to the

destruction of Jerusalem, we shall view it again in the larger context of its

application to the End of all things.

II. Mark 13:14 as prophetic of the consummation of all things.

We have already noted the dual nature of this entire chapter as predicting on the

one hand the historical overthrow of the Holy City, and also on the other hand

predicting the Second Advent of Christ and the final judgment, the first event

being also a type of the second.

The abomination that made the temple desolate is a prophecy of the "man of

sin" (2 Thessalonians 2:3-10), or Antichrist; and, as, Cranfield said, "The

curious use of the masculine is perhaps further support of this

interpretation."[37] The teaching is that the church of Christ shall suffer a

pollution from within, becoming within itself corrupted and evil; a great

apostasy shall come. And, although the medieval church is there may indeed be a

greater and more terrible fulfillment yet future. The sacrifice of a sow on the

sacred altar by Antiochus Epiphanes was an "abomination that made desolate";

but Christ did not view that as the final fulfillment of Daniel 9:27; there was to

be a final abomination that would result in the total destruction of the city and

temple.

In the same manner, whatever "Antichrist" may have appeared in the historical

church, the ultimate fulfillment might indeed be something far more terrible. As

Sanner thought, "Jesus was seeing in the demise of the Holy City a picture of

later judgments, and finally the end of all things."[38]

Let him that readeth understand ... This repeated admonition from the great

passage in Daniel was not a statement by that prophet, but a statement of God

through that prophet, and directed to him primarily that he should concentrate

upon thoroughly understanding the vision and accurately reporting it. So here;

these are not the words of Mark at all, but the words of Jesus paraphrasing

Daniel's prophecy and indicating that careful concentration and study of the

prophecy is demanded. Failure to obey this injunction has led to the mistaken

view that Christ understood the overthrow of Jerusalem and the Second Advent

to be simultaneous. Even in Jesus' words, as Mark recorded them, "There is

discernible a certain restraint, which leaves room for the possibility that the

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impending ruin of Jerusalem may be followed by other crises before the End

comes";[39] but in Daniel a very long time, equivalent to the "times of the

Gentiles," is plainly stated as following the abominations that accompanied the

destruction of Jerusalem. Jesus' appeal to that prophecy, in context, shows

clearly that he did not view the event of 70 A.D. and the final coming as

simultaneous. The critical scholars could have seen this if they had not been

blinded by the prejudice that these words "Let him that readeth, etc." are an

exclamation by Mark, slavishly "copied" by Matthew! There has been nothing

that ever came out of radical criticism quite as ridiculous as such a view. Christ

thought of his hearers constantly as "readers" of God's word, another instance

of it being found in the question he asked of a certain lawyer, "What is written in

the law? how readest thou?" (Luke 10:26).

[27] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 402.

[28] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 198.

[29] Earle McMillan, op. cit., p. 157.

[30] Tom U. Fauntleroy, a private manuscript (Paducah, Kentucky, 1974).

[31] J. E. H. Thompson, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1962), p. 276.

[32] Ibid., p. 269.

[33] Josephus, op. cit., p. 758.

[34] Ibid., p. 746.

[35] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 199.

[36] Josephus, op. cit., p. 702.

[37] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 402.

[38] A. Elwood Sanner. op. cit., 5:383.

[39] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 402.

BURKITT, "The sense is, "When ye shall se the Roman army, which is an

abomination unto you, and an occasion of great desolation wherever it goes:

when you shall see that abominable desolating army, begirting the city of

Jerusalem, in order to her ruin and being laid waste, then call to mind the

prophecy of Daniel, which primarily respected Antiochus, but secondarily Titus

the Roman emperor, and shall now be fully completed; for the siege shall not be

raised till both city and temple be razed to the ground."

From whence learn, 1. That God has instruments ready at his call to lay waste

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the strongest cities, and to ruin the most flourishing kingdoms, which do reject

his Son, and refuse the tenders of his grace.

2. That God can, and sometimes doth, make use of those very persons whom

sinners most abhor, to be the instruments of their punishment, and the occasions

of their destruction. The Roman army, which was an abomination to the Jews,

did God destroy them by.

BENSON, "Mark 13:14-20. When ye shall see the abomination, &c. — Our

Lord, having foretold both the more remote and more immediate signs of the end

of the Jewish economy, proceeds to describe the siege and destruction of

Jerusalem. The abomination which caused the desolation, whereof Daniel

prophesied, (Daniel 9:27,) signifies the Roman armies, with their standards,

whereon the images of their idols were painted; which armies were an

abomination to the Jews, on account of their idolatry, and caused desolation

wherever they came. Standing where it ought not — That is, in the territory of

Jerusalem, generally termed holy ground. Let him that readeth understand —

Let him who readeth Daniel’s prophecy (for these seem to be the words of our

Lord, and not of the evangelist) understand, that the end of the city and

sanctuary, with the ceasing of the sacrifice and oblation there predicted, is come.

Then let them, that be in Judea flee to the mountains — By Judea, here, we are

to understand all the southern parts of Palestine, both the plain and the hill-

countries, which, at this time, went by the name of Judea. By the mountains, we

are to understand the countries on the east side of Jordan, especially those

which, in the time of the war, were under the government of the younger

Agrippa, to whom Claudius gave Batanea and Trachonitis, the tetrarchy of

Philip, and Abilene, the tetrarchy of Lysanias. All these countries remaining in

their obedience to the Romans, the people who fled into them were safe. Besides,

being mountainous countries, they seem to have been the very place of refuge

pointed out to the Christians of those times by their Master. But see this whole

paragraph explained at large in the notes on Matthew 24:15-22. Except the Lord

had shortened those days — The destruction of the nation shall go on so fast in

those days of vengeance, that, unless God had made them fewer in number than

the sins of the nation deserved, not one Jew should remain alive. The truth is, so

fierce and so obstinate were the quarrels which, during the siege, raged among

the Jews, both within the walls of Jerusalem and abroad in the country, that the

whole land became a scene of desolation and bloodshed; and had the siege

continued much longer, the whole nation had been destroyed, according to what

our Lord here declares. But for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen — That is,

hath taken out of, or separated from, the world, through sanctification of the

Spirit and belief of the truth; he hath shortened the days — The elect, here, are

such of the Jews as were already converted, or should be converted, to the faith

of Christ; and particularly the Jews that should be brought in with the fulness of

the Gentiles, as the apostle speaks. The elect are those Gentiles also who should

be convinced and converted, as by all the other proofs of Christianity, so more

especially by the argument arising from the preservation of the Jews. The

meaning, therefore, is, that for the sake of those who should be converted to

Christianity, and made true disciples of Christ in that and after ages, God had

determined that the days of vengeance should be fewer in number than the

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iniquity of the nation deserved.

CONSTABLE, "Verse 14

"But" identifies the contrast between the false and true signs. The true sign was

the appearance of the abomination of desolation (cf. Daniel 9:27; Daniel 11:31;

Daniel 12:11; Matthew 24:15).

The abomination of desolation is something abominable associated with idolatry

that would defile the temple resulting in its desertion by the godly. [Note: Cf. C.

E. B. Cranfield, "St. Mark 13," Scottish Journal of Theology 6 (July

1953):298-99.] The ultimate abomination would be the Antichrist, the

abomination in view primarily in Matthew and Mark's accounts. The immediate

abomination would be the polluting of the temple preceding its destruction in

A.D. 70. A former abomination was the Syrian Antiochus Epiphanes who erected

a pagan altar over the brazen altar and sacrificed a pig on it to Zeus in 167 B.C.

(1 Maccabees 1:41-64; 1 Maccabees 6:7). [Note: Cf. Josephus, Antiquities of . . .,

12:5:4.]

The abomination would be standing where it did not belong. Mark described

Jesus saying that the abomination (Gr. bdelygma, a neuter noun) would stand

(estekota, a masculine participle) as a person who set himself up as God in the

temple. The fact that Jesus used a masculine participle to modify a neuter noun

suggests that the abomination is a man.

Mark avoided referring specifically to the temple sanctuary, though Matthew

did refer to it (Matthew 24:15). Perhaps Mark did this to avoid planting the idea

of polluting the temple in any Roman reader's mind. His parenthetic instruction

to the reader would have encouraged Roman Christians to seek the identity of

the place in Daniel's prophecy (Daniel 9:25-27).

When the Zealots occupied the temple in A.D. 67-68 and installed a usurper,

Phanni, as high priest, Jewish Christians fled from Jerusalem to Pella, a

transjordanian mountain town. [Note: Idem, The Wars . . ., 4:3:7-10; 4:6:3;

Eusebius, 3:5:3.] This flight prefigured the one that will take place in the future

(i.e., the Tribulation).

BI, "Let him that readeth understand.

Need of an attentive mind

Let him strive to understand (this means) by reading with utmost attention, diligence, and devotion, weeping as John did, till the sealed book was opened; digging deep in the mine of the Scriptures for the mind of God, and holding it fast when he hath it, lest at any time he should let it slip. Admirable is that, and applicable to this purpose, which Philostratus relates of the precious stone Pantarbe, of so orient, bright, and sweet a colour, that it both dazzles and refreshes the eyes at once, drawing together heaps of other stones by its secret force (though far distant), as hives of bees, etc. But lest so costly a gift should grow cheap, nature has not only hid it in the innermost bowels of the earth, but also has put a faculty into it, of slipping out of the hands of those who hold it, unless they be very careful to prevent it. (John Trapp.)

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Reading the Scriptures

Motives to the diligent reading of the Scriptures in private.

1. Consider the excellency of the Scriptures above all other books and writings of men. They are the books of God Himself; the letter of the Creator to the creature.

2. Consider how much spiritual fruit and profit is to be reaped by the diligent reading of the Scripture: this being an excellent means not only to build us up in the knowledge of those things which concern God’s glory, and our own salvation; but also to confirm and strengthen our faith, and to quicken and stir us up to all conscionable obedience to the will of God, as well in doing, as in suffering what He requires of us.

3. Consider the examples of such as have been most diligent, and taken great pains in reading the Scriptures. Cromwell could say the New Testament without book. Bishop Ridley learned all St. Paul’s Epistles by heart. (George Petter.)

15 Let no one on the housetop go down or enter

the house to take anything out.

GILL, "And let him that is on the house top,.... On the battlements of the house, either for diversion or devotion:

not go down into the house; in the inner way by the stairs, or ladder within doors:

neither enter therein; being come down from the top of the house, by stairs, or a ladder without, which was usual:

to take any thing out of his house; to take care of his goods, or take any thing along with him, that might be useful in his flight, and journey, and stay abroad; See Gill on Mat_24:17.

HENRY, ". That when the Roman army should come into the country, there would be no safety any where but by quitting the country, and that with all possible expedition. It will be in vain to fight, the enemies will be too hard for them; in vain to abscond, the enemies will find them out; and in vain to capitulate, the enemies will give them no quarter; a man cannot have so much as his life given him for a prey, but by fleeing to the mountains out of Judea; and let him take the first alarm, and make the best of his way. If he be on the house-top, trying from thence to discover the motions of the enemy, and spies them coming, let him not go down, to take any thing out of the house, for it will occasion his losing of time, which is more precious than his best goods, and will but encumber him, and embarrass his flight. If he be in the field, and there discover the approach of the enemy, let him get away as he is, and not turn back again, to take up his garment, Mar_13:16. If he can save his life, let

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him reckon it is a good bargain, though he can save nothing else, and be thankful to God, that, though he is cut short, he is not cut off.

JAMIESON, "And let him that is on the housetop not get down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house — that is, let him take the outside flight of steps from the roof to the ground; a graphic way of denoting the extreme urgency of the case, and the danger of being tempted, by the desire to save his property, to delay till escape should become impossible.

COFFMAN, "These verses were primarily meant to stimulate haste in the

Christian community who, upon seeing the armies about the city, were

commanded to flee to the mountains.

Housetop not come down ... This means that one on the housetop should not

come down to take anything out, but that he should come down and flee without

hesitation to the mountains.

BURKITT, "The meaning is, "As soon as ye shall see the Roman army appear

before the city of Jerusalem, let everyone that values his own safety fly, as far

and as fast as he can, as Lot fled from the flames of Sodom; and be glad if by

flight he can save his life, though he lose goods and clothes, and all things

beside."

Whence learn, That when Almighty God is pouring forth his fury upon a sinful

people, it is both lawful, and a necessary duty, by flight to endeavour to shelter

and secure ourselves from the approaching calamity and desolation; when ye see

Jerusalem encompassed with armies, flee to the mountains.

2. That in case of flight before an enraged enemy, and bloody army, if we lose all

that we have, and our lives be given us for a prey, we fare well, and the Lord

deals very graciously and mercifully with us.

Next, Our Saviour declares the doleful distress of those that could not flee from

the Roman army encompassing Jerusalem, as women great with child, and

others giving suck, who by that means are like to lose their lives: and adds

farther, That it would increase the calamity, if their flight should happen to be in

the winter; St. Matthew adds, on the sabbath-day, Pray ye that your flight be not

in the winter, nor on the sabbath-day Matthew 24:20. Flight in the winter is sad,

because we can then fly neither fast nor far; and on the sabbath-day it is very

sorrowful, that being the day of our spiritual labour, and of our bodily rest.

Learn thene, That it is a great addition to the trouble and disquiet of a good

man's spirit, when the day of his spiritual rest is interrupted; and instead of

enjoying communion with God in his house, he is driven from house and home.

BI 15R-16, "Not go down into the house.

Opportunity to be seized

Opportunity is like a string of stepping stones across a ford. The traveller, coming up

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to them, may find the river so swollen with the rains that the stones are all but covered. If he delay, though his home be on the opposite bank, and full in sight, it may be too late to cross, and he may have a journey of several miles to reach his home. (Union Magazine.)

Danger of delay

Opportunity is like a narrow passage in the Arctic Seas. Sometimes, in these northern regions, ships get enclosed in a narrow space between ice islands. The floating rocks glide nearer the ship on every side, and the dismayed seamen behold their only chance of escape from the fatal crash lies in a narrow channel, that every moment grows still narrower. How hurriedly they press their vessel through that strip to reach the safety of the open ocean! Even so must we press along the narrow way that leads to eternal Life; for who knows how soon that narrow way may be closed against him. (Union Magazine.)

16 Let no one in the field go back to get their

cloak.

GILL, "And let him that is in the field,.... At work, in any sort of business there,

not turn back again: either to his own house, or rather to that part of the field where he laid down his clothes:

for to take up his garment; but let him flee without it, or otherwise he would be in great danger; See Gill on Mat_24:18.

HENRY, "That when the Roman army should come into the country, there would be no safety any where but by quitting the country, and that with all possible expedition. It will be in vain to fight, the enemies will be too hard for them; in vain to abscond, the enemies will find them out; and in vain to capitulate, the enemies will give them no quarter; a man cannot have so much as his life given him for a prey, but by fleeing to the mountains out of Judea; and let him take the first alarm, and make the best of his way. If he be on the house-top, trying from thence to discover the motions of the enemy, and spies them coming, let him not go down, to take any thing out of the house, for it will occasion his losing of time, which is more precious than his best goods, and will but encumber him, and embarrass his flight. If he be in the field, and there discover the approach of the enemy, let him get away as he is, and not turn back again, to take up his garment, Mar_13:16. If he can save his life, let him reckon it is a good bargain, though he can save nothing else, and be thankful to God, that, though he is cut short, he is not cut off.

JAMIESON, "And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.

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17 How dreadful it will be in those days for

pregnant women and nursing mothers!

GILL, "But woe to them that are with child,.... Who because of their burdens, would be very unfit for, and very incapable of fleeing with any haste; and therefore very liable to fall into the hands of the enemy, and become their prey:

and to them that give suck in those days; who could not bear to leave their children behind, and yet would not be able to carry them with them; at least not without great trouble, and which would much retard their flight, and endanger their being taken by the enemy; See Gill on Mat_24:19.

HENRY, " That it would go very hard at that time with poor mothers and nurses (Mar_13:17); “Woe to them that are with child, that dare not go into strange places, that cannot shift for themselves, nor make haste as others can. And woe to them that give suck, that know not how either to leave the tender infants behind them, or to carry them along with them.” Such is the vanity of the creature, that the time may often be, when the greatest comforts may prove the greatest burthens.

JAMIESON, "But woe to them — or, “alas for them.”

that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days — in consequence of the aggravated suffering which those conditions would involve.

COFFMAN, "The compassion of the Saviour who foresaw the suffering and

hardship, especially upon mothers, in the coming disaster, shines in his

exclamation here.

And pray that it be not in winter ... Their prayers in this were answered, for the

siege reached its climax in the spring and summer, the fall of the city coming on

August 10,70 A.D.

18 Pray that this will not take place in winter,

GILL, "And pray ye that your flight be not in winter. When days are short, roads bad, the weather inclement; and when to lodge in mountains, is very incommodious, and uncomfortable. The Persic version adds, "neither on the sabbath day"; See Gill on Mat_24:20.

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HENRY, "It would likewise be very uncomfortable, if they should be forced to flee in the winter (Mar_13:18), when the weather and ways were bad, when the roads would be scarcely passable, especially in the mountains to which they must flee. If there be no remedy but that trouble must come, yet we may desire and pray that, if it be God's will, the circumstances of it may be so ordered as to be a mitigation of the trouble; and when things are bad, we ought to consider they might have been worse. It is bad to be forced to flee, but it would have been worse if it had been in the winter.

JAMIESON, "And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter — making escape perilous, or tempting you to delay your flight. Matthew (Mat_24:20) adds, “neither on the sabbath day,” when, from fear of a breach of its sacred rest, they might be induced to remain.

BI, "That your flight be not in the winter.

The difficulty of conversion in old age

There is a winter in human life, as there is a winter in the seasons of the year. Infancy is our spring; and the bud of existence which is then nourished and cherished, opens its flowers during the summer of youth. In riper years, and in the vigour of manhood, the fruit is put forth and this period we call the autumn of our days. But if death spare us a little longer, there will come ice in the blood, and snow on the brow; and all the emblems of a moral winter are thickly strewed over the man. And if there has been no fleeing to the mercy of the Lord, whilst the advance of summer and autumn has warned us that our year would soon draw to a close, it will be a hard thing, and a scarcely possible thing, when the limb has grown rigid, when the blood is congealed, and when the branches hang withered from the stem, to drag ourselves along; and the man, in the winter of his days, when his foot is halting, and his eye is darkening, and his blood is freezing, is so unfitted to brave the difficulties of the rugged path of winter, that no consideration should have more weight with the young and with the impenitent than the recommendation of our text. It will not be supposed, then, that, by any of my statements, I do at all limit the operations of grace, or insinuate that there can be no flight during the winter because there has been none before the winter. On the contrary, the mere fact of its being subject of prayer that our flight may not be in the winter, implies that flight is at the least practicable, though not then easy. First, the difficulty of flight in the winter.

Secondly, the danger that flight, if deferred to the winter, will not then be practicable.

I. The difficulty of flight in the winter; or, to drop the metaphor, the difficulty of conversion in old age. The Spirit doth strive with everyone; and by secret admonitions and suggestions, by working upon hope and exciting fear, it does summon all men to consider their ways, and allows not that any sinner should go on in transgression, and not have its ruinous result set before him. Well, then, if this statement be accurate-if it be true that all men are plied with inducements and threatenings, and that the Divine machinery is brought to bear on their consciences; it follows that the aged sinner must have resisted many godly motions: and now he stands, in the winter of his days, the hero of a succession of victories. But then, they have been victories won by the lust of the flesh, by the lust of the eye, and by the pride of life-over the benevolent strivings of holy angels, and the merciful interpositions of Deity Himself. And I ask whether it will not be necessarily true, that the man who has resisted such impressions will be found correspondently hardened against threatenings. The aged sinner must have been successful in stifling anxiety, and in drowning conscience: and thus he hath closed up, so to speak, the common avenues through which the gospel message finds entrance. Hence, there is less hope

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of the aged sinner. But not only has the aged sinner resisted much; but it will generally happen that he has invented much. He will have his own scheme of salvation: he will have devised some method of quieting alarm: he will have arranged some system of religion for himself. I cannot but suppose that this is ordinarily the case. I cannot suppose that there are many aged men, who give themselves no concern touching the things of eternity. Sometimes indeed we are presented with that sad spectacle-an old man hunting after money which his trembling hands cannot grasp; or an old woman tottering into the grave with a heap of new fashions hung on her shrivelled body. But I am ready to believe, that very commonly old people have some thought about the future; and, to use the common place phrase, cast up their account with God, and contrive by the most ingenious arithmetic to strike a balance in their own favour. They have sinned in their youth; but, thank God, He has given them time for repentance; and the seriousness of later years has made amends for the frivolities of the earlier. They may have offended a great deal, but then they have suffered a great deal; and the afflictions will be taken as an atonement for the transgression. Their lives have been excellent lives, no man was ever wronged by them: they were in trade for half a century, and kept unsullied the character of honourable dealers. They were engaged in the management of various societies, and received pieces of plate as compliments to their integrity. One old man is comforted because he has been a very moral man; and another, because he has been a very charitable man; and a third, because God is a God of wonderful mercy; and a fourth, because it is too late to alter, and things will probably not turn out so bad as they have been represented. I believe the observations I have thus advanced are grounds for deciding that conversion in the winter of life must be a work of great difficulty. It must be further obvious to you, that, as it would be in natural, so in spiritual things, the infirmities of the old man incapacitate him for flight. I ask you whether the old man, the withered man, the wasted man, is adapted for grappling with so stern a communication? Is his mind calculated to take in what is thus overpowering? Are his apprehensions likely to grasp the tidings in their length and breadth? Is one so timid, the being who is expected to arm for the battle, or to gird himself for the fight? If it be a time of hazard to set out upon a voyage when the vessel has just sprung a leak-and if it be an hour of peril to commence a journey in a foreign land when the sun has faded from the heavens-and it be a moment of danger to sit at the base of the mountain when the avalanche is just loosening from the heights-and it be an instant of imminent risk when the drawbridge is trembling between us and the citadel-then is old age and winter a dangerous season for man to flee from his present condition.

II. We have thus shown you that great difficulties are attendant on flight in the winter. We are next to consider the danger that flight, if deferred to the winter, will not then be practicable; in other words, the grounds for believing, that, if men repent not before old age, they will never repent at all. One reason for praying against postponement is, the possibility that flight, if delayed, may never take place. It is a trite saying, that “tomorrow never comes;” and I may add, that few men practically think themselves a year nearer the grave, because they are a year older. Once more. It is the testimony of experience that men are seldom converted in old age. Who, then, would defer flight, when the Almighty is inviting him to join the ranks of the redeemed? Let us address ourselves to the journey. The days are short, and the sunbeams are watery; the time for repentance may soon be at an end. (H. Melvill, B. D.)

Winter useful and beautiful

However disagreeable a very severe winter may be, in some respects, it yet serves

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most important purposes. The sap retires from the extremities of shrubs and trees, and takes refuge in the roots, thus giving them a time to rest and recuperate. The covering of snow which is spread over the earth protects the grass and the grain, and keeps all things which grow out of the ground snug and warm. Moreover, the nipping frost kills off the myriad hordes of insects; dries up the seeds of infectious and deadly diseases; improves the blood, on which our very existence depends; and gives new vigour to the worn-out and wasted system. Consumptive patients are no longer sent to gasp and faint beneath the orange groves of a debilitating southern clime, but uniform and invigorating cold weather is found much better for them. Winter, besides being an useful season, is certainly a very beautiful one. The earth spread smoothly over with its white coverlid; the icy tracery of the trees; and the fantastic pictures which the frost draws on the window panes-what could be more beautiful than these? The goodness of our heavenly Father is plainly discovered in the provision which He makes for the lower orders of creation, to protect them from the rigours of winter. The more delicate birds are instructed by their instincts to fly off to warmer latitudes. The creatures which are to remain behind, need not go to clothing stores for thick coats! The fur, and hair, and feathers on their bodies, are made abundantly warm to protect them; and the colder the winter which is approaching, the better does their gracious Creator provide for them. (J. N. Norton, D. D.)

