Luke 21

Luke 21:20-24

Parallels: Mark 13; Matthew 24

r Lord proceeds to describe the nearer prognostications of the destruction of Jerusalem, and the extreme severity of those calamities which should then fall on the Jewish nation. Mat. XXIV. 15—28. Mark XIII. 14—23. Luke XXI. 20—24.

LUKE XXI. 20.

OUR Lord having proceeded thus far in his discourse, added some more immediate signs, by which the near approach of this terrible destruction might be determined; and, said, When you shall see Jerusalem encompassed on every side with the Roman armies, [and] the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet (Dan. ix. 27), standing where it ought not, and displayed in an holy place; that is, when the standards of their desolating legions, on which they bear the detestable images of their idols, are planted on holy ground; then know, that the desolation thereof is just approaching. And, by the way, now I mention that remarkable prophecy, let every one that reads it pause seriously upon it, that he may understand its meaning; for it contains one of the most eminent predictions which can any where be found, of the time, purposes, and consequences of my appearing; and the whole context is of great importance. Now I say, when you see this signal, then let them that are in Judea flee, as fast as they can from the fortified cities and populous towns, to the mountains

a Planted on holy ground.] Not only the temple, and the mountain on which it stood, but the whole city of Jerusalem, and several furlongs of land round about it, were accounted holy. (See note 6, on Mat. iv. 5, Vol. I. p. 118.) It is remarkable, that by the special providence of God, after the Romans under Cestius Gallus made their first advance towards Jerusalem, they suddenly withdrew again, in a most unexpected, and indeed impolitic manner; at which Josephus testifies his surprise, since the city might then have been easily taken. By this means they gave as it were a signal to the Christians to retire; which, in regard to this admonition, they did, some to Pella, and others to mount Libanus, and thereby preserved their lives. See Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. ii. cap. 19 (al. 24), § 7, and Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 5. Of the idolatrous standards in the

Roman armies, see Grotius’s excellent note on Mat. xxiv. 15.

b The whole context is of great importance.] If any wonder that so important a prophecy is not more frequently insisted upon in the New Testament, I think we may justly answer, that it was not proper for the apostles to urge it; as the exact commencement and termination of the seventy weeks was a nice controversy out of their way, and not capable of being fully cleared up to the populace, with whom they were chiefly concerned; and as several of the events referred to in it had not their complete accomplishment till some years after most of their writings were published. But that the period is long since elapsed is certain, however it might be reckoned; as Dr. Bullock has excellently shewn. See his Vindication, book ii. chap. 4, § 6; p. 216—218, and Dr. Sykes of Christianity, chap. xvi. p. 297—301

VOL. 4

He warns his disciples to flee from the

and the wilderness, where they will be secure; and especially let them that are in the midst of it, where Jerusalem stands, depart immediately out of it, before their retreat is cut off by the union of the enemies’ forces near that centre; and let not them that are in the adjacent countries, by any means attempt to enter into it, as a place of safety; for all its strength, and all its sanctity, will not secure its inhabitants. Let every one therefore retreat as fast as possible, and let not him that is taking the air on the battlements at the top of the house, go down into the house, nor enter into it, to take away any thing, though ever so precious, out of his house; but let him go down by the outer stairs, as the shortest way, lest he should linger to his own destruction. And let not him that is at work in the field, and hath laid aside his upper garment as an incumbrance, go back, so much as a few steps, to take his clothes, lest the enemy should surprise him before he can recover them. (Compare Luke xvii. 31, p. 185.) In a word, let every one flee for his life, and reckon himself sufficiently happy if he can escape with it, though in the most naked and destitute circumstances: for these are days of most terrible vengeance, to which most of the threatenings of the prophets, even from the days of Moses, do ultimately refer; and they shall be so full of distress and misery, that all the most dreadful things which are written in them may then be said to be completely fulfilled.

But more especially there will be wo and terror to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days; as their incumbrances will be peculiarly great, and they that are with

Go back to take his clothes.] These are as strong expressions as one can imagine to urge the speediest retreat. It is indeed observable, that this whole discourse abounds with very lively figures of oratory, and is heightened with the noblest beauties of description. Were it necessary to produce authorities to prove that husbandmen laid aside their upper garment when at work, they might be found in Elsner (Observ. Vol I p 109, 110), but that learned critic has impaired the beauty of the text by interpreting it as a caution not to go home to fetch them. Not to turn back, im lies fleem directly without

going back (as we speak in the country) so much as a land’s length to take them up; and so it rises on the former verse.

