Matthew 24

CHAPTER XXIV

XVIII

Christ’s Discourse on the Destruction of Jerusalem and on His Parousia, Chapters 24 and 25

Matthew 24:1

1 It is still Tuesday but near the end of this momentous day. And in leaving, Jesus was going from the Temple. And his disciples came to him to point but to him the buildings of the Temple. But he, answering, said to them: Do you not see all these things? Amen, I say to you, In no way shall there be left here stone upon stone which shall not be thrown down. The imperfect ἐπορεύετο describes Jesus in the act of leaving the Temple courts; the preceding aorist participle ἐξελθών does not indicate antecedent action but punctiliar simultaneous action, R. 1112, etc.

Jesus is definitely leaving (aorist participle) and when so doing is walking through the courts (imperfect indicative). Why the disciples come to think of showing or pointing out to Jesus some of the great structures, on the new and grander erection of which fifty years had already been spent, we see from 23:38, “your house desert.” The thought of the disciples is: “Look at all these grand structures—and they are all to be completely deserted?”

Matthew 24:2

2 Read Farrar’s impressive description of the Temple of this time and then the response of Jesus that not only shall all these buildings and courts be deserted but they shall also be turned into absolute ruin, not one stone shall be left upon another that is not thrown down, literally “destroyed.” On “amen,” etc., see 5:18; on the force of κατά with λύω, R. 828; the form ἀφεθῇ is the aorist passive subjunctive (futuristic) with the strongest form of negation οὐμή to express future action. That is all that Jesus said as he left the Temple courts for the last time. This word is the height of tragedy.

Matthew 24:3

3 Now, while sitting on the Mount of Olives, there came to him the disciples in private, saying: Tell us when these things shall be and what the sign of thine own Parousia and of the complete finish of the eon. The writer stood on the lower slopes of Olivet toward evening and looked across the valley to the Temple hill where now stands the Mohammedan Dome of the Rock (sometimes called the Mosque of Omar), its great dome of dull gold magnificently lighted up by the rays of the sinking sun, the city on Zion hill behind it rising to a higher elevation. So Jesus is now sitting with Herod’s great Temple and the brilliant Sanctuary (Holy and Holy of Holies) sparkling with its golden roof in the dying sun. When Jesus was leaving the Temple, crowds surrounded him; now he is alone, κατʼ ἰδίαν, with the Twelve. Four disciples (Mark 13:3) speak to Jesus and ask him to tell them more; all, of course, wanted to know. By ταῦτα they refer to the destruction of the Temple (v. 2)—when will that be? They ask for “the sign of thine own Parousia” by which his own Coming and Presence at the end shall be indicated—they already know about this Parousia (the possessive adjective is stronger than the genitive pronoun)—as well as the sign of “the complete finish (συντέλεια) of the eon,” of the world-age, αἰών, which does not refer to time only but to the great era marked by what transpired in it.

The πότε does not ask for a date, Jesus never gives a date (Acts 1:7), and Jesus has no date to give (v. 36; Mark 13:32). This “when” should be considered together with “the sign” as indicating the nearness of Jesus’ return to judgment and of the winding up of all the affairs of the world-age. Those texts which have only one article with Parousia and finish of the eon combine the two nouns into one concept; yet even when two articles are used, the two nouns are regarded as belonging together and are thus put together into this second question. It is rather fruitless to speculate as to just how the Twelve conceived their questions, what wrong or what right ideas they had in their minds. Far more fruitful is the proper understanding of the long reply of Jesus by which he intended to enlighten the Twelve in regard to all they had asked; he went even beyond their question. Matthew and the synoptists show us only how Jesus was prompted to deliver this discourse.

Matthew 24:4

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: See to it lest anyone deceive you! For many shall come in my name, saying, I myself am the Christ, and they shall deceive many. The way in which Jesus begins shows that his heart is full of concern for the disciples. The introduction to the great discourse is a mighty warning. They are to “see to it,” to keep their eyes open, “lest anyone deceive you” (πλανᾶν, trick you into believing what is not true). There is only too good reason for the warning: many shall try this deception, they shall even boldly say, “I myself (emphatic ἐγώ) am the Christ.” Their statement is, of course, a summary. Their coming “in my name” means that they will arrogate to themselves this name “Christ.” Others may not seek to thrust Jesus aside but to elevate themselves by means of him.

The procession of such deceivers from Simon Magus and Barcochba onward, in the great Antichrist and in the little antichrists, goes on to the end of time. Some are petty and have some little sect of fanatics following them, some sit on thrones like the popes in their long succession; some are out for the hard cash, some are viciously lascivious. The sad thing is that they shall actually succeed in deceiving many; for all men have an affinity for religious error, and many yield to it with avidity and develop the strongest fanaticism. They are limitless in perverting to their own ends what the Scriptures say about the kingdom.

The introduction to this discourse is misconceived when it is regarded as a rebuke to the Twelve for thinking of the glory of the end instead of thinking of the coming passion of Jesus. It is not a rebuke, and the last discourses of Jesus as recorded by John most certainly comfort the disciples by pointing to his spiritual and also to his glorious coming.

Matthew 24:6

6 The first section of the discourse deals with the signs of the end of the world (v. 6–14). The fact that these signs include also those connected with the end of the Jewish Jerusalem is self-evident although Jesus will speak of the latter by themselves. Now you shall be about to hear of wars and of rumors of wars. See to it, be not disturbed! For it must be. But not yet is the end. For nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes from place to place. But all these things are a beginning of birthpains.

The circumscribed future, the future of μέλλω with the present infinitive, reveals that the disciples are soon to hear of wars, namely right at hand, and of rumors of wars in places that are more distant. These, indeed, are signs of the end, for they signal the rotten condition of the world. But the end will not come immediately. Hence the two imperatives stated asyndetically: “See to it, be not troubled!” both being durative. These noises of war are not to upset the equanimity of the disciples. Why? “For it must be,” δεῖ, impersonal, used to express any type of necessity; here it is a necessity that is due to the condition of the world and to God’s judgment upon that condition.

The aorist infinitive γενέσθαι is naturally constative; “be” includes all these wars and these rumors. “The end is not yet,” τὸτέλος, the goal which God has set. These are only a part of the birthpains.