Flight in winter

Many of you will remember an instance of such a flight, which was disastrous in the extreme. In the autumn of 1812, Napoleon entered Moscow with 120,000 soldiers, intending to pass the winter there in comfort. On the 13th of October (three weeks earlier than it had ever been known before), snow began to fall. The proud Emperor looked out of his window in dismay, and decided to hasten back at once, and establish his winter quarters in the friendly cities of Poland. It was a march through a dreary and desolate region, of more than a thousand miles; but he put on a bold front, and the troops began to retire in good order. A week later, and the grand army was in full retreat. Bleak, chilly winds howled through the leafless trees; the weary soldiers were blinded by the flakes of snow and sleet; their embittered enemies attacked them in every unguarded point; order and discipline were forgotten; the ranks were broken, and each man struggled on as best he could; the dead and the dying were trodden down; hundreds of horses were slain for food; all ideas of conquest were banished; Napoleon himself left the army to its fate; and each day’s weary march was marked by heaps of broken wagons, and abandoned cannon, and white hillocks of snow, beneath which the frozen bodies of man and beast were buried. With such a dreadful picture of misery before you, it will be easy to understand the tender compassion which prompted the Saviour to say: “Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.” Especially ought we to remember those who are suffering the sad privations of poverty, and be glad to relieve their wants when we are able. No one can claim to have the love of God abiding in his heart, who is willing to see a fellow mortal destitute of food and clothing, and make no effort to help. The more merciful we are, the better shall we deserve to be called God’s children. (J. N. Norton, D. D.)

A blasphemer’s death in the snow

It was near the close of one of those storms that deposit a great volume of snow upon the earth that a middle-aged man, in one of the southern counties of Vermont, seated himself at a large fire in a log house. He was crossing the Green Mountains from the

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western to the eastern side; he had stopped at the only dwelling of man in a distance of more than twenty miles, being the width of the parallel ranges of gloomy mountains; he was determined to reach his dwelling on the eastern side that day. In reply to a kind invitation to tarry in the house and not dare the horrors of the increasing storm, he declared that he would go, and that the Almighty was not able to prevent him. His words were heard above the howling of the tempest. He travelled from the mountain valley where he had rested over one ridge, and one more intervened between him and his family. The labour of walking in that deep snow must have been great, as its depth became near the stature of a man; yet he kept on, and arrived within a few yards of the last summit, from whence he could have looked down upon his dwelling. He was near a large tree, partly supported by its trunk; his body bent forward, and his ghastly intent features told the stubbornness of his purpose to overpass that little eminence. But the Almighty had prevented him; the currents of his blood were frozen. For more than thirty years that tree stood by the solitary road, scarred to the branches with names, letters, and hieroglyphics of death, to warn the traveller that he trod over a spot of fearful interest. (Baxendale’s Dictionary of Anecdote.)

19 because those will be days of distress

unequaled from the beginning, when God

created the world, until now—and never to be

equaled again.

GILL, "For in those days shall be affliction,.... What with the close siege of the Romans; the fury of the zealots, and seditious; the rage of different parties among the Jews themselves; the ravage of the sword, both within and without, together with dreadful plagues and famines:

such as was not from the beginning of the creation, which God created, unto this time, neither shall be; of which there never was the like in any age, and cannot be paralleled in any history, since the beginning of time, or the world was made, or any thing in it, down to that period; nor ever will the like befall any one particular nation under the heavens, to the end of the world; See Gill on Mat_24:21.

HENRY, "That throughout all the country of the Jews, there should be such destruction and desolation made, as could not be paralleled in any history (Mar_13:19); In those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of time; that is, of the creation which God created, for time and the creation are of equal date, unto this day, neither shall be to the end of time; such a complication of miseries, and of such continuance. The destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans was very terrible, but this exceeded it. It threatened a universal slaughter of all the people of the Jews; so barbarously did they devour one another, and the Romans devour them all, that, if their wars had continued a little longer, no flesh could have been saved,not one Jew could have been left alive; but in the midst of wrath God remembered

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mercy; and, (1.) He shortened the days; he let fall his controversy before he had made a full end. As a church and nation the ruin was complete, but many particular persons had their lives given them for a prey, by the storm's subsiding when it did. 2. It was for the elects' sake that those days were shortened; many among them fared the better for the sake of the few among them that believed in Christ, and were faithful to him. There was a promise, that a remnant should be saved (Isa_10:22), and that God would not, for his servants' sakes, destroy them all (Isa_65:8); and these promises must be fulfilled. God's own elect cry day and night to him, and their prayers must be answered, Luk_18:7.

JAMIESON, "For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be — Such language is not unusual in the Old Testament with reference to tremendous calamities. But it is matter of literal fact that there was crowded into the period of the Jewish war an amount and complication of suffering perhaps unparalleled; as the narrative of Josephus, examined closely and arranged under different heads, would show.

COFFMAN, "The tribulation that befell Jerusalem was as great as any disaster

ever known, some eleven hundred thousand of the population being butchered

by the sword.[40] But even so great a disaster is only a prophecy of the far

greater thing that shall come at the End. Cranfield agreed that "The thought

here is eschatological, the final tribulation of history being in view."[41]

[40] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: The

Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 704.

[41] C. E. B. Cranfield, op cit., p. 404.

BURKITT, "The dreadful calamities which were coming upon the Jews in

general, and Jerusalem in particular, are here foretold by our blessed Saviour,

partly from the Roman army without, and partly from the seditions and factions

of the zealots within; who committed such outrages and slaughters, that there

were no less than an hundred thousand Jews 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 those days of vengeance should be shortened

for the elect's sake; God had a remnant which he designed should survive that

destruction, to be an holy seed; and accordingly the providence of God so

ordered it, that the city was taken in six months, and the whole country

depopulated in eighteen.

From whence, observe, How the Lord intermixes some mercy with the extremest

misery that doth befal a people for their sin on this side hell. No sinners can say,

in this life, that they feel the strikes of justice to the utmost, or that they have

judgement without mercy.

BI, "For in those days shall be affliction.

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Afflictions God’s hired labourers

Afflictions are God’s hired labourers, to break the clods and plough the land. (Anon.)

Trouble a lever

Trouble is often the lever in God’s hand to raise us up to heaven. (Anon.)

Sorrow an instructor

Has it never occurred to us when surrounded by sorrows, that they may be sent to us only for our instruction, as we darken the eyes of birds when we wish to teach them to sing? (Jean Paul.)

Troubled waters

The angel troubled the waters, which then cured those who stepped in; it is also Christ’s manner to trouble our souls first, and then to come with healing in His wings. (R. Sibbes.)

Tears

Tears often prove the telescope by which men see far into heaven. (H. W. Beecher.)

Tuned by trouble

Men think God is destroying them because He is tuning them. The violinist screws up the key till the tense cord sounds the concert pitch; but it is not to break it, but to use it tunefully, that he stretches the string upon the musical rack. (H. W. Beecher.)

Trouble a test

Men pray to be made ”men in Christ Jesus,” and think in some miraculous way it will be given to them; but God says, “I will try My child, and see if he is sincere;” and so He lays a burden upon him, and says, “Now stand up under it;” and asks, “Where are now thy resources?” If the ambitious ore dreads the furnace, the forge, the anvil, the rasp, and the file, it should never desire to be made a sword. Man is the iron, and God is the smith; and we are always either in the forge or on the anvil. God is shaping us for higher things. (H. W. Beecher.)

Extraordinary afflictions

are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions. (Matthew Henry.)

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The fall of Jerusalem a unique calamity

One might explain this language on the principle of that graphic hyperbolism that pervaded, to so large an extent, the speech of all peoples. It is quite common, in many languages at least, if not in all, to say of any very extraordinary affliction, it is the greatest possible. Superlatives are often employed, when there is really no definite intention of asserting a perfectly absolute prominence. It is at the same time, however, worthy of consideration, whether there was not, in this catastrophe of the Jews, a minglement of elements, physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual, which was so unique as to render the anguish, consequent on the overthrow of Jerusalem, unprecedented, and incapable of repetition. Many peoples have been vanquished. Often have surviving populations been “peeled,” and scattered or led captive. Often have capital cities been stormed and sacked. But the case of the Jews was peculiar. They were convinced that they were the favourites of heaven. They regarded their capital as the “City of the Great King,” and the predestined Mistress of the world. Their Temple was to them the one House of God. It could not be dispensed with in the world. Hence they expected, up to the last moment, that the Lord’s arm must needs conspicuously interpose in the extremity of their necessity, to smite the beleaguering hosts and rescue the beloved place and people. When one mingles the elements of such thoughts and feelings, and their effects, with the effects of the utter social disorganization that prevailed, and consequently with the unutterable physical woes that preceded and succeeded the capture of the Temple, it is easy to see that the tribulation endured may have had an edge of agony which never was before in the history of any people, and which will never be again. (J. Morison, D. D.)

Affliction such as never was and never shall be

At the siege of Jerusalem, Milman says, “Every kind feeling, love, respect, natural affection, were extinct through the all-absorbing want. Wives would snatch the last morsel from husbands, children from parents, mothers from children … If a house was closed, they supposed that eating was going on, and they burst in and squeezed the crumbs from the mouths and throats of those who were swallowing them. Old men were scourged till they surrendered the food to which their hands clung desperately. Children were seized as they hung upon the miserable morsels they had got, whirled round and dashed upon the pavement … The most loathsome and disgusting food was sold at an enormous price. They gnawed their belts and shoes. Chopped hay and shoots of trees sold at high prices.”

Destruction of Jerusalem

It is worth any man’s while to read the story of the destruction of Jerusalem as it is told by Josephus: it is the most harrowing of all records written by human pen; it remains the tragedy of tragedies; there never was and there never will be anything comparable to it: the people died of famine and of pestilence, and fell by thousands beneath the swords of their own countrymen. Women devoured the flesh of their own children, and men raged against each other with the fury of beasts. All ills seemed to meet in that doomed city, it was filled within with horrors and surrounded without by terrors. Portents amazed the sky both day and night. There was no escape, neither would the frenzied people accept of mercy. The city itself was the banqueting hall of death. Josephus says: “All hope of escaping was now cut off from the Jews, together with their liberty of going out of the city. Then did the famine widen its progress, and devour the people by whole houses and families: the upper rooms were full of women and infants that were dying by famine, and the lanes of the city were full of the dead bodies of the aged; the children, also, and the young men wandered

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about the market places like shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell down dead wheresoever their misery seized them. For a time the dead were buried; but afterwards, when they could not do that, they had them cast down from the wall into the valleys beneath. When Titus, on going his rounds along these valleys, saw them full of dead bodies, and the thick putrefaction running about them, he gave a groan, and spreading out his hands to heaven, called God to witness this was not his doing.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)

20 “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no

one would survive. But for the sake of the elect,

whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.

CLARKE, "Had shortened those days - Because of his chosen, added by D, Armenian, and five of the Itala. See Mat_24:22.

GILL, "And except that the Lord had shortened those days,.... Had determined that those days of affliction should be but few, and not last long; that the siege should not be longer continued, and the devastations within and without be prolonged:

no flesh should be saved; there would not have been a Jew left; that nation and race of men must have been utterly destroyed from off the face of the earth:

but for elect's sake, whom he hath chosen; in Christ, unto eternal salvation; who were either then upon the spot, called or uncalled, or that were to spring from in succeeding times:

he hath shortened the days; he hath determined they shall be but few, that a remnant might be saved, and among them his elect; or from whom should descend, such as he had chosen, who should be saved with an everlasting salvation: though the people in general have been given up to blindness and unbelief, yet they are preserved as a distinct people in the world; and in the latter day will be called and converted, and all Israel shall be saved and therefore it was the will of God to shorten those days of affliction, that they might not be entirely cut off, but that a number might be left, as a stock for future ages; See Gill on Mat_24:22.

HENRY, "II. What directions are given to the disciples with reference to it.

1. They must shift for the safety of their lives; “When you see the country invaded, and the city invested, flatter not yourselves with thoughts that the enemy will retire, or that you may be able to make your part good with them; but, without further deliberation or delay, let them that are in Judea, flee to the mountains, Mar_13:14. Meddle not with the strife that belongs not to you; let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the earth, but do you go out of the ship when you see it sinking, that you

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die not the death of the uncircumcised in heart.”

JAMIESON, "And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh — that is, no human life.

should be saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days — But for this merciful “shortening,” brought about by a remarkable concurrence of causes, the whole nation would have perished, in which there yet remained a remnant to be afterwards gathered out. This portion of the prophecy closes, in Luke, with the following vivid and important glance at the subsequent fortunes of the chosen people: “And they shall fall by 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” (Luk_21:24). The language as well as the idea of this remarkable statement is taken from Dan_8:10, Dan_8:13. What, then, is its import here? It implies, first, that a time is coming when Jerusalem shall cease to be “trodden down of the Gentiles”; which it was then by pagan, and since and till now is by Mohammedan unbelievers: and next, it implies that the period when this treading down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles is to cease will be when “the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” or “completed.” But what does this mean? We may gather the meaning of it from Rom_11:1-36 in which the divine purposes and procedure towards the chosen people from first to last are treated in detail. In Rom_11:25 these words of our Lord are thus reproduced: “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.” See the exposition of that verse, from which it will appear that “till the fullness of the Gentiles be come in” - or, in our Lord’s phraseology, “till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” - does not mean “till the general conversion of the world to Christ,” but “till the Gentiles have had their full time of that place in the Church which the Jews had before them.” After that period of Gentilism, as before of Judaism, “Jerusalem” and Israel, no longer “trodden down by the Gentiles,” but “grafted into their own olive tree,” shall constitute, with the believing Gentiles, one Church of God, and fill the whole earth. What a bright vista does this open up!

COFFMAN, "The elect's sake ... These were Christians, "whom he chose," not

through some immutable decree, or capricious election before all time and

eternity, but through the gospel. God chose and elected the people who would

receive and adore the Christ, obey his gospel, and accept God's forgiveness. No

one was excluded by such an election, each man deciding for himself whether he

would come into the community of "the elect" or continue with the rebellious.

He shortened the days ... The use of the past tense, both by Christ and by Mark,

is prophetic, speaking of that which God has decreed for the future as being

already done. How this shortening was accomplished is not exactly known.

Sanner wrote, "Impelled by matters of pressing personal concern, the Roman

generals hastened back to Italy."[42] Some of the events that might have entered

into their breaking off of the Jewish war without the total destruction of the

whole nation were: (1) disturbances in Gaul that interfered with the campaign of

Vespasian; (2) the death of Nero plunged Rome into war as Otho and Vitellius

each sought to be emperor; (3) Vespasian was declared emperor by his soldiers,

their verdict being final, due to the might of the military; (4) Vespasian returned

to Rome as emperor, and (5) his son Titus concluded the siege.

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ENDNOTE:

[42] A. Elwood Sanner, op. cit., p. 384.

BI, "Shortened those days.

God shortened the siege

Many circumstances combined to secure the primary fulfilment of these words. The incomplete state of the fortifications, the paucity of food, the factious fights within the city, etc., shortened the siege; and Titus himself exclaimed, “God has fought for us: what could human hand or engines do against these towers!” (Stock.)

21 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look,

here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do

not believe it.

GILL, "And then if any man shall say to you,.... During those days of tribulation and affliction, or when shortened and at an end:

lo! here is Christ, or lo! he is there; the Messiah has appeared in such or in such a place, to deliver you from your national distresses and calamities, and from the Roman yoke and bondage:

believe him not; give no credit to such a report, for the reason following; See Gill on Mat_24:23.

JAMIESON, "And then, if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo he is there; believe him not — So Luk_17:23.

COFFMAN, "Although Mark 13:14-23 are principally concerned with the

predicted destruction of Jerusalem, Mark 13:14, particularly, has strong

overtones applicable to the final judgment. Likewise here there are strong

indications that the same prevalence of impostors and the deceptions perpetrated

by the Lord's enemies will occur near the end of probation. False prophets and

their lying miracles shall proliferate, requiring that "the elect" shall study to

avoid deception. There was never more necessity for such an admonition than at

the present time. And how shall "the elect" avoid being deceived? Their only

hope is to accept and believe the Holy Bible, a hope made more difficult by the

fulminations of the devil against it. Satan's emissaries are identified quite easily

by their invariable efforts to discredit or destroy the word of God.

BURKITT, "The Jews had all along cherished in themselves a vain expectation,

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that the promised Messias should be a temporal deliverer; and set them at liberty

from the power and slavery of the Romans; and accordingly, our Saviour

declares to his discples here, That, immediately before Jerusalem's destruction,

several persons, taking the advantage of this expectation, would make themselves

heads of parties; and pretend that they were the true Messiah, who should save

and deliver them from their enemies, if they would follow them. Hereupon our

Saviour cautions his disciples against such false Christs, and false prophets, and

bids them not believe them, though they did ever so many great signs and

wonders, and promise them ever such glorious deliverances.

From hence note, 1. That the church's great danger is from seducers, that come

in Christ's name and pretend to work signs and wonders by his authority.

Note, 2. That such is the power of seduction and delusion, that, many, in all ages

of the church, have been carried away with seducers and false teachers.

3. That the elect themselves, if left to themselves might be seduced; but being

guarded by divine power against seduction and delusion, they shall be preserved

from that fatal mischief; They shall seduce, if possible, even the elect.

BENSON, "Mark 13:21-23. If any shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ — See on

Matthew 24:23-28. For there shall arise false Christs — Grotius, and some

others, think our Lord had Barchochebas in view here, because he expressly

called himself Messiah, and pretended to work great miracles. But as the passage

describes what was to happen about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, it

cannot be applied to Barchochebas, who arose in the reign of Adrian, about sixty

years after. Josephus (Antiq., 20:6) tells us, that under the government of Felix,

“the whole country was full of magicians who deceived the people.” In the same

chapter, he says, “The magicians and deceivers persuaded the common people to

follow them into the wilderness, promising to show them evident signs and

miracles.” It seems these impostors pretended that the miracles they were going

to perform, were those which God had predicted the Messiah would perform;

perhaps they assumed the title directly, though Josephus, after the destruction of

his nation, was ashamed to make any mention of the Messiah at all, or of the

prophecies relating to him. After the example of Moses, these false Christs

appealed to the miracles which they promised to perform, in proof of their being

sent to deliver the nation from slavery. This appears evidently from a passage of

his Jewish War, (ii. 12,) where, speaking of the affairs under Felix, he says,

“Impostors and deceivers, under pretence of inspiration, attempting innovations

and changes, made the common people mad, and led them into the wilderness,

promising that God would there show them, σημεια ελευθεριας, signs of liberty;”

that is, miracles in proof that they should be delivered from the Roman yoke,

and obtain their liberty. This was the benefit the nation expected from the

Messiah; and those deceivers who promised it to them were readily believed: for

the common people daily expected that the Messiah would put them in possession

of universal empire. Every impostor, therefore, who assumed that character, and

promised them deliverance, was quickly followed and obeyed. Hence the

propriety of Josephus’s observation. The same historian, Antiq., 20:6, mentions

an Egyptian Jew, calling himself a prophet, who persuaded the people to go with

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him to the mount of Olives, promising to show them from that place the walls of

Jerusalem falling down, and giving them an entrance into the city. He speaks of

this deceiver likewise, Bell. Jud., 2:12, as “gathering together thirty thousand

men on the mount of Olives, proposing to go thence and take Jerusalem by force,

to drive out the Roman garrison, and rule over the people.” Here this impostor

plainly acted the Messiah. But Felix, getting notice of his designs, came out and

routed him. And shall show signs and wonders to seduce, if possible, even the

elect — This relates especially to those impostors who appeared during the time

of the siege, of which see Josephus, Bell. Jud., 6:5; and Eusebius, Hist.

Ecclesiastes, 4:6. As for the objection which is urged from this text against

admitting miracles as a proof of doctrines, two things may be here transiently

observed: “1st, That it cannot certainly be proved that the works here referred

to were true miracles: they might be like the lying powers, signs, and wonders,

mentioned 2 Thessalonians 2:9. Or, 2d, That if we should, for argument’s sake,

grant them to be real miracles, yet they are supposed to be wrought at a time

when there were in the Christian Church teachers endued with superior

miraculous powers. But it can never be inferred from such a supposition in that

case, that God will suffer miracles to be wrought in proof of falsehood, when

there are none of his servants to perform greater miracles on the side of truth.

And when such superior miracles on the side of truth do exist, the opposite

miracles, at most, can only prove that some invisible beings of great power, who

are the abetters of falsehood, are strongly engaged to support the contrary

doctrine; the consideration of which must excite all wise and good men to receive

a truth so opposed with greater readiness, and to endeavour to promote it with

greater zeal; as they may be sure the excellence and importance of it is

proportionable to the solicitude of these malignant spirits to prevent its

progress.” — Doddridge. But take ye heed — Be cautiously upon your guard

against so dangerous an imposition: Behold, I have foretold you all these

things — That, comparing the event with the prediction, your faith may be

established by those very circumstances which, in another view, might have a

tendency to shake it.

CONSTABLE, "Verses 21-23

Jesus repeated His warning about people who will claim to be the Messiah (cf.

Mark 13:5-6) so His disciples would not believe them. "If possible" (Mark 13:22)

does not imply that the elect will inevitably continue to believe in Jesus and

follow Him faithfully. If that were so, Jesus' repeated warnings would be

meaningless. It means that the false Messiahs will do miracles with the intent of

leading the elect into error if they, the false Messiahs, can (cf. 2 Timothy 3:1-15).

In view of this possibility, Jesus' disciples need to be discerning (Gr. blepete,

Mark 13:23).

22 For false messiahs and false prophets will

appear and perform signs and wonders to

deceive, if possible, even the elect.

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BARNES, "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise,.... As there did, both before and after the destruction of Jerusalem:

and shall show signs and wonders; as they pretended to do, and did, at least to the appearance of people:

to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect; who were chosen in Christ, unto eternal life; in consequence of which they truly believed in him, and were constant followers of him; but this was not possible: though such was the force of their deception, that there was apparent danger of it, were it not for the power and grace of God; See Gill on Mat_24:24.

GILL, "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise,.... As there did, both before and after the destruction of Jerusalem:

and shall show signs and wonders; as they pretended to do, and did, at least to the appearance of people:

to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect; who were chosen in Christ, unto eternal life; in consequence of which they truly believed in him, and were constant followers of him; but this was not possible: though such was the force of their deception, that there was apparent danger of it, were it not for the power and grace of God; See Gill on Mat_24:24.

HENRY, "2. They must provide for the safety of their souls; “Seducers will be busy at that time, for they love to fish in troubled waters, and therefore then you must double your guard; then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or, Lo, he is there, you know he is in heaven, and will come again at the end of time, to judge the world, and therefore believe them not; having received Christ, be not drawn into the snares of any antichrist; for false Christs, and false prophets, shall arise,” Mar_13:22. When the gospel kingdom was in the setting up, Satan mustered all his force, to oppose it, and made use of all his wiles; and God permitted it, for the trial of sincerity of some, and the discovery of the hypocrisy of others, and the confusion of those who rejected Christ, when he was offered to them. False Christsshall rise, and false prophets that shall preach them up; or such, as, though they pretend not to be Christs, set up for prophets, and undertake to foretel things to come, and they shall show signs and lying wonders; so early did the mystery of iniquity begin to work, 2Th_2:7. They shall seduce, if it were possible, the very elect;so plausible shall their pretences be, and so industrious shall they be to impose upon people, that they shall drawn away many that were forward and zealous professors of religion, many that were very likely to have persevered; for nothing will be effectual to secure men but that foundation of God which stands immovably sure, The Lord knoweth them that are his, who shall be preserved when the faith of some is overthrown, 2Ti_2:18, 2Ti_2:19.

JAMIESON, "For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders. No one can read Josephus’ account of what took place

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before the destruction of Jerusalem without seeing how strikingly this was fulfilled.

to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect — implying that this, though all but done, will prove impossible. What a precious assurance! (Compare 2Th_2:9-12).

BI, "For false Christs.

False Christs

David George, e.g., who ultimately settled at Basle, where he died in 1556. He claimed, according to the account of Dr. Henry More, to be the true Christ, the dear Son of God, born not of the flesh, but of the Spirit. He was to restore the house of Israel, and re-erect the tabernacle of God, not by afflictions and death, as the other Messiah, but by that sweetness, love, and grace, which were given him of the Father. He had the power of the remission of sins; and had come to administer the last judgment. He averred that “the Holy Scriptures: the sayings and testimonies of the prophets, of Christ, and of His apostles, do all point, if rightly understood, in their true mystery, to the glorious coming of David George, who is greater than the former Christ, as being born of the Spirit, and not of the flesh.” This David George, says Dr. More, was a man “of notable natural parts, of comely person, and a graceful presence.” And he had many adherents, who believed in him. In our own day there are persons-out of asylums-who put forth corresponding claims. There is lying before the writer a “Tract on the Second Advent fulfilled,” in which it is said that “the enrolling of the saints commenced on the anniversary of the last day of the Feast of Tabernacles of the year 1868, i.e., on the 9th of October, 1868. The following,” it is added, “is the declaration to be made and signed:-I believe Jesus of Nazareth to be the Messiah at His first coming, and the antitypical Paschal Lamb Who died for sin in allegory, and I believe John Cochran of Glasgow to be that Messiah at His second coming, and the antitypical High Priest who has taken away sin in reality.”