May then be said to be completely fulfilled.] Among many admirable things to be found in that great original, Dr. Jackson’s Credibility of the Scriptures, I cannot but reckon that part of it in which he shews how exactly the prophecies of Moses were accomplished in the slaughter and dispersion of the Jews in, and quickly after, this fatal war with the Romans. See the passages quoted below, in note m, p. 372.

t tribulation would be in those days :

them will be driven in a wild consternation to consult their own safety, to the neglect of those whom common humanity might teach them to guard and assist.

And therefore pray that no additional circumstances of difficulty may attend you; as, for instance, that this your precipitate flight may not be in winter, when the roads are bad, and the days short and dark; nor fall out on a sabbathday; for a short journey may not be sufficient, and the regard which most of the Christians in these parts will have for that day, may make them scrupulous of violating a rest they think so sacred, by a longer march, even in a case of so much extremity.

And a case of extremity it will indeed be; for in those days there shall be a scene of great tribulation [and] distress in the land of Judea, and of dreadful wrath from heaven upon all this people, such as the like has not been known before, either here or elsewhere, even from the beginning of the creation which God has made unto this time; nor ever shall the like be heard of any more; as no people ever have been, or ever shall be, guilty of so aggravated a crime, and so inexcusable a series of impenitence and infidelity. And therefore they shall fall by the edge of the sword in multitudes, both within and without the city; and the consequence of all shall be, that the miserable remnant which survives the general carnage shall be carried away captive into all the most distant nations of the world, and continue for many ages under great infamy, calamity, and oppression. And, in the mean time, Jerusalem itself shall be trampled down

• Such as the like has not been,—nor ever shall be.] This Josephus expressly asserts to have been the fact; and whoever reads his account, or even that judicious abstract from him which Eusebius has given us (Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. 5, 6), will see a sad illustration of all this; and, criminal and detestable as the Jewish nation now was, will hardly be able to forbear weeping over those complicated miseries brought upon them by plagues, and famine, and fires, occasioned by the siege, and by the carnage made, not only by the Ro-

mans, but by the yet greater cruelties of the seditious and zealots within the city, who really acted the part of so many incarnate fiends rather than of men.

They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be carried captive, &c.] It appears from Josephus that eleven hundred thousand Jews were destroyed in this war, and near an hundred thousand taken prisoners, and (according to Deut. xxviii. 68) sold for slaves at the vilest prices. See Joseph. Bel. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 9 (al. vii. 17): § 3.

But the days should be shortened for the sake of the elect.

and kept in possession by the Gentiles,⁸ till the times appointed for these triumphs and insults of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, and the day come when God shall remember his ancient people in mercy.ʰ

Mark And during the wars which are to bring on this sad catastrophe, except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh could be saved; the whole nation would be utterly exterminated from the earth, and the name of Israel no longer be had in remembrance:ⁱ but for the elect’s sake, whom

trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

is here intended. (See Isa. xxvii. 12, 13; Ezek. xi. 17; xx. 40, 42; xxxiv. 13; xxxvi. 24, 28; xxxvii. 21—28; xxxix. 28, 29; Hos. iii. 5; Amos ix. 14, 15; and Zech. xiv. 10, 11.) With this indeed is connected the bringing in, what St. Paul calls, the fullness of the Gentiles: Rom. xi. 25, 26. But, unless it could be proved (which I do not recollect) that the inhabitants of Palestine shall then peaceably surrender it to the returning Jews, it seems most natural to suppose the time of the Gentiles here signifies the time when they shall be visited and punished; which is the sense in which this very phrase, and others nearly parallel to it, frequently occur in the Old Testament; as Brennius justly observes. (Compare Ezek. xxx. 3; as also Jer. xxvii. 7; l. 27; Ezek. xxi. 25, 29; xxii. 3, 4.) And, if this be the sense of it, it seems an intimation that the Turks, or some other antichristian power, may continue possessed of the holy land till the restoration of the Jews; for one can hardly suppose their way into it should then be opened by the conquest of a Christian nation.

