“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
(Matthew 24:3, KJV)
“As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?””
(Matthew 24:3, ESV)
Table of Contents
- Matthew 24:3 Meaning – The Mount of Olives
- Matthew 24:3 Meaning – The Disciples
- Matthew 24:3 Meaning – Privately
- Matthew 24:3 Meaning – When Shall These Things Be?
- Matthew 24:3 Meaning – The Sign of Thy Coming
- Matthew 24:3 Meaning – End of the world
- Matthew 24:3 Meaning – Summary
The disciples, understanding that the temple should be destroyed, ask some questions.
Dickson, David – A Brief Exposition of the Evangel of Jesus Christ According to Matthew (1651)
Matthew 24:3 Meaning – The Mount of Olives
Going on towards Bethany, our Lord climbs the steep base of the Mount of Olives, see on Matthew 21:1,17. Half way up the walking path one is apt to feel tired on a hot afternoon at the time of the Passover, and to seat himself on some ledge of limestone rock to rest. There he finds himself ‘over against’ (Mark) the site of the temple, at about the same height above the ravine of the Kedron. Our Lord may have sat here, or perhaps on the summit, where he would look down upon the whole city. The place at which some days before he “saw the city and wept over it” (Luke 19:41. Revised Version), was about half a mile further south, on the riding road from Bethany. The time was now towards night, and the evening sun kindled the white stone and gold of the temple buildings into splendor.
Broadus, John – Commentary on Matthew (1886)
Matthew 24:3 Meaning – The Disciples
The disciples. Mark 13:3 says, ‘Peter and James and John and Andrew,’ who were the first company of the Twelve (see above on Matthew 10:2), and three of whom had been with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, (Matthew 17:1.) This fact might have led these particular disciples to suppose that he would tell them, what he would not tell the rest of the Twelve; and Matthew’s general expression might be easily restricted to the four mentioned by Mark. Or it may be, as Euthym. suggests, that “they all came to learn, but four asked, as having greater freedom of access.”
Broadus, John – Commentary on Matthew (1886)
Matthew 24:3 Meaning – Privately
Privately, so also Mark, as opposed to the public discourses he had been giving all day in the temple. Jesus would of course refrain from speaking plainly in public of his future coming as the Messiah, when he had not yet publicly declared himself to be the Messiah. And it would have been dangerous (Mald.) to foretell openly the destruction of the temple (compare John 2:20), which in the case of Stephen was reckoned blasphemy. (Acts 6:13f.)
Broadus, John – Commentary on Matthew (1886)
They wait till they rest on the Mount of Olives on the way to Bethany to ask about the solemn words of Jesus. Peter, James, John, Andrew (Mark 13:3) were the ones who asked Jesus.
Robertson, A.T. – Commentary on Matthew in The Bible for Home & School (1911)
Matthew 24:3 Meaning – When Shall These Things Be?
That catastrophe they may have associated with the end of the age.
Robertson, A.T. – Commentary on Matthew in The Bible for Home & School (1911)
Men are more curious to know things hid in God’s secret counsel than to make use of what is revealed: as the disciples here, who asked, When shall these things be?, when a more useful question had been more expedient.
Dickson, David – A Brief Exposition of the Evangel of Jesus Christ According to Matthew (1651)
When shall these things be? So Mark and Luke. The prediction that the entire temple would be thrown down reminded them of previous predictions that he would come again as the Messiah (Matthew 16:27f.; Luke 19:11; Matthew 23:39), for they might well suppose such an utter destruction would occur only in connection with the establishment of the Messianic kingdom, which many Jews believed would be attended by mighty changes. So the disciples privately inquire as to the time of his promised coming, and the sign of it.
Broadus, John – Commentary on Matthew (1886)
Matthew 24:3 Meaning – The Sign of Thy Coming
The sign of thy coming, (parousia), presence (Revised Version margin), as in 2 Cor. 10:10, or ‘arrival’ as in the phrase ‘by the coming of Titus,’ 2 Cor. 7:6; the idea is of not merely arriving but then remaining present, The word suggests (Ewald) that Jesus will come and stay with his people. This peculiar term is used for the second coming of Christ four times in the chapter (v. 3, 27, 37, 39), and repeatedly by James, Paul, Peter; also in 1 John 2:28. Other terms used in the Epistles are manifestation, revelation, appearing, coming, day. The word ‘thy’ has a certain emphasis in the Greek. He has spoken of the Messiah’s coming (Matthew 23:39; Matthew 16:28); they are satisfied that this means his coming.