False prophets

Lodowick Muggleton, e.g., who on the title page of his “True Interpretation of the whole Book of the Revelation of St. John,” describes himself as “one of the two last commissioned witnesses and prophets of the only high, immortal, glorious God, Christ Jesus.” Madame Antoinette Bourignon, before him, was a far nobler being, yet she declared to Christian de Cort, “I am sent from God to bring light to the world, and to bear witness to the truth. He has sent me to tell that the last times are come; that the world is judged, and the sentence is irrevocable; that the plagues are begun, and will not cease till all evil be rooted out; and that Jesus Christ will come shortly to the earth to finish this, and then He will continue to reign with ‘men of goodwill,’ who shall enjoy eternal peace. I am sent with a commission to declare all these things to men, to the end that peradventure some of them may be converted and repent, that they may reign with Jesus Christ in His glory.” And again, she says, “I am certainly sent from God to declare the truth of everything.”

False prophets in Spain

There was great excitement in Madrid owing to the announcement that the world would come to an end on the 24th of June, 1886, that day being the conjunction of the festivals of St. John and of the Corpus Christi. The belief had taken such hold among the lower and superstitious classes of Madrid, that the fright was general, the prophecy having been printed and circulated in thousands. During the past two or three weeks many people have spent their days in fasting, prayer, and weeping, and yesterday the churches and confessionals were crowded with women. (Freeman.)

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Danger from those coming in the name of Christ

In the frescoes of Signorelli we have “The Teaching of Antichrist”-no repulsive figure, but a grand personage in flowing robes, and with a noble countenance, which at a distance might easily be taken for the Saviour. To him the crowd are eagerly gathering and listening, and it is only when you draw close that you can discover in his harder and cynical expression, and from the evil spirit whispering in his ear, that it is not Christ. (Augustus J. C. Hare.)

Signs and Wonders.

Wonder-working impostors

“Lying wonders” (2Th_2:9) no doubt-wonders that serve a purpose of imposition, partly, it may be, on the wonder workers themselves, and partly on those whom they wish to attach to themselves. There are wonderful idiosyncrasies among men, that give scope for the performance of such wonders. In some natures-as in Valentine Greatrakes and Gassner (see Howitt’s “History of the Supernatural”), singular therapeutic energies instinctively well up and flow over. In others there is a singular power of something like “second sight,” or “clairvoyance,” turning fitfully its penetrative eye, now upon objects distant in space, and now upon objects distant in time-though in a way far removed from infallibility. This clairvoyant eye often takes cognizance of only frivolous realities, and seems blind to things of moment. Still its peculiarity is fitted-when once a willing and shadow fanaticism tries its hand at understanding it-to be a “lying wonder.” There are other remarkable endowments and instincts, which crop up at times in exceptional idiosyncrasies, and may give occasion either to self-delusion, or to deliberate artifice, or to a minglement of the two perversities. (J. Morison, D. D.)

23 So be on your guard; I have told you

everything ahead of time.

GILL, "But take ye heed,.... The Persic version adds, "of them"; of the false Christs, and false prophets: for though the purposes of God, concerning the salvation of his elect, are infrustrable; his promises are yea and amen; his grace is efficacious and irresistible, and his power uncontrollable; and the salvation of his chosen ones certain; yet it becomes them to be on their guard against every deception, and temptation, and to make use of all means for their perseverance:

behold, I have foretold you all things; relating to the destruction of the temple, city, and nation of the Jews; the signs that would go before it, as the disciples had desired; the miseries and calamities that would attend it, and the danger they would be exposed to through false Christs, and false prophets; and therefore would be inexcusable, if they did not observe the caution he now gave them: and moreover,

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when all these should be accomplished, they would remember that he had told them of them beforehand; which would be a proof of his omniscience, and so an establishment of them in the truth of him, as the Messiah; See Gill on Mat_24:25.

HENRY, "They shall seduce, if it were possible, the very elect; but it is not possible to seduce them; the election shall obtain, whoever are blinded, Rom_11:7. But, in consideration hereof, let the disciples be cautious whom they give credit to (Mar_13:23); But take ye heed. Christ knew that they were of the elect, who could not possibly be seduced, and yet he said to them, Take heed. An assurance of persevering, and cautions against apostasy, will very well consist with each other. Though Christ said to them, Take heed, it doth not therefore follow, that their perseverance was doubtful, for they were kept by the power of God; and though their perseverance was secured, yet it doth not therefore follow, that this caution was needless, because they must be kept in the use of proper means. God will keep them, but they must keep themselves. “I have foretold you all things; have foretold you of this danger, that, being fore-warned, you may be fore-armed; I have foretold all things which you needed to have foretold to you, and therefore take heed of hearkening to such as pretend to be prophets, and to foretel more than I have foretold.” The sufficiency of the scripture is good argument against listening to such as pretend to inspiration.

JAMIESON, "But take ye heed; behold, I have foretold you all things — He had just told them that the seduction of the elect would prove impossible; but since this would be all but accomplished, He bids them be on their guard, as the proper means of averting that catastrophe. In Matthew (Mat_24:26-28) we have some additional particulars: “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. 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.” See on Luk_17:23, Luk_17:24. “For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.” See on Luk_17:37.

24 “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,

and the moon will not give its light;

GILL, "But in those days, after that tribulation,.... That is, after the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and the miseries and calamities attending it, in the times immediately following it; see Mat_24:29;

the sun shall be darkened: so the Shekinah, or glory of the divine majesty was withdrawn, and all the symbols of the divine presence were gone, when the temple was destroyed:

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and the moon shall not give her light; the ceremonial law, which though abolished by the death of Christ, was observed by the Jews as long as the temple stood; but now ceased, particularly that principal branch of it, the daily sacrifice; See Gill on Mat_24:29.

HENRY, "These verses seem to point at Christ's second coming, to judge the world; the disciples, in their question, had confounded the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world (Mat_24:3), which was built upon a mistake, as if the temple must needs stand as long as the world stands; this mistake Christ rectifies, and shows that the end of the world in those days, those other days you enquire about, the day of Christ's coming, and the day of judgment, shall be after that tribulation, and not coincident with it. Let those who live to see the Jewish nation destroyed, take heed of thinking that, because the Son of man doth not visibly come in the clouds then, he will never so come; no, he will come after that. And here he foretels,

JAMIESON, "But in those days, after that tribulation — “Immediately after the tribulation of those days” (Mat_24:29).

the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.

COFFMAN, "THE PROPHECY OF THE END

After that tribulation ... Not "after THE tribulation," as if this had been an

apocalypse, but after the destruction of Jerusalem.

The sun shall be darkened, and the moon ... Some have construed these words as

a metaphorical reference to the covering of the Sun of righteousness, so as to

reduce and darken the light, accomplished by the devices of wicked men and to

the failure of the church (the moon) to shine any more as God intended by

reflecting the true Light that came into the world. Of course, such could be the

meaning; but it seems to this interpreter that such an event would compromise

the promise that "the gates of hell" shall not prevail against God's church.

Therefore, the view here is that the center of our solar system will fail at the time

of the end, involving as a result the failure also of the moon. If the sun was

darkened at Calvary, why not again at the Second Coming?

BURKITT, "Our Saviour goes on in figurative expressions, to set forth the

calamities that should befall the Jewish nation immediately after Jerusalem's

destruction. The sun shall be darkened; that is, all their glory and excellency

shall be eclipsed, all their wealth and prosperity shall be laid waste, their whole

government, civil and ecclesiastical, destroyed; and such marks of misery found

upon them, as never were seen upon a people. Those that apply this to the

general judgment, understand the word literally, that the sun and moon will then

have their influences suspended; that the holy angels will be sent forth to gather

the elect from all quarters of the world, with the sound of the trumpet, says St.

Matthew. Prfobably, as there was an audible sound of a trumpet at the giving of

law, so three shall be the like sound of a trumpet, when Christ shall summon the

world to judgment, for transgressing of that law. A joyful sound will this be to

the friends of Christ; a doleful, dreadful sound in the ears of his enemies.

BENSON, "Mark 13:24-31. But in those days — Of vengeance; after that

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tribulation — Attending the siege and taking of Jerusalem; the sun shall be

darkened, &c. — Our Lord having, in the preceding part of his discourse, given

his disciples a particular account of the various circumstances which should

precede and accompany the destruction of Jerusalem, proceeds now to describe

the dissolution of the Jewish polity, and the abolition of the Mosiac economy, in

all the pomp of language and imagery made use of by the ancient prophets, when

they foretold the overthrow of cities and states. The expressions are highly

figurative, and signify the passing away of all the glory, excellence, and

prosperity of the nation: and the introduction of universal sadness, misery, and

confusion; that the Jewish polity, both civil and religious, should be destroyed;

that the Jews should be no more a people, united under a form of government

administered by themselves, and possessing their own country. See notes on

Matthew 24:29-35.

CONSTABLE, "Verse 24-25

In contrast to the appearance of false Messiahs, the true Messiah will appear

after the predicted Tribulation. [Note: Bruce, 1:431.] This is, of course, a

reference to the Second Coming, not the Rapture. The Rapture terminates the

church age, a period of time within the inter-advent age. The Olivet Discourse

deals with the larger period, the inter-advent age, and does not refer to the

church, though the church exists during most of the inter-advent age. The Book

of Revelation gives further information about the celestial phenomena that will

happen then (Revelation 6-18; cf. 2 Peter 3:10). However the Old Testament

prophets also predicted these things (Isaiah 13:10; Isaiah 24:23; Isaiah 34:4;

Ezekiel 32:7-8; Joel 2:10; Joel 2:30-31; Joel 3:15; Amos 8:9). If we take the wars,

earthquakes, and famines of Mark 13:7-8 literally, and I think we should, we

should probably understand these phenomena literally too.

25 the stars will fall from the sky,

and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[c]

GILL, "And the stars of heaven shall fall,.... The Jewish Rabbins and doctors, who fell off from the written word, and compiled their "Misna", or oral law, their book of traditions, and set it up above the Bible, the foundation of which was laid immediately upon their dispersion.

And the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken; the ordinances of the legal dispensation, which were shaken before, but now so shaken as to be removed; compare Hag_2:6 with Heb_12:26; See Gill on Mat_24:29.

HENRY, " The final dissolution of the present frame and fabric of the world; even of that part of it which seems least liable to change, the upper part, the pure and more refined part; The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall no more give her light; for they shall be quite outshone by the glory of the Son of man, Isa_24:23. The

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stars of heaven, that from the beginning had kept their place and regular motion, shall fall as leaves in autumn; and the powers that are in heaven, the heavenly bodies, the fixed stars, shall be shaken.

JAMIESON, "And the stars of heaven shall fall — “and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth” (Luk_21:25, Luk_21:26).

and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken — Though the grandeur of this language carries the mind over the head of all periods but that of Christ’s Second Coming, nearly every expression will be found used of the Lord’s coming in terrible national judgments: as of Babylon (Isa_13:9-13); of Idumea (Isa_34:1, Isa_34:2, Isa_34:4, Isa_34:8-10); of Egypt (Eze_32:7, Eze_32:8); compare also Psa_18:7-15; Isa_24:1, Isa_24:17-19; Joe_2:10, Joe_2:11, etc. We cannot therefore consider the mere strength of this language a proof that it refers exclusively or primarily to the precursors of the final day, though of course in “that day” it will have its most awful fulfillment.

COFFMAN, "These words too are taken to be a strong metaphor for the fall of

mighty princes and rulers; but, since it is a good rule of interpretation that the

secondary fulfillment of prophecy greatly exceeds in scope and significance the

first fulfillment; and since, in the first fulfillment of this chapter, many notable

princes and rulers among both the Romans and the Jews fell, it is the conviction

here that something far more is prophesied of the end of all things.

Regarding the quibble that "stars cannot fall," it need only be remarked that if

our earth was suddenly blasted out of its orbit, they would certainly appear to

fall. Moreover God has promised a second time to "shake" this earth in the sense

of removing it (Hebrews 12:26). We should believe God's promise and construe

the words here as a reference to cataclysmic future events incapable of

description by finite men. In this connection, see 2 Peter 3:8-13. Bickersteth's

comment is pertinent:

The powers may here mean those great unseen forces of nature by which the

universe is held in equipoise. When the Creator wills it, these powers shall be

shaken. "The pillars of heaven tremble" (Job 26:1); "And all the host of heaven

shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll" (Isaiah

34:4). As the end of the world approaches, the elements will quiver and

tremble.[43]

ENDNOTE:

[43] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 201.

26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man

coming in clouds with great power and glory.

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GILL, "And then shall they see the son of man,.... Not in person, but in the power of his wrath and vengeance; of which the Jews then had a convincing evidence, and full proof; and even of his being come in the flesh, as if they had seen him in person: this shows, that the sign of the son of man, in Mat_24:30 is the same with the son of man:

coming in the clouds with great power and glory; not to judgment, but having taken vengeance on the Jewish nation, to set up his kingdom and glory in the Gentile world; See Gill on Mat_24:30.

HENRY, "The visible appearance of the Lord Jesus, to whom the judgment of that day shall be committed (Mar_13:26); Then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds. Probably he will come over that very place where he sat when he said this; for the clouds are in the lower region of the air. He shall come with great power and glory, such as will be suited to the errand on which he comes. Every eye shall then see him.

JAMIESON, "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory — In Mat_24:30, this is given most fully: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man,” etc. That this language finds its highest interpretation in the Second Personal Coming of Christ, is most certain. But the question is, whether that be the primary sense of it as it stands here? Now if the reader will turn to Dan_7:13, Dan_7:14, and connect with it the preceding verses, he will find, we think, the true key to our Lord’s meaning here. There the powers that oppressed the Church - symbolized by rapacious wild beasts - are summoned to the bar of the Great God, who as the Ancient of days seats Himself, with His assessors, on a burning Throne: thousand thousands ministering to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before Him. “The judgment is set, and the books are opened.” Who that is guided by the mere words would doubt that this is a description of the Final Judgment? And yet nothing is clearer than that it is not,but a description of a vast temporal judgment, upon organized bodies of men, for their incurable hostility to the kingdom of God upon earth. Well, after the doom of these has been pronounced and executed, and room thus prepared for the unobstructed development of the kingdom of God over the earth, what follows? “I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like THE SON OF MAN came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they [the angelic attendants] brought Him near before Him.” For what purpose? To receive investiture in the kingdom, which, as Messiah, of right belonged to Him. Accordingly, it is added, “And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” Comparing this with our Lord’s words, He seems to us, by “the Son of man [on which phrase, see on Joh_1:51] coming in the clouds with great power and glory,” to mean, that when judicial vengeance shall once have been executed upon Jerusalem, and the ground thus cleared for the unobstructed establishment of His own kingdom, His true regal claims and rights would be visibly and gloriously asserted and manifested. See on Luk_9:28 (with its parallels in Mat_17:1; Mar_9:2), in which nearly the same language is employed, and where it can hardly be understood of anything else than

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the full and free establishment of the kingdom of Christ on the destruction of Jerusalem. But what is that “sign of the Son of man in heaven?” Interpreters are not agreed. But as before Christ came to destroy Jerusalem some appalling portents were seen in the air, so before His Personal appearing it is likely that something analogouswill be witnessed, though of what nature it would be vain to conjecture.

COFFMAN, "That this is a literal factual statement of what Christ promised and

the holy apostles believed to be true is undeniable. Writing a full generation after

the resurrection of Christ, Mark could not thus have quoted Jesus as referring to

any ordinary spiritual event. The end of the age and the second coming of the

Son of God are promised here.

BI, "The Son of Man coming in the clouds.

Christ’s second advent

It has been as much a hope as a fear in all religions of men that there would be a verdict which would on the one hand bring forth men’s righteousness as the light, and on the other change their pride in sin to shame. For a new start the great thing to be longed for is that all men and things might find their proper level; the evil, its rebuke and penalty; the good, its crown and its reward. Therefore there will be a judgment, and Christ will be the Judge. Through Him the worlds were made; through Him salvation wrought; and through Him judgment will be executed. We think too little of that day whose glory pales the sun, and of the fact that many things, now seeming great, will then seem trifling and contemptible, and much obscure faithfulness will be lifted into light and glory. The uses we should make of this truth are various.

1. It should quicken our sense of responsibility. The thought that God ignores our deeds permits good to languish and evil to thrive. The belief that God will bring all into judgment, stimulates good, represses evil.

2. It should give us a more vivid sense of God’s providential presence. On this world He walked; on it He again will stand. He is the living God, and is guiding the course of all events by His loving hand.

3. It should comfort us. Man’s judgment of us is harsh; our judgment of ourselves unwise. But what could we ask for more than to be judged by Christ? (R. Glover.)

The second coming of Christ

Brethren! the earnest belief in and the longing for the coming of Jesus Christ has been too much surrendered to one school of interpreters in unfulfilled prophecy, who have no greater claim to possess it than the rest of us. It belongs, or ought to belong, to us all. And I bring it to you, dear friends, as a sharp test-what do you feel about that coming? Can you say, “More than they that wait for the morning, my soul waiteth for Thee”? Does your heart leap when you think that Christ, who is ever present, is drawing near to us? All the signs of the times, intellectual and social, the rottenness of much of our life, the abounding luxury, the hideous vice that flaunts unblamed and unabashed before us all; the unsettlement of opinion in which it is unbelief that seems to be “removing the mountains” that all men thought stood fast and firm forever; all these things cry out to Him whose ear is not deaf-even if our voice does not join in the cry-and beseech Him to come. And I believe that a “Day of

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the Lord,” dreadful and radiant with the brightness of destructive power, which is also constructive and merciful love, is hanging over much of the world, and not a little of the Church, at this moment. (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Sight of Christ as Judge

Mr. G-was mayor of the town of Maidenhead not many years after the late Rev. J. Cooke settled in it. One Sabbath evening he attended the meeting house, and heard Mr. Cooke preach. The text was, “Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him” (Rev_1:7). His attention was powerfully arrested: an arrow of conviction entered his heart; he became speedily a changed man, and regularly attended the means of grace. He had been a jovial companion, a good singer, and a most gay and cheerful member of the corporation. The change was soon perceived. His brethren, at one of their social parties, rallied him upon Methodism. But he stood firm by his principles, and said, “Gentlemen, if you will listen patiently, I will tell you why I go to meeting, and do not attend your card table. I went one Sunday evening to hear Mr. Cooke. He took for his text, ‘Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him.’ Your eye shall see Him!” In short, he gave them so faithful and powerful an epitome of the sermon, and applied it so closely to them individually, marking the words, “every eye shall see Him,” with such emphasis, and pointing to them, said, “Your eye,” and “your eye,” that they were satisfied with his reasons for going, and never again durst speak to him on the subject. (Biblical Museum.)

Science points to the end of the world

Is it not probable, it may be asked, that the time will come when the globe itself will come to an end? And if it be so, can science detect the provision that is possibly made for this consummation of all things? We have seen that the atmosphere has for long been undergoing a change; that at a very early period it was charged with carbonic acid, the carbon of which now forms part of animal and vegetable structures. We saw, also, that at first it contained no ammonia; but since vegetation and decomposition began, the nitrogen that existed in the nitrates of the earth, and some of the nitrogen of the atmosphere, have been gradually entering into new combinations, and forming ammonia; and the quantity of ammonia, a substance at first non-existent, has gradually increased, and as it is volatile, the atmosphere now always contains some of it. The quantity has now become so great in it that it can always be detected by chemical analysis. There is an evident tendency of it to increase in the atmosphere. Now supposing, it to go on increasing up to a certain point, it forms with air a mixture that, upon the application of fire, is violently explosive. An atmosphere charged with ammonia is liable to explode whenever a flash of lightning passes through it. And such an explosion would doubtless destroy, perhaps without leaving traces of, the present order of things. (Dr. Kemp.)

27 And he will send his angels and gather his

elect from the four winds, from the ends of the

earth to the ends of the heavens.

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GILL, "And then he shall send his angels,.... The ministers of the Gospel to preach it, and plant more churches among the Gentiles, since that at Jerusalem was entirely broken up:

and shall gather together his elect; that is, he the son of man, or Christ, shall gather them by the ministry of his servants; or "they shall gather them", as the Ethiopic version reads; and as Beza says it is read in a certain copy: these ministers shall be the means of gathering such whom God has chosen from all eternity, to obtain salvation by Christ, out of the world, and unto Christ, and into a Gospel church state: even

from the uttermost part of the earth, to the uttermost part of the heaven; be they where they will, on earth, and under the whole heavens; See Gill on Mat_24:31.

HENRY, "The gathering together of all the elect to him (Mar_13:27); He shall send his angels, and gather together his elect to him, to meet him in the air, 1Th_4:17. They shall be fetched from one end of the world to the other, so that none shall be missing from that general assembly; they shall be fetched from the uttermost part of the earth, most remote from the places where Christ's tribunal shall be set, and shall be brought to the uttermost part of heaven; so sure, so swift, so easy, shall their conveyance be, that there shall none of them miscarry, though they were to be brought from the uttermost part of the earth one way, to the uttermost part of the heaven another way. A faithful Israelite shall be carried safely, though it were from the utmost border of the land of bondage to the utmost border of the land of promise.

JAMIESON, "And then shall he send his angels — “with a great sound of a trumpet” (Mat_24:31).

and shall gather together his elect, etc. — As the tribes of Israel were anciently gathered together by sound of trumpet (Exo_19:13, Exo_19:16, Exo_19:19; Lev_23:24; Psa_81:3-5), so any mighty gathering of God’s people, by divine command, is represented as collected by sound of trumpet (Isa_27:13; compare Rev_11:15); and the ministry of angels, employed in all the great operations of Providence, is here held forth as the agency by which the present assembling of the elect is to be accomplished. Lightfoot thus explains it: “When Jerusalem shall be reduced to ashes, and that wicked nation cut off and rejected, then shall the Son of man send His ministers with the trumpet of the Gospel, and they shall gather His elect of the several nations, from the four corners of heaven: so that God shall not want a Church, although that ancient people of His be rejected and cast off: but that ancient Jewish Church being destroyed, a new Church shall be called out of the Gentiles.” But though something like this appears to be the primary sense of the verse, in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem, no one can fail to see that the language swells beyond any gathering of a human family into a Church upon earth, and forces the thoughts onward to that gathering of the Church “at the last trump,” to meet the Lord in the air, which is to wind up the present scene. Still, this is not, in our judgment, the direct subject of the prediction; for Mar_13:28 limits the whole prediction to the generation then existing.

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COFFMAN, "The angels ... are always associated with the final judgment in the

New Testament (Matthew 13:41,49; 2 Thessalonians 1:7, etc.).

Elect from the four winds ... This is an idiom meaning "from everywhere."

Uttermost part of earth ... heaven ... That both earth and heaven are mentioned

here as places from which God will gather the elect is remarkable, recalling

Paul's words: "All things in Christ, the things in the heavens, and the things

upon the earth" (Ephesians 1:10).

COFFMAN, "Evidently Jesus will bring all the elect together. This implies the

resurrection of Old Testament saints (Daniel 12:2) and Tribulation saints who

have died (Revelation 6:9-11). Probably Christians, saints of the church age who

have gone to heaven at the Rapture or death, will return with Him (1

Thessalonians 4:17). Saints living on the earth when Jesus returns will also

assemble to Him (cf. Matthew 25). Jesus pictured all believers converging to Him

at His second coming whether alive or dead, on earth or in heaven. He will

become the universal center of attention, and then He will begin reigning.

Unbelievers will not experience resurrection until the end of Jesus' millennial

reign (Revelation 20:7-15).

28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As

soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come

out, you know that summer is near.

GILL, "Now learn a parable of the fig tree,.... Our Lord was now upon the Mount of Olives, in one part of which fig trees grew in great plenty, and one, or more, might be near, and in view; and it was the time of year, the passover being at hand, for its putting forth:

when her branch is yet tender; and soft and opening, through the sap now in motion:

and putteth forth leaves; from the branches:

ye know, that summer is near; from such an appearance on the fig tree; See Gill on Mat_24:32.

HENRY, "We have here the application of this prophetical sermon; now learn to

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look forward in a right manner.