ⁱ Except the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh could be saved; &c.] Such were the quarrels that prevailed among the Jews, that numbers of them were destroyed by one another; and the whole country was become a scene of such desolation and bloodshed, that not only those who were shut up in Jerusalem, but the whole Jewish nation, would have suffered much more by the longer continuance of the siege, considering how much the same spirit prevailed among them in other places. Mr. Reading, in his Life of Christ, p. 309, understands the days being shortened for the elect’s sake, of the preservation of the Christians at Pella, whose safety he supposes to have depended on the shortening of the siege, and whom he takes to be the elect intended here. (See

Messiahs would attempt to deceive them :

e has graciously chosen to be at length par-akers of the blessings of his gospel, God will o order it in his providence, that those days hall be shortened; for he hath still purposes of ove toward the seed of Abraham, which shall t length take place (Rom. xi. 26); and, in the ean time, he will make their continuing a dis-inct people a means of confirming the faith of Christians in succeeding ages.k

As these then are the counsels of the Divine Wisdom concerning this people, do not expect, that when calamities begin to threaten them, any miraculous deliverer should be raised up for them; and if any one shall then say unto you, Behold, the Messiah [is] here, or behold, [he is] there, do not believe [it], or shew the least re-gard to any such report. (Compare Luke xvii. 23, p. 184.) For as this unhappy people, who are now so obstinately rejecting me, will to the last support themselves with vain hopes of that kind, and be ready eagerly to hearken to every bold impostor, false Messiahs and false prophets shall arise, and shall pretend to shew great signs and prodigies,1 managed with so much art, as might, if [it were] possible, be sufficient to deceive even the very elect, and to pervert my sincere followers and disciples themselves; though indeed their hearts shall

Dr. Whitby on Mark xiii. 20. Of the spe-cial providence by which the siege was shortened, see Grotius on Mat. xxiv. 22.

k Their continuing a distinct people, a means of confirming the faith of Christians, &c.] This I have shewn at large in my ten Sermons, Ser. x. p. 277, 279; and the reader may see the remark farther illustrated by Mr. Addison, Spectat. Vol. VII. No. 495, and in Bishop Burnet’s Four Discourses, p. 8—10.

False prophets shall arise, and shew great signs and prodigies.] This is not a mere repetition of what was said before, Mat. xxiv. 5. (p. 360), but relates to those im-postors who appeared during the time of the siege; of which see Joseph. Bell. Jud. lib. vi. cap. 5 (al. vii. 11), § 2, and Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iv. cap. 6. See also Grotius on Mat. xxiv. 24. As for the objection which is urged from this text against admitting miracles as a proof of doctrines, I would here transiently observe two things: (1.) 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 Thess. ii. 9. Or, (2.) 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 subsisting 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 abettors of falsehood, are strongly engaged to sup-port the contrary doctrine; the consider-ation 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.

But they should not go after, or regard

be so established by Divine grace as finally to be secured from the danger. But be ye cautiously upon your guard against so dangerous an imposition; for behold I have expressly foretold you all these things; that on 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. Therefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, we have found the expected Messiah, and he is now gathering his forces about him in the wilderness for the deliverance of his people, do not go forth to join yourselves to his followers; [or] if they shall say, Behold, [he is] in the secret apartments of some particular friend, where he is waiting to give satisfaction to those that desire it, do not believe [it], nor give yourselves the trouble so much as to inquire into the affair. For you know there is, and can be, no other Messiah but me; and when I appear it will be in a sudden, amazing, and irresistible manner; and as the lightning breaks forth from the east, and shines in a moment even to the west part of the horizon, so sudden and conspicuous also shall the coming of the Son of man be, both in his appearance to the destruction of Jerusalem, and to the final judgment. (Compare Luke xvii. 24, p. 184.) And very extensive also will the desolation be; for, as I formerly told you (Luke xvii. 37, p. 186), wheresoever the dead carcass is, there will the eagles naturally be gathered together; and wherever the obstinate enemies of my kingdom are, they shall be sought out and destroyed: and here in particular I will send the Roman eagles against them, who shall consume and devour them as a helpless prey, not only at Jerusalem, but over the face of the whole country; and afterwards in some more distant regions, where the greatest numbers of Jews are settled.ᵐ