Matthew 24:7

7 The fact that wars result when nation rises against nation, a body of people that is held together by the same customs, and kingdom rises against kingdom, a body of people that is under one king or government, is rather self-evident. But these clashes are always the height of abnormality. We may translate ἐγερθήσεται as a passive, “shall be raised up,” or as a middle, “shall raise itself up” and thus “rise.” The passions that cause such uprisings need not be mentioned. Since famines and earthquakes are mentioned together, and the latter are not produced by wars, famines are here likewise independent of wars. The distributive κατά means, “from place to place.” The world of nature is affected by sin in the same way as the world of men, and thus these disturbing manifestations are a sign of the end. But they are not a sign after which the end is at once due. O no; more of these manifestations will occur, not always consecutively but often concurrently and simultaneously.

Matthew 24:8

8 These are only a prelude, “a beginning of birthpains.” Much severer pains and writhings must be added before the new heavenly eon comes to full birth. Jesus adopts the term which was used by the rabbis to designate the sufferings and woes which they thought were to precede the Messiah’s coming: cheblē hammashiach, dolores Messiae. All these tribulations would bring forth the new era. Jesus shows here that these “birthpains” pertain only to his second coming and the judgment.

Matthew 24:9

9 Then they shall deliver you up to tribulation, and they shall kill you, and you shall go on being hated by all the nations because of my name. And then many shall be trapped and shall deliver up each other and shall hate each other. And many false prophets shall rise up and shall deceive many. And because of the multiplying of the lawlessness the love of many shall grow cold. From the conditions which point toward the end in the world of men generally Jesus turns to sketch the conditions that shall appear in the church. There the sign is persecution, defection, and deception.

The adverb “then,” used here and in v. 10, is not “thereafter,” but then, at the time the first birthpangs appear. “You,” of course, is not all of you but those of the believers who will be affected as here described. “To deliver up” refers to tribunals, courts, police, but may include mobs as in Paul’s case. No subject is needed to indicate the enemies of Jesus who will act thus. The word θλῖψις is highly expressive: Bedrueckung, suffering that is due to pressure. The climax will be: “they shall kill you.” This began soon in the cases of Stephen (Acts 7:60) and of James (Acts 12:2) and also included Paul and Peter.

In order to make the future durative it is circumscribed: ἔσεσθεμισούμενοι: “you shall go on being hated by all the nations,” not one of them will offer you refuge. This hatred motivates all the persecutions and causes it to manifest itself in violent action every now and then. The reference to “all the nations” hints at 28:19, and is an implied prophecy of how far the gospel will penetrate. The interpretation which would restrict this paragraph to the Twelve is thus not acceptable. The story of persecution did not stop with the Twelve. God alone knows when the last persecution will come.

“Because of my name” reveals the inner cause of all this hatred. The ὄνομα is really the person of Jesus himself and all that he stands for but as known, revealed, and made manifest to men, i.e., in his gospel. When the great body of men among the nations comes in contact with Christ as he is revealed in the gospel, they will not have this man to rule over them. Like Festus and Agrippa they spurn his grace, like the Jewish rulers they rage against it. Again and again as we press Christ upon men today this hatred of his name comes to view and vents itself upon those who make this name their hope of salvation.

Matthew 24:10

10 In these outbreaks of persecution many “shall be trapped,” σκανδαλισθήσονται, be caught so as to have their faith killed, like an animal that springs a trap (see 5:29); not “shall stumble” (our versions), for one may quickly recover after stumbling. These are the wormy fruit which falls when the wind blows. Even when some worldly connection is to be broken, some sinful and dangerous practice to be given up, how many fail to prove true! But let money, goods, position, honor, liberty, or blood be the price of faithfulness, how many will then deny the Name!

These perverts who have turned traitor to the Name will, like Judas, use their knowledge and their former connection to help to destroy the faithful by denouncing and by delivering them up. Could there be a worse spectacle? 10:35, 36.

Matthew 24:11

11 To upset and to try the believers still more many pseudo-prophets shall arise (the verb is used as it was in v. 7). These differ from the false Christs by teaching what is false and drawing believers away to follow them (sects) and to antagonize the truth of Christ. We have discussed these prophets in 7:15, which see. Regarding the damnableness of even a single false teaching that is held in opposition to Christ’s word nothing further need be said here. To state that pseudo-prophets are only such as subvert the whole teaching of faith is to excuse the lesser errorists and to make their errors the more innocent.

Matthew 24:12

12 Doctrinal defection and laxity automatically entail moral defection and laxity. When one plays fast and loose with a doctrinal statement of the Scripture and does not permit it to bind his conscience, how can he play firm and fast with a moral requirement and let that bind his conscience? Thus “the lawlessness” will be multiplied; the hold of the law which directs the Christian in avoiding sin and in doing good works will be broken. So all manner of lawlessness will multiply: the license practiced by the one will infect others; and on this account ἀγαπή, the love that flows from faith and evidences its presence and strength, “shall grow cold” as though it had been struck by an icy blast. Its fervor and its strength depart. And that means that its root, faith, has withered and is dying or is dead. One of the pitiful sights in the life of the church is the effort to galvanize back into warm activity the love that has been chilled to death.

Such is Jesus’ picture of the sign which marks his Parousia and the end of the world. It is dark, and the darkness increases steadily. Does this picture suggest a wonderful golden age that will rise in triumph in the world prior to the end? No, in his description of the future Jesus says not one word about a millennium.

Matthew 24:13

13 But he that endured to the end, he shall be saved. And there shall be preached this gospel of the kingdom in the whole inhabited world as a testimony to all the nations; and then shall come the end. This is the bright aspect of the prophecy: in spite of every opposition the church of true believers will endure. Jesus uses the singular, “he that endured,” because he wants each disciple to think of himself. When the verb is intransitive as it is here it means “to remain under,” to stand one’s ground. The substantivized participle is naturally an aorist, for the endurance is complete.

In the phrase εἰςτέλος we have but the simple idea of endurance to life’s end here on earth, Rev. 2:7. Τέλος has no article as it has in v. 6 and in v. 14, which means that this is not “the end,” namely of the world, although, unfortunately, we must use an article when we translate εἰςτέλος into English. The three τέλος used in this chapter cannot refer to the end of the world and imply that this end is to come when Jerusalem is destroyed, and that he who holds out so long shall be saved. Why should one say anything about Jerusalem when the whole world comes to an end at the same time? Why make Jesus a false prophet? Why talk as though no Christian would die before the year 70? To endure means to bear whatever a true confession of Christ brings upon us.

Jesus himself says that in the case of some this will mean death. The aorist ὁὑπομείνας marks the point where the future σωθήσεται shall set in. Back of the passive is Christ, the Savior; he will at that moment bestow the heavenly salvation. The positive “shall be saved” is a mighty and a glorious promise.

