Ver. 19.—For those days shall be tribula- tion, such as there hath not been the like from the beginning of the creation. These expressions are very remarkable. To begin with, the tribulation would be so unexampled and so severe that the days themselves would be called “ tribulation.” They would be known ever after as “ the tribulation.” There never had been anything like them, and there never would be again. Neither the Deluge, nor the destruction of the citics of the plain, nor the drowning of Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, nor the slaughter of the Canaanites, nor the de- struction of Nineveh, or of Babylon, or of other great cities and nations, would be so violent and dreadful as the overtbrow of Jerusalem by Titus. All this is confirmed by Josephus, who says, speaking of this over- throw, “I do not think that any state ever sufiered such things, or any nation within
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the memory of man.” St. Chrysostom assigns the cause of all this to the base and cruel treatment of the Son of God by the Jews. The destruction of their city and their temple, and their continued desolation afterwards, were the lessons by which the Jews were to be taught that the Christ had indeed come, and that this was the Obrist whom they had crucified and slain.
Ver. 20.—And except the Lord had short- ened the days, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect’s sake, whom he chose, he shortened the days. St. Matthew’s record (xxiv. 22) differs from that of St. Mark in the omission of the words “the Lord,” and the clause “whom he chose.” If the time of the siege of Jerusalem had lasted much longer, not one of the nation could have survived; all would have perished by war, or famine, or pestilence, The Romans raged against the Jews as an obstinate and rebellious nation, and would have exterminated them. But “the Lord” shortened the time of this frightful cata- strophe, for the elect’s sake, that is, partly for the sake of the Christiana who could not escape from Jerusalem, and oales for that of the Jews, who, subdued by this awful visitation, were converted to Christ or would hereafter be converted to him. We learn from hence how great is the love of God towards his elect, and his care for them. For their sakes he spared many Jews. For their sakes he created and preserves the whole world. Yea, for their sakes, Christ the eternal Son was made man, and became obedient unto death. “ All things are yours, and ye are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.” It may be added that a number of providential circumstances combined to shorten these days of terror. Titus was himself disposed to clemency, and friendly towards Josephus. Moreover, he was attached to Bernice, a Jewess, the sister of Agrippa. All these and other circumstances conspired in the providence of God to “ shorten the days.”
Vers. 21, 22.—And then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ; or, Lo, there, believe it not; for there shall arise false Christs and false prophets. Josephus Mentions one Simon of Gerasa, who, pre- tending to be a deliverer of the people from the Romans, gathered around him a crowd of followers, and gained admission into Jerusalem, and harassed the Jews. In like manner, Eleazar and John, leaders of the Zealots, gained admission into the holy place, under pretence of defending the city, but really that they might plunder it. But it seems as though our Lord here looked beyond the siege of Jerusalem to {he end of the world; and he warns us that as the time of hia second advent approaches,
deceivers will arise, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect. The word “te seduce” (arorAavav) is more properly ren- dered, as in the Revised Version, to lead astray. Every age has produced its crop of such deceivers; and it may be expected that, as the time of the end draws nearer and nearer, their number will increase. Sometimes those idiosyncrasies in them which show themselves in lying wonders, are the result of self-delusion; but still oftener they are deliberate attempts made for the purpose of imposing on the unwary. Sometimes they are a combination of both. In the cases to which our Lord refers there is evidently an intention to lead astray, although it may have had its origin in self- deceit. In our day there is a sad tendency to lead men astray with regard to the great fundamental verities of Christianity. And the words of St. Jerome may weil be remem- bered here: “If any would persuade you that Christ is to be found in the wilderness of unbelief or sceptical philosophy, or in the secret chambers of heresy, believe them not.”
Ver. 23.—But take ya heed (Sucis 8 BAE mere). The “ye” is here emphatic. The disciples were around him, banging upon his lips. But his admonition is meant for Christians everywhere, even to the end of the world.
Ver. 24.—But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light. St. Matthew (xxiv. 29) has the word ‘‘imme- diately,” before the words “after that tribu- lation.” If this word “immediately ” is to be understood literally, then the things spoken of subsequently must be understood in a figurative and spiritual sense. But it would seem more natural to understand “immediately ” according to the reckoning of him with whom “a thousand years are as one day.” Our Lord now passes sway from the events connected with the over- throw of the Jewish polity, and proceeds to speak of things connected with the new dispensation. His mind is now turned to ‘the last time’’—to the whole period between his first and his second advent. The things towards which he was now looking belonged, not to the end of the Jewish dispensation, but to the end of the present age and the present dispensation. Highteen centuries have passed since the destruction of Jeru- salem; and more years, it may be, will come and go before the end. Nevertheless, all this time, although it may seem long to us who are confined within the narrow limits of a short life, is nevertheless, when compared with the eternity of God, but as & moment. ‘The sun shall be darkened.” The signs here enumerated are mentioned
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elsewhere as the signs that would appear before the second coming of Christ. (See Joel ii. 31 and Luke xxi. 25, 26.) St. Augustine (Ep. 80, ‘Ad Hesychium’) says, “ The light of truth shall be obscured; be- cause in the great tribulation that shall come on the world, many will fall from the faith, who had seemed to be bright and firm, like the sun and the stars.” “ And the moon,” that is, the Church, “shall not give her light.”