ᵐ In some more distant regions, &c.] fulfilled, and as an eagle flies upon its prey, here may perhaps be an oblique intimation in this passage of the slaughter afterwards made on the Jews elsewhere, and particularly under Adrian and Trajan; when what had been foretold by Moses (Deut. xxviii. 49, 5ᵗʰ seq.) was remarkably fulfilled, and as an eagle flies upon its prey, their enemies pursued them to destruction; and the calamities they underwent were such, that (as Dio Cassius informs us, Hist. lib. 69) 50,000 were slain, 500 of their fortresses were demolished, and 900 of their chief towns in Egypt,

Reflections on the ruin that should come on the Jews.

IMPROVEMENT.

If our Lord urges his disciples, with such speedy and solicitous haste, to flee from the sword of God’s temporal judgments, how much greater diligence should we give to flee from the wrath to come! 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 perdition and despair!

We have here a lively description of that aggravated ruin which was brought upon the Jews for neglecting Christ; even great tribulation, such as had never, from the very beginning of the world, fallen upon any other nation, nor shall ever be equalled. Thus was his blood upon them, and their children. (Mat. xxvii. 25.) May we never know what it is to have this blood crying against us for trampling it under foot as an unholy thing! (Heb. x. 29.) For surely to the Jews, who thus rejected the counsel of God against themselves, all these things which they suffered were but the beginning of sorrows; and the famine and sedition, pestilence and slaughter, by which so many thousands perished, served only to consign them over to infinitely more terrible indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, which will at last fall on every soul of man that doth evil, whether Jew or Gentile. (Rom. ii. 8, 9.)

These unhappy creatures eagerly listened to the very name of a Messiah, by whomsoever it was assumed; 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 carcass is, there 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 warning, that none of this terror and destruction may ever come upon us!

Crete, &c. were plundered and burnt to the ground: not to mention the terrible things they afterwards suffered in France, Italy, Spain, and other parts of Europe, in which see Dr. Jackson’s Eternal Truth of the Scriptures, book i. part 2, sect. 3, chap. vi. 10—13.

Jesus describes the tribulation of those days.

Luke 21:25-33

Parallels: Matthew 24

Christ describes the total destruction of the Jews figures, many of them literally suiting the day the mention of which he proceeds, declaring that of it unknown. Mat. XXIV. 29—36. Mar Luke XXI. 25—33.

LUKE XXI. 25.

OUR Lord proceeded in the awful representation of the judgments that were coming on Jerusalem, and said, before this desolation shall be completely come, there shall be (as I told you, ver. 11) some extraordinary signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; eclipses, comets, and surprising meteors; and on the earth there shall be anguish and distress of nations; the sea and the proud waves thereof roaring, and breaking in upon the land with an irresistible inundation; While men shall be almost expiring with fear, and overwhelmed with the sad expectation of those calamitous things which are coming upon the land: for this shall not be like former invasions or captivities, which only produced some transient disorders in the state, or, at most, an interruption in the government for a few years; but it shall be attended with such a total subversion of it, and with such vast, extensive, and lasting ruin, that it shall be a most lively emblem of the desolation of the whole world at the last day.

For immediately after the affliction of those days, which I have now been describing, the sun shall as it were be darkened, and the moon

a Expiring with fear.] This is the literal rendering of ἀποψυχοῦν ἀπο φύδι. The signs here spoken of seem to be some of the latest of those mentioned in the writers referred to above in notes g and h on ver. 10, 11, p. 361.

b Immediately after the affliction of those days.] Archbishop Tillotson, and Brennius, with many other learned interpreters, imagine that our Lord here makes the transition from the destruction of Jerusalem, which had been the subject of his discourse thus far, to the general judgment: but I think, as it would, on the one hand, be very harsh to suppose all the sufferings of the Jewish nation, in all ages, to be called the tribulation of those

days; so it would, on the other hand, be equally so to say that the general judgment, which probably will not commence till at least a thousand years after their restoration, will happen immediately after their sufferings; nor can I find any one instance in which whence is used in such a strange latitude. What is said below (in Mat. xxiv. 34; Mark xiii. 30; and Luke xxi. 32; p. 377) seems also an unanswerable objection against such an interpretation. I am obliged therefore to explain this section as in the paraphrase; though I acknowledge many of the figures used may with more literal propriety be applied to the last day, to which there may be a remote, though not an immediate reference.

