1. And Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.
2. And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down."
3. And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be (when will the temple be torn down), and what will be the sign of Your coming (presence), and of the end of the age?"
There are two or three questions here, depending on whether or not Jesus coming and the end of the age are seen to be simultaneous.
1. When will the temple be torn down?
2. What will be the sign of your (Jesus) coming – and the end of the age?
4. And Jesus answered and said to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.
5. "For many will come in My name, saying, `I am the Christ,' and will mislead many.
Jesus tells His followers not to follow people who claim to be Him.
6. "And you will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
The “end” cannot be determined by events such as wars.
7. "For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
Neither can people determine when the end is because of famines or natural disasters like earthquakes.
8. "But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
Contrary to indicating the end these occurrences are the beginning of something being born.
9. "Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.
Jesus followers will at the “beginning” be persecuted for being Christians.
10. "And at that time many will fall away and will deliver up one another and hate one another.
Many Christians (unbelievers have nothing to fall away from – so it is clear that those that fall away are Jesus followers) will fall away (backslide) and betray and hate other Christians.
11. "And many false prophets will arise, and will mislead many.
Many people claiming to speak for God will mislead many people
12. "And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold.
Most people will break God’s law and this will cause most people to have an insincere love for others (this would be because God teaches us to Love, and He bases this reward (of the ability to Love) on keeping the law or covenant). A Christian’s lawlessness (sin) hinders God, as He tries to teach Christians to love.
13. "But the one who endures to the end, he shall be saved.
The Christian person who endures all of this and remains faithful shall be saved. Since each individual’s endurance is at an end when he dies, the end is a person’s physical death. If a person keeps the faith, as Romans 10:9 says they will be saved.
14. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.
The Gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world before the end comes. It is apparent that salvation is an individual concept. So the Gospel must be preached to every person before the “end”. If the concept of individuality is applied to this verse then it can be seen that after the preaching of the kingdom the end comes. Every individual person must hear the Gospel. This cannot possibly happen simultaneously because there are constantly people being born. Newborn people do not have the ability to comprehend the gospel and either accept or reject the gospel/Christ. When a person is able to make this decision they become accountable for their individual acceptance or rejection. If the phrase “end of the age” referred to the “end” of the world then there must necessarily be a singular point in time when everyone alive is able to respond to the gospel. Everyone on earth (or throughout time for that matter) is not able to make this decision at the same time – so I conclude that as the phrase “end of the age” is used in these verses it cannot refer to the end of time or of the world. The word “end” can infer a “goal”. If the phrase “end of the age” is understood this way then the “end or goal” of this age is the individual acceptance or rejection of Christ. The preaching of the gospel necessitates an action of either acceptance or rejection. This would suggest that the “end or goal” of this age is the opportunity to either accept of reject the Gospel of Christ. The coming or presence of Christ is then seen to be the “goal” of the age.
The two questions raised in verse 3 have been answered at this point.
1. The temple (church or individual believer) will be torn down or become desolate when the abomination has happened. The abomination is willful sin.
2. The Coming or presence of Christ is the goal or end of the age and it happens after the disobedient believer has been brought back to Christ (faith in Jesus Christ is the “end” or “goal” of the Age).
15. "Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
When Jesus followers see abominable things in the place where God should dwell, (The Christian’s heart).
16. then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains;
Those Christians who are faithful (Judea represents God’s people) should flee to the stronghold or mountain, (God is the Christian’s refuge). In other words get close to God when the dwelling of God (God’s people) is occupied by abominations (sin’s) which bring destruction (judgment). When Christian’s see sinful behavior in the Holy place they are to understand that God’s judgment is certain and it is to be expected shortly. The faithful Christian’s are to leave the disobedient Christian’s so that they do not have to endure the judgement of the unrighteous along with the unrighteousness themselves. The desolation is the destruction or disassembling of the stones of the temple alluded to in Matthew 24:2. Christian’s are the stones that make up the temple (Jesus is the Chief cornerstone) and when these are being torn down the faithful Christian’s should not be among them. Through this series of statements Jesus responds to question number 1 posed to Him. This judgement, referred to as the Day of the Lord, will happen to disobedient Christians at a time when the Father’s deems it to be necessary to correct His people who have fallen away, Matthew 24:16.
17. let him who is on the housetop not go down to get the things out that are in his house;
18. and let him who is in the field not turn back to get his cloak.
19. "But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days!
20. "But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath;
21. for then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall.
The abomination (of sinful Christians) will bring about the destruction called Day of the Lord and Jesus wants His faithful followers to flee when they see the signs of abomination among God’s people. His faithful followers are to understand that the abomination or sin among the people of God (God’s dwelling) will inevitably bring about the desolation or judgement of God.
