Luke 21:11 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

Fearful sights, &c.— Josephus, in his relation of the signs and prodigies which preceded the taking of Jerusalem, mentions that a star hung over the city like a sword, and [an appearance like] a comet continued for a whole year; that the people being assembled to celebrate the feast of unleavened bread, at the ninth hour of the night, there shone so great a light about the altar and the temple, that it seemed to be bright day, and this continued for half an hour; that the eastern gate of the temple, which was of solid brass, and was scarcely to be shut by twenty men, was seen, at the sixth hour of the night, to open of its own accord, though fastened by strong bars and bolts, and could hardly be shut again; that, before the setting of the sun, there were seen, all over the country, chariots and armies fighting in the clouds; and that at the feast of Pentecost, the priests perceived, first a motion and noise, and then heard the voice as of a multitude, saying, "Let us depart hence." It may add some weight to this relation of Josephus, that Tacitus, the Roman, confirms every one of these particulars in his History. If Christ had not expressly foretold this, many who give little heed to portents, and who know that historians have been too credulous in that point, would have suspected that Josephus exaggerated, and that Tacitus was misinformed. But as the testimonies of Josephus and Tacitus serve in some measure to confirm the predictions of Christ, so the predictions of Christ confirm the wonders recorded by those historians. Yet, even allowing all that incredulity can urge,—that in the great calamities of war, and famine, and pestilence, the people always grow superstitious,—that they see nothing but prodigies and portents;—that some of these seem to be formed in imitation of the Greek and Roman historians; that armies fighting in the clouds are nothing more than meteors,—such as the aurora borealis, or northern lights:—in short, allowing that some of these prodigies were reigned, andothers were exaggerated, yet the prediction of them is not the lessdivine on that account. Whether they were supernatural, or fictions only of disordered imaginations; yet they were believed as realities, had all the effects of realities, and were equally worthy to be made the objects of prophesy. Fearful sights and great signs from heaven they certainly were, as much as if they had been created on purpose to astonish the earth. We should observe concerning this prophesy, which is expressed in terms so very plain and circumstantial,—that St. Matthew and St. Mark were incontestably dead before the event, as St. Luke also probably might be; and as for St. John, the only evangelist who survived it, it is remarkable that he mentions nothing of it, lest any should say that the prophesy was forged after the event happened. See, for a full explanation of the particulars of this chapter, the notes on Matthew 24.