“Many will come in My name, saying: ‘I am Christ’, and they shall seduce[1] many. You shall hear of wars and rumours of wars; nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places. These are but the beginning of sorrows. And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world[2]. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken[3]. And upon the earth, distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves; men withering away for fear and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world.
“Then shall appear the sign[4] of the Son of Man in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and Majesty. He shall send His angels with a trumpet and a great voice, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of the heavens to the utmost bounds of them. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word[5] shall not pass away.”
“Watch therefore”, said our Lord in conclusion, “praying at all times that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
COMMENTARY.
The Destruction of Jerusalem. Our Lord’s discourse forms a wonderful prophecy about the destruction of Jerusalem, the end of the world, and the signs which were to herald both. The destruction of
- ↑ Shall seduce. “And many false prophets shall arise, and shall seduce many”, our Lord said a little further on in His discourse; “and because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.”
- ↑ The whole world. The gospel will be preached all over the face of the earth “for a testimony to all nations”. At the last judgment, therefore, the unbelievers will not be able to excuse themselves, because the Faith will have been proclaimed to every one: “and then”, added our Lord, “shall the consummation come”.
- ↑ Shaken. The laws of our solar system, as they are now, will cease to act.
- ↑ The sign. A cross of fire.
- ↑ My word. But what I promise to my faithful disciples shall not pass away, for it is life everlasting.