I. “As to the destruction of Jerusalem, expect it to come very shortly; as when the branch of the fig-tree becomes soft, and the leaves sprout forth, ye expect that summer will come shortly, Mar_13:28. When second causes begin to work, ye expect their effects in their proper order and time. So when ye see these things come to pass, when ye see the Jewish nation embroiled in wars, distracted by false Christs and prophets, and drawing upon them the displeasure of the Romans, especially when ye see them persecuting you for your Master's sake, and thereby standing to what they did when they put him to death, and repeating it, and so filling up the measure of their iniquity, then say that their ruin is nigh, even at the door, and provide for yourselves accordingly.” The disciples themselves were indeed all of them, except John, taken away from the evil to come, but the next generation whom they were to train up, would live to see it; and by these instructions which Christ left behind him would be kept from sharing in it; “This generation that is now rising up, shall not all be worn off before all these things come to pass, which I have told you of, relating to Jerusalem, and they shall begin to take effect now shortly. And as this destruction is near and within ken, so it is sure. The decree is gone forth, it is a consummation determined,” Dan_9:27. Christ doth not speak these things, merely to frighten them; no, they are declarations of God's fixed purpose; “Heaven and earth shall pass away, at the end of time; but my words shall not pass away (Mar_13:31), not one of these predictions shall fail of a punctual accomplishment.”

JAMIESON, "Now learn a parable of the fig tree — “Now from the fig tree learn the parable,” or the high lesson which this teaches.

When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves — “its leaves.”

BARCLAY, "Be On The Watch (Mark 13:28-37)

13:28-37 Jesus said, "Learn the lesson the fig-tree offers you. As soon as its

branches become tender, and it puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is

near. So must you too know, when you see these things happening, that the end is

near at the doors. This is the truth I tell you--this generation will not pass away

until these things happen. Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will

never pass away. But no man knows about that day and that hour, not even the

angels in heaven, not even the Son, no one except the Father. Be watchful, be

wakeful, be praying, for you do not know when the time is. It is like when a man

goes abroad, and leaves his home, and puts his servants in charge, and orders the

door-keeper to be on the watch. So then be watchful! For you do not know when

the master of the house comes, late in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrow, or in

the early day. Watch! in case he comes suddenly and finds you sleeping. What I

say to you, I say to all--be on the watch!"

There are three special things to note in this passage.

(i) It is sometimes held that when Jesus said that these things were to happen

within this generation he was in error. But Jesus was right, for this sentence does

not refer to the Second Coming. It could not when the next sentence says he does

not know when that day will be. It refers to Jesus' prophecies about the fall of

Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple and they were abundantly fulfilled.

(ii) Jesus says that he does not know the day or the hour when he will come

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again. There were things which even he left without questioning in the hand of

God. There can be no greater warning and rebuke to those who work out dates

and timetables as to when he will come again. Surely it is nothing less than

blasphemy for us to enquire into that of which our Lord consented to be

ignorant.

(iii) Jesus draws a practical conclusion. We are like men who know that their

master will come, but who do not know when. We live in the shadow of eternity.

That is no reason for fearful and hysterical expectation. But it means that day by

day our work must be completed. It means that we must so live that it does not

matter when he comes. It gives us the great task of making every day fit for him

to see and being at any moment ready to meet him face to face. AH life becomes a

preparation to meet the King.

-----------------------------------------

We began by saying that this was a very difficult chapter, but that in the end it

had permanent truth to tell us.

(i) It tells us that only the man of God can see into the secrets of history. Jesus

saw the fate of Jerusalem although others were blind to it. A real statesman must

be a man of God. To guide his country a man must be himself God-guided. Only

the man who knows God can enter into something of the plan of God.

(ii) It tells us two things about the doctrine of the Second Coming.

(a) It tells us that it contains a fact we forget or disregard at our peril.

(b) It tells us that the imagery in which it is clothed is the imagery of Jesus' own

time, and that to speculate on it is useless, when Jesus himself was content not to

know. The one thing of which we can be sure is that history is going somewhere;

there is a consummation to come.

(iii) It tells us that of all things to forget God and to become immersed in earth is

most foolish. The wise man is he who never forgets that he must be ready when

the summons comes. If he lives in that memory, for him the end will not be

terror, but eternal joy.

COFFMAN, "THE LESSON FROM THE FIG TREE

The conclusion to be drawn from observance of the fig tree is stated in the next

verse. In the realm of nature, the budding of trees and the appearance of the

foliage have the invariable meaning that the summer is not very far away.

BURKITT, "Here our blessed Saviour declares two things with reference to his

coming.

1. The certainty of the thing itself.

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2. The uncertainty of the time. The certainty of his coming he sets forth by tihs

similitude of the fig-tree, whose beginning to bud declares the summer at hand.

Thus our Saviour tells them, that when they should see the forementioned signs,

they might conclude the destruction of their city and temple to be nigh at hand;

and accordingly, some then living did see these predictions fulfilled.

Observe, 2. The uncertainty as to the precise time when this judgment should

come; no angels in heaven, nor creature upon earth, could determine the time;

only the glorious persons in the godhead, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Learn hence, That all things are not revealed to the angels themselves; but such

things only as it concerns them to know, and the time of the day of judgment is

kept by God as a secret to himself; we are not to know the hour, to the intent we

may be upon our watch every hour; Christ himself did not know it as a man, but

as God only. The knowledge and revelation of this, was no part of Christ's

prophetic office! it being one of those times and seasons which the Father has put

in his own power, Acts 1:7. Consider Christ as God, or the second person in the

Trinity, and to affirm that there is anything which he does not know, is

blasphemy; but consider him as the Messias, and to say there were some things

which Christ, as such, did not know, is not blasphemy. For though Christ as God

was equal with the Father, yet as Messias, or God-man, he was inferior to the

Father, his servant, or messenger, and could do nothing of himself, and did not

know all things.

BI, "That summer is near.

A sign of the eternal summer approaching

When Dr. Rees preached last in North Wales a friend said to him-one of those who are always reminding people that they are getting old-“You are whitening fast, Dr. Rees.” The old gentleman did not say anything then; but when he got to the pulpit he referred to it, and said, “There is a wee white flower that comes up through the earth at this season of the year-sometimes it comes up through the snow and frost; but we are all glad to see the snowdrop, because it proclaims that the winter is over and that the summer is at hand. A friend reminded me last night that I was whitening fast. But heed not that, brother; it is to me a proof that my winter will soon be over, that I shall have done presently with the cold east winds and the frosts of earth, and that my summer-my eternal summer-is at hand.” (Heber Evans.)

29 Even so, when you see these things

happening, you know that it[d] is near, right at

the door.

GILL, "So ye, in like manner,.... This is an accommodation of the parable to the

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present case:

when ye shall see these things come to pass; the signs preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, and especially the abomination of desolation, or the Roman army surrounding it:

know that it, or he is nigh, even at at the doors; either that the destruction of Jerusalem is near; or that the son of man is just ready to come to take vengeance on it; or as Luke says, Luk_21:31, the kingdom of God is nigh at hand; or a more glorious display of the kingly power of Christ, in the destruction of his enemies, and a greater spread of his Gospel in the Gentile world; See Gill on Mat_24:33.

HENRY, "II. “As to the end of the world, do not enquire when it will come, for it is not a question fit to be asked, for of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man; it is a thing at a great distance; the exact time is fixed in the counsel of God, but is not revealed by any word of God, either to men on earth, or to angels in heaven; the angels shall have timely notice to prepare to attend in that day, and it shall be published, when it comes to the children of men, with sound of trumpet; but, at present, men and angels are kept in the dark concerning the precise time of it, that they may both attend to their proper services in the present day.” But it follows, neither the Son; but is there any thing which the Son is ignorant of? We read indeed of a book which was sealed, till the Lamb opened the seals; but did not he know what was in it, before the seals were opened? Was not he privy to the writing of it? There were those in the primitive times, who taught from this text, that there were some things that Christ, as man, was ignorant of; and from these were called Agnoetae;they said, “It was no more absurd to say so, than to say that his human soul suffered grief and fear;” and many of the orthodox fathers approved of this. Some would evade it, by saying that Christ spoke this in a way of prudential economy, to divert the disciples from further enquiry: but to this one of the ancients answers, It is not fit

to speak too nicely in this matter - oudeipanuakribologein, so Leontius in Dr.

Hammond, “It is certain (says Archbishop Tillotson) that Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of any thing; but the divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, did communicate itself to his human soul, according to the divine pleasure, so that his human nature might sometimes not know some things; therefore Christ is said to grow in wisdom (Luk_2:52), which he could not be said to do, if the human nature of Christ did necessarily know all things by virtue of its union with the divinity.” Dr. Lightfoot explains it thus; Christ calls himself the Son, as Messiah. Now the Messiah, as such, was the father's servant (Isa_42:1), sent and deputed by him, and as such a one he refers himself often to his Father's will and command, and owns he did nothing of himself (Joh_5:19); in like manner he might be said to know nothing of himself. The revelation of Jesus Christ was what God gave unto him, Rev_1:1. He thinks, therefore, that we are to distinguish between those excellencies and perfections of his, which resulted from the personal union between the divine and human nature, and those which flowed from the anointing of the Spirit; from the former flowed the infinite dignity of his perfect freedom from all sin; but from the latter flowed his power of working miracles, and his foreknowledge of things to come. What therefore (saith he) was to be revealed by him to his church, he was pleased to take, not from the union of the human nature with the divine, but from the revelation of the Spirit, by which he yet knew not this, but the Father only knows it; that is, God only, the Deity; for (as Archbishop Tillotson explains it) it is not used here personally, in distinction from the Son and the Holy Ghost, but as the Father is, Fons et Principium Deitatis - The Fountain of Deity.

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JAMIESON, "So ye, in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass — rather, “coming to pass.”

know that it — “the kingdom of God” (Luk_21:31).

is nigh, even at the doors — that is, the full manifestation of it; for till then it admitted of no full development. In Luke (Luk_21:28) the following words precede these: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” - their redemption, in the first instance certainly, from Jewish oppression (1Th_2:14-16; Luk_11:52): but in the highest sense of these words, redemption from all the oppressions and miseries of the present state at the second appearing of the Lord Jesus.

COFFMAN, "He is nigh ... By this rendition the translators evidently understood

this to be a reference to the Son of man, which is surely indicated by the

masculine pronoun; but the Greek word in this place, as also in Matthew 24:33,

is "it," not "he." This facilitates the application of the fig tree parallel to both

events, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Advent. But just how can

the latter event be "nigh"? Its near approach shall be indicated by the

appearance of the conditions described in this chapter as being antecedent to it;

and the application of the words "it is nigh" to both events does not mean they

were to occur simultaneously. Of course there is a sense in which the Second

Advent is always "nigh." As Cranfield put it:

If we realize that the Incarnation-Crucifixion-Resurrection-Ascension, on the

one hand, and the Parousia (Second Coming), on the other, belong essentially

together and are in a real sense one Event, one divine Act, being held apart only

by the mercy of God who desires to give men opportunity for faith and

repentance, then we can see that in a very real sense the latter is always

imminent now that the former has happened. It was, and still is, true to say that

the Parousia is at hand and indeed this, so far from being an embarrassing

mistake on the part either of Jesus or of the early Church, is an essential part of

the Christian faith. Ever since the Incarnation, men have been living in the last

days.[44]

ENDNOTE:

[44] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 408.

30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly

not pass away until all these things have

happened.

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CLARKE, "This generation - �γενεαα!τη, This very race of men. It is certain

that this word has two meanings in the Scriptures; that given in the text, and that above. Generation signifies a period of a certain number of years, sometimes more, sometimes less. In Deu_1:35; Deu_2:14, Moses uses the word to point out a term of thirty-eight years, which was precisely the number in the present case; for Jerusalem was destroyed about thirty-eight years after our Lord delivered this prediction. But as there are other events in this chapter, which certainly look beyond the destruction of Jerusalem, and which were to take place before the Jews should cease to be a distinct people, I should therefore prefer the translation given above. See on Mat_24:34(note).

GILL, "Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass,.... Not the generation of men, in general, or Jews in particular, nor of Christians; but that present generation of men, they should not all go off the stage of life,

till all these things be done; which were now predicted by Christ, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the signs of it, and what, should immediately follow upon it; See Gill on Mat_24:34.

JAMIESON, "Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass fill all these things be done — or “fulfilled” (Mat_24:34; Luk_21:32). Whether we take this to mean that the whole would be fulfilled within the limits of the generation then current, or, according to a usual way of speaking, that the generation then existing would not pass away without seeing a begun fulfillment of this prediction, the facts entirely correspond. For either the whole was fulfilled in the destruction accomplished by Titus, as many think; or, if we stretch it out, according to others, till the thorough dispersion of the Jews a little later, under Adrian, every requirement of our Lord’s words seems to be met.

COFFMAN, "This generation ... has two meanings. First, it means that group of

people alive at any given time on the earth; this first meaning, as should have

been expected, applies to the first event of the prophecy of the destruction of the

temple and the city, which, right on schedule, occurred while many who were

alive when Christ uttered these words were still alive. Second, it means a strain

of people, in this case the Jewish people (this understanding of the word going all

the way back to Jerome).[45] Logically, this secondary meaning of the word

applies to the second event predicted, namely the end of time. So understood, it

simply means that the Jewish people shall not perish until the summation of all

things, a fact also categorically affirmed by Paul in Romans 11:25. The continued

existence of Israel, therefore, despite the avowed efforts of mighty rulers to

annihilate that people, is a fulfillment of this prophecy.

ENDNOTE:

[45] Ibid., p.

CONSTABLE, "Jesus probably meant that the fulfillment of "all these things"

(Mark 13:4 b) would begin in the generation of His present disciples, but

complete fulfillment would not come until later. [Note: E.g., C. E. Stowe, "The

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Eschatology of Christ, With Special Reference to the Discourse in Matt. XXIV.

and XXV.," Bibliotheca Sacra 7 (July 1850):471.] Another view is that by

"generation" Jesus meant the entire Jewish race. [Note: E.g., Wiersbe, 1:158.]

"All" those things began during that generation if one interprets "all those

things" as the signs as a whole (Mark 13:9-25). The Greek word genetai

translated "take place" (NASB) or "have happened" (NIV) means "have come

into existence" and permits this interpretation. One could translate this Greek

verb "have begun to come into existence."

31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my

words will never pass away.

GILL, "Heaven and earth shall pass away,.... Which may be understood either affirmatively, as what will be at the second coming of Christ; or comparatively, rather than any thing said by Christ should; and so shows the certainty and irreversibleness of his predictions, as it follows:

but my words shall not pass away; which is true of all the words of Christ he ever spake, and here particularly relates to those he had just delivered, concerning the calamities that should come upon the Jewish nation; See Gill on Mat_24:35.

JAMIESON, "Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away — the strongest possible expression of the divine authority by which He spake; not as Moses or Paul might have said of their own inspiration, for such language would be unsuitable in any merely human mouth.

SBC, "Things Temporal and Things Eternal.

I. First, our Lord declares to us, "Heaven and earth shall pass away." By heaven and earth are meant this state of things of which we have experience; this earth as it is an habitation for human beings; the sun as it is a light to us, the moon and the stars as in any way connected with man. We know that we ourselves shall all die; nay, we know also by past experience that nations many times die; and, so far as it is a death to perish utterly from the knowledge of future ages, so there are many generations of the whole human race which in this sense are to us dead. But our Lord’s words go further than this; they tell us that there will be an absolute end of all worldly things whatever, that all the human race shall come to an end.

II. But yet I quite allow that this portion of the text without the other might, and I think would, have very little practical effect. For granting that heaven and earth shall pass away, and that our highest earthly labours are bestowed therefore on that which is perishable, yet still if this perishable is all that we know of, it becomes after all of very great and paramount importance to us; it may be but a poor thing to live, but live we must by the very necessity of our nature, and we must love this life, if we know of nothing better. And therefore simple declarations of the perishableness of earthly things are really of no effect whatever. No man heeds them, or can heed them,

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for our nature repels them. It is, however, altogether different when we take in the second part of the text, and are told that Christ’s words shall not pass away. For if there be anything in the world eternal, then that which is perishable, even though it may last for many years, or many ages, must become infinitely insignificant in comparison. If some of our works must pass away utterly and some abide for ever, the glory and value of the first becomes as nothing by reason of the greater glory of the second. We have a work that is never to perish, a suffering yielding a multiplied harvest of blessing, if we firmly believe that there are things which shall not pass away.

T. Arnold, Sermons, vol. v., p. 185.

References: Mar_13:31.—A. Blomfield, Sermons in Town and Country, p. 16; Preacher’s Monthly, vol. iv., p. 193.

COFFMAN, "Heaven and earth shall pass away ... This is an affirmation by

Christ that the physical removal of heaven and earth was envisioned by the

preceding prophecy. Christ was clearly talking about the cataclysmic destruction

of the earth and its environment (at least), a fact properly understood by the

apostles and mentioned in their writings, as for example, in 2 Peter 3:8-13, etc.

This is also a prophecy that the words of Christ "shall not pass away." Even the

most diligent efforts of radical, unbelieving scholars to discredit the gospels have

an opposite effect; because, if they truly believed that the words of Christ were

not true, there is no power on earth that could induce them to waste a lifetime of

employment on the study and criticism of his words. The wrath of man still

praises God. The words of the Lord have not passed away, nor shall they ever

pass away until all shall be fulfilled.

CONSTABLE, ""Heaven and earth" is a figure of speech (merism) for all

creation (cf. Genesis 1:1). The universe as we know it will end one day

(Revelation 21:1), but Jesus' word will remain. Jesus was referring specifically to

His predictions in this chapter, but His statement was general and includes all

His words. By saying this about His Word Jesus was implying that He was God

(cf. Psalms 102:25-27; Isaiah 40:6-8; Isaiah 51:6). The fulfillment of this

prophecy is certain.

BI, "But My words shall not pass away.

The perpetuity of Christ’s words

Contrast the apparent transitoriness of “words” with the solid earth and the “eternal heavens.” Yet when these shall have faded away the words of Christ will still endure.

I. In a literal sense the text reminds us that the words which Jesus spake while on earth are permanently associated with our whole life.

II. All our literature is enriched by these words.

III. That which is spiritual must always be more permanent than the material.

IV. Yet the material prepares the way for the spiritual application.

1. A lesson of warning, since we are in danger of attaching too much importance to the form, and too little to the truth, which the form embodies.

2. A lesson of encouragement; opinions may change and interpretations differ;

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but the truth remains always the same. (F. Wagstaff.)

The Day and Hour Unknown

32 “But about that day or hour no one knows,

not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but

only the Father.

BARNES, "Neither the Son - This text has always presented serious difficulties. It has been asked, If Jesus had a divine nature, how could he say that he knew not the day and hour of a future event? In reply, it has been said that the passage was missing, according to Ambrose, in some Greek manuscripts; but it is now found in all, and there can be little doubt that the passage is genuine. Others have said that the verb rendered “knoweth” means sometimes to “make” known or to reveal, and that the passage means, “that day and hour none makes known, neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father.” It is true that the word has sometimes that meaning, as in 1Co_2:2, but then it is natural to ask where has “the Father” made it known? In what place did he reveal it? After all, the passage has no more difficulty than that in Luk_2:52, where it is said that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature. He had a human nature. He grew as a man in knowledge. As a man his knowledge must be finite, for the faculties of the human soul are not infinite. As a man he often spoke, reasoned, inquired, felt, feared, read, learned, ate, drank, and walked. Why are not all these, which imply that he was a “man” - that, “as a man,” he was not infinite - why are not these as difficult as the want of knowledge respecting the particular “time” of a future event, especially when that time must be made known by God, and when he chose that the man Christ Jesus should grow, and think, and speak “as a man?”

CLARKE, "Neither the Son - This clause is not found either in Matthew or Luke; and Ambrose says it was wanting in some Greek copies in his time. To me it is utterly unaccountable, how Jesus, who knew so correctly all the particulars which he here lays down, and which were to a jot and tittle verified by the event - how he who knew that not one stone should be left on another, should be ignorant of the day and hour when this should be done, though Daniel, Dan_9:24, etc., could fix the very year, not less than five hundred years before it happened: how he in whom the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily, and all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, should not know this small matter, I cannot comprehend, but on this ground, that the Deity which dwelt in the man Christ Jesus might, at one time, communicate less of the knowledge of futurity to him than at another. However, I strongly suspect that the clause was not originally in this Gospel. Its not being found in the parallel places in the other evangelists is, in my opinion, a strong presumption against it. But Dr. Macknight, and others, solve this difficulty in the following manner. They suppose

the verb οιδεν to have the force of the Hebrew conjugation Hiphel, in which verbs are

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taken in a causative, declarative, or permissive sense; and that it means here, make known, or promulge, as it is to be understood in 1Co_2:2. This intimates that this secret was not to be made known, either by men or angels, no, not even by the Son of man himself; but it should be made known by the Father only, in the execution of the purposes of his justice. I am afraid this only cuts the knot, but does not untie it.

GILL, "But of that day, and of that hour,.... Of Jerusalem's destruction; for of nothing else had Christ been speaking; and, it is plain, the words are anaphorical, and relate to what goes before:

knoweth no man; nay, they that lived to see it, and have spoken of it, are not agreed about the particular day, when it was; much less did they know it beforehand, or could speak of it, and make it known to others:

no, not the angels which are in heaven; who are acquainted with many of the divine secrets, and have been employed in the imparting them to others, and in the executing divine purposes:

neither the Son; Christ, as the son of man; though he did know it as the Son of God, who knows all things, and so this; but as the son of man, and from his human nature he had no knowledge of any thing future: what knowledge he had of future things in his humanity, he had from his deity; nor, as man, had he any commission to make known, nor did he make known the day of God's vengeance on the Jews:

but the Father; who has the times and seasons in his own power, for the executing of any particular judgment on a nation, or the general one; See Gill on Mat_24:36.

HENRY, "II. “As to the end of the world, do not enquire when it will come, for it is not a question fit to be asked, for of that day, and that hour, knoweth no man; it is a thing at a great distance; the exact time is fixed in the counsel of God, but is not revealed by any word of God, either to men on earth, or to angels in heaven; the angels shall have timely notice to prepare to attend in that day, and it shall be published, when it comes to the children of men, with sound of trumpet; but, at present, men and angels are kept in the dark concerning the precise time of it, that they may both attend to their proper services in the present day.” But it follows, neither the Son; but is there any thing which the Son is ignorant of? We read indeed of a book which was sealed, till the Lamb opened the seals; but did not he know what was in it, before the seals were opened? Was not he privy to the writing of it? There were those in the primitive times, who taught from this text, that there were some things that Christ, as man, was ignorant of; and from these were called Agnoetae;they said, “It was no more absurd to say so, than to say that his human soul suffered grief and fear;” and many of the orthodox fathers approved of this. Some would evade it, by saying that Christ spoke this in a way of prudential economy, to divert the disciples from further enquiry: but to this one of the ancients answers, It is not fit

to speak too nicely in this matter - oudeipanuakribologein, so Leontius in Dr.

Hammond, “It is certain (says Archbishop Tillotson) that Christ, as God, could not be ignorant of any thing; but the divine wisdom which dwelt in our Saviour, did communicate itself to his human soul, according to the divine pleasure, so that his human nature might sometimes not know some things; therefore Christ is said to grow in wisdom (Luk_2:52), which he could not be said to do, if the human nature of Christ did necessarily know all things by virtue of its union with the divinity.” Dr.

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Lightfoot explains it thus; Christ calls himself the Son, as Messiah. Now the Messiah, as such, was the father's servant (Isa_42:1), sent and deputed by him, and as such a one he refers himself often to his Father's will and command, and owns he did nothing of himself (Joh_5:19); in like manner he might be said to know nothing of himself. The revelation of Jesus Christ was what God gave unto him, Rev_1:1. He thinks, therefore, that we are to distinguish between those excellencies and perfections of his, which resulted from the personal union between the divine and human nature, and those which flowed from the anointing of the Spirit; from the former flowed the infinite dignity of his perfect freedom from all sin; but from the latter flowed his power of working miracles, and his foreknowledge of things to come. What therefore (saith he) was to be revealed by him to his church, he was pleased to take, not from the union of the human nature with the divine, but from the revelation of the Spirit, by which he yet knew not this, but the Father only knows it; that is, God only, the Deity; for (as Archbishop Tillotson explains it) it is not used here personally, in distinction from the Son and the Holy Ghost, but as the Father is, Fons et Principium Deitatis - The Fountain of Deity.

JAMIESON, "Mar_13:32-37. Warnings to prepare for the coming of Christ suggested by the foregoing prophecy.