Matthew 24:14

14 Another glorious promise follows. It is combined with the clearest statement found in the Gospels concerning the time of the end of the world. First, the gospel “shall be heralded” in the whole οἰκουμένη (supply γῆ) or inhabited world (28:19; Acts 1:8). Nothing shall stop its spread. It is called εὐαγγέλιον, a word that was originally used to designate the reward handed to a messenger of good news, then it came to mean the good news itself. “The gospel” is an old English term. “This gospel” refers to it as Jesus was now proclaiming it. Its contents was “the kingdom” (see 3:2), the rule of the Messiah over men’s hearts and lives which includes both his rule of grace and of glory as the context indicates.

What a promise! Imagine Jesus sitting with the Twelve on the slopes of Olivet and speaking of this world-wide penetration of his gospel! Yet this is exactly what has come to pass.

“For a testimony to all the nations,” μαρτύριον, one that is intended, as all testimony naturally is, to arouse faith and, when in spite of its absolute truth it is rejected, to testify and to witness against those who refuse to believe. The latter must be included because of what Jesus has just said in v. 9. “To all the nations” specifies what “in the whole world” really means. Every nation will eventually face this gospel testimony and together with that testimony the question of faith or unbelief. To reject that testimony is to stand self-condemned. The truth must be accepted as truth; when it is turned down as being a lie, the man who turns it down pronounces his own verdict.

“Then,” meaning, “not until then” “shall come the end,” subject and predicate are reversed in order to give each more emphasis. In v. 6 and here τὸτέλος evidently has the same meaning: “the goal or end” of the world. In the face of so many chiliastic dreams of false prophets it is highly important to grasp exactly what Jesus says: we are to expect the rising hostility against his true followers; many who at first believe shall again be carried away; the gospel preaching, however, will go on steadily until it penetrates to all nations—then the end! No other and different world era shall intervene. “He which testifieth these things saith, Yea: I come quickly! Amen: come, Lord Jesus!” Rev. 22:20.

Matthew 24:15

15 From the events which constitute “the sign” of the end of the world Jesus turns to directions and warnings that pertain to the destruction of Jerusalem. The change in subject is obvious. As far as treating both with clear distinction in the same discourse is concerned, who can object when the destruction of Jerusalem, like the Flood and like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, is made a type of the end of the world? When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, that spoken of through Daniel, the prophet, standing in the holy place (he that reads let him understand!), then those in Judea—let them flee upon the mountains. He upon the housetop—let him not go down to remove the things out of his house; and he in the field—let him not return back to remove his robe. But woe to them that are with child and to them suckling in those days.

Pray, however, that your flight may not occur during winter nor on a Sabbath; for there shall then be great tribulation such as has not been from the world’s beginning until now, neither at any time shall be. The connective οὖν is most naturally regarded as presenting, on the basis of the survey of the world-age until its end, the instructions the Twelve need in particular regarding the coming destruction of Jerusalem.

First of all Jesus tells them when to flee out of the country, namely when they see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, the Temple itself. “Abomination” is the main term, something that is utterly abominable in God’s sight, and this will occur right in the Temple that is consecrated to God. The genitive “of desolation” characterizes the abomination according to the effect it must produce, namely desolate the desecrated Temple, leave it empty of worshippers. The moment the believers see this (and it is something unmistakable and easy to see) they are to flee the country posthaste. This is the same abomination that was “spoken of” (passive, by God) through Daniel, the prophet, in 11:31 and 12:11 (scarcely in 9:27) when he prophesied what is recorded in 1 Maccabees 1:20–68, note v. 57. Antiochus Epiphanes erected a pagan altar on top of the great altar of burnt sacrifice before the Sanctuary (Holy and Holy of Holies). Jesus does not say that Daniel prophesied the event that would usher in the destruction of Jerusalem. He says only that the same kind of an abomination with the same kind of an effect would appear in the Temple.

Commentators have wrestled with this word of Jesus, and many interpretations have been offered. Those are excluded which make “the holy place” the Jewish land, or which think that the abomination occurred during or after the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. The latter views are shut out by the fact that it would then be impossible to flee the land. All those views are likewise shut out which regard the abomination as a person, Antiochus redivivus, an impersonation of the antichrist, for the abomination to which Jesus refers is neuter as τὸῥηθέν shows.

The abomination of desolation occurred in the Temple prior to the siege under Titus. It took place when the Zealots, who held the Temple under arms, admitted the Idumeans and as a result the Temple was deluged with the blood of 8, 500 victims. Read Josephus, Wars, 4, 5, 1–2; also 4, 6, 3 the last sentences: “These men, therefore, trampled upon all the laws of men and laughed at the laws of God; and for the oracles of the prophets, they ridiculed them as the tricks of jugglers.… For there was a certain oracle of those men that the city should then be taken and the Sanctuary burnt by right of war when a sedition should invade the Jews, and their own hands should pollute the Temple of God.” Whatever may be said of this “oracle” to which Josephus refers, the pollution of the Temple which he describes tallies with the abomination to which Jesus refers. Because the Jews themselves, in conjunction with the Idumeans, made their Temple an abomination, the application of Daniel’s prophecy calls for special insight, and thus Jesus adds parenthetically, “he that reads let him understand,” namely reads the words of Daniel.

Matthew 24:16

16 “Those in Judea” are all the Christians, including, of course, those in Jerusalem. They are to flee “to the mountains,” but not to those of Judea itself where they would never be safe during the war; these mountains lay outside of Judea, beyond the Jordan, in Perea. The Christians followed Jesus’ bidding. Eusebius, 3, 5, reports that the congregation in Jerusalem, following a revelation received by reliable men before the war, migrated to Pella in Perea. As far as one can judge, this must have been done at the very time when bloody factions in the city were making an abomination of the Temple.

Matthew 24:17

17 Jesus named the latest moment for flight, hence the haste that must be employed when one waits that long. This haste, however, is due not only to the brief time left, but likewise to the mounting dangers. A man is to get himself away and is not to stop to remove things out of his house. He may be stopped, robbed, turned back, and fail to escape.

Matthew 24:18

18 A man who is out in the field, working only in a tunic, is to speed away and not to go to the city to get his clothes, not even his large outer robe, τὸἱμάτιον. Life is worth more than many robes.

Matthew 24:19

19 Jesus’ heart melts at the thought of the hardships that such flight from the doomed city and country will bring upon pregnant and suckling women, the former being burdened with unborn babes, the latter with babes in arms. “Woe” to them amid all the hurry and the dangers of the road!