Broadus, John – Commentary on Matthew (1886)
Matthew 24:3 Meaning – End of the world
Consummation of the age. All the current problems of eschatology are thus raised. The reply of Jesus as given in the Synoptic Gospels is probably the most difficult portion of the Gospels to explain. It is the longest discourse given in Mark. All sorts of problems are raised by it, whether the Gospels have incorporated a Jewish apocalypse at this point, whether the disciples clearly apprehended what Jesus said, whether the Gospels have put into one great discourse much that Jesus said on various occasions, how the apocalyptic imagery is to be understood, how the various topics are to be distinguished. The subject is too large for extensive treatment here. In general it may be said that it seems appropriate and probable that Jesus on this occasion delivered such a discourse just before his death and after the final break with the rulers. It is improbable that the Gospels would incorporate into the words of Jesus a Jewish apocalypse. Jesus himself on various occasions had spoken of the eschatological side of the kingdom. It is not unlikely that some of those sayings should be repeated at this time (cf. Luke 12:39-46; 17:26-35). Inasmuch as several subjects are raised in the query of the disciples, they are treated more or less together in the reply of Jesus. He may not have kept them separate. They are certainly blended in the report. It is not possible always to separate them. In one sense the destruction of Jerusalem was a coming of Christ with power and was a symbol of the judgment at the end of the world. The first part of the discourse mainly refers to the destruction of Jerusalem; the last part is wholly about the end of the world and the second coming; the middle portion is now about one and now about the other. It may be said further that Jesus used the current apocalyptic language (cf. Daniel, Ezekiel, and the Jewish apocalypses like Baruch, Enoch, etc.) in order to be understood. But his language is free from the gross and materialistic ideas in some of the Jewish apocalypses of the time. Jesus spiritualized the language of the time and used it for a moral purpose. He wishes to warn the disciples and early Christians and urge them to holy living. As in all apocalyptic language, it is highly figurative and not meant to be taken in literal detail. A general and tentative analysis of the discourse is all that can be here attempted.
Robertson, A.T. – Commentary on Matthew in The Bible for Home & School (1911)
Jesus answers the disciples’ last question first. He warns them against false Christs, and false prophets with programmes and dates. The Gospel must first be proclaimed in the whole world and many troubles will come. It is important to remember this distinct statement, for some even say that Jesus himself expected to come back right away. He manifestly cannot mean that in view of vss. 4-14. Jesus here presupposes the current belief in the two ages — “this age” and “the coming age.” The former would end (be consummated), the latter begin, at the triumph of the Messiah.
Robertson, A.T. – Commentary on Matthew in The Bible for Home & School (1911)
And of the end of the world, or, as the Greek exactly means, the consummation of the age (Revised Version margin), see on Matthew 13:39f. There is here no reference to any such idea as that of the destruction of the material universe (kosmos), but only the consummation and termination of the present aion, age, or state of things. A common Jewish conception was that the appearing of the Messiah would close ‘this age,’ and introduce ‘the coming age’ — these phrases often occurring in the Talmud. The disciples would easily transform the conception into that of a future appearance of their Master as the Messiah. Jesus had taught them that at ‘the consummation of the age,’ the end of the present state of things, the Messiah would destroy the wicked (Matthew 13:41,49), and they were now fully convinced that he himself was the Messiah. Thus it was natural for them to ask these questions. It is not wise to distinguish sharply between the three clauses as if representing three entirely separate points. Evidently the disciples did not separate between his future coming and the end of the present period; nor has the Saviour done so in his reply. They also then supposed that the destruction of the temple would coincide with his coming and the end of the age; the reply did not clearly show that they would in fact be far apart, but it left the way open for what has in this respect turned out to be the case. The phrases ‘coming’ and ‘consummation of the age’ would be readily intelligible to the Jewish readers contemplated by Matthew, but not to Gentiles; and accordingly Mark and Luke have simply ‘and what is the sign when all these things are going to be completed’ (Luke ‘to come to pass’). [Wunsche here quotes a good deal from the Talmud, and other Rabbinical writings, as to presages of the Messiah’s coming (i,.e. what we call his first coming), and descriptions of the Messianic time, but nothing that would really help in understanding this discourse. As to the wide difference between the Rabbinical conceptions of “the last things,” and those of the New Testament, see Edersh. II, 434, 445.]
Broadus, John – Commentary on Matthew (1886)
Matthew 24:3 Meaning – Summary
The Saviour’s reply, so far as included in our present section, divides itself into v. 4-14, 15-28, 29-31, 32-36; and this last is very closely connected with what follows in the next section. Observe that the whole discourse is evidently designed, not to satisfy curiosity about the future, but to save from misconception, restrain impatience, and stimulate to perpetual watchfulness (Matthew 24.42) and faithfulness. (Matthew 25:14ff.)
Broadus, John – Commentary on Matthew (1886)