It will be observed that, in the foregoing prophecy, as our Lord approaches the crisis of the day of vengeance on Jerusalem and redemption for the Church - at which stage the analogy between that and the day of final vengeance and redemption waxes more striking - His language rises and swells beyond all temporal and partial vengeance, beyond all earthly deliverances and enlargements, and ushers us resistlessly into the scenes of the final day. Accordingly, in these six concluding verses it is manifest that preparation for “THAT DAY” is what our Lord designs to inculcate.

But of that day and that hour — that is, the precise time.

knoweth no man — literally, no one.

no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father — This very remarkable statement regarding “the Son” is peculiar to Mark. Whether it means that the Son was not at that time in possession of the knowledgereferred to, or simply that it was not among the things which He had received to communicate - has been matter of much controversy even among the firmest believers in the proper Divinity of Christ. In the latter sense it was taken by some of the most eminent of the ancient Fathers, and by Luther, Melancthon, and most of the older Lutherans; and it is so taken by Bengel, Lange, Webster and Wilkinson, Chrysostom and others understood it to mean that as man our Lord was ignorant of this. It is taken literally by Calvin, Grotius, Deuteronomy Wette, Meyer, Fritzsche, Stier, Alford, and Alexander.

COFFMAN, "Commenting on this verse, John Wesley said that as a man,

"Christ was no more omniscient than omnipresent."[46] Such is an

oversimplification, however, because there are many examples of Jesus'

omniscience. From this, we conclude that when Christ "emptied himself"

(Philippians 2:7); he emptied himself of some phases of omniscience and not of

others. As Erdman expressed it, "Of that (the day and hour mentioned in this

verse), he who became a man and emptied himself, is voluntarily ignorant."[47]

Bickersteth, however, has the most satisfactory view of this, saying:

The eternal Son, as God, knows perfectly the day and hour; but as man, and as

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God's messenger to men, he did not know it so as to be able to reveal it to men.

As an ambassador, he only communicated those things committed to him.[48]

"The full reality of the incarnation involved such ignorance on the part of Jesus

during his earthly life";[49] and there is nothing any harder to understand here

than in Luke 2:52, where it is written that Jesus advanced in "wisdom and

stature." As Barnes said, "He had a human nature; and, as man, his knowledge

must be finite, for the faculties of the human soul are not infinite."[50] That

Christ did indeed know all the future had just been proved by the accurate

prophecy of the destruction of a city, and this binds us to the conclusion that

whatever was unknown to the Son was unknown to him by his own choice of not

knowing.

[46] John Wesley, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Baker Book House, 1972), en loco.

[47] Charles R. Erdman, The Gospel according to Mark (Philadelphia: The

Westminster Press, 1966), p. 197.

[48] E. Bickersteth, op. cit., p. 202.

[49] C. E. B. Cranfield, op. cit., p. 411.

[50] Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan:

Baker Book House, 1955), p. 379.

COKE, "Mark 13:32. Hour— Though we have given an explanation of this

verse, as well as the whole chapter, in the notes on the parallel passage of St.

Matthew; yet an ingenious commentator having offered a different solution from

that which we have given, we here subjoin it: The word οιδεν, says he, here

seems to have the force of the Hebrew conjugation hiphil, which, in verbs

denoting action, makes that action, whatever it is, pass to another; wherefore

ειδεω, which properly signifies, I know, used in the sense of the conjugation

hiphil, signifies, I make another to know. The word has this meaning without

dispute, 1 Corinthians 2:2. I determined to know [ ειδεναι ] nothing among you,

but Jesus Christ, and him crucified; that is, "I determined to make known, to

preach nothing, &c." So likewise in the text, "But of that day and that hour none

maketh you to know:—No, not the angels, neither the Son, but the Father;

neither man nor angel, neither the Son himself, can reveal the day and hour of

the destruction of Jerusalem, because the Father has determined that it shall not

be revealed." The divine wisdom saw fit to conceal from the apostles the precise

period of the destruction of Jerusalem, that they might be laid under a necessity

of

watchingcontinually;andthisvigilancewasespeciallyproperatthattime,becausethe

success of the gospel depended in a great measure upon the activity and

exemplary lives of those who first published it. It is an excellent observation of

Mr. West, relating to the authors who have recorded this prophesy, which is

expressed in terms so very plain and circumstantial,—that Matthew and Mark

were incontestably dead before the event, as Luke also might probably be; and

as for John, the only evangelist who survived it, it is remarkable that he says

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nothing of it, lest any should assert that the prophesy was forged after the event

happened. See West on the Resurrection, p. 393.

CONSTABLE, ""That day" is the day of Jesus' return contrasted with "those

days" preceding it (Mark 13:17; Mark 13:19; Mark 13:24). Jesus was

distinguishing knowing that an event was approaching and near at hand (Mark

13:28-29) from knowing the exact time of its arrival. God the Father alone knows

the day and the hour of the Son's return (cf. Acts 1:7). Jesus' ignorance of this

information was a result of His incarnation (Philippians 2:6-8). [Note: See

Harold F. Carl, "Only the Father Knows: Historical and Evangelical Responses

to Jesus' Eschatological Ignorance in Mark 13:32," a paper presented at the

Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, Nov. 16, 2000, Nashville,

Tenn.] Jesus may not have known this information when He made this

statement, but He probably knows the time of His return now.

BENSON, "Mark 13:32. But of that day and hour knoweth no man — See note

on Matthew 24:36. Neither the Son, but the Father — It must be observed here,

that “the words ουδε ο υιος, neither the Son, have been omitted in some copies of

Mark, as they are inserted in some copies of Matthew: but there is no sufficient

authority for the omission in Mark, any more than for the insertion in Matthew.

Erasmus, and some of the moderns, are of opinion, that the words were omitted

in the text of Matthew, lest they should afford a handle to the Arians, for proving

the Son to be inferior to the Father: but it was to little purpose to erase them out

of Matthew, and to leave them standing in Mark. On the contrary, St. Ambrose,

and some of the ancients, assert that they were inserted in the text of Mark by

the Arians: but there is as little foundation or pretence for this assertion, as there

is for the other. It is much more probable that they were omitted in some copies

of Mark by some indiscreet orthodox, who thought them to bear too hard upon

our Saviour’s dignity: for all the most ancient copies and translations extant

retain them: the most ancient fathers quote them, and comment upon them.

Admit the words, therefore, as the genuine words of Mark, we must, and we

may, without any prejudice to our Saviour’s divinity. For Christ may be

considered in two respects, in his human and divine nature; and what is said

with regard only to the former, doth not at all affect the latter. As he was the

great teacher and revealer of his Father’s will, he might know more than the

angels, and yet he might not know all things. It is said in Luke 2:52, that Jesus

increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. He increased

in wisdom, and consequently in his human nature he was not omniscient. In his

human nature, he was the son of David; in his divine nature, he was the Lord of

David. In his human nature, he was upon earth; in his divine nature, he was in

heaven, John 3:13, even while upon earth. In like manner it may be said, that

though as God he might know all things, yet he might be ignorant of some things

as man. And of this particular the Messiah might be ignorant, because it was no

part of his office or commission to reveal it. It is not for you to know the times or

the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power, as our Saviour said,

Acts 1:7, when a like question was proposed to him. It might be proper for the

disciples, and for the Jews too, by their means, to know the signs and

circumstances of our Saviour’s coming, and the destruction of Jerusalem; but

upon many accounts it might be unfit for them both to know the precise

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time.” — Bishop Newton. But Dr. Macknight thinks the proper translation of the

passage affords a better solution of the difficulty. “The word οιδεν here,” says

he, “seems to have the force of the Hebrew conjugation hiphil, which, in verbs

denoting action, makes that action, whatever it is, pass to another. Wherefore,

ειδεω, which properly signifies, I know, used in the sense of the conjugation

hiphil, signifies, I make another to know, I declare. The word has this meaning

without dispute, 1 Corinthians 2:2, I determined ( ειδεναι) to know nothing

among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified; that is, I determined to make

known, to preach nothing among you, but Jesus Christ. So likewise in the text,

But of that day and that hour none maketh you to know, none hath power to

make you know it; (just as the phrase, Matthew 20:23, is not mine to give,

signifies, is not in my power to give;) — no, not the angels, neither the Son, but

the Father. — Neither man nor angel, nor even the Son himself, can reveal the

day and hour of the destruction of Jerusalem to you; because the Father hath

determined that it should not be revealed. The divine wisdom saw fit to conceal

from the apostles, and the other disciples of Jesus, the precise period of the

destruction of Jerusalem, in order that they might be laid under a necessity of

watching continually. And this vigilance was especially proper at that time,

because the success of the gospel depended, in a great measure, upon the activity

and exemplary lives of those who first professed and published it.” Most

commentators, however, prefer the former interpretation. As God, who by his

Son revealed to the apostles and first disciples of Jesus the destruction of

Jerusalem and the Jewish state, and marked a variety of particulars which were

to precede or accompany it, yet did not acquaint them with the day and hour

when it should actually take place; so while he has warned us of the certainty of

death and a future judgment, and discovered to us many circumstances which

will attend, precede, or follow these solemn, and, to us, infinitely interesting

events, he has seen fit to conceal from us the exact time when they shall happen,

that we may be always expecting and preparing for them. And therefore the

subsequent exhortation as much concerns every one of us, as it could possibly

concern those to whom it was first given.

BI 32-33, "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man.

The day and the hour

I. The practical importance of conceding the day and hour when the Son of Man shall come from the knowledge of the Church and of all mankind.

1. Were the day and the hour of the Saviour’s advent specifically and unmistakably stated, it would contradict constantly those passages scattered throughout the whole Word of God which say He shall come as a thief in the night, etc. After the day of Pentecost the apostles received information upon this subject which they did not previously possess.

2. It would be altogether morally without practical good results, and incompatible with other portions of Scripture, if God were to tell us the precise day and the hour. What would be the practical use of telling us either?

3. Were that day made known to us, it would be gratifying a very worthless curiosity. But if there be one feature in this book more striking than another it is its utter refusal to gratify the curiosity of man.

4. Suppose that this day and hour had been made known, there is no proof that it

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would be believed by the unconverted masses of mankind. If the unconverted and unsanctified multitude believed it, it would do incalculable mischief.

II. On the other hand, it is most profitable and most improving that we should study the predicted signs; nay, our Lord condemned the men of His day, because, while they could predict wet or fine weather, from the sky at evening and at morn, they were not acquainted with the moral signs of the age in which they lived. The Scripture in every page is most explicit in giving us tokens and signs by which we are to infer either that the time is near, or that it is remote. This leads me to the great sign given here, instead of the day and the hour-the sign of Noah.

1. Notice that there is here a distinct recognition of Noah as a historic person, of the flood as a literal fact.

2. Notice here also that human nature is substantially the same in the days of Napoleon and of Queen Victoria, that it was in the days of Noah and the patriarchs before the flood. The antediluvians, or those that were in the days of Noah, when the flood came, were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. This is not stated as a sin. In the gospel, where our Lord represents the blessings that He purchased under a feast, those that were invited refused; but the ground they assigned was not any one sinful act. Where then was the sin of the antediluvians? “So shall it be when the Son of Man cometh.” This is not a mere history; but also a solemn prophecy. Just as the ark was the only safety in the days of Noah, so the only safety for us this very day is Christ, the living, the glorious, the indestructible ark. Are you trusting to this ark? Are you cleaving to this Saviour? Now there is salvation for the worst and the guiltiest; but at that day, when grace shall depart like a vision, when the last fire shall cover the round globe with its piercing and its searching flames, not one cry will be heard, not one appeal for mercy will be regarded, not one sin will be forgiven. The very glory of the gospel is its simplicity: “Look and live;” “Believe and thou shalt be saved.” (J. Cumming, D. D.)

Uncertainty as to the time demands constant watchfulness

The fact that we cannot know beforehand the time of Christ’s coming, does not relieve us of the duty of being on the watch for it. It is because we do not know the time, that we must watch for the time. If a man wants to see the meteors which flash across the sky in the nights of August and November, he must be all the more watchful because he cannot know beforehand when they are coming. The lookout on the ocean steamer’s masthead must be none the less watchful against icebergs, or headlands, or passing vessels, because be cannot know when they are to show themselves; and the denser the fog, the keener his watch must be. The time of Christ’s second coming is concealed from us. The fact of that coming is foretold to us. The duty of living not only in expectancy of this event, but in prayerful watchfulness for it, is as plainly and as positively enjoined upon us, as is the requirement of any one of the ten commandments.

The solemn day approaching

When it comes we know not. We know simply this-it is a fact in God’s government. Slowly and steadily it is approaching. It encamps every night nearer to the race-to us-to me. We have no human almanacs that can foretell its coming. That it will come seems one of the fundamental thoughts of our mind, admitted everywhere and always. The Egyptians bore decided witness, in their books of the dead, to the coming of that day. Let not that day come upon you sleeping, said Jesus. Duty is ours-that

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day is God’s. (H. W. Beecher.)

The uncertainty of the Day of Judgment considered and improved

First, our Saviour here declares the uncertainty of the time as to us and all creatures, when the general judgment shall be. And to express this the more emphatically, He tells us-

1. That God only knows it. He excludes from the knowledge of it, those who were most likely to know it, if God had not absolutely reserved it to Himself.

2. That the consideration of the uncertainty of the time should make us very careful to be always prepared for it. First, a general caution, “Take ye heed.” From whence I shall observe, by the way, the great goodness of God to us, and His singular care of us. God hath acquainted us with whatever is necessary to direct and excite us to our duty; but He hath purposely concealed from us those things which might tend to make us slothful and careless, negligent and remiss in it. Besides this, it is always useful to the world to be kept in awe by the continual danger and terror of an approaching judgment.

And it was no inconvenience at all that the apostles and first Christians had this apprehension of the nearness of that time; for no consideration could be more forcible to keep them steadfast in their profession, and to fortify them against sufferings.

1. We should resolve without delay, to put ourselves into that state and condition, in which we may not be afraid judgment should find us. In the secure and negligent posture that most men live, even the better sort of men, if judgment should overtake them, how few could be saved! So that our first care must be to get out of this dangerous state of sin and insecurity, “to break off our sins by repentance,” that we may be capable of the mercy of God, and at peace with Him, before He comes to execute judgment upon the world.

2. After this great work of repentance is over, we should be very careful how we contract any new guilt, by returning to our former sins, or by the gross neglect of any part of our duty.

3. Let us neglect no opportunity of doing good, but always be employing ourselves, either in acts of religion and piety towards God, or of righteousness and charity towards men, or in such acts as are subordinate to religion.

4. We should often review our lives and call ourselves to a strict account of our actions, that, judging ourselves, we may not be judged and condemned by the Lord.

5. Another part of our preparation for the coming of our Lord is a humble trust and confidence in the virtue of His death and passion, as the only meritorious cause of the remission of our sins, and the reward of eternal life.

6. And lastly, to awaken and maintain this vigilancy and care, we should often represent to our minds the judgment of the Great Day, which will certainly come though we know not the time of it. This is the first direction our Saviour gives us: continual vigilancy and watchfulness over ourselves in general. The second direction is more particular, and that is, prayer-“Take ye heed, watch and pray.” And the practice of this duty of prayer will be of great advantage to us upon these two accounts. It is very apt to awaken and excite our care and diligence in the business of religion. Prayer, indeed, supposeth that we stand in need of the

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Divine help; but it implies, likewise, a resolution on our part to do what we can for ourselves; otherwise we ask in vain.

7. If we use our sincere endeavours for the “effecting of what we pray for, prayer is the most effectual means to engage the Divine blessing, and assistance to second our endeavours, and to secure them from miscarriage. I proceed to the third and last part of the text, which is the reason which our Saviour here adds to enforce our care and diligence in a matter of so great concernment, viz., the uncertainty, as to us, of the particular time when this Day of Judgment will be: “Ye know not when the time is.” (J. Tillotson, D. D.)

Ye know not when the time is

I. The consideration of the uncertainty of life, from which the exhortation is enforced-“Ye know not when the time is.”

II. The exhortation to circumspection, vigilance, and prayer-“Take ye heed, watch and pray.” But we proceed to consider what this watchfulness implies.

1. It implies spiritual life.

2. It implies a sense of danger. (W. Bullevant.)

Life’s uncertainty improved

I. The fact of life’s uncertainty. But before I attempt to fix your thoughts on life’s uncertainty, there are two other kindred facts which merit attention-the certainty of death, and the nearness of it. We know not when the time is. Death is an ambush. Hence the force of “Take ye heed, watch and pray.”

1. Men full of laudable, anxious, active strife of business, have in one moment been called to their higher account, prepared or unprepared.

2. More fearful still is the subject, when we consider that not only are men called away from the midst of worldly business, but are taken in the very act of sin and rebellion against God. “The third day Noah entered into the ark, the flood came and took them all away.”

3. Let it, however, be clearly understood, that no degree of morality, faith, or holiness, can wholly shield us from the stroke of sudden death.

II. The plain practical duty arising out of it-“Take ye heed,” etc. A word in season. Many are heedless and unprepared to die. “Take ye heed,” or you must needs miss heaven. Would we prepare to die-

1. Habitually believe in Christ.

2. Habitually commune with God.

3. Habitually aim at Christian consistency.

Conclusion:

1. Address those who are obviously neither watching nor praying. Are there in the Church lukewarm professors?

2. You who are in the way to a blissful immortality. (B. Carvosso.)

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Preparation for death

The true significance of death lies not in its physical pain, in its breaking in upon the plans of life, but in the fact that it brings men into final moral relations with God. Now let us consider, as calm and prudent men, the full effect and the true character of deferring the preparation for death until the dying hour.

1. To thus defer this preparation is to deprive life itself of one of its chief steadying elements.

2. Living without conscious preparation for death is a risk which neither prudence nor self-respect should allow. A man guards himself with a wise providence of the future. No man puts his affections as they are involved in the family to such peril. He is perpetually forethinking; working to provide against evils; making preparation today and this year for tomorrow and next year.

3. There is a view which will have weight with men who are just, and who are honestly seeking to guide themselves by principles of honour. It is the ignoring, the dishonouring of God’s love, His will and His commands, all one’s life, and then at death, for fear, or for the sake of interest, rushing into a settlement. A child is reprobate, and breaks away from home, and squanders all he can get, and becomes a wreck and a wretch, and apparently is to be disowned. He hears, at last, after years and years of dissipation, that his father is weakening and drawing near to death; and he scents the opportunity, and rushes home, and professes repentance and reformation, in order that his father may reconstruct his will, and leave him a part of his estate. What would you think of a child that should do that? What would you think of a child that should deliberately calculate upon it, and say in himself, “The old man has oftentimes, with tears in his eyes, warned me against my gambling companions; but there is time enough yet. He is rich, and I want a part of his money, and I know his heart, and I mean to come in for a share by and by. I am going to have my pleasure; I am going to eat, drink, and be merry; I am going to have my royal debauch with my companions; and when I see the old man is about pegging out I will go home and reform; because I do not mean to lose that property; I am going to enjoy myself as I please, and have that too”? What would you think of a child that should say that, and then keep his eye on his father, and calculate his chances and run scuttling home just in time to get his name put in the will right, in order that he might have the property? What name is there in any language that is adequate to express your feelings, toward such baseness as that? And yet, are there not in my hearing men that are living precisely so with respect to their Father who is in heaven?

4. There are prudential considerations of a very solemn nature which one should employ. Those who think that they shall prepare for death in the last hour of life, ought to consider some of their chances. As a matter of fact, more than half that die in this world die without consciousness. Not alone of those that die by accident, by sudden stroke, but of those that die by disease, more than one half die under a cloud, so that they have no use of their reason. (H. W. Beecher.)

Autumnal life

It is always a sad day in autumn to me, when I see the change that comes over nature. Along in August, the birds are all still, and you would think that there were not any left; but if you go out into the fields you find them feeding in the trees, and hedges, and everywhere. By and by September comes, and they begin to gather together in

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groups; and anybody that knows what it means knows that they are getting ready to go. And then comes the later days of October-the sad, the sweet, the melancholy, the deep days of October. And the birds are less and less. And in November, high up, you see the sky streaked with waterfowl going southward; and strange noises in the night, of these pilgrims of the sky, they shall hear whose ears are attuned to natural history. Birds in flocks, one after another, wing their way to the south. Summer is gone; and I am left behind; but they are happy. And I think I can hear them singing in all those States clear down to the Gulf. They have found where the sun is never cold. With us are frosts, but not with the bird that has migrated. Oh, mother! my heart breaks with your heart when your cradle is empty; but shall I call back the child? Nay; sooner pluck a star out of heaven than call back that child to this wintry blast. Shall I call back your young and dear and blooming friend? Nay. You are left in some bitterness for a time; but make not a man out of angel again. Let him rejoice. (H. W. Beecher.)

Watch and pray

Two duties.

I. The activity of the eye earthward.

II. The emotion of the heart Godward. Watchfulness is like the hands of the clock that point; prayer is the weight that keeps the machinery in motion. (T. J. Judkin.)

A believer’s watchfulness like that of a soldier

A sentinel posted on the walls, when he discerns a hostile party advancing, does not attempt to make head against them himself, but informs his commanding officer of the enemy’s approach, and leaves him to take the proper measures against the foe. So the Christian does not attempt to fight temptation in his own strength; his watchfulness lies in observing its approach, and in telling God of it by prayer. (W. Mason.)

Watching and praying

He that prays and watcheth not, is like him that sows a field with precious seed, but leaves the gate open for hogs to come and root it up; or him that takes great pains to get money, but no care to lay it up safely when he hath it. (W. Gurnall.)

Watch

“Wickedness,” says Sir Philip Sidney, “is like a bottomless pit, into which it is easier for a man to prevent himself falling than, having fallen, to preserve himself from falling infinitely.”

The watchfulness of prayer

“I often recall,” says an old sailor, “my first night at sea. A storm had come up, and we had put back under a point of land which broke the wind a little, but still the sea had a rake on us, and we were in danger of drifting. I was on the anchor watch, and it was my duty to give warning in case the ship should drag her anchor. It was a long night to me. I was very anxious whether I should know if the ship really did drift. How could I tell? I found that, going forward and placing my hand on the chain, I

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could tell by the feeling of it whether the anchor was dragging or not; and how often that night I went forward and placed my hand on that chain! And very often since then I have wondered whether I am drifting away from God, and then I go away and pray. Sometimes during that long stormy night I would be startled by a rumbling sound, and I would put my hand on the chain, and find it was not the anchor dragging, but only the chain grating against the rocks on the bottom. The anchor was still firm. And sometimes now, in temptation and trial, I become afraid, and upon praying I find that away down deep in my heart I do love God, and my hope is in His salvation. And I want just to say a word to my fellow Christians: Keep an anchor watch, lest before you are aware you may be upon the rocks.” (Anon.)

33 Be on guard! Be alert[e]! You do not know

when that time will come.

GILL, "Take ye heed, watch and pray,.... This seems to be the principal reason why the day and hour of Jerusalem's destruction, though known by the Father, were not made known to any man, neither to the angels, nor by them; nor to the son of man in the days of his flesh, nor by him when on earth; that his people might be upon their guard, against false Christs, and prophets, and their deception; and watch unto prayer, and in it, lest they fell into temptation, and that day should come upon them unawares:

for ye know not when the time is; the exact and precise time: for though the people of God had notice of it, and were sensible it was at hand, and did make their escape out of Jerusalem; yet they knew not the exact time, but that it might be sooner or later; and the unbelieving Jews were blinded, and in the dark about it to the very last; See Gill on Mat_24:42.

HENRY, ". “As to both, your duty is to watch and pray. Therefore the time is kept a secret, that you may be engaged to stand always upon your guard (Mar_13:33); Take ye heed of every thing that would indispose you for your Master's coming, and would render your accounts perplexed, and your spirits so too; watchfor his coming, that it may not at any time be a surprise to you, and pray for that grace which is necessary to qualify you for it, for ye know not when the time is; and you are concerned to be ready for that every day, which may come any day.” This he illustrates, in the close, by a parable.

JAMIESON, "Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is.

SBC, "I. This word watching is a remarkable word; remarkable because the idea is not so obvious as might appear at first sight. We are not simply to believe, but to watch; not simply to love, but to watch; not simply to obey, but to watch. To watch for what? for that great event, Christ’s coming. Do you know the feeling in matters of this life, of expecting a friend, expecting him to come, and he delays? To watch for Christ is a feeling such as this; as far as feelings of this world are fit to shadow out

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those of another. He watches for Christ who has a sensitive, eager, apprehensive mind; who is awake, alive, quick-sighted, zealous in seeking and honouring Him; who looks out for Him in all that happens, and who would not be surprised, who would not be over-agitated or overwhelmed, if he found that He was coming at once.

