38 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And except that the Lord had shortened those days,.... Had determined that those days of affliction should be but few, and not last long; that the siege should not be longer continued, and the devastations within and without be prolonged: no flesh should be saved; there would not have been a Jew left; that nation and race of men must have been...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And then if any man shall say to you,.... During those days of tribulation and affliction, or when shortened and at an end: lo! [here is] Christ, or lo! [he is] there; the Messiah has appeared in such or in such a place, to deliver you from your national distresses and calamities, and from the Roman yoke and bondage: believe him not; give no...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For false Christs and false prophets shall rise,.... As there did, both before and after the destruction of Jerusalem: and shall show signs and wonders; as they pretended to do, and did, at least to the appearance of people: to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect; who were chosen in Christ, unto eternal life; in consequence of which they...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But take ye heed,.... The Persic version adds, "of them"; of the false Christs, and false prophets: for though the purposes of God, concerning the salvation of his elect, are infrustrable; his promises are yea and amen; his grace is efficacious and irresistible, and his power uncontrollable; and the salvation of his chosen ones certain; yet it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But in those days, after that tribulation,.... That is, after the destruction of the city and temple of Jerusalem, and the miseries and calamities attending it, in the times immediately following it; see Matthew 24:29; the sun shall be darkened: so the Shekinah, or glory of the divine majesty was withdrawn, and all the symbols of the divine...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the stars of heaven shall fall,.... The Jewish Rabbins and doctors, who fell off from the written word, and compiled their "Misna", or oral law, their book of traditions, and set it up above the Bible, the foundation of which was laid immediately upon their dispersion. And the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken; the ordinances of the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And then shall they see the son of man,.... Not in person, but in the power of his wrath and vengeance; of which the Jews then had a convincing evidence, and full proof; and even of his being come in the flesh, as if they had seen him in person: this shows, that the sign of the son of man, in Matthew 24:30 is the same with the son of man: coming...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And then he shall send his angels,.... The ministers of the Gospel to preach it, and plant more churches among the Gentiles, since that at Jerusalem was entirely broken up: and shall gather together his elect; that is, he the son of man, or Christ, shall gather them by the ministry of his servants; or "they shall gather them", as the Ethiopic...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now learn a parable of the fig tree,.... Our Lord was now upon the Mount of Olives, in one part of which fig trees grew in great plenty, and one, or more, might be near, and in view; and it was the time of year, the passover being at hand, for its putting forth: when her branch is yet tender; and soft and opening, through the sap now in motion:...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So ye, in like manner,.... This is an accommodation of the parable to the present case: when ye shall see these things come to pass; the signs preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, and especially the abomination of desolation, or the Roman army surrounding it: know that it, or he is nigh, even at at the doors; either that the destruction of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass,.... Not the generation of men, in general, or Jews in particular, nor of Christians; but that present generation of men, they should not all go off the stage of life, till all these things be done; which were now predicted by Christ, concerning the destruction of Jerusalem, the signs of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Heaven and earth shall pass away,.... Which may be understood either affirmatively, as what will be at the second coming of Christ; or comparatively, rather than any thing said by Christ should; and so shows the certainty and irreversibleness of his predictions, as it follows: but my words shall not pass away; which is true of all the words of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
But of that day, and of that hour,.... Of Jerusalem's destruction; for of nothing else had Christ been speaking; and, it is plain, the words are anaphorical, and relate to what goes before: knoweth no man; nay, they that lived to see it, and have spoken of it, are not agreed about the particular day, when it was; much less did they know it...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Take ye heed, watch and pray,.... This seems to be the principal reason why the day and hour of Jerusalem's destruction, though known by the Father, were not made known to any man, neither to the angels, nor by them; nor to the son of man in the days of his flesh, nor by him when on earth; that his people might be upon their guard, against false...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
[For the son of man is] as a man taking a far journey,.... Or this case of the son of man's coming to take vengeance on the Jewish nation, is like a man that takes a journey into a far country. This puts me in mind of a question asked (m) by the Jews: "what דרך רחוקה, "a far journey" from Modiim, and without.'' from Modiim, according to the Gemara...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Watch ye therefore,.... Against false Christs, and false prophets; over yourselves, and the whole church; for the words are particularly addressed to the disciples of Christ: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh; when Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven, and in earth, is named, who is a Son in his own house, is an high priest...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Lest coming suddenly,.... Unthought of, and unexpected, at an unawares: he find you sleeping; inactive in the exercise of grace, and negligent in the performance of duty; unprepared for his coming, and unfit for service.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And what I say unto you,.... The four disciples, Peter, James, John, and Andrew; who came privately to him, and put to him the questions, which occasioned this long discourse; see Mr 13:3. I say unto all. The Syriac and Persic versions read, "you all"; meaning all the rest of his apostles, and all his disciples and followers in Jerusalem, and in...