gers should be sent to assemble his elect.

shall not seem to give her usual light; and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens, all the mighty machines and strong movements above, shall be shaken and broken in pieces; that is, according to the sublimity of that prophetic language to which you have been accustomed, the whole civil and ecclesiastical constitution of the nation shall not only be shocked, but totally dissolved. And then shall there evidently appear such a remarkable hand of Providence in avenging my quarrel upon this sinful people, that it shall be like the sign of the Son of man in heaven at the last day; and all the tribes of the land shall then mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming as it were in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory; for that celestial army which shall appear in the air marshalled round the city, shall be a sure token to them that the angels of God, and the great Lord of those heavenly hosts, are set as it were in array against them. And, to pursue the allusion, as at the great day the angels shall in a literal sense assemble all his saints together, so also he shall then send forth his messengers with the great sound of his gospel, as of a loud trumpet, and they shall assemble his elect from the four winds, even from one end of the heavens to the other, or from the utmost part of the earth one way, to those climates which lie under the uttermost part of heaven the other way; and multitudes of all nations shall obey the sum-

c The sun shall be darkened, &c.] It was customary with the prophets, as it still is with the eastern writers, to describe the utter ruin of states and kingdoms, not only in general by an universal darkness, but also by such strong figures as those here used, which all have their foundation in that way of speaking. Compare Isa. xiii. 10; xxxiv. 4, 10; lx. 20; Jer. xv. 9; Ezek. xxxii. 7, 8; Joel ii. 30, 31; iii. 15; and Amos viii. 9.

d Coming in the clouds of heaven.] Sudden and irresistible destruction, in which much of the hand of God evidently appears, is (as Dr. Whitby justly observes) often expressed by God’s coming in the clouds. (Compare Psal. xviii. 9; l. 3, 4; xviii. 2, 3; civ. 3; Isa. xix. 1; xxvi. 21; lxvi. 15.) But I think the celestial appearances described by Josephus (as above, note b, on

Luke xxi. 11, p. 361) lead us into the exactest interpretation of this text, and greatly illustrate the propriety of these expressions here.

e Send forth his messengers.] Most translations, as well as our own, greatly obscure this text, by rendering the word ἀγίανς angels; for though it generally signify those celestial spirits who are on great occasions the messengers of God to our world it is well known that the word refers not to their nature but to their office; and is often applied to men, and rendered messengers. See Mark i. 2; Luke vii. 24, 47; ix. 52; 2 Cor. viii. 23; Phil. ii. 25; an Jam. ii. 25. In some of which places it signifies, as here, preachers of the gospel, who were sent forth to carry on God’s great design of uniting all his chosen people in one society under Christ, as their common head. Eph. i. 10.

vo . . . 4

He delivers the parable of the gtre

mons, though the Jews have ungratefully and foolishly despised it; and the Son of man shall he honoured and trusted by millions now unborn, when this wicked and perverse nation is perished in their rebellion and infidelity. And when these things begin to come to pass, be not you terrified and dismayed, but rather cheerfully look upwards, and lift up your heads with joy and assurance; for whatever happens, you will be secure; and as soon as you see the first appearance of these signs, you may comfortably conclude that your complete redemption and deliverance draws nigh; for many of you will be safely brought home to the haven of eternal peace before these storms are ended, and the rest of you will not long survive them.

And, further to illustrate what he had been saying, he spake to them a very easy and familiar parable, saying, Behold now, [and] learn a parable from the example of the figtree, and all the other trees that drop their leaves in the winter: When buds appear upon the figtree, and its branch is now become tender, and the sap rising in the other trees, they shoot forth their young leaves, and begin to open and spread, you see and know of your ownselves, by the observation you have often made, that summer is now near at hand, as these are certain prognostications of it: So likewise you, when you shall see all these things come to pass, may assuredly know that the destruction of the Jewish state, and the advancement of the kingdom of God in all its glory, is just at hand, [even] at the doors; or that the time is coming when the desolation I have been speaking of shall come upon Jerusalem, and the gospel shall be propagated all abroad, and take such root in the world, that you may assure yourselves it shall never be destroyed.