Matthew 24:20

20 He thinks of other things: the cold and the wet of the Palestinian winter and the possibility that the time of “your flight” may occur at that season. Or it may occur on “the Sabbath” when the country is filled with fanatical Jews, who would become furious at a supposed desecration of the Sabbath. The view that at this time the Christians would still be observing the Jewish regulations, including those regarding the Sabbath, is without warrant. Jesus bids the Christians “to keep praying” (present, durative imperative) that these possibilities may not come to pass; for everything is in God’s hands. He can both speed or delay the day of judgment upon the Jewish nation. In “keep praying” there lies the veiled promise that God will hear.

Matthew 24:21

21 The reason for all these biddings is the terrible state of the nation when the Roman war will begin. The word of Jesus about the “great tribulation,” θλῖψις, Bedraengnis, that will then ensue, the like of which has not been witnessed since the world’s beginning and will never again occur, is literally true—read the detailed account of Josephus in his Wars. No nation had ever piled up a guilt such as that of the Jews who were chosen of God, infinitely blessed, and yet crucified God’s Son and trampled upon all his further grace. No judgment had ever and can ever be so severe. In the history of the world no judgment can be compared with this that wiped out the Jews as a nation.

Matthew 24:22

22 And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but because of the elect those days shall be shortened. The intensity and severity of the θλῖψις will be so great that a prolongation of them would claim the lives of everybody in the nation. The conditional sentence is one of past unreality; it is perfectly regular also in using μή as the negative in the protasis and οὐ in the apodosis. The Greek idiom construes the negative with the verb and has “all flesh” as the subject; in English we reverse this so that οὐ … πᾶσα becomes “no flesh.” We see the force of the two passive verbs in the word κολοβός which means “docked.” “Those days” (v. 19) are the days of the fanatical rebellion which eventuated in war. It was a period of about four or five years, from 66 to beyond the year 70. And still these days were “docked,” and the history of this brief period furnishes the strongest evidence that, if the Jewish fanatical craze of this time had continued, it would have ended in Jewish self-annihilation.

The agent back of the two passive verbs is, of course, God in whose hand is the entire course of every judgment. Here the verb ἐσώθη means “saved” from physical death. This shortening was, of course, not due to the wicked Jews whose day of reckoning had come. In them God could see nothing that would cause him to withdraw his hand before extinction had been accomplished.

He looked at “the elect,” at their interests, and for their sakes docked those days. This act of God’s is misunderstood when it is restricted to the elect who were then living. It is then conceived as enabling them to live through those days without losing their faith. But the elect did not pass through the horrors that occurred prior to the siege and during the siege. Those that were in Jerusalem escaped betimes. Moreover, at that time many elect were scattered about elsewhere in the Roman empire, far from the horrors going on in Judea.

The very first clause states that the shortening enabled some of the Jews to remain alive. This shows that “because of the elect” refers not only to the elect in general but also to their spiritual interest. By the power of God the Jews were at that time kept from extinction and they are still being kept as a strange phenomenon in the world. They never amalgamated with other nations and races, and thus they are a sign for the elect of all ages. The Jews of today are scattered over all the world, without a land, a government, or any other tie such as other nations have, are outcasts from their own country, and thus are miraculously marked for all time for all the elect, whose enlightened eyes cannot but see what God has thus placed before them.

Matthew 24:23

23 Jesus repeats the warning given in v. 5 and in v. 11 but now restricts it to the period marked by the disintegration of the Jewish nation. Then, if anyone shall say to you, Lo, here the Christ! or there! do not believe. For there shall arise (passive as in v. 11) false Christs and false prophets and shall furnish signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Lo, I have told you beforehand. If, therefore, they shall say to you, Lo, he is in the desert! do not go out; Lo, in the inner rooms! do not believe. For even as the lightning comes out of the eastern parts (see 2:1) and shines to the western parts, thus shall be the Parousia of the Son of man. Wherever the carrion is, there the eagles shall be gathered together.

“Then” makes it plain that Jesus is speaking of this particular time when Jerusalem was heading for destruction; ὑμῖν agrees with this. The condition of expectancy, ἐάν with the subjunctive, indicates that such cries would, indeed, reach the Christians. As former Jews who are now believers in Jesus as the Christ they would be especially susceptible to the deception involved; for had not Jesus promised them his glorious return, and might he not be returning at this very time? The old love for their nation would also have its effect, for it believed that Jesus would deliver the Jews and make them conquerors of the world. “Lo here or there!” reveals an uncertainty. But the peremptory aorist subjunctive (always the subjunctive and not the imperative in prohibitions that have the aorist) stops any trust in these cries about “the Christ.” When men are in dire need they often enough long for “the Christ,” for one who fits their notion of deliverance.

Matthew 24:24

24 The clause introduced by γάρ still refers to “then” used in v. 23, and the supposition that Jesus is now speaking more generally about the great world era is untenable. During this very period of Jewish calamity false Christs and false prophets shall arise and shall furnish even signs and prodigies (τέρατα, astounding things) to deceive the people. The assertion is made that the history of the destruction of Jerusalem furnishes no evidence for the fulfillment of this prophecy. But the accounts of Josephus are quite to the contrary although even he could scarcely have collected all the cases that occurred. Read Wars, 2, 13, 4: “These were such men as deceived and deluded the people under pretense of divine inspiration, … and these prevailed with the multitude to act like madmen and went before them into the wilderness, pretending that God would there show the signals (signs) of liberty.” The next paragraph (5) tells of the Egyptian who “pretended to be a prophet also” and started “from the wilderness” with 30, 000 men and ended in miserable defeat on the Mount of Olives. Wars, 6, 5, 2: “A false prophet was the occasion of these people’s destruction, who had made a public proclamation in the city that very day that ‘God commanded them to get up upon the Temple, and that there they should receive miraculous signs for their deliverance.’ Now there was then a great number of false prophets who had been suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people, who announced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God.” It is true, Josephus mentions no false Christ, but the line of demarcation between a prophet and a Christ fluctuated in the minds of the Jews, and at a critical time such as this, if ever, the hope of a Messiah to deliver them must have flared up in connection with all these prophets.

In ὥστε with the aorist infinitive we here most likely have only purpose; contemplated result is the view of B.-D. 391, 3, and R. 990. Then this statement would mean that these Christs and these prophets intended to deceive “even the elect,” which, however, was impossible. The πλανῆσαι is effective, actually to deceive so that the elect would really regard these false Christs and false prophets (some one of the former) as true Christs and true prophets and thus believe their purported revelations. “If possible” denies the possibility objectively. However many others the great signs and prodigies offered (δώσουσι) by these deceivers to substantiate their claims may deceive, they will fail in the case of the elect.