II. This then it is to watch; to be detached from what is present and to live in what is unseen, and to live in the thought of Christ as He came once, and as He will come again; to desire His second coming, from our affectionate and grateful remembrance of His first. And this it is in which we shall find that men in general are wanting. What is meant by watching, and how it is a duty, they have no definite idea; and thus it accidentally happens that watching is a suitable test of a Christian, in that it is that particular property of faith and love, which, essential as it is, men of this world do not even profess; that particular property, which is the life or energy of faith and love, the way in which faith and love, if genuine, show themselves.

III. Christ warns His disciples of the danger of having their minds drawn off from the thought of Him, by whatever cause; He warns them against all excitements, all allurements of the world; He warns them by the instance of the rich man whose soul was required, of the servant who ate and drank, and of the foolish virgins. When He comes, they will one and all want time; then head will be confused, then eye will swim, then tongue falter, then limbs totter, as men who are suddenly awakened. Year passes after year silently, Christ’s coming is ever nearer than it was, and, as He comes nearer earth, we may approach nearer heaven. Every act of obedience is an approach, an approach to Him who is not far off, though He seems so, but close behind this visible screen of things which hides Him from us. He is behind the material framework; earth and sky are but a veil between Him and us; and the day will come when He will rend that veil and show Himself to us. And then, according as we have waited for Him, will He recompense us.

J. H. Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons, vol. iv., p. 319.

BURKITT, "Our blessed Saviour takes occasion, from the foregoing doctrine of

the certainty and suddenness of his coming to judgment, to enforce the duty of

diligent and industrious watchfulness upon his disciples and followers; that is, to

be upon their guard against all sin, and to be in an actual readiness for his

appearance and approach.

Learn hence, That it is the indispensible duty, and ought to be the indefatigable

endeavour, of every Christian, to stand upon his guard in a prepared readiness

for Christ's appearance, both for his coming to them, and for their going to him.

There is a twofold readiness for Christ's coming; namely, habitual and actual; an

habitual readiness is a readiness of the person: when we are furnished with all

the graces and virtues of a good life, when our lamps are burning, and our loins

girded, our souls furnished with all the graces of God's Holy Spirit, our lives

fruitful in good works: Blessed is that servant, who, when his Lord cometh, shall

be found thus watching.

BENSON, "Mark 13:33-37. Take ye heed — Of every thing that would unfit you

for your Master’s coming, that might lull you into a fatal security, and render

you negligent and slothful: watch and pray — Let your minds be always awake

to a sense of your danger, and be on your guard against it: watch for the coming

of your Lord, that it may not surprise you, and pray for that grace which is

necessary to qualify you for it, by enabling you to fulfil his will in all things. For

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ye know not when the time is — And ought to be ready every day for that which

may come any day. This he illustrates in the close by a parable. The Son of man

is as a man taking a far journey, &c. — Being about to leave this world and go to

the Father; who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, &c. — Gave

authority to some that were to be overseers, and work to others that were to be

labourers; and commanded the porter to watch — To be ready to open to him at

his return; and in the mean time to take care to whom he should open his gates,

not to idle vagrants, thieves, and robbers, but only to his master’s friends and

servants. Thus our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something to all

his servants to do, expecting they should all serve his cause in his absence, and be

ready to receive him at his return. All are appointed to work, and some are

authorized to rule. See notes on Matthew 24:42-51. Watch ye therefore — The

advice is repeated and pressed upon them, because of its unspeakable

importance, as it is also upon us. For ye know not when the master of the house

cometh — The builder, head, and ruler of his house, the church; the Son,

presiding over his own house, or family, Hebrews 3:6 : Ye know not when he will

come to take account of his servants, and of their work, and of the improvement

they have made; at even or at midnight, &c. — οψε, evening, answers to the first

watch of the night, which began at sun-setting and ended at nine: μεσονυκτιον,

or midnight, answers to the second watch, which ended at twelve:

αλεκτοροφωνια, or the cock-crowing, answers to the third watch, which ended at

three in the morning: πρωι, or the morning, answers to the fourth watch, which

ended at six. As if he had said, Early and late, hold yourselves in a prepared

state; lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping — In a state of lukewarmness

and sloth. Observe, reader! 1st, This is applicable to his coming to each of us in

particular at death, as well as to his coming to us all in general at the final

judgment. Our present life is a night, a dark night, compared with the other life;

we know not in which watch of the night our Master will come; whether in the

days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but as soon as we are born, we begin to

die; and therefore, as soon as we are capable of expecting any thing, we must

expect death. 2d, Our great care must be that, whenever our Lord comes, he do

not find us sleeping secure in ourselves, off our guard, indulging ourselves in

ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty, and thoughtless of our Lord’s

coming; ready to say, He will not come, and so being unprepared to meet him.

3d, His coming will indeed be a sudden coming; it will be a great surprise and

terror to those that are careless and asleep: it will come upon them as a thief in

the night. It is therefore, 4th, the indispensable duty of all Christ’s disciples to

watch, to be awake, and keep awake. What I say unto you twelve, I say unto

all — My disciples and followers; what I say to you of this generation, I say to all

that shall believe in me through your word: Watch — Expect my second coming,

and prepare for it, that you may be found in peace, without spot and blameless.

CONSTABLE, "For the fourth time, Jesus urged His disciples to take heed (Gr.

blepete, Mark 13:5; Mark 13:9; Mark 13:23). He underlined this warning by

adding, "Be vigilant" (Gr. agrypneite). Watchfulness is necessary because we do

not know the exact time of Jesus' return.

In view of God's revelations concerning the Rapture, the Tribulation, and the

Second Coming, were Jesus' exhortations to remain watchful unnecessarily

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urgent? Christians who know their Bibles are aware that many events will

precede the Second Coming. Is it realistic or necessary to live as though Jesus'

return is imminent?

Jesus' return was not less than seven years away from His departure from the

earth because the Old Testament prophesied the Tribulation before the

messianic kingdom (Daniel 9:24-27). Therefore the 12 disciples to whom Jesus

gave this discourse could have been only a few years away from His return. They

needed to be vigilant. That generation of disciples and all succeeding generations

of disciples learned later that Jesus would return for His own at the Rapture

before He comes at the Second Coming (1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1 Thessalonians

4:13-18). Thus while His second coming is at least seven years away, His return

at the Rapture will be sooner. Pretribulationists believe it could be at any

moment. Therefore all that Jesus said about the importance of being vigilant

anticipating His return is applicable to and relevant for us.

34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his

house and puts his servants in charge, each with

their assigned task, and tells the one at the door

to keep watch.

BARNES, "Who left his house - The word “house” often means family. Our Saviour here represents himself as going away, leaving his household the church, assigning to the apostles and all his servants their duty, and leaving it uncertain when he would return. Since his return was a matter of vast consequence, and as the affairs of his kingdom were entrusted to them, just as the affairs of a house are to servants when the master is absent, so it was of vast importance that they should be faithful at their post, that they should defend the house from danger, and be ready for his return.

The porter - The doorkeeper. To the janitor or doorkeeper was entrusted particularly the care of the house, whose duty it was to attend faithfully on those who came and those who left the house.

CLARKE, "Left his house - Οικιαν, family. Our blessed Lord and Master, when

he ascended to heaven, commanded his servants to be faithful and watchful. This fidelity to which he exhorts his servants consists in doing every thing well which is to be done, in the heart or in the family, according to the full extent of the duty. The watchfulness consists in suffering no stranger nor enemy to enter in by the senses, which are the gates of the soul; in permitting nothing which belongs to the Master to go out without his consent; and in carefully observing all commerce and

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correspondence which the heart may have abroad in the world, to the prejudice of the Master’s service. See Quesnel.

GILL, "For the son of man is as a man taking a far journey,.... Or this case of the son of man's coming to take vengeance on the Jewish nation, is like a man that takes a journey into a far country. This puts me in mind of a question asked (m) by the Jews:

"what רחוקה ''.a far journey" from Modiim, and without" ,דרך

from Modiim, according to the Gemara (n), and commentators (o) on this passage, was a place fifteen miles from Jerusalem; so that, according to them, fifteen miles were reckoned a far journey (p).

Who left his house; and his goods in it, to the care and management of others during his absence:

and gave authority to his servants; to govern his house, and exercise power one over another, according to their different stations;

and to every man his work; which he was to do, while he was gone, and to give him an account of when he returned:

and commanded the porter to watch; his house, and take care that it was not broke open by thieves, and plundered of the substance that was in it. So Christ, when he ascended on high, went to heaven, the land afar off; left his house, his church, particularly in Judea, and at Jerusalem, to the care of his apostles, and gave authority to govern it, according to the laws, rules, and directions prescribed by him; and assigned every man his particular work, for which he gave him proper gifts and abilities; and ordered the porter to be on his watch, not Peter only, but all the apostles and ministers, whose business it is to watch over themselves, and the souls of men committed to their care.

HENRY, "1. Our Master is gone away, and left us something in trust, in charge, which we must give account of, Mar_13:34. He is as a man taking a far journey; for he is gone to be away a great while, he has left his house on earth, and left his servants in their offices, given authority to some, who are to be overseers, and workto others, who are to be labourers. They that have authority given them, in that had work assigned them, for those that have the greatest power have the most business;and to them to whom he gave work, he gave some sort of authority, to do that work. And when he took his last leave, he appointed the porter to watch, to be sure to be ready to open to him at his return; and in the mean time to take care to whom he opened his gates, not to thieves and robbers, but only to his Master's friends and servants. Thus our Lord Jesus, when he ascended on high, left something for all his servants to do, expecting they should all do him service in his absence, and be ready to receive him at his return. All are appointed to work, and some authorized to rule.

JAMIESON, "For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, etc. — The idea thus far is similar to that in the opening part of the parable of the talents (Mat_25:14, Mat_25:15).

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and commanded the porter — the gatekeeper.

to watch — pointing to the official duty of the ministers of religion to give warning of approaching danger to the people.

CONSTABLE, "Jesus told another parable about a doorkeeper. Mark is the

only evangelist who recorded it. It is similar to the parable of the talents

(Matthew 25:14-30) and the parable of the minas (Luke 19:12-27) though much

shorter.

In this parable the doorkeeper is the focus of attention. A doorkeeper or porter

was responsible to guard the entrance to his master's house. Entrusted with his

master's goods this doorkeeper did not know when his master would return.

However whenever the master returned the doorkeeper would have to be ready

to admit him to a well-managed house. Evening, midnight, rooster crowing, and

dawn were the names that the Romans gave the four watches of the night. [Note:

Wessel, p. 753.] The porter had to remain watchful (Gr. gregore) at night, when

the Light of the World was absent from His estate. The opposite of watchfulness

is insensibility, lethargy, and inactivity, pictured here as sleep (cf. Romans 13:11;

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11). Likewise it is necessary for Jesus' disciples to remain

watchful (Gr. gregoreite, Mark 13:35).

"The element of surprise is ineradicable from the parousia expectation." [Note:

G. R. Beasley-Murray, A Commentary on Mark Thirteen, p. 117.]

MACLAREN, "AUTHORITY AND WORK

Church order is not directly touched on in the Gospels, but the principles which underlie all Church order are distinctly laid down. The whole community of Christian people is a family or household, being brethren because possessors of a new life through Christ. In that household there is one ‘Master,’ and all its members are ‘servants.’ That name suggests the purpose for which they exist; the meaning of all their offices, dignities, etc.

I. The authority with which the servants are invested.

We hear a great deal about the authority of the Church in these days, as a determiner of truth and as a prescriber of Christian action. It means generally official authority, the power of guidance and definition of the Church’s action, etc., which some people think is lodged in the hands of preachers, pastors, priests, either individually or collectively. There is nothing of that sort meant here. Whatever this authority is, it belongs to the whole body of the servants, not to individuals among them. It is the prerogative of the whole ecclesia, not of some handful of them. ‘This honour,’ whatever it be, ‘have all the saints.’

Explain by reference to ‘the kings of the earth exercise lordship over them’; ‘the greatest shall be your servant.’ It is then but another name for capacity for service, power to bless, etc.

And this idea is still further borne out if we go back to the parable of our text. A man leaves his house in charge of his servants. To them is committed the responsibility for his goods. His honour and interests are in their hands. They have control over his possessions. This is the analogy which our Lord suggests as presenting a vivid

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likeness to our position in the world.

Christ has committed the care of His kingdom, the glory of His name, the growth of His cause in the world to His Church, and has endowed it with all ‘talents,’ i.e. gifts needful for that work. Or, to put it in other words, they are His representatives in the world. They have to defend His honour. His name is scandalised or glorified by their actions. They have to see to His interests. They are charged with the carrying out of His mind and purposes.

The foundation of all is laid. Henceforth building on it is all, and that is to be done by men. Human lips and Christian effort-not without the divine Spirit in the word-are to be the means.

It is as when some commander plans his battle, and from an eminence overlooks the current of the fight, and marks the plunging legions as they struggle through the smoke. He holds all the tremendous machinery in his hands. The plan and the glory are his, but the execution of the plan lies with the troops.

In a still more true sense all the glory of the Christian conquest of the world is His, but still the instruments are ourselves. The whole counsel of God is on our side. We ‘go not a warfare at our own charges.’ Note the perfect consistency of this with all that we hold of the necessity of divine influence, etc.

His servants are intrusted with all His ‘goods.’ They have authority over the gifts which He has given them, i.e. Christian men are stewards of Christ’s riches for others.

They have access to the free use of them all for themselves.

Thus the ‘authority’ is all derived. It is all given for the sake of others. It is all capacity for service. Hence-

II. The authority with which the servants are invested binds every one of them to hard work for Christ.

‘To every man his work’

(1) Gifts involve duties. That is the first great thought. To have received binds us to impart. ‘Freely ye have received, freely give.’

All selfish possession of the gifts which Christ bestows is grave sin.

The price at which they were procured, that miracle and mystery of self-sacrifice, is the great pattern as well as the great motive for our service.

The purpose for which we have received them is plainly set forth: in the existence of the solidarity in which we are all bound; in the definite utterances of Scripture.

The need for their exercise is only too palpable in the condition of things around us.

(2) In this multitude of servants every one has his own task.

The universality of the great gift leads to a corresponding universality of obligation. All Christians have their gifts. Each of us has his special work marked out for him by character, relationships, circumstances, natural tastes, etc.

How solemn a divine call there is in these individual peculiarities which we so often think of as unimportant accidents, or regard mainly in their bearing on our own ease and comfort! How reverently we should regard the diversities which are thus revelations of God’s will concerning our tasks! How earnestly we should seek to know what it is that we are fitted for! The importance of all protests against priestly assumption lies here, that they strengthen the force with which we proclaim that

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every man has his ‘work.’

Ponder the variety of characters and gifts which Christ gives and desires His servants to use, and the indispensable need for them all. The ideal Church is the ‘body’ of Christ, in which each member has its place and function.

Our fault in this matter.

(3) The duties are to be done in the spirit of hard toil.

The servant has ‘his work’ allotted him, and the word implies that the work calls for effort. The race is not to be run without dust and sweat. Our Christian service is not to be regarded as a ‘bye-product’ or parergon. It is, so to speak, a vocation, not an avocation. It deserves and demands all the energy that we can put forth, continuity and constancy, plan and system. Nothing is to be done for God, any more than for ourselves, without toil. ‘In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread and give it to others.’

III, To do this work, watchfulness is needed.

The division of tasks between ‘servant’ and ‘porter’ is only part of the drapery of the parable. To show that watchfulness belongs to all, see the two following verses.

What is this watchfulness? Not constant fidgety curiosity about the coming of the Lord; not hunting after apocalyptic dates. The modern impression seems to be that such study is ‘watchfulness.’ Christ says that the time of His coming is hidden (see previous verses). Ignorance of that is the very reason why we are to watch. Watchfulness, then, is just a profound and constant feeling of the transiency of this present. The mind is to be kept detached from it; the eye and heart are to be going out to things ‘unseen and eternal’; we are to be familiarising ourselves with the thought that the world is passing away.

This watchfulness is an indispensable part of our ‘work.’ The true Christian thought of the transiency of the world sets us to work the more vigorously in it, and increases, not diminishes, our sense of the importance of time and of earthly things, and braces us to our tasks by the thought of the brevity of opportunity, as well as by guarding us against tastes and habits which eat all earnestness out of the soul.

Thus ‘working and watching,’ happy will be the servant whom his Lord will find ‘so doing,’ i.e. at work, not idly looking for Him. Our common duties are the best preparation for our Lord’s coming.

BI 34-36, "And to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

Christian watchfulness

I. A certain event referred to. That He should go away was necessary.

1. It was impossible that His state of humiliation should be continued.

2. The work He had to do in heaven required His presence there.

3. His removal was necessary in order that the Holy Spirit might be bestowed.

II. A responsible trust committed.

1. What He left in charge of His servants was His house. The church is frequently set forth under this designation.

2. Those whom He left behind were invested with the powers necessary for the

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transaction of affairs during His absence.

3. While peculiar authority was granted to some, none of the servants were permitted to remain idle.

III. An important duty enjoined.

1. To no subject is our attention more frequently directed than that of watchfulness.

2. The consideration by which it is enforced. It is the uncertainty as to when the master of the house might return; whether at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning.

3. Whatever limits may belong to other obligations, this is universal in its claims. “And what I say unto you, I say unto all, watch.” (Expository Outlines.)

Christ’s second coming

I. The Church’s authority. “He gave authority to His servants.” The more we serve the more authority is given. For, what is authority? Not position, not office; but a certain moral power: the power of truth, the power of affections, the power of virtue over vice, the power of faith over sight. There are degrees of authority in the Church. There is authority which belongs to the Church collectively, essential for her wholesome discipline. But we have to do only with what is personal to ourselves, it is your authority to go to every single man under heaven and tell the glorious things of the gospel. It is your authority to go to the throne of God Himself.

II. The work. Authority is never given in the Church of Christ for any other end but work. The work is specific, “to every man his work.” Each Christian should pray till he finds out the work God has assigned him in this present life. There is work active and passive in the Master’s house; the childlike reception of the grace of God, to evangelise mankind.

III. Watching. There are two ways of watching. There is a watching against a thing we fear; and or a thing we love. Watch for the second advent, and you will be vigilant against sloth and sin. Will you not keep every trespasser out of the Master’s house, when you feel that that Master Himself stands almost at the door? He is worth watching for. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Watching for the Master

In all, therefore, you do, brethren, and in all you suffer, you are to be in the spirit of a man who, expecting a dear friend, has taken his stand at the gate, to meet him when he arrives,-a porter. Oh, it is such a pleasant thing to watch,-pleasant to go up on the high door of prophecy, and turn the telescope of inspiration down the road where He will come: pleasant, in every trouble to feel,-in a moment He may come, and cut this trouble very short: pleasant, in every fear, however deep, to think Christ’s coming may be nearer than we might fear: pleasant, to feel,-when the world knocks at your door, to say, “I am keeping place for Jesus, and I cannot let you in:” pleasant, in some work to have conscience say, “I think my dear Master would like to find me here:” pleasant when all is happy, to double the happiness with the thought, “And He, too, will soon be here:” and pleasant to wake up every morning and think, “What can I do today to prepare the way for my Saviour.” (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

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The Master cometh

I. The house.

II. The householder.

III. The journey.

IV. The servants.

V. The charge.

VI. The individual work.

VII. The command to the porter.

1. Watch against thieves and robbers.

2. Watch for the Master. (H. Bonar, D. D.)

Our absent Lord

The parable in Mar_13:34-36 cannot be discharged of its meaning by a reference to the ordinary risks of human mortality. Its theme is not man’s dying, but Christ’s coming.

I. The Son of Man is represented as a householder away on a journey (Mar_13:34).

1. It is not fair to look upon Jesus as a mere absentee lord of the soil. For. He made this world; He has suffered wonderfully to save souls; and He owns what He has purchased.

2. It must be remembered that He went away for a most gracious purpose. He would send the Comforter (Joh_16:7). He has gone to prepare a “place” for those whom He died to redeem (Joh_14:2-3).

3. It is better to urge His coming back with eagerness of prayer. There is fitness in the passionate words of Richard Baxter: “Haste, O my Saviour, the time of Thy return: send forth Thy angels, let the last trumpet sound! Delay not, lest the living give up hope. Oh, hasten that great resurrection day when the seed Thou sowedst corruptible shall come forth incorruptible, and the graves that retain but dust shall return their glorious ones, Thy destined bride!”

II. To everyone “our absent Lord” has given his own work to do (Mar_13:35).

1. There is a work to be wrought on ourselves. Our bodies are to be exercised and skilled for service (Rom_12:1). Our minds are to be developed and embellished for God’s praise. One of our Lord’s parables spoken on this very occasion has actually added to our language the new word “talents,” as signifying intellectual gifts (Mat_25:15). Our souls are to be sanctified wholly (1Th_5:23).

2. There is also a work to be wrought upon others and for others. The poor are to be succoured, the weak to be strengthened, the ignorant to be taught, the sorrowful to be comforted.

3. There is another work to be wrought for God’s glory. “Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.” Our whole life is to be consecrated to this, even down to the particulars of eating and drinking (1Co_10:31).

III. “Our absent Lord” is surely coming back again to this world (Mar_13:26).

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1. He predicted His second advent (Joh_14:28). The language Jesus used in this remembered declaration is not at all figurative; it all goes together as a statement of fact. He said, literally, He would send the Comforter, and the Holy Spirit came in person on the Day of Pentecost. And just as literally did He say He would Himself return at the appointed time.

2. He asseverated the certainty and solemnity of His own promise, as if He foresaw some would deny or doubt it (Mar_13:31). This was endorsing the covenant engagement by a new oath; “because He could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself.”

3. He left behind Him vivid descriptions of the momentous day on which He should arrive (Mar_13:24-26). In these, however, He does little more than repeat the vigorous language of the Old Testament prophet (Dan_7:9-14).

4. He even sent back word from heaven by an angel (Act_1:11). It should be “this same Jesus” who should come back, and He should come “in like manner” as they had seen Him depart.

IV. The exact hour in which “our absent Lord” will arrive is not announced (Mat_24:42).

1. Jesus asserted that He did not know it Himself (Mar_13:32). The disciples once asked Him about this (Mat_24:3). He told them that God the Father had kept this one secret in His own solemn reserve (Act_1:6-7).

2. But our Saviour declares that His coming might be expected at any moment, morning or midnight, evening or cock crowing (Mar_13:35). It would assuredly be sudden. The figure is employed more than once in the Scriptures of “a thief in the night” (2Pe_3:10). Peter in his Epistle only quotes our Lord’s own language (Luk_12:39-40).

3. Moreover, Christ told His disciples that there would be tokens of the nearness of this great day, by which it might be recognized when it should be close at hand (Mar_13:28-29). These signs would be as clearly discerned as shoots on fig trees in the opening summer. He mentioned some of them explicitly (Luk_21:25-28). We may admit that “wars and rumours of wars,” earthquakes, famines, falling stars, and pestilences (Mat_24:6-8), together with “great signs in heaven and earth,” are alarming disclosures; but will any one doubt that such phenomena are conspicuous at least? (Luk_17:24).

4. So Jesus insisted that men were bound to be wise in noting these signs, and be ready (Luk_12:54-56).

V. The greatest peril is that, when “our absent Lord” comes, men will be taken unawares (Mar_13:36).

1. The instinctive tendency of the human heart is to procrastinate in the performance of religious work.

2. Time glides mysteriously on with no reference to daring delay. The grave, like the horseleach’s daughter, cries “Give” (Pro_30:15-16), and damnation slumbereth not (2Pe_2:3), but men sleep clear up to the edge of divine judgment. They did in Noah’s time, and in Lot’s, when a less catastrophe was at hand; and so it will be when the Son of Man is revealed (Luk_18:26-30).

3. Christians ought to hold in memory the repeated admonitions they have received. Walter Scott wrote on his dial plate the two Greek words which mean “the night cometh,” so that he might keep eternity in mind whenever he saw the hours of time flitting by. Evidently the Apostle Paul feels that he has the right to

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press peculiarly pertinent and solemn appeals upon those who had enjoyed the advantage of such long instruction (1Th_5:1-7).

4. There is no second chance offered after the first is lost. When Christ comes, foolish virgins will have no time to run for oil to pour into their lightless lamps. A forfeited life cannot be allowed any opportunity for retrieval. Where the tree falls, north or south, there it must lie, whether the full fruit has been ripened upon its branches or not (Ecc_11:3).

VI. The final counsel left behind him by “our absent Lord” is for all to watch (Mar_13:37).

1. Christ’s coming would seem to be the highest anticipation for true believers. When He appears, saints will appear with Him in glory (Col_3:4). This is the “blessed hope” of the Church along the ages (Tit_2:13).