⁴ Look upwards: ἀνακυψῶ. This is an expression which admirably suits the load of labour and sufferings under which the apostles would be depressed in this afflicted state. See Raphel. Annot. ex. Herod, p. 270.

⁵ Your redemption draws nigh. As the resurrection is the time when we shall in fact be fully redeemed, or delivered from all he said consequences of sin, and therefore is called the redemption of our bodies: (Rom. iii. 23; compare Eph. iv. 30, and Hos.

xiii. 14) so in a less proper sense the deliverance from all the toils and sorrows, temptations and infirmities, of this sinful and calamitous life, may, on the like principles, be called redemption. And if we may judge of the length of the apostles’ lives by the extent of their labours, though we know not the time when many of them died, there is reason to conjecture it was not till about this period; which, by the way, would be an argument they were now most of them young men.

eration shall not pass till all were fulfilled.

And verily I say unto you, and urge you to observe it, as absolutely necessary in order to understand what I have been saying, That this generation of men now living shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled, for what I have foretold concerning the destruction of the Jewish state is so near at hand, that some of you shall live to see it all accomplished with a dreadful exactness: And the rest may die in the assurance of it: for another and yet more awful day shall come when, in a literal sense, heaven and earth shall pass away, and the whole fabric of this visible world shall be dissolved before my majestic presence; but my words shall not pass away till they are perfectly fulfilled, and the efficacy of them shall remain in the eternal world which shall succeed these transitory scenes.

But though Jerusalem shall be destroyed before this generation disappear, yet of that great decisive day which is appointed for the dissolution and the judgment of the world, and of the hour or season when it shall open upon men, and shall bring on their final sentence, there is no one who knows the precise time, neither the angels in heaven, nor even the Son of man himself, with respect to his human

h This generation shall not pass away until all these things be fulfilled.] Though Brennius, and Mede (in his Works, p. 752), have here the honour to be followed by so great an authority as Dr. Sykes (of Christianity, p. 60), yet I must beg leave to say that I cannot think the texts they collect sufficient to prove that by this generation [in 2002, 2010] we are here to understand the Jewish nation through all ages; as if our Lord intended to say they should continue distinct people to the judgment day. What I have expressed in the paraphrase is plainly the most obvious sense of the words, and seems to me an evident key to the whole context, especially when compared with Mat. xvi. 28. There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. See note 1, on that text, Vol. I. p. 491.

i Of that day and hour no one knows.] I cannot agree with Dr. Clarke in referring this verse to the destruction of Jerusalem, the particular day of which was not a mat-

ter of great importance; and as for the season of it, I see not how it could properly be said to be entirely unknown after such an express declaration that it should be in that generation; and yet at some considerable distance, for otherwise there would not have been room for the gradual accomplishment of the many predictions uttered above. It seems therefore much fitter, with Dr. Whitby (after Grotius), to explain it of the last day, when heaven and earth shall pass away, which is sometimes called that day with a peculiar emphasis; a phrase answering to the great or remarkable day. Compare 2 Tim. i. 12, 18, and iv. 8.

k Nor even the Son of man himself.] There is not any thing in this assertion of our Lord, if we consider the two natures in him, that is inconsistent with his true divinity. For what is applicable only to one nature is frequently expressed in terms inclusive of his whole person. Thus, as the endowments of his human nature were communicated in a gradual manner to him,

Reflections on the day of Christ’s coming to judgment.

nature, or as a part of what he is commissioned Son, [but my Father clxii. to reveal ; for though it be determined by the only.] [MAI.XXIV. Mark Divine decree, it is not known to any but my 36.] xiii.32 Father alone, or the indwelling Godhead, from whom nothing can be concealed : and, as he does not think fit to disclose it, let it be your care to improve this uncertainty as an engagement to the most diligent and constant preparation for its coming.

IMPROVEMENT.

Let us now raise our contemplations to that awful day when all that was figuratively spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem shall be literally accomplished ; and let us consider our own intimate concern in it. Where will our hope and comfort, our light, and our safety be, when the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, when the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken ? 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 ? Luke (Psal. xxviii. 1.) And if he indeed be so, then we may lift up our heads with joy ; as knowing that our complete redemption draweth nigh, even that long expected day which, with all its solemn horrors, has still been the brightest object of our faith and our hopes.