We have no intimation that these signs and wonders are actual miracles that were wrought by diabolic powers; those who think that they were overlook 2 Thess. 2:9, where even the great Antichrist is credited only with “all power and signs and lying wonders,” false, pseudo, sham miracles. Almighty God alone works true miracles. Satan’s whole purpose is attained when, by means of a “lying” wonder, he makes men think that they see a genuine miracle. There is a tendency to ascribe too much power to Satan and his demons which is liable to do much harm. If the elect could be actually and permanently deceived, they, of course, would not be the elect. Yet what prevents their fatal deception is not a mysterious decree of God protecting them alone but the effective power of his grace, the effectiveness of which in their case is foreknown by God. This also explains the title given them in Scripture, οἱἐκλεκτοί, those whom God chose as his own from all eternity, those who already then were present to God as being saved effectively and forever by his grace which is bestowed in Word and Sacrament.

Matthew 24:25

25 We see this grace operating right here; Jesus even calls especial attention to it by the exclamation “lo.” The perfect, “I have told you beforehand,” views matters from the standpoint of the event when these deceptions begin to operate. Then the believers are to tell themselves, “He has told us in advance,” and already the fact that he truly prophesied and forewarned them is to keep them undeceived and safe.

Matthew 24:26

26 What “lo, here!” and “lo, there!” means in v. 23 is now restated more plainly, “lo, in the desert” (recall Josephus’: “in the wilderness”); “lo, in the inner rooms,” ταμεῖα. No Christian is to pay any attention to such cries and is neither to go out to see for himself nor to believe without going to see. The deception is too palpable and gross.

Matthew 24:27

27 The Parousia of the Son of man (see 8:20), his Return and Presence when he returns as he has promised, will be absolutely different. He will not be hidden away in the wilderness nor in some guarded and secret inner room in a building. His coming and his presence will be like a flash of lightning which illuminates the sky from the east or sunrise (see 2:1) to the west or sunset. The whole world will see him in the brilliance of his heavenly glory. No man will then cry: “Lo, come and see!” or, “Lo, I know where he is, believe me!” Sham Christs have always been poor shams. The glory of the real Christ is beyond imitation. But men’s ignorance of the Son of man is still stupendous.

Matthew 24:28

28 Christ’s sentence about the carrion drawing the eagles has perplexed the commentators and has thus produced even nauseating interpretations: Christ is the carrion, believers are the vultures; or believers are the carrion, and Christ is the vultures! “The eagles” are then turned into vultures. The introduction of a non-textual γάρ (A. V.) which makes this statement an explanation of the Parousia is misleading. Nor is this a universal statement: wherever, no matter where, the carrion is to be found, there the eagles will invariably gather. The statement is, indeed, general, but even in Luke 17:37 it refers, proverbial as it is, to a specific case. The view that it must have the same application in Luke that it has here is another misleading idea that helps to darken the present connection.

Some compare the judgment angels with vultures who swoop down on carrion and point to 13:41. Eagles, as well as vultures, gorge themselves with carrion. That is here the point of comparison, and that dispenses with the angels.

In every comparison the tertium comparationis must be discovered or we may go astray. Who acts like eagles that pounce on carrion to fatten upon the reeking flesh? Why these false Christs and these false prophets. They seek to get an advantage from the dead and decaying body of their nation. So Jesus says to his disciples: “When you hear these cries to come here or there in connection with false Christs and false prophets, remember that Christ comes in a glory that is instant and visible to the whole world, and that you have in those raucous cries only another case of eagles going to feast on carrion.” With πτῶμα Jesus indicates the hopeless state of the Jewish nation; carrion is death gone into putrefaction. It is fit only for vultures. When the Jewish nation is so far gone, it is fit for nothing but false Christs and false prophets who are to finish the horrible job of removing that nation from existence.

Matthew 24:29

29 We see how exactly Jesus answers the questions addressed to him in v. 3; first, about the destruction of the Temple and, then, about the end of the world and his Parousia. The first sketch (v. 4–14) presents a world survey which brings us to τὸτέλος, “the end.” The second sketch (v. 15–28) presents the overthrow of the Jewish nation and brings us a reference to the true παρουσία which will be like a mighty flash of lightning and will not occur in connection with the Jewish calamity. Now Jesus tells just what “the end” and the Parousia will be, for the two will occur together. Now immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be made dark, and the moon shall not give her brightness, and the stars shall fall from the heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in the heaven; and then all the tribes of the earth shall beat the breast and shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of the heaven with power and much glory.

Much effort has been spent on εὐθέως (which some make equivalent to “suddenly”) and on the μετά phrase. Why not take into consideration the whole paragraph v. 29–31? This presents the actual Parousia as it shall occur. Why look only at the θλῖψις occurring in Jerusalem, v. 21, and disregard the one mentioned in v. 9; the former is very limited, but think of the latter. When seeking to determine what “those days” and their “tribulation” are, why overlook v. 14, the gospel extending to all nations (which must take place after the end of the Jewish nation), and the end of the world not occurring until then? The discourse is entirely plain.

When the last day arrives, when the tribulation of all the preceding days is concluded, “immediately” all that is now stated shall, occur. No intervals shall lengthen this time. All shall happen at once.

The whole siderial world shall collapse. All these καί present what happens at once. This is made plain by the last, “the powers of the heavens shall be shaken” or dislocated. All that holds the heavenly bodies in their orbits and enables sun and moon to light the earth will give way. Thus the sun’s light will be extinguished, the moon’s radiance will disappear in the same instant, and the stars will fall from their places. Let no man try to imagine this cataclysm! It is utterly beyond human conception.

Matthew 24:30

30 “And then,” here and again in the next sentence, merely denotes succession and one that is instantaneous. “The powers of the heavens” by which God held the universe of the skies in place are broken and removed; God’s omnipotent hand reaches down to wind up the affairs of earth and of man. Some effort is made to find a distinction between “the sign of the Son of man” and its appearance and “the Son of man himself coming on the clouds,” etc. But why seek for a distinction? In v. 3 “the sign of thy Parousia and of the complete finish of the eon,” as the two genitives indicate, refers to the comprehensive signs that foretell that Parousia and the end. In “the sign of the Son of man” the genitive is subjective: the sign by which he shows his presence; not objective: the sign which points to him as being about to come. The stress is on the verbs, all of them are placed forward for this reason: φανήσεται—κόψονται—ὄψονται.