22. "And unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be cut short.
If the judgement or desolation were not cut short it would kill the Christian people being disciplined. But because the abomination (Sin) was found to be in the Holy Place (the Christian’s were sinful) and God loves His people even when they are sinful, those Days (the Day’s of desolation or judgement) will be cut short before the Christians being disciplined are killed, 1 Corinthians 11:32.
23. "Then if anyone says to you, `Behold, here is the Christ,' or `There He is,' do not believe him.
If anyone says Jesus has physically returned to earth don’t believe that statement.
24. "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.
25. "Behold, I have told you in advance.
False Christ’s will appear and perform signs that indicate that they are the Christ and they will try and mislead Christians.
26. "If therefore they say to you, `Behold, He is in the wilderness,' do not go forth, or, `Behold, He is in the inner rooms,' do not believe them.
If the false Christ’s/Prophets say that Jesus has returned do not believe them.
27. "For just as the lightning comes from the east, and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
Don’t believe these false messengers because the Coming of Jesus will be in the form of destructive judgement (as in the phrase the Day of the Lord comes as a thief who will steal kill and destroy) that can be seen by people from the east to the west.
28. "Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
The Lord Jesus has in the previous verses answered the questions of His followers. He told by them that His coming would be in the form of judgment upon backslidden Christians. Jesus return (the Day of the Lord) will be in the form of judgement upon the spiritually dead Christians and it will happen when the vultures or powers of darkness are seen to be gathering to feast upon the spiritually dead bodies of Christians who have backslidden. When sin (lawlessness is increased) is noticed in church and the demons are causing Christians to backslide the followers of Christ are to understand that discipline (meant for correction, 1 Corinthians 11:32) is inevitable.
This is God illustrating that He is faithful to His/Our Covenant by bring the curses upon disobedient Christians to correct them.
29. "But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken,
After the tribulation or discipline there will be darkness and the Christians who have been corrected by the vultures will be shaken.
30. and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
After the tribulation (discipline o believers) the Lord will come to them with power. His discipline is followed by the sign of His presence (His personal attendance to His followers). The spiritual Jews have been judged in the preceding verses. Jesus has disciplined His backslidden people and they have been taught to obey Christ and now the unbelievers are about to be judged and they are mourning. Romans 2:9 says that the spiritual Jews will be judged and because when God’s judgments are in the world (which has just happened) then the world learns righteousness, Isaiah 26:9.
31. "And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
After their discipline the messengers of Christ will gather the backslidden Christians back to Christ.
Parable of the Fig Tree
32. "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;
33. even so you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.
When the tree (previously sinful Christian) begins to show signs of growth, (after the discipline or the hibernation of winter), summer and Christ’s presence or Kingdom is near (and the messengers of Christ will gather them back to Christ).
34. "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
These things will happen to those that are listening to Christ Jesus say these things. This is seen to be an individual occurrence when the same occurrence is described with personal/individual applications alluded being to in Luke 24:31-35.
Lu 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35 for as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
The Day of the lord is called here a “snare”, which is of course used to capture a bird etc.
35. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
36. "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
The Father knows when this judgement will come upon an individual.
37. "For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
38. "For as in those days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
39. and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be.
Noah is an example of someone who fled when he saw the condition’s that brought about judgment. The “Day” will come when people are after there is a falling away from God as 2 Thessalonians 2:3.
40. "Then there shall be two men in the field; one will be taken, and one will be left.
41. "Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken, and one will be left.
42. "Therefore be on the alert, (stay awake as 1 Thessalonians 5:6 suggests) for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.
43. "But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into.
If the Head of the House (body), (the head of the body is the individual person) knew at what time of night (spiritual darkness) the thief (devil/demons would come to inflict the judgment of the Lord) would come. He would have been alert as 1 Thessalonians 5:6 exhorts a person then that person would not have allowed his body to be broken into. He would have remained faithful/alert to Christ. The individual Christian should know that disobedience will bring about judgment.
44. "For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.
The Son of man will come upon the Christian as a thief (devil) on that “day” when a Christian is not alert. If they are not alert or awake they are referred to as sleeping or spiritually dead in sins, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
45. "Who then is the faithful and sensible slave whom his master put in charge of his household to give them their food at the proper time?
46. "Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.
47. "Truly I say to you, that he will put him in charge of all his possessions.
48. "But if that evil slave says in his heart, `My master is not coming for a long time,'
49. and shall begin to beat his fellow slaves and eat and drink with drunkards;
50. the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know,
51. and shall cut him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites;
(A hypocrite is a person who has abandoned their profession – this statement proves that the aforementioned judgement comes upon a Christian. An unbeliever cannot be called a hypocrite because they do not profess to godliness)
weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth.