Mat. Then shall the Son of man indeed come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, and send his angels to summon his elect, and to assemble them from one end of heaven to the other : for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God. (1 Thess. iv. 16.) May we hear the summons with joy, and stand in our lot among his chosen ones ! 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. (Isa. lx. 22.)

These visible heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and the earth shall be removed out of its place ; but the sure word of his promise shall never pass away ; even that promise which is engaged for the salvation of his people. Let us often review it ; let us

Jesus is said to have increased in wisdom that he should here be said not to know the day appointed for the final judgment, than earth, as he was present every where with that it should be elsewhere said that the respect to his Divine nature, he speaks of Lord of glory was crucified (1 Cor. ii. 5), himself as the Son of man who is in heaven. and that God purchased the church with his own blood. (John iii. 13.) Nor is it at all more strange

The coming of the Son of man shall be as the days of Noah.

rmly realize it to our souls, and, seeing we look for such things, sect. t us seriously consider what manner of persons we ought to be in clxii. oly conversation and godliness. (2 Pet. iii. 11, 14.)

Luke 21:37

Parallels: Mark 14

ers consult how they might take Christ, and Judas them to deliver him privately into their hands. 1—5, 14—16. Mark XIV. 1, 2, 10, 11. 7, to the end. XXII. 1—6.

LUKE XXI. 37.

THUS our Lord ended his discourses on this subject on the third day of the week in which he suffered; and thus he was generally employed from the time of his public entry into Jerusalem to his last passover: he was teaching by day in the temple, and at night he went out of the city, and lodged at the mount called [the mount] of Olives, in the neighbourhood of which Bethany lay; in the retirement of which, particularly in the garden of Gethsemane, he often spent a considerable part of the night; being desirous to secure that only season of solitude, that he might prepare himself for his approaching sufferings by a proper series of extraordinary devotion. And as soon as it was light, he returned to the city; and all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, that they might thus lay hold of every opportunity to hear him; and he was solicitous not to lose any time that might be improved for so profitable a purpose.

Now it may not be improper here to observe, that the feast of unleavened bread, which was commonly called the passover, drew near, [and] was celebrated within two days after our Lord had delivered the prophecies and admonitions so largely recorded above.ᵃ

And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished all these discourses, and the appointed hour for his sufferings was now at hand, he said to his disciples, Ye know that after two days the passover cometh; and in the plainest terms I now assure you the Son of man is then to be betrayed to his inveterate enemies, that, according to what I have often told you (Mat.xvi.

ᵃ Two days after.] I apprehend that the preceding discourses (from sect. cli.) were delivered on the Tuesday of the week in which he suffered; and he probably uttered the following words that evening, which was just two days before the paschal lamb was eaten. I do not find that any of the transactions of the Wednesday are recorded besides the general account given above.

VOL. 2.

nd the Jewish rulers consult how they might take him. 21, and xx. 18, 19), he may be put into the hands of sinful men to be crucified: prepare yourselves therefore for that trying season, that you may not be hurried into any thing which you may afterwards have reason to repent. Then that very evening the chief priests of every class, and others employed in distinguished services in the temple, together with the scribes, and the other elders of the people, who were members of the grand sanhedrim, assembled together, not indeed in the temple, where they usually met, but at the palace of the high priest, who was then called Caiaphas; (as was observed before, John xi. 49, p. 252) And there they entered into a secret conspiracy, and consulted how they might privately take Jesus by some artifice, without giving an alarm to his friends, and might put him to death as soon as possible, which one way or other they were determined to do. But they had such an apprehension of his interest in the people, that some of them were rather for delaying it, and said, It will be more advisable to wait till after the passover, and not to attempt to seize him at the feast, while there is such a concourse in the city from all parts; lest the design that we have formed against him should be discovered, and, considering how popular he is, there should be a tumult raised among the people, either to rescue him from our hands, or to revenge his death. Such were the cautious sentiments of some among them; for they eared the people: but others pushed the matter on with greater forwardness and zeal, and were by no means for deferring it; to which at length the rest agreed, upon finding a more favourable opportunity than they expected, offering itself through the treachery of Judas. For then, just at that very juncture of time, Satan, by Divine permission, entered into Judas, who was also called Iscariot, and was (as we observed before) one of the number of the twelve apostles who were chosen by our Lord from the rest of his disciples to the most honourable trust as well as the most endearing

omes to them, and agrees to betray him.