And the first and the last are correlative: “there shall appear,” and, of course, at once all the tribes of earth “shall see these.” No sign, say a glowing, dazzling light shall hang over the earth for a shorter or a longer period after which sign the Son shall arrive. All will be one grand act: the Son’s manifestation in glory will be what the tribes see. On “Son of man” see 8:20; on the second passive future φανήσεται as being without passive force cf. R. 334, and on the fact that it is punctiliar and not durative cf. R. 871; yet κόψονται and ὄψονται are durative.

The effect of the appearance is that “all the tribes of the earth shall beat their breasts,” the Oriental expression for grief, fear, or despair that overwhelms the heart. Luke 21:25, 26 tells us that the consternation of men will begin with the appearance of the first cataclysmic signs. The αἱφυλαί, clans or tribes, are the different aggregations of men, each group being marked by its own characteristics and thus being bound together by common ties. “Tribes” are more numerous than nations. The question is asked whether one of these tribes includes the Christians who are alive at the end. That would be a strange name for them. They are called “the elect” in v. 31, and Jesus has particular instructions for them in order to remove any fears they might have.

The consternation of the tribes is due to the judgment that now overwhelms them. This Son of man they despised, his promised Parousia they thought a dream, the world cataclysm they ruled out by their science (2 Pet. 3:3, 4).

Now they see him “coming on the clouds of the heaven” (Dan. 7:13) as was promised in Acts 1:9, 11. The clouds are God’s chariot, Ps. 104:3; Isa. 19:1, the symbol of his heavenly majesty. In μετά (as also in v. 29) we have the idea of accompaniment: “in company with power and much glory.” This “power” is Christ’s omnipotence which was manifested in the heavenly bodies (v. 29); and his “glory” is the sum of all his divine attributes as displayed before men (Tit. 2:13; 1 Cor. 1:4, revelation; 2 Thess. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:13). At one time the Son of man appeared on earth in lowliness and allowed himself to be crucified; but at the end his omnipotence and his great glory will be fully displayed.

Matthew 24:31

31 And he will send his angels with a great trumpet, and they shall gather up together his elect from the four winds, from heavens’ ends to their ends. Compare 25:31–33. The trumpet shall sound with a mighty tone to call the dead back to life (1 Thess. 4:14–17). The angels shall then gather all the elect, whose souls are now united with their glorified bodies, together (σύν), up to one place (ἐπί, namely Christ’s right hand (25:33). Nothing is said in regard to the rest except what was stated in v. 30 about their beating their breasts. The Biblical conception of the earth is that it is made up of four quarters, the four directions from which the winds blow.

This conception is still common: north, south, east and west. The apposition “from heavens’ ends to their ends,” Mark’s (13:27) “from earth’s end to heaven’s end,” only emphasizes the preceding phrase by pointing to every remote part under the heavens.

Some call these phrases poetical, and that is due to the fact that the ideas here expressed remain and must remain beyond adequate human conception. We prefer the idea of a globe, the one hemisphere being opposite to and hidden from the other hemisphere. And so we might ask how both hemispheres shall at the same time see the Son of man in the clouds, hear the angel trumpet, and yield up the dead. Or with our ideas of space we might wonder how all the millions that have lived on earth shall find room to stand, and with our conceptions of time we might ask how long it will take until the last person has been judged. The answer to all these questions is that after the events mentioned in v. 29 none of these present limitations of ours will exist.

Matthew 24:32

32 Now from the fig tree learn the parable. When now her branch becomes tender and makes the leaves grow out, you realize that the summer is near. So also you, when you see all these things, realize that it is near, at the doors. Amen, I say to you: In no wise shall this generation pass away until all these things shall occur. The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall in no wise pass away. We now enter the admonitory section of the Lord’s address.

While his prophecy has unrolled a picture of dread, it is, nevertheless, bright with hope for the elect. So Jesus bids the disciples learn from the fig tree “the” in the sense of “this” parable: when its branch becomes soft with swelling sap and starts to grow leaves, the disciples realize that summer, beautiful summer, is at hand, and that makes them glad. The aorist γένηται is punctiliar, the softness is attained; but ἐκφύῃ is durative (present active subjunctive), the branch is in the process of growing leaves. The incorrect ἐκφυῇ would be the second aorist passive subjunctive, R. 232.

Matthew 24:33

33 In the explanation of the parable καὶὑμεῖς emphatic. The budding of the fig tree is observed by all men, but in order to understand its significance as presented by Jesus even the disciples need to be told, “Realize” what all these things mean! When the πάνταταῦτα is unduly stressed, strange views may be the result. We may follow ταῦτα back to the question of the disciples in v. 3, and we find it with πάντα in v. 8. Jesus thus speaks of occurrences that, like the beginning of birthpains, presage the end and his own Parousia. Thus also all that pertains to the destruction of the Jewish nation is included.

Yet it is unwarranted to stress “all” so that it implies that the disciples could not come to the realization of what the signs signify until they had actually seen all of them occurring repeatedly through the centuries. They need to see false Christs, false prophets, wars, and persecutions only once in order to see them “all” and thus to be impressed by what these things really signify. It also ought to be plain that v. 29 is not included, because these events themselves are the end.

In ἐγγύςἐστινἐπὶθύραις the subject is omitted. It seems best to suppy no subject, at least not “he” (the Son of man) as is done in the R. V., on the ground that “at the doors” refers to a person who is about to enter a building. The general context is sufficient. The Greek needs to supply nothing, but the English would need “it” (A. V.) in the general sense of the end. The meaning of Jesus is that every sign advertises the end as being “near.” From the days of the disciples to our own time these advertisements are to the same effect. Just when the end will come no man knows. We are to be ready at all times for its coming, since all the signs have already occurred again and again.

Matthew 24:34

34 With profound solemnity, using his well-known seal for verity and authority (see 5:18), Jesus declares that “this generation shall not pass away until all these things shall occur.” The view that γενεά and especially ἡγενεὰαὕτη refers to the contemporary generation, those living at the time when Jesus spoke, is untenable. A look at the use of dor in the Old Testament and at its regular translation by γενεά in the LXX reveals that a kind of men is referred to, the evil kind that reproduces and succeeds itself in many physical generations. Compare Ps. 12:7: “Thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever”; 78:8, the fathers (many physical generations of them); 14:5, “the generation of the righteous”; 24:6; 73:15; 112:2; Deut. 32:5, 20; Prov. 30:11–14; Isaiah often; Jer. 7:29; etc. From these passages turn to the New Testament and in addition to the Gospels note Acts 2:40; Phil. 2:15; Heb. 3:10. Sometimes the evil manifested by the kind of men referred to is indicated by modifiers, as in Matt. 16:4; 17:17; Mark 8:38, but often the context does this. In the present connection the meaning of “generation” is plain, for already in v. 14 we were referred to “the end,” and in v. 29–31 the end itself is described.