2. It might clear an inquirer’s experience to think of this coming of Jesus. Does one love to “watch” for Him? In the autobiography of Frances Ridley Havergal we are told of the years during which she sought sadly for peace at the cross. At last one of her teachers put this question to her: “Why cannot you trust yourself to your Saviour at once? Supposing that now, at this moment, Christ were to come in the clouds of heaven, and take up His redeemed, could you not trust Him? Would not His call, His promise, be enough for you? Could you not commit your soul to Him, to your Saviour, Jesus?” This lifted the cloud; she tells the story herself: “Then came a flash of hope across me, which made me feel literally breathless. I remember how my heart beat. ‘I could surely,’ was my response; and I left her suddenly and ran away upstairs to think it out. I flung myself on my knees in my room, and strove to realize the sudden hope. I was very happy at last. I could commit my soul to Jesus. I did not, and need not, fear His coming. I could trust Him with my all for eternity. It was so utterly new to have any bright thoughts about religion that I could hardly believe it could be so, that I had really gained such a step. Then and there, I committed my soul to the Saviour, I do not mean to say without any trembling or fear, but I did-and earth and heaven seemed bright from that moment-I did trust the Lord Jesus.” (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)

Work for God

The sentence which must have seemed to Adam a curse, “In the sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat bread,” has been turned by God into a blessing. The elements of Adam’s doom are the materials of human happiness. Heaven is made out of the ruins of the fall. What a world this would be without work! What a weariness! What a hot bed of every bad passion! What a torment!

I. Every living creature has its own proper work. It matches with each man’s natural endowment and his spiritual attainment. It is what suits him: neither too little nor too much. Enough to engage, and occupy, and draw out all his powers; and yet not so much as to injure or distress them. Take pains to ascertain whether the work you are engaged in is really yours-the work God would have you to do. To settle that satisfactorily, the following conditions must be fulfilled:

1. There must be the vocation of the heart-conscience and spiritual conviction telling you, after prayer and thought, that you are called to it.

2. The vocation of circumstances-your position and means being suited, and your education and habit of mind accommodated to it.

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3. The vocation of the Church-the advice and judgment of pious friends who are in a position to offer an unprejudiced opinion on the subject. If these three things unite, you may be sure that, though you are directed to it by human agencies, the work is really allotted to you by God.

II. You are responsible only for doing the work, not for the results. The work is yours, but the issue is God’s. Leave that to Him. Do you work with faith-for faith is confidence, and confidence is calmness, and calmness is power, and power is success, and success is God’s glory. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Wakeful work

Unless we work, we shall not keep spiritually awake and lively: unless we are awake, we shall not work. The last thing that would please a master would be the idle curiosity which would make the servants neglect their work to stand outside the door gazing to catch a glimpse of his return. What the Master desires is wakeful work. He desires-

I. Work.

1. Work of mercy.

2. Work of uprightness.

3. Work of struggling against evil within us.

4. Work of witnessing for Christ.

5. Work of helping others in various ways.

6. Work of comforting the sad, of supporting the weak.

7. Work of reclaiming the erring.

8. Work of saving the lost.

II. He wants this to be done wakefully; in that fresh and earnest way which men take

(1) when their faculties are on the alert;

(2) when they are on the watch for opportunities of doing good, and against seductions to neglect it;

(3) when they are wakeful enough to see a living Saviour, and feel His inspiration;

(4) when they watch lest they lose the things they have wrought;

(5) when they are awake to the immense needs and the awful dangers of their fellow men;

(6) when they are awake to the littleness of time and the greatness of eternity the nearness and sufficiency of the Spirit’s help, and the certainty and value of the Saviour’s reward. When there is this working and this watching mutually aiding each other, then the desire of the Master is fulfilled, and whenever He appears we are ready to receive Him with exceeding joy. (R. Glover.)

Work and watching

I. The work of the servants.

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1. Work is the common duty of all in Christ’s house. The calm stars are in ceaseless motion, and every leaf is a world, with its busy inhabitants and the sap coursing through its veins as the life blood through our own. It would be strange then if the Christian Church, which was intended to be the beating heart to all this world’s activity, were exempted from a law so universal. Such a thing would be against our highest nature. Work is not only a duty, but a blessing. Every right deed is a step upward. Instead of praying that God would grant us less work, our request should be that he would give us a greater heart and growing strength to meet all its claims.

2. This work is varied to different individuals. In one respect there is something common in the work of all, as there is a common salvation-to believe in Christ and to grow in grace; but even here there may be a variety in the form. There is a different colour of beauty in different stones that are all of them precious. One man may be burnishing to the sparkle of the diamond, while another is deepening to the glow of the ruby; and each is equally useful and necessary. The cornerstone and the cope stone have both their due place in the palace house of Christ. To see how this may be, is to perceive that an end can be put to all jealousies and heart burnings, and may help us even now to take our position calmly and unenviously, working in our department, assured that our labour will be found to contribute to the full proportion of the whole.

3. Each individual has means for ascertaining his own work. Not a special revelation, or an irresistible impression. Still Christ does guide men into their sphere of work by the finger of His providence and by the enlightenment of His Word in the hand of His Spirit. If it be thought it would be simpler and more satisfactory to have our place directly pointed out to us, let us remember the trouble and care necessary to ascertain it are part of our training.

There are these rules to guide us.

1. Our aptitudes.

2. Our opportunities.

3. The opinion of our fellow men when fairly expressed.

II. The watch of the porter. The porter is that one of the servants whose station is at the door to look out for those who approach, and open to them if they have right to enter. It would be wrong, however, to suppose that the body of the servants are exempted from watching, while one takes the duty for them (Mar_13:37). In saying the workmen are many and the watchman one, our Lord indicated that, while the mode of labour in the house may vary, the duty of watchfulness is common to all who are in it. The porter must stand at the door of every heart, while that heart pursues its work. What, then, is this watching? It is to do all our work with the thought of Christ’s eye measuring it, as of a friend who is ever present to our soul, gone from us in outward form, sure to return, and meanwhile near in spirit; to subject our plans and acts to His approval, asking ourselves at every step how this would please Him, shrinking from what would cloud His face, rejoicing with great joy in all that would meet His smile. This is a more difficult task than to have our hands busy with the work of the house. But, if attended to, it will bring its proportionate benefit.

1. It will keep us wakeful.

2. It will preserve purity.

3. It will maintain the soul in calmness.

4. It will rise increasingly to the fervour of prayer-that prayer which is the

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strength of the soul and the life of all work.

III. The bearing of these two duties upon each other.

1. Work cannot be rightly performed without watching; for then it would be

(1) blind and without a purpose;

(2) discouraging and tedious;

(3) formal and dead.

2. Watching will not suffice without work; or it would be

(1) solitary;

(2) subject to many temptations, such as empty speculations, vanity, pride;

(3) unready for Christ.

The solitary watcher can have no works of faith nor labours of love to present, no saved souls to offer for the Redeemer’s crown, and no crown of righteousness to receive from Him. He is saved, but alone, as on a board or a broken piece of the ship; not as they who have many voices of blessing around, and many welcomes before, and to whom an entrance is ministered abundantly into the kingdom of heaven. Happy is the man who can combine these two duties in perfect harmony-who has Stephen’s life of labour and Stephen’s vision in the end. In every soul there should be the sisters of Bethany, active effort and quiet thought, and both agreeing in mutual love and help. (John Ker, D. D.)

The discipline of work

Consider what an amount of drudgery must be performed-how much humdrum and prosaic labour goes to any work of the least value. There are so many layers of mere white lime in every shell to that inner one so beautifully tinted. Let not the shellfish think to build his house of that alone; and pray what are its tints to him? Is it not his smooth close-fitting shirt merely, whose tints are not to him, being in the dark, but only when he is gone or dead, and his shell is heaved up to light, a wreck upon the beach, do they appear. With him, too, it is a song of the shirt-“Work-work-work!” And the work is not merely a policy in the gross sense, but, in the higher sense, a discipline. If it is surely the means to the highest end we know, can any work be humble or disgusting? Will it not rather be elevating, as a ladder, the means by which we are translated? (Thoreau.)

Christ’s service delightful

A beautiful incident in reference to Mr. Townsend is mentioned in the life of John Campbell. “Finding him on Tuesday morning, shortly before his last illness, leaning on the balustrade of the staircase that led to the committee room of the Tract Society, and scarcely able to breathe, I remarked, ‘Mr. Townsend, is this you? Why should you come in this state of body to our meetings? You have now attended them for a long time, and you should leave the work to younger men.’ The reply of Mr. Townsend was worthy of his character. Looking at his friend with a countenance brightened and elevated by the thoughts that were struggling for utterance, his words were: ‘Oh! Johnny, Johnny, man, it is hard to give up working in the service of such a Master!’“ (Biblical Treasury.)

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Mark 13:35-36

Watch ye, therefore.

Watchfulness, a preparation for the coming of Christ

I. What we are to understand by the coming of the master of the house. By “the master of the house” here is meant Christ, as it is also in Luk_13:25. The world in general, and the visible Church in particular, and especially the spiritual part of it, are His house (Eph_1:20-23; Heb_3:3-6). His coming is represented in Scripture in different lights and for different purposes. In this chapter of Mark, and in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, and the twenty-first of Luke, He is represented as coming to judge and punish the Jewish nation, His visible Church of old, or His house, for rejecting Him (Deu_18:19; comp. with Act_3:23; Heb_12:15). In other places He is represented as coming to judge all mankind at the last day (verses 24-26; 2Pe_3:3-12). He is said to come when He visits in a peculiar way, whether in judgment or mercy, any nation, or Church, or any particular member of it (Rev_2:5-16; Rev_3:3). He comes to each of us at death (Rev_1:18; Rev_2:25; Rev_3:11). It is this last coming of Christ to which I would especially call your attention. For it is of the greatest importance to us, since-

1. It will separate us from all below, from our occupations, enjoyments, possessions, families, relations, and friends, and even from our own bodies.

2. It will finish our state of trial, and determine our condition forever.

3. It will bring us into the unseen and eternal world-a new, untried, unknown state.

4. It will place us in the presence of God, that we may receive His smile or frown, may enjoy the effects of His favour and friendship, and communications of bliss from Him; or feel the effects of His wrath, and find Him to be a consuming fire.

5. It will make a most astonishing change in our circumstances.

6. It often comes suddenly, and gives no warning.

II. What is that watchfulness which is recommended as a preparation for His coming?

1. It implies spiritual life, in opposition to that sleep of death which is mentioned (Eph_5:14; Eph_2:1).

2. It implies a lively sense of the reality and importance of spiritual and eternal things, such as persons awake have of temporal things, the seeing, feeling, tasting them, so to speak, in opposition to that insensibility about them which is implied in spiritual sleep.

3. It implies a thoughtfulness, care, and concern about them, in opposition to that thoughtlessness and unconcern about them, which is natural to us.

4. It implies a sense of our danger from our enemies, visible and invisible-from the devil, the world, persons, and things, the flesh, our own hearts; and the standing on our guard, in opposition to security of mind and foolish peace.

5. It implies activity, and the vigorous exercise of every grace and virtue, as repentance, faith, hope, love, patience, etc., in opposition to indolence and sloth.

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III. The vast importance of this watchfulness as a preparation for every dispensation of Divine Providence and especially for death.

IV. How we may be enabled to take this advice, and to “watch,” and what are the means leading to that end.

1. We must not presume on a long life, which is a most dangerous temptation, and an abundant source of unwatchfulness; but we must set before us, and have always in view, the shortness and uncertainty of the present life, and the certainty and nearness of death.

2. We must remember that unless we were lords of our own lives, and could appoint the time of our death, we can never be exempt from the duty of a wakeful and active attention to our spiritual and eternal interests.

3. Those whose constitutions are peculiarly feeble, or whose circumstances or employments expose them to peculiar danger, or who are arrived at old age, should consider themselves as being under special obligation to be watchful.

4. We must be particularly on our guard against our own nature, and every person and thing around us, which tends to lull us asleep, and against sensuality and worldly cares (Luk_21:34).

5. We must remember that thousands are found sleeping, even thousands of professors, at the coming of their Lord. We must pray much-a duty frequently inculcated in connection with watchfulness (Mar_13:33; Luk_21:36; Eph_6:18). (J. Benson.)

35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not

know when the owner of the house will come

back—whether in the evening, or at midnight,

or when the rooster crows, or at dawn.

BARNES, "Watch ye - Be diligent, faithful, and waiting for the return of your Lord, who will come at an unexpected hour.

Master of the house - Denoting here the Lord Jesus.

At even, or at midnight, or ... - This refers to the four divisions into which the Jews divided the night.

CLARKE, "Watch ye therefore - The more the master is expected, the more diligent ought the servants to be in working, watching, and keeping themselves in readiness. Can one who has received the sentence of his death, and has no right to live a moment, need any admonition to prepare to die? Does not a prisoner who expects his deliverance, hold himself in continual readiness to leave his dungeon?

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GILL, "Watch ye therefore,.... Against false Christs, and false prophets; over yourselves, and the whole church; for the words are particularly addressed to the disciples of Christ:

for ye know not when the master of the house cometh; when Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven, and in earth, is named, who is a Son in his own house, is an high priest over the house of God, and Lord of his church and people, whom he has bought with his blood, and provides for with his grace, and by his Spirit, when he will come to break up housekeeping with the Jews, and bring his wrath upon them to the uttermost: whether

at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning. This is agreeably to the division of the night among the Jews, who speak of the first watch, the middle of the night, the cock crowing, and morning, as distinct from each other. The three first of these we have in one passage (q):

"every day they remove the ashes from the altar, הגבר at cock crowing", or" ,בקריאת

near it, either before, or after it; and on the day of atonement, מהצות, "at midnight";

and on the feast days, "at the first watch",''

the same with the evening here: and elsewhere the morning and cock crowing are distinguished (r);

"for a last of the congregation, how long may a man eat and drink? until the pillar of the morning ascends, (or until it is morning,) the words of R. Eliezer ben Jacob; R. Simeon says, until cock crowing.''

And so the phrase, from cock crowing till morning, is used by them (s). The Romans also divided the night in like manner, into evening, the dead of the night, or midnight, cock crowing, and the morning (t). The allusion seems to be to the time of the president of the temple's coming into it, who had the management of the affairs of it, and of appointing to each priest his work: it is said (u),

"whoever would remove the ashes from the altar, rose up early, and washed himself before the president came; but in what hour does the president come? not at all times

alike: sometimes he comes, הגבר at cock crowing", or near it, before it, or" ,מקריאת

after it; and the president comes and knocks for them, and they open to him; and he says unto them, whosoever has washed himself, let him come and cast lots: they cast lots, and he is worthy whom he counts worthy.''

Such who understand these words of Christ's coming by death, or at judgment, apply these seasons to the several ages of men, as childhood, youth, manhood, and old age.

HENRY, " We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of his return, Mar_13:35-37. (1.) Our Lord will come, and will come as the Master of the house, to take account of his servants, of their work, and of the improvement they have made. (2.) We know not when he will come; and he has very wisely kept us at uncertainty, that we might all be always ready. We know not when he will come, just at what precise time; the Master of the house perhaps will come at even, at nine at night; or it may be at midnight, or a cock-crowing, at three in the morning, or perhaps not until six. This is applicable to his coming to us in particular, at our death, as well as to the

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general judgment. Our present life is a night, a dark night, compared with the other life; we know not in which watch of the night our Master will come, whether in the days of youth, or middle age, or old age; but, as soon as we are born, we begin to die, and therefore, as soon as we are capable of expecting any thing, we must expect death. (3.) Our great care must be, that, whenever our Lord comes, he do not find us sleeping, secure in ourselves, off our guard, indulging ourselves in ease and sloth, mindless of our work and duty, and thoughtless of our Lord's coming; ready to say, He will not come, and unready to meet him. (4.) His coming will indeed be coming suddenly; it will be a great surprise and terror to those that are careless, and asleep, it will come upon them as a thief in the night. (5.) It is therefore the indispensable duty of all Christ's disciples, to watch, to be awake, and keep awake; “What I say unto you four (Mar_13:37), I say unto all the twelve, or rather to you twelve, I say unto all my disciples and followers; what I say to you of this generation, I say to all that shall believe in men, through your word, in every age, Watch, watch, expect my second coming, prepare for it, that you may be found in peace, without spot, and blameless.”

JAMIESON, "Watch ye therefore; for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning — an allusion to the four Roman watches of the night.

SBC 35-36, "What does the word Watchfulness mean, as used in the Holy Scriptures? It means, being on the look-out, living in expectation of Jesus Christ, doing His work, attending to His charge, occupying ourselves so as to improve the talents, one or more, He has entrusted to us, trying to do the best with our Lord’s money that He may receive His own with interest. In short, watchfulness means leading that sort of life which, were it to be broken off tomorrow, would turn to our great gain.

I. Watchfulness implies that we are looking for Christ, living in expectation of His coming—living, that is, with the recollection of our mortality, as knowing that in any case our time on earth is short, that the day must soon be here when we shall die. The reluctance to think about death is a great stumbling-block to us all. It prevents our making any due preparation against it. They were wiser among the heathen of old, who in the midst of their banquets, used to have carried round the figure of one dead, with this inscription, "Eat and drink, for you will soon be as this."

II. Consider what will be the life of the watchful Christian—of him who is indeed waiting for his Lord. It will be a life of sobriety, a life of active service, a life of patient continuance in well-doing, a life whose end and aim is to be approved by the Master when He cometh. In the parables of the Talents and of the Pounds we have the warning of a soul lost, not for committing gross sins, but simply for inactivity—for keeping its powers laid up, hiding from use its Lord’s money; and surely that is a warning that must come home to many of us. For who of us has laboured as he might for God’s glory and his fellow-creature’s good? Who of us, Were he summoned today, could produce a life of which the greater part of its energies had been turned to work the Lord’s work? Are we not rather chargeable, in our conscience, with the offence of having wasted our Lord’s goods, of having squandered on ourselves, or on mere pleasure, those powers, that wealth, that influence, which were put into our hand to be administered for far higher and nobler ends? Let us watch and pray, that His coming may not take us by surprise. Then we shall be glad and not sorry when the time of our watching is at an end. He will make us full of joy with the light of His countenance.

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R. D. B. Rawnsley, Sermons in Country Churches, p. 107.

COFFMAN, "The Jews had for long recognized three watches of the night,

lasting from sundown to 10:00 P.M., and from then to 1:00 A.M., and from then

until sunrise. But, with the establishment of the Roman empire in Judea, these

had been changed to the four watches mentioned by Jesus in this admonition:

even ending at nine; midnight ending at twelve; cock-crowing ending at three;

and morning ending at six.

COKE, "Mark 13:35. At even,— ' Οψε, evening, answers to the first watch of the

night, which began at sunset: at nine ΄εσονυκτιον, or midnight, answers to the

second watch, which ended at twelve; αλεκτοροφωνια, or the cock-crowing,

answers to the third watch, which ended at three in the morning: πρωι, or the

morning, answers to the fourth watch, which ended at six. See Chap. Mark 15:1

and on Matthew 28:1.

Inferences.—We are taught, from the whole of this remarkable prophesy, how

vain and dangerous it is to trust in external privileges, and to cry out, as these

foolish wretched Jews did, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are

these buildings!—when of this stately and magnificent structure, within less than

half a century after it was finished, not one stone was left on another

undemolished.

Let us bless God that our own eyes have not seen such desolation and ruins, such

commotions in the natural and moral world, such dissentions in civil life, such

persecutions and hatreds among the nearest relations, (Mark 13:12-13.) under

the pretence of propagating religion; for however propagated, it is nothing,

without that love which is to often made the first victim to it; yet too often do we

see, in one of them or another, iniquity abounding, and the love of many waxing

cold. To avoid this, we should endeavour to revive in our own hearts a deep and

lasting impression of divine things; and remember, whenever we are tempted to

let go our integrity, that he alone who endures to the end shall be saved.

If our Lord urges his disciples to flee with such speedy and solicitous haste from

the sword of God's temporal judgments, how much greater diligence should we

give to flee from the wrath to come! Mark 13:15-16. What are any of the little

interests of life, that out of regard to them we should be willing to continue one

moment longer exposed to a danger, which may sink us into everlasting ruin and

despair!

The unhappy Jews eagerly listened to the very name of Messiah, by whomsoever

it was assumed, Mark 13:21-22 while they rejected him whom God had sent

them, and who had so long, and with so much importunity been renewing to

them the offers of life and salvation. May none of us ever know the sad

impatience with which condemned sinners will wish, and wish in vain, for those

overtures and messages of grace which they now despise! In that sense

wheresoever the carcase is, thither will the eagles be gathered together: wherever

there is the like unbelief and impenitence, there will be in its degree the like ruin.

Christ has graciously told us these things before; may we humbly attend to the

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warning, that none of this terror and destruction may come upon us!

And, to render us still more attentive, raise we our contemplation to that aweful

day, when all that was figuratively spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem shall

be literally accomplished: where will our hope and comfort, our light and safety

then be, when the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light?

Where indeed, unless the Almighty God, the everlasting Jehovah, by whose voice

they were created, and by whose hand they shall be dashed in pieces again, shall

condescend to be our light and our salvation. If indeed he be so, we shall hear the

solemn summons to judgment with joy. What though the day and season be

unknown, it is enough for us that we know that all these interposing days and

years, be they ever so numerous, will at length be past; for the promise of the

great Redeemer is our security, and he will hasten it in its time.

We are by profession the domestics of Christ, Mark 13:34 it is our duty therefore

to attend to the offices that he has assigned us, though he seem at a distance;

diligently to wait his coming, at whatever season: his ministers ought more

especially to wait it, and be solicitous that they may be found so doing;

conducting themselves like wise stewards of the mysteries of God, dispensing to

every one their portion of food in due season; and always remembering that

every exhortation which they give to others, returns with redoubled weight upon

themselves: then will their account be honourable, and their reward glorious. See

the Inferences on Matthew 24.

REFLECTIONS.—1st, Our Lord departing now from the temple to return no

more, one of his disciples, pleased with the beauty of that stupendous fabric,

could not help observing to him, of what massy stones it was built, and how

magnificently adorned. But Christ assures him, that, admirable as it appeared,

and strong as it stood, the day was near when it should be so utterly razed from

the foundations, that one stone should not be left upon another. Struck with so

sad a prospect, four of the disciples came privately to him, as he sat in the mount

of Olives, desiring to be informed when these aweful predictions would come to

pass, and what would be the sign of their approaching fulfilment.

2nd, In answering the question which their curiosity raised, Christ gives them

some cautions for the direction of their conscience, it being infinitely more their

concern to be always ready to meet the approaching calamities, than to know the

precise time of their arrival.

1. He cautions them against the false Christs who should arise, and seduce many

of the Jews, who were ready to run after every impostor, though they had

rejected the true Messiah.

2. He warns them not to be discouraged with the wars and commotions, the

famines, earthquakes, and pestilences, which would ravage the earth; these being

but the beginning of sorrows, the end is not yet; and what is here spoken with

reference to the Jewish state and nation, seems also to have a view to the like

calamities which will be the signs and presages of either the millennium or the

final dissolution of all things. But amid the wreck of nature, and the flames of a

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dissolving world, the soul that is stayed upon Christ need not be troubled.

3. He bids them prepare for persecutions, and exhorts them to bear up

courageously under them. Far from possessing that earthly greatness and respect

with which they flattered themselves, they must expect the very reverse; they will

be hated of all men for his sake: in enmity to Jesus and his gospel, the world in

general would combine against them: yea, even their nearest relations would

prove false and faithless, and become the bitterest enemies; and, breaking the

strongest ties of nature, persecute them even to death. They would be dragged

before the rulers, civil and ecclesiastical, and punished as heretical and seditious:

yea, even before the heathen kings and magistrates they would be accused, and

called to seal with their blood, the testimony which they bore. But distressing as

these things might appear, they have abundant reason to trust and not be afraid:

Jesus assures them that he will stand by them. When called to answer before the

tribunals of the mightiest, they need not distress themselves about what they

shall say; a divine revelation shall be given to them, and they shall be directed to

reply to every charge in the properest manner; yea, their very trials before the

kings and rulers shall prove a testimony against those great men; they will

thereby have an opportunity of preaching the gospel to those who might never

else have heard it. And whatever attempts are made to suppress and silence

them, they shall prove abortive; Christ will cause his gospel to be preached, and

spread, in defiance of opposition, into all lands; and either shelter them from the

malice of their persecutors, or reward their fidelity unto death with a crown of

everlasting life and glory—considerations sufficient to make them welcome the

cross, while such a crown was in view. Note; (1.) Sufferings for Christ stumble

many; we need to take care that we be not thereby offended. (2.) The image of

Jesus, as it must reprove the world, will ever procure the hatred of worldly men

against those who possess it. (3.) The spirit of bigotry and enmity, which is in the

natural heart, against Christ and his people, sometimes breaks through the

strongest ties of blood; makes children rebellious, and parents unnatural, even to

wish the death of those they are most bound to love and cherish. (4.) Wherever

the gospel is preached, if it be not received, it will at least rise up for a testimony

against all who neglect or reject so great a salvation. (5.) When we are called to

stand forth for Christ, we may still confidently expect to be supported by him,

and to be taught by his Spirit how to speak and act for his glory. (6.) All

sufferings, and even death itself, will be regarded as light afflictions that are but

for a moment, by those whose faith realizes to their minds the far more exceeding

and eternal weight of glory.