intimacy:b and as this malignant spirit had before suggested to him the horrid design of betraying his Master, he now strongly impressed his mind that during his retirement he might easily find a convenient time for executing it, and might be sure of being well rewarded for it by the rulers of the Jews. And, under this impression, he immediately went away from Christ and his company to the house of Caiaphas, whom he knew to be a most inveterate enemy to his Master; and having found means of introducing himself, and communicating his general design, he conversed with the chief priests and captains of the temple, who were not yet gone away, and deliberated how he might with the greatest convenience and security betray him unto them. And as the sordid wretch proposed it with a covetous view, before he would come to any agreement with them, he said, without the least appearance of shame or remorse, What are you willing to give me, and I will undertake to deliver him to you at a time and place in which you may effectually secure him without the danger of giving any alarm to the people?

And when they heard his proposal, they thought [it] very practicable; and they were glad of so unexpected an offer from one of his own disciples to facilitate their measures; and therefore readily promised in general to give him a sum of money as a reward for that service; and at last they expressly agreed with him for thirty pieces of silver,c which was the price to be paid for a slave who had been slain (see Exod. xxi. 32): and as they proposed it to express their contempt of Jesus, so God permitted Judas, covetous as he was, to acquiesce in that mean and trifling sum (though he might easily have raised it higher), that thus the prophecy might be fulfilled in which it had been particularly specified. (See Zech. xi. 12, 13.)

b One of the number of the twelve, &c.] This was a circumstance of such high aggravation, that it is observable, each of the evangelists hath marked it out in this view. Compare with these places John vi. 71, Vol. I. p. 458.

c Thirty pieces of silver.] A slave was

rated by the law at thirty shekels of silver, which, if we reckon them at half a crown (which is supposed to have been about their real value), amounted to no more than three pounds fifteen shillings of our money; a goodly price that he was prized a of them. Zech. xi. 13.

Reflections on the zeal of Christ and the treachery of Judas.

And he promised to take a punctual care in LUKE XXII. 6. clxvii. the affair: and accordingly from that time he And he promised, Luke diligently sought a proper opportunity to betray and [from that time] xxii. 6 him unto them, that they might come upon him sought opportunity to betray him unto privately, and apprehend him in the absence of them in the absence the multitude: nor was it long before this hap- [MATT. XXVI. 16. pened, as we shall quickly relate in its place. MARK XIV.—11.]

IMPROVEMENT.

Luke We see with what unremitting vigour the great Author and xxi.37 Finisher of our faith pressed forward towards the mark, and how he quickened his pace, as he saw the day approaching; spending in devotion the greatest part of the night, which succeeded to his most laborious days, and resuming his work early in the 38 morning! How much happier were his disciples in these early lectures than the slumbers of the morning could have made them on their beds! Let us not scruple to deny ourselves the indulgence of unnecessary sleep, that we may come morning after morning to place ourselves at his feet, and lose no opportunity of receiving the instructions of his word, and seeking those of his Spirit. Mat. But while his gracious heart was thus intent on doing good, xxvi. the chief priests and rulers of the people were no less intent on 3,4 mischief and murder. They took counsel together how they 14,15 might put him to death: They set upon his head the price of a slave, and find an apostle base enough to accept it. Blush, O ye heavens, to have been witness to this; and be ashamed, O earth, to have supported so infamous a creature! Yet this was the man who but a few days before was the foremost to appear as an advocate for the poor, and to censure the pious zeal of Mary, which our Lord vindicated and applauded (John xii. 4—8, p. 276, 277). Luke Let the fatal proofs of his covetous disposition, instigated by xxii.3, Satan, be marked with abhorrence and terror; and if we see 4,6 this base principle harboured in the breasts of those who call themselves the disciples and ministers of Christ, let us not wonder if by God’s righteous judgment they are given up to those excesses of it which bring upon them lasting infamy and endless perdition.