Matthew 24:3 - Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives— When the disciples heard their Master affirm, that not so much as one of those stones, which had mocked the fury of Nebuchadnezzar's army, and survived the envy of time, was to be left upon another, but that they were all to be thrown down, they perceived that the temple was to be demolished; but at this time none of our Lord's followers had the least apprehension that he was to take away the sacrifice, and make such a change in religion as would render the temple of no use: and therefore, hearing him speak of its demolition, they no doubt supposed, that the fabric then standing was too small for the numerous worshippers who should come, when all nations were subjected to Messiah; and that it was for that reason to be pulled down, in order to be erected on a more magnificent plan, suitable to the idea which they had conceived of the greatness of his future kingdom. Entertaining these imaginations, they received the news with pleasure, and fancied to themselves very glorious things as they travelled along.—Accordingly, when Jesus was come to the mount of Olives, and had taken a seat on some eminence, whence the temple and part of the city were to be seen, they drew near, and expressed their joy by desiring to know when the demolition of the old structure was to happen, and what were to be the signs of his coming, and of the end of the world. The sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world, are only different expressions to denote the same period with the destruction of Jerusalem; for they conceived, that when Jerusalem should be destroyed, then would be the coming of Christ; and when the coming of Christ, then the end of the world; or rather, as it should be rendered, the conclusion of the age, u931?υντελεια του αιωνος. The conclusion of the age is the same period with the destruction of Jerusalem; for there being two ages, as they were called among the Jews, the one under the law, the other under the Messiah, when the city and temple were destroyed, and the Jewish polity in church and state was dissolved, the former age must of course be concluded, and the age under the Messiah commence. The phrase appears to be used in the same manner as in Hebrews 9:26. But now once, in the end of the world—[επι Συντελεια των αιωνων,— in the conclusion of the Jewish age or ages] hath he appeared, to put away sin. See Ephesians 2:7. 1 Corinthians 10:11. The coming of Christ is also the same period with the destruction of Jerusalem, as may appear from several places in the Gospel, but particularly from ch. Matthew 16:28 and John 21:22. The latter part of the question our Saviour answers first, treating of the signs of his coming, and of the destruction of Jerusalem, from the 4th to the 31st verse, and then passes on to the other part of the question, concerning the time of his coming. By signs are meant the circumstances and incidents which should forerun, usher in, and attend this great event; and we may venture to affirm, that the whole compass of historycannot furnish us with a prophesy more exactly fulfilled in all points than this has been, "Our Lord (says Dr. Doddridge upon this subject) with perfect integrity and consummate wisdom, answers the question of the disciples by giving them an account of the prognosticating and concomitant signs of the destruction of Jerusalem; and then, without saying one word of any temporal kingdom to be erected, which was the strongest idea then in their minds, raises their thoughts to the final judgment, to which the figures used in the former description might many of them be literally applied; and sets before them a heavenly kingdom, and eternal life, as the great object of their pursuit." See ch. Matthew 25:34-46. This I take to be the key to this whole discourse. As the things which befel the Jewish nation, says Dr. Macknight,—their bondage in Egypt, their deliverance from that bondage, their passage through the Red Sea, abode in the wilderness, entrance into Canaan, &c. &c. were all typical, representing the methods by which God delivers mankind from the bondage of sin, and conducts them to heaven; so the destruction of the nations here set forth may prefigure the destruction of the world, though the prophesy certainly cannot be interpreted primarily of that destruction.