The contention that πάνταταῦτα must have the same meaning that these words have in v. 33 claims too much because it overlooks the verbs. In v. 33 the disciples shall see “all these things,” evidently not all of them throughout the ages to the very end; but in v. 34 “all these things shall occur” before this generation passes away—the succession of signs through the ages while this kind of men continues and their tribe has not ceased.

Accordingly, “this generation” does not mean the human race, nor does it refer to Christians, nor are all the wicked included in “this generation.” Why such a solemn assurance with “amen, I say to you,” for a thing so obvious as that a race of wicked unbelievers and persecutors shall persist through the ages? Does Jesus not in v. 30 show them beating their breasts in dismay at the time of his Parousia?

“This generation” consists of the type of Jews whom Jesus contended with during this Tuesday, 21:23–23:39. He foretells the destruction of their nation (24:15–28); and one might easily conclude that this would end the generation of Jews such as these Sadducees and these Pharisees. But no; solemnly we are assured (and this assurance is in place) that this type of Jew will continue to the very Parousia. It has continued to this very day. The voice of Jewish rejection of Christ is as loud and as vicious as ever: he is not the Messiah, not the Son of God! Here, therefore, is Jesus’ own answer to those who expect a final national conversion of the Jews either with or without a millennium.

Matthew 24:35

35 The statement that “the heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall in no wise pass away” loses much of its force when it is regarded as an assurance of the fact that the contemporaneous generation of Jews will not have disappeared before all things foretold by Jesus shall have reached an end. The statement gains in force when the prophecy of v. 34 is properly understood. This verse is only one of Jesus’ words. Jesus does not restrict his statement to his present discourse and to the many statements it includes. He does not say, “These my words,” but all-inclusively, “my words shall in no wise pass away,” οὐμή, the strongest negation with either the indicative or a subjunctive as here and in v. 34. Despite their apparent durability the physical heaven and earth “shall pass away.” The question as to whether this means annihilation, reduction to nothingness, or transformation to a different form of existence cannot be answered by a consideration of παρελεύσεται in this passage or the indeterminate wording of many other passages.

The most decisive passage is Rom. 8:19–23, together with 1 Cor. 7:31 (only the fashion, σχῆμα, of the world shall pass away), and Rev. 21:1–5 (the divine heaven and the earth shall be united). So the physical heaven and the physical earth will change completely; when they are changed at the Parousia, we shall not recognize them. But the words of Jesus will never undergo even the slightest change either in meaning or in form.

Matthew 24:36

36 Now concerning that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of the heavens, nor the Son, save the Father only. And just like the days of Noah, so shall be the Parousia of the Son of man. For just like they were in those days before the deluge, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage until the day Noah went into the ark, and they did not realize until the deluge came and took them all away; thus will be the Parousia of the Son of man. Then two men shall be in the field—one is taken, and one is left; two women grinding at the mill—one is taken, and one is left. Watch, therefore, because you do not know what day your Lord comes. In a manner Jesus has told the disciples when the end and his Parousia would come, namely by pointing them to the signs.

But, after all, this is not specific. Jesus tells them that the Father alone knows the precise date. The ἡμέρα is here “the day” in the narrower sense, and the ὥρα in the wider, the general period of time. We must not refer the latter to the hour of a specific day.

The fact that the angels, although they are in heaven, do not know the date does not especially surprise us, but the fact that “the Son” should not know the day and hour does cause surprise. The term “the Son” is here placed alongside of “the Father.” But while it names this person according to his divine nature, it predicates something concerning his human nature. Compare similar expressions in Acts 3:15, and 1 Cor. 2:8. In their essential oneness the three persons know all things, but in his state of humiliation the Second Person did not use his divine attributes save as he needed them in his mediatorial work. So his divine omniscience was used by Jesus in only this restricted way. That is why here on Mt.

Olivet he does not know the date of the end. How the incarnate Son could thus restrict the use of his divine attributes is one of the mysteries of his person; the fact is beyond dispute.

Matthew 24:37

37 The Parousia will be like the days of Noah, i.e., its coming as far as men’s knowledge is concerned.

Matthew 24:38

38 In the days preceding the deluge men were wholly unconcerned (ἦσαν with an indefinite subject). They spent the 120 years which God had fixed as the limit of his grace “eating (πρώγειν, ‘to munch,’ audible eating, used in John 6:54–58) and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage” as though no judgment were impending. These are neutral actions that are not sinful in themselves; but they obtain a sinister significance when the total disregard of God’s warnings is observed which underlies this conduct. These men should have repented in sackcloth and in ashes. The participles are predicates of ἦσαν. And this was done until the very day that Noah, at God’s command, entered the ark.

The relative is drawn into the clause: ἄχριἧςἡμέρας instead of ἄχριτῆςἡμέραςᾗ etc., R. 717. “Ark” is κιβωτός. This suggests the word used in Heb. 9:4 for the ark of the covenant, and in Rev. 11:19 for the ark of the heavenly sanctuary; the word itself means a wooden chest.

Matthew 24:39

39 They never “realized” anything until the final, fatal moment. The fact that an ark was being built on dry land, that Noah told them why he built it, seemed a great joke to them “until the flood came (κατακλυσμός, from κατακλύζειν, to overflow with utter destruction—note the English derivative cataclysm) and took away all.” Exactly so shall be the Parousia: warnings enough and more than enough, but ears deaf, hearts obdurate, every sign being explained away “naturally,” “reasonably,” even “scientifically” until the fatal day arrives. It is not the wickedness of immorality that Jesus stresses but this ungodly, guilty, and damnable blindness.

40, 41) So it will happen that two men will be in the field, working there side by side, and two women “grinding at the mill,” ἀλήθουσαι, present feminine participle, and μύλος is a handmill for preparing the meal for the day. One is taken, received, the other is left, abandoned. The agent hidden in the passives is the Son of man. Why the one is graciously received by Christ while the other is left (see v. 31) does not need to be explained. The one was like Noah, the other like those caught by the deluge.

Matthew 24:42

42 Jesus draws the proper conclusion for his disciples (οὖν): “Be watching, therefore,” durative, “constantly keep your eyes open,” namely to see the signs that presage the Parousia, to remember the promised final day, and ever, ever to be ready for it. Returning to v. 36, Jesus states the great reason: “because you do not know what day your Lord comes,” ποίᾳ is non-qualitative, R. 740. For despite all our watching no one will ever figure out the day. In fact, when we ourselves think that on this day he will not come, that may be the very day that he comes.