3rdly, Two things the disciples are taught by our Lord,

1. To secure their lives by flight, when the Roman army, the abomination of

desolation, appears before Jerusalem. No moment must be lost, no attempt made

to save any thing; they must seek their safety in instant flight. Those who are

heavy with child, or have babes at their breasts, will be in that day most

peculiarly miserable, as least able to fly, or to bear the hardships which they

must undergo; and if this flight were in winter, the inclemency of the season

would make the situation of the fugitives more deplorable; therefore they need

pray that it may not be so. But whenever the time comes, such a scene of

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affliction, misery, and desolation, will appear, as never was from the creation

before, and never will be again to the end of time. They who read the history of

Josephus, may see this prophesy awfully fulfilled. Indeed it is marvellous that

any inhabitant of Judea survived this dire catastrophe; nothing but the most

gracious interposition of divine Providence could have prevented their utter

extirpation. But God having gracious designs towards his once favoured people,

in the latter days, will shorten the days of affliction, and pluck some as brands

from the burning.

2. To take care of their souls. Seducers will abound in those evil days, and with

large promises of procuring them relief from the impending calamities, will

persuade many to join them; giving themselves out for the Messiah, or

pretending to have found him; and, with lying wonders and false miracles, will

impose upon many. Christ therefore warns them against impostures, which he so

plainly foretels.

4thly, The things here predicted, primarily refer to the destruction of the Jewish

people; but they seem also to have respect to the final appearing to judgment of

our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. As his hand visibly appeared in the ruin

of Jerusalem, the temple, and the Jewish nation, and also in his separating his

disciples, who fled to Pella when the calamity drew near, and escaped the Roman

sword; so will he fulfil this prophesy in the approaching dissolution of all things,

when he shall personally appear, coming in the clouds with power and great

glory, to execute judgment on all impenitent sinners, and to gather his saints into

his eternal kingdom. Concerning these great events he warns them;

1. That the time of their fulfilment is near, and they might judge of its approach

by the preceding signs, just as surely as they would of the summer's drawing

nigh by the budding of the fig-tree. Some of that generation would live to see the

utter ruin of Jerusalem and Judea: his prophetic word must infallibly take place,

and heaven and earth sooner pass away, than one tittle of his predictions fail.

Near also, even at the door, is the great day of judgment. The period of time,

which yet remains, we know is short; how short, who can tell?

2. The time when, is uncertain. None in heaven or on earth precisely knows the

hour, not even the Son as man, or in virtue of his designation to the mediatorial

office; it is a secret locked up in the bosom of God, and neither revealed to men

nor angels. We are left in this awful uncertainty, that we may be always ready.

3. He admonishes them, in the view of what he had spoken, to watch and pray;

which he enforces in the following parable: his appearing would be like that of a

master who took a long journey, committed to his stewards the management of

his affairs, and directed the work in which he would have his servants employed

during his absence; charging the porter to take especial care that no thief broke

in, and that all should be ready to receive him at his return, which he left

uncertain, that they might be in constant expectation of him, and prepared to

welcome him. Thus when Jesus ascended on high, he left a charge with all his

servants, whether ministers or private Christians, to employ themselves

diligently in the work that he has appointed them, and to be prepared to give an

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account of their fidelity. He is coming again to make a solemn inquiry; the time

when, is uncertain; every hour we stand in jeopardy, not knowing whether by

day or by night the calls of death or judgment may place us before him. Our care

therefore must be, above all things, that we are not surprized by him, slothful,

negligent, and unprepared to meet him, though he come never so suddenly.

What, therefore, our Lord inculcates upon his disciples, we are alike bound to

hear; for unto us it is alike addressed, I say unto all, Watch. Note; Our great

concern upon earth is to be ready for death and judgment: each breath we draw

may be our last: let us seize then the moment as it flies; and, while the hour lasts,

give all diligence that we may be found of him in peace.

36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you

sleeping.

BARNES, "Find you sleeping - Inattentive to your post, neglecting your duty, and unprepared for his coming.

CLARKE, "He find you sleeping - A porter asleep exposes the house to be robbed, and well deserves punishment. No wonder that the man is constantly suffering loss who is frequently off his guard.

Our Lord shows us in this parable:

1. That himself, ascended to heaven, is the man gone from home.

2. That believers collectively are his family.

3. That his servants are those who are employed in the work of faith and labor of love.

4. That the porter represents the ministers of his Gospel, who should continually watch for the safety and welfare of the whole flock.

5. That every one has his own work - that which belongs to himself and to none other, and for the accomplishment of which he receives sufficient strength from his Lord.

6. That these servants and porters shall give an account to their Lord, how they have exercised themselves in their respective departments.

7. And that as the master of the family will certainly come to require this account at a time when men are not aware, therefore they should be always watchful and faithful. And,

8. That this is a duty incumbent on every soul of man, What I say unto you, I say unto All, Watch! If, after all these warnings, the followers of God be found careless, their misery and condemnation must be great.

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GILL, "Lest coming suddenly,.... Unthought of, and unexpected, at an unawares:

he find you sleeping; inactive in the exercise of grace, and negligent in the performance of duty; unprepared for his coming, and unfit for service.

JAMIESON, "Lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping — See on Luk_12:35-40; see on Luk_12:42-46.

COFFMAN, "This is the order of the day for all ages of Christianity. The

onward rush of mighty events, the sweep of earth's populations through history,

the bloody conflicts as great nations make the sword the arbiter of their

destinies, the confusion, bitterness, and struggle of disciples in all times, the

terrible apostasy, the rule of materialism, the secularization of humanity,

rampant wickedness of all kinds, increasing indifference, malignant unbelief the

progression of the church through history will be one of continuing challenges

and battles; and the constant need throughout time to the judgment is, for both

the church and the Christian, WATCHFULNESS!

37 What I say to you, I say to everyone:

‘Watch!’”

BARNES, "I say unto all, Watch - This command was proper, not only for those who were expecting the calamities that were soon to come upon the Jews, but for all who are soon to die and to go to the judgment. We know not the time of our death. We know not how soon we shall be called to the judgment. The Son of man may come at any moment, and we should therefore be ready. If we are his friends; if we have been renewed and pardoned; if we have repented of our sins, and have believed on him. and are leading a holy life, we “are” ready. If not, we are unprepared, and soon - probably while we are not expecting it - the cold hand of death will be laid on us, and we shall be hurried to the place where is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Oh how important it is to be ready, and to escape the awful sufferings of an eternal hell!

GILL, "And what I say unto you,.... The four disciples, Peter, James, John, and Andrew; who came privately to him, and put to him the questions, which occasioned this long discourse; see Mar_13:3.

I say unto all. The Syriac and Persic versions read, "you all"; meaning all the rest of his apostles, and all his disciples and followers in Jerusalem, and in all Judea; who were all concerned in these things, and whom it became to

watch, and be upon their guard, and cast off all sloth and negligence; since they knew not soon the son of man would come, and all these evil things would be brought upon the Jewish nation, city, and temple: and the same exhortation is suitable to saints in all ages, times, and places, on account of the various snares, temptations,

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and evils, that they are liable to, the suddenness of death, and the uncertainty of the second coming of Christ.

JAMIESON, "And what I say unto you — this discourse, it will be remembered, was delivered in private.

I say unto all, Watch — anticipating and requiring the diffusion of His teaching by them among all His disciples, and its perpetuation through all time.

SBC, "The exhortation to watch implies that there is danger, and if our Lord says to all, "Watch," all must be exposed to it. And danger there is; nay, dangers manifold there are on all sides of us.

I. The interests at stake are unspeakably great. Let any opportunity slip, and there is so much lost for eternity. Let all your opportunities slip, and heaven itself is lost. You may seek to enter in, but shall not be able—you shall find the gate shut.

II. We are ever in danger of surprisal. Opportunities of promoting our own spiritual progress, the good of others and God’s glory, often present themselves unexpectedly, and just as unexpectedly pass away; and therefore we must watch. Very frequently, too, temptation presents itself at an unexpected time, and in an unexpected form, and we must watch. Satan meets men when they least expect him, and we ought to watch.

III. Satan ever comes in disguise, and ever adopts that disguise which seems least apt to excite suspicion. He comes to the flock of Christ in sheep’s clothing; sometimes in the clothing of a shepherd; yea, at times he seems transformed into an angel of light. We must watch. That is the condition of our safety. For here we as spiritual beings are in constant danger, and can be preserved only as the birds of the air are preserved, by constant watchfulness.

IV. If you keep in view the one great object our Lord commands us to be looking for, you will be watchful in all things. It is His coming again. He comes to judge the world, and He comes to reckon with each individual. Your Master has gone into a far country. Your eye for the present sees Him not; but you have each a charge given by Him. Each of you has his appointed work. You are to watch for His coming, and at any hour He may come.

W. Nicholson, Redeeming the Time, p. 55.

BI, "And what I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch.

Watchfulness

I. In what does this watchfulness consist? Consider it in reference to the coming of Christ, and our solemn appearance before Him. In this respect it implies-

1. Thoughtfulness. Sinners are so intent upon buying and selling that they have neither time nor inclination to think of anything else. It would be an interruption and disturbance to them to be told of Christ’s coming. Every incident of life should bring it to remembrance. When we rise in the morning, it is natural for us to think, “Perhaps before night I may be at the end of my journey.”

2. But watchfulness also implies preparation.

II. On what account this watchfulness is necessary.

1. Because many are called, and few are chosen, In every field there are tares as

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well as wheat; in every church sinners and saints are blended together. Watch, therefore, commune with your own heart, and let your spirit make diligent search.

2. Because so many about you are slothful.

3. Because you know not the day, nor the hour, when the Son of Man cometh. Watch, therefore, while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you.

4. Because blessed are the dead which die ill the Lord. (S. Lavington.)

Watchfulness a safeguard

A prompt resistance of temptation, or a prompt repentance of sin as soon as committed, will commonly extinguish the flames. A few buckets of water dashed on the fire as soon as it kindled in De Koven Street would have saved Chicago from ruin in 1871. Had David exercised, at the right moment, one half of the grace which afterwards penned the fifty-first Psalm, he would have saved his own character and Uriah’s life. The same rule of safety applies alike to sin and to fire; the first spark must be extinguished. When a man’s whole soul is on fire, and the fabric of his character has been consumed, it is too late for prevention to use its apparatus. The ruined structure may be rebuilt by penitence and prayerful living, but many precious things have perished, never to be restored. A dear friend in St. John writes me that he shall rebuild his house, but the superb library, the pictures, and the keepsakes are gone forever. The reformed inebriate may save the remnant of his life; but the best days of it are in ashes. Wherefore the Omniscient Master has uttered the solemn admonition, “I say unto you all, watch!” (Dr. Cuyler.)

Always ready

And the words which the German Commentator wrote over his study door in Hanover, “Always to be ready,” become the motto of Christian lives. And this, because the unusual is forever happening. The providences of storm, accident, and disease; of prosperity and loss, life and death-all or any one of them may come in a day. The contingencies of life therefore must needs be reckoned on in all our estimates. The route of our journeying was mapped out, the trunks were packed and the day of our departure fixed; but a child fell sick, or the mail that morning brought a message of death, and our plans were changed. Or, weary with long labour, and with wealth enough and well invested, we plan to spend the afternoon of life in ease and culture; but a panic comes, the bank fails, and debtors default, and unexpectedly we are pushed back again into the treadmill of anxious toil. Or, we counted on the schedule time and a close connection, but the train was a half hour late, and so we missed the boat and lost the holiday. (W. H. Davis.)

Watching in work

For the smith’s apron, the baker’s cap, the labourer’s blue jeans, and the housewife’s gown are all suitable material for ascension robes. And he watches best for his Lord’s coming who does the duty and the service which lie next to him, with fidelity to men and love to God. Be that duty with ploughs or day books, in the office with its briefs, or in the school room with its classes, or busy with railroads and mines, with homes or farms, no matter, if the currents of purpose sweep heavenward and the graces of

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faith and hope and love are in the heart. As Israel Putnam left the plough in the furrow and mounted a field horse when the bugle sounded for the rallying at Cambridge; as the minute men of Middlesex left workshop and farm at Paul Revere’s call to Lexington, so the Master would have men work and watch. (W. H. Davis.)

Watchfulness

I. What is meant by spiritual watchfulness?

1. The mind must be awake, the understanding, the rational powers. In order to this it is essential that the powers should be exercised; in other words, that the man should think. To be mentally awake there must be life, spontaneous action, and coherence in the thoughts. But this is not enough. The mind may be awake in one sense and yet dreaming in another. Some men’s minds operate too fast, and some too slow. Some attempt to discover what has not been revealed of the future; some think too late. The mind must think seasonably. It must also act upon the proper objects, or it might just as well not act at all. The powers of many are in active exercise, but they are spent on trifles, on puzzles in theology. It thinks to no practical purpose.

2. The conscience as well as the intellect must be awake-the moral as well as the purely intellectual faculties. There must be perception not only of what is true, but of what is right. There must be liveliness of affection no less than of intellect. We must not only feel bound, but feel disposed to do the will of God. When the man thinks in earnest, seasonably of right objects and to practical purpose-when he feels his obligations and his failures to discharge them-when he earnestly desires, and sincerely loves, what he admits to be true and binding-then he may be said, in the highest spiritual sense, to be awake.

II. Be on your guard. The importance of the charge committed to our care. Although essential, it is not enough to be awake. The sentry is awake; but he is more, he is upon his guard-his mind is full of his important trust. The sentry may look for danger only in one quarter, and be overtaken by it from another direction. The danger is a complex one. He may even find the enemy within the city while he looks without. The soul may expose itself to ruin, not only by actually falling asleep, but by want of proper caution when awake-by forgetting the danger or by underrating it-by admitting its reality, but losing sight of its proximity, by looking for it from one quarter, but forgetting that it may proceed from others, by looking at a distance when the enemy is near at hand. If asked, “Who is the enemy against which spiritual vigilance is called for,” I reply, “His name is Legion.”

III. How shall we obey this duty? It is natural to ask, Is there not some safeguard, some tried means of spiritual safety, that will at once secure our vigilance and make it efficacious? Yes, there is such a talisman, and its name is prayer, that settled bent of the affections which makes actual devotion not a rare experience, but the normal condition of the soul. (J. A. Alexander, D. D.)

The nature and obligation of watchfulness

I. We must watch that we may prevent evil.

1. We must watch against sin.

2. We must guard against the world.

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3. We must watch against the temptations of the devil.

II. We must watch to do good.

1. We have to discharge all the duties we owe to God, and our fellow Christians and neighbours; to improve all our talents wisely and faithfully.

2. We must watch to do all the good that God has commanded us.

3. We must watch to do good in its proper season.

4. We must watch to do good in the appointed manner.

Application:

1. How naturally prone we are to become secure and careless.

2. That without watchfulness we shall become an easy prey to our worst enemy.

3. Without this we can perform no duty that will be acceptable to God.

4. Let us join prayer to watchfulness. (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.)

Helping others to watch

I suppose you never heard of a man of the name of Thomas Bilby. He was the man who wrote that beautiful hymn-

“Here we suffer grief and pain,

Here we meet to part again;

In heaven we part no more.

Oh! that will be joyful,

When we meet to part no more!”

He wrote it for me. He wrote it for the first “children’s service” I ever held. That was forty-five years ago, since I held my first “children’s service.” I was at Chelsea. I may be wrong, but I believe that was the first “children’s service” ever held in the Church of England. I had heard of “catechising” before, but I had not heard of “children’s services.” Mr. Bilby wrote that hymn for me, for my first “children’s service.” He was my infant schoolmaster. Before then he had been a private in the Coldstream Guards, but he became a religious man, was converted while in the army. There were several religious men in the same regiment, and they were very much observed by all the other soldiers, who watched them to see if they acted in any wrong way, because they called themselves Christians. So they watched that little society, these few religious men in the army, and if ever any one of the little band should see another going to do anything wrong, get into a bad temper, use a bad word, or going to fight with another soldier, he would go and whisper to that man, “Watch!” No one else could hear it. Mr. Bilby told me that that was the rule among the Christians in the Coldstream Guards. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Found at our post

Oh! there are so many places where we must watch. There was a city in Italy, I daresay you know of it, where, more than a thousand years ago, the lava from Mount Vesuvius came all over the city, and covered it completely with thick lava. I have been there, and seen it. A thousand years after that happened, it was discovered, the city

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was excavated, and they dug out many of the things that were therein. Amongst other things that were discovered, there was a man, a soldier, a sentinel at his post. A thousand years before, that man had been killed at his post by the lava, and there he was found, a sentinel still at his post! A lesson to us. A great deal more than a thousand years after, he was found still at his post. Let us be found at our post, wherever God has placed us, when He comes; when this world is covered, as it will be, with fire, may we be found faithful at our posts! (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Danger varied and where least expected

Oh! the danger may come in a very different way from the way you expect. Did you ever read AEsop’s Fables? I will tell you one of a doe that was blind of one eye (have you read the story?); this doe was very cunning and clever, for she knew which eye was blind, and down the path which the doe used to go she always kept her blind eye to the sea and her good eye to the land, because it was from the land the doe thought the danger would come. So the doe always kept the blind eye to the sea and the good eye to the land. One day a poacher, who knew all about that, got a boat and went out in the boat on the sea, and from the boat he shot the poor doe; and as the poor doe was dying, she said, so the fable goes, “Unhappy watcher! poor me! My danger came from where I never expected it, and there was no danger where I did expect it!” You may be like that poor blind doe: the danger comes where you don’t expect it! Do you know where to expect the danger? “Watch!” I believe a hare when it lies in the grass always tries to see out of its eyes backwards; he thinks the danger will come from behind, therefore he so fixes his eyes and puts his ears back that he cannot see what is before; he is always looking back. Your danger comes every way. Another thing I want you to watch against is wandering thoughts. (J. Vaughan, M. A.)

Be watchful

I. Our conduct.

II. Our temper.

III. Our words.

IV. Our heart. (T. Heath.)

No disappointment to watchers for Christ

Most persons know what watching is. There are few who have not learned it by experience. In nights of sickness or sleeplessness you have watched for the morning. You have watched for the coming of expected friends. If they have been long separated from you, if they have gone to a far country, how anxiously you await the day of their return! It is a work of love to make your home bright and cheerful for them, and sometimes you gather flowers that they may add their greeting to yours. But, alas! how much of this earthly watching ends in disappointment! The ship that is bringing the absent one home goes down, and the longed-for sound of the familiar step and voice is waited for in vain. Ambitious souls lay plans and watch for success. Oftener than otherwise those plans fail and come to nothing. There has been more than one mother of a Sisera, whose son has gone out into the world flushed with the expectation of victory in some field of noble strife. She has looked through the lattice of her humble retirement for the return of his chariot, and for a division of the

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honour gained, and kept on gazing and expecting, not knowing that he has fallen a captive to temptation, and that his soul was pierced through, nailed to the earth, and dead … Most of our earthly watching is, after all, sad and fruitless. It always is, provided we look only for what this world can bring and preserve in our keeping. But blessed is he that watches for Jesus, and for His coming. That coming will be indeed a blessed morning, the bringing in of an eternal day, one through all of whose sunny hours no more sickness or pain will be felt. It will restore our absent ones to us, in a home better than any here, a mansion bright and fragrant; with flowers fairer than any of earth. It will mark the victorious return of every true soldier of the Cross, and his joyous coronation. It will reveal the multiplied richness and value of every treasure given into the Lord’s hand. (E. E. Johnson, M. A.)

The interval between Christ’s going and coming

The first advent is the pivot on which all turns for the life below; the second advent will be the point round which all will be grouped for the life above. Faith looks back at the Cross, and finds peace. Hope looks forward to the coronation, and gathers strength. Meanwhile the Master’s eye and heart are towards His people, and He gives this motto.

I. There are things which suggest watchfulness.

1. The tendency of the body to induce sleep.

2. The influence of the world to beget sloth.

3. The design of the enemy to rob us while we slumber.

II. Things which promote watchfulness.

1. Waiting.

2. Working.

3. Worshipping.

III. Things which repay watchfulness.

1. Marry a glorious sight is missed by those who will not watch.

2. The night watches give an insight into depths of space.

3. The morning watches tell of unthought glories in the Sun of Righteousness.

4. The men who watch look out of self.

IV. Things which encourage watchfulness.

1. Time is too precious to waste in sleep.

2. A restless conscience.

3. A longing desire.

4. A burning hope. (J. Richardson.)

Watch

I. Against sin. Put on the Christian soldier’s armour to preserve you from the fiery darts of the wicked. Be in earnest. You may be armed from head to foot, and yet false in your Christianity. Some time since I remember walking across the tesselated

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pavement of a grand hall in the mansion of one of England’s noblest born. In a niche I saw, by the light which streamed through the painted glass of an oriel window, a statue. I thought at first it was a man. I walked across the pavement, and drew near to examine the figure. He had upon his head a helmet of iron; the vizor was drawn down over his face, concealing the features; he held on his arm a long shield that reached to the very ground; in his hand was grasped an iron sword, double edged; he wore on his bosom a strong breastplate; his limbs were covered with greaves and rings; his feet were also shod with iron. I drew near, and began to examine this well-protected figure. Presently, to my surprise, I saw something protruding; it was a piece of straw. On walking round, I saw some more straw sticking out through the greaves of the armour. I soon found this was a man in armour-if you will,-but stuffed with straw. And so, there may be many armed with the spiritual panoply-ready to quote texts, apt with religious arguments, apparently respectable and sincere,-whose religion is false, hollow, and worthless. Unless you are watching against all inroads of the enemy, and pressing onward in the battle, you are none of Christ’s.

II. Against temptation. Satan comes in many guises. Be on the lookout. Don’t let him deceive you with specious arguments and seductions.

III. For souls. Seek to turn others into the right way. Draw them by love and with care. Do not let an opportunity slip, or you will regret it forever. There was one whose hand I held in mine; with whom I trod-the narrow way that leadeth unto life? No-the broad road that leadeth unto hell; and he has departed, he has been removed beyond the reach of my voice. I will tell you how it was. Bred early to a knowledge of God, I became a backslider, and I wandered with him for years in the road that leads to hell. I left this country, and wandered over the shores of Mexico, Texas, the West Indies, and through the Caribbean Seas; and then returned home, after having been a long while away. I went to where my friend lived, and asked, “Where is so and so?” The person hesitated. “Where is he? Is he here, or in another part of the country?” The person turned pale. I said, “Tell me-I must have it-where is he?” “Well,” was the reply, “he is dead.” “Dead!” I felt petrified. Then I demanded, “Where did he die?” The person said, “He went up to London; there he ran a course of dissipation, and then he was suddenly cut off by the hand of God.” Now, do you know, I have never lost the remembrance of that. Sometimes I close my door and go on my knees in prayer, and beseech God to blot out the black mark. And sometimes, when I lie down to sleep, I see staring at me through the gloom a pale face that I know-it is the face of that damned man. Aye, methinks, if he might speak, he would curse me; he would say, “God curse you!” “Why?” “Because you might have preached to me Christ Jesus; and now I am lost.” Let not this reproach be cast upon you.

IV. For Christ. With affection. With patience. With perseverance. (H. G. Guinness.)

Watch for death

There is nothing more certain than death; nothing more uncertain than the time of dying. I will therefore be prepared for that at all times which may come at any time, and must come at one time or another. I shall not hasten my death by being still ready, but sweeten it. It makes me not die the sooner, but the better. (A. Warwick.)

Watch:-Men hear these warnings as general discourses, and let them pass so; they apply them not; or, if they do, it is readily to some other person. But they are addressed to all, that each one may regulate himself by them: and so these Divine truths are like a well-drawn picture, which looks particularly upon everyone,

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amongst the great multitude, that looks at it. (Archbishop Leighton.).

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