Matthew 24:43

43 Moreover, that realize, that, if the house-lord had known in what watch the thief comes, he would have watched and would not have permitted his house to be broken through. For this reason be you also ready; because in what hour you do not think, the Son of man comes. The illustration is drawn from the contrary: a houseowner had failed to watch because he did not know in which of the four watches of the night the thief would appear, of whose coming he had a general warning. The result was that he slept, and that the thief broke through door or window and stole what he wanted. Jesus puts this into a condition of past unreality, “If he had known he would have watched and would not have left,” etc. In the protasis the second past perfect ᾔδει is regularly used for the imperfect, and this leads some to think that the condition is mixed, “If he knew (present unreality) he would have watched,” etc. (past unreality).

But this would be a strange mixture; the imperfect is also found in conditions of past unreality, and that is plainly the case where (as in the case of the present verb) the aorist is not in use. In the Greek the direct discourse, “in what watch the thief comes,” is retained.

Matthew 24:44

44 “On this account” or “for this reason,” namely because this houselord acted so foolishly, do “you, too,” not repeat his mistake but “be ready,” γίνεσθε, durative present, “be ever ready!” And the reason for this only sane and safe course is the fact that in the very hour (period) when you feel sure that he is not coming, in that very hour he will come. That is the astonishing feature about the uncertainty regarding the time. Even those who are constantly on the watch will be completely surprised. For they will feel quite sure that at this or that time he will not come, and one such time will be chosen for his coming. The present ἔρχεται matches the present δοκεῖτε.

Matthew 24:45

45 Who, then, is the trustworthy and sensible slave whom the lord did set over his household to be giving them the food in due season? Blessed that slave whom his lord, having come, shall find doing thus! Amen, I say to you, that over all his possessions he shall set him. But if that base slave shall say in his heart, My lord delays, and shall begin to beat his fellow-slaves, moreover shall also eat and drink with the drunken, the lord of that slave shall come in a day in which he does not expect and in an hour in which he does not realize and shall cut him in two, and his portion he shall place together with the hypocrites; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.

This is the first of three parables in which Jesus describes and emphasizes the fact that we should be ready for his coming. The connective ἄρα indicates correspondence with v. 44, “according to” the unexpectedness of the coming of the Son of man. Who is the slave that is πιστός, faithful, and φρόνιμος, sensible in view of the undated coming of his lord? The predicate has the article and is thus identical with the subject (R. 768), and καί carries the force of the article forward to the second adjective (R. 777). But this is not an ordinary slave, his lord did set him over (R. 845, the English prefers the perfect: “has set”) his οἰκετεία, household of other slaves; and he did this that he might “be giving them (τοῦ with the present infinitive expresses purpose; the present, continuous action) their food in due season” (ἐνκαιρῷ). Jesus is speaking of the ministers and pastors of his church whose obligation is double and includes that of the household committed to them.

It is a great distinction to be taken from the ranks of the common slaves and to be made the headslave over all the rest. The trust thus imposed ought to act as a strong incentive to be πιστός, trustworthy, in return, and φρόνιμος, sensible and capable of living up to the trust received.

Matthew 24:46

46 Instead of saying anything further about this slave, Jesus exclaims because of his blessedness: μακάριος (see 5:3), a verdict, the blessedness consisting of the possessions of the kingdom and of the happiness that goes with them (v. 47). “That slave” is the one Jesus has in mind, whom he describes in the relative clause, “whom, on having come, his lord shall find doing thus.” The emphasis is on the aorist participle ἐλθών. Until his lord comes he faithfully does exactly what his lord told him, and his lord finds him so engaged (ποιοῦνταοὕτως). He does not sit idly outside of the house looking for his lord and speculating about his return; he is inside, steadily doing his lord’s bidding.

Matthew 24:47

47 So important is this conduct that Jesus announces with the seal of verity and of authority (see 5:18) just what this slave’s blessedness shall be, “over all his possession he shall set him”; the phrase is placed forward for the sake of emphasis. The lord will make that slave the head steward of his estate and keep him as such. The reality here pictured is far greater than the picture but beyond our adequate conception; compare 25:21, 23; Luke 19:17, 19.

Matthew 24:48

48 With a condition of expectancy Jesus turns to “that base slave,” κακός, nichtswuerdig, whom he has in mind; this is the force of ἐκεῖνος. “To say in the heart” is to think without betraying oneself, and this false slave’s thought is, “Delay doth my lord,” the emphasis being on the verb. He accepted his lord’s trust, he promised faithful and competent service, and now see what his secret thought reveals! He is a base hypocrite (v. 51).

Matthew 24:49

49 Since his lord is gone he casts off restraint and reveals the inner baseness of his nature which has only been hidden hitherto. Instead of attending to the other slaves, he now lords it over them as the tyrant that he is. He is a sample of those ministers in the church who act like popes. Instead of doing the work graciously entrusted to him, he gives rein to the lower passions which he has had to hide while his lord was present. He now carouses, eats, and drinks in company with base fellows like himself. Now he is a sample of the ministers who are self-seekers, who also indulge their flesh, even its basest side, when they think they can do so with safety.

Matthew 24:50

50 What will happen? He will be caught in his own folly. His lord will come in a day in which he does not expect; and Jesus emphasizes this by adding in an hour (wider sense of hour) in which he does not realize. In the Greek the verbs do not require objects, these being understood. Many have thought themselves shrewd enough to indulge their wickedness and have imagined that they could call a halt in time and thus escape. But every yielding to indulgence blinds the moral sense and only helps to make a greater fool. His end will be his execution, he will be cut in two (2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chron. 20:3) with a horrible saw and thus receive the just reward of his faithlessness.

Matthew 24:51

51 At this point Jesus breaks off the parabolic language and speaks literally, “and his portion he shall place together with the hypocrites” (“unbelievers,” Luke 12:46). What this μέρος or lot is the Lord plainly declares: “There shall be the weeping and gnashing of the teeth,” namely in hell. On this clause see 8:12; 13:42, 50; 22:13; 25:30.

This parable was also used on an earlier occasion when Jesus had occasion to speak of our being ready for his second coming, Luke 12:35–48; note v. 42–46. The repetition helps to impress his words the more deeply.

R. A Grammar of the Greek New Testament in the Light of Historical Research, by A. T. Robertson, fourth edition.

B.-D. Friedrich Blass’ Grammatik des neutestamentlichen Griechisch, vierte, voellig neugearbeitete Auflage besorgt von Albert Debrunner