Discourse With the Disciples on the Fate of Jerusalem and the Last Days of the World

Withdrawing from the people, the God-man did not remain in the Temple either, but went out of the city by His usual way, through the southeastern gate leading to the road to Bethany. The disciples followed Him, filled with various thoughts, mostly sorrowful, whose chief subject, as usual, was themselves and their future fate in the kingdom of the Messiah—their Teacher. In keeping with the universal popular belief, they could not but imagine that crowns, glory, and riches awaited the apostles of the Messiah in the future; that if this calling did involve some deprivations, hardships, and sacrifices, most of these had already been made and endured by them. And now, suddenly, they hear that of these apostles some will be crucified, others killed, all subjected to fierce persecution and torment, and that this whole series of horrors and calamities had not even begun yet!.. If only, at least, as a reward for this, the opening of the Messiah’s glorious kingdom might be hastened! But even this hope seemed undone by an extremely difficult condition, until whose fulfillment the Teacher had resolved not to appear in the Temple again. After all that had happened, they thought, was it possible that the chief priests and scribes should ever, of their own free will, go out to meet Him with the cry: «Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!»? At the very least, it was plain that such a condition would not be fulfilled for a long, long time. The terrible threat Jesus Christ had pronounced against the Temple likewise could not gladden an Israelite’s soul, and struck the disciples as something dreadful. Notwithstanding the widespread expectation of great calamities before the Messiah’s coming, among which some of the scribes had even reckoned the destruction of the Temple163, a Jew could in no way grow accustomed to this expectation; everyone tried to give it as light and favorable a sense as possible, especially with regard to the Temple, whose idea in the Jewish mind was inseparably bound up with the idea of everything holy and inviolable, with the well-being of the Jewish people, with the integrity of the faith, with the glory of Jehovah Himself. And it was upon this very Temple that desolation was now foretold, foretold by the Messiah Himself, who, moreover, had left it forever!..

The magnificent and beautiful building now seemed to His disciples even finer and more immense. Every notable thing they passed drew their eyes. One of the disciples (Peter) (Mk 13:1) could not help voicing aloud his amazement at the size of the stones and the solidity of the whole structure. Others (Lk 21:5; Mt 24:1) began pointing out to the Teacher the costly ornaments, rich offerings and gifts with which the columns and walls of the Temple’s many courts were adorned. Some of these gifts were remarkable, besides their value, for having been sent from distant lands by kings and nobles164. The disciples did not say directly why they were now so preoccupied with these objects, or why they wished to draw the Teacher’s attention to them; but their words, and their very look, showed that this sprang from a secret regret over the Temple, condemned but a few minutes before to desolation, from a certain mistrust—if not of the Teacher’s predictions, then of the correctness of their own understanding of His words—and finally from a sincere and direct, though childlike, wish that the Teacher, instead of dreadful predictions and anger against the Temple, would pay more attention to its riches and splendor, save it, if possible, from ruin, and, as Messiah, afterward take it for His own165. The Lord stopped, looked at the things His disciples especially marveled at, seeming Himself to share their opinion of the Temple’s extraordinary solidity, riches, and grandeur (Mk 13:2); but in that very moment, contrary to their expectation, He confirmed His earlier threat still more forcefully and plainly: «Truly, truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another that will not be torn down!» (Mk 13:2).

The resolve and force with which these words were spoken carried the ring of an irrevocable verdict of eternal judgment. The disciples no longer dared to break their Teacher’s silence, He who by His discourses and acts had set all Jerusalem thinking, and who was Himself no less absorbed in thought than the rest. In silence they passed the Water Gate, in silence they crossed the brook Kidron, in silence they climbed one of the summits of Olivet, directly facing the Temple (Mk 13:3).

All the more powerfully worked the disciples’ imagination! The most fearful side of the popular expectation, which until now they had either disbelieved, or believed only in their own way, with reservations, feebly, now presented itself in the whole of its dreadful reality! «If the Temple is to suffer such destruction, what will remain untouched? Then everything must undergo the greatest change, be destroyed to its very foundations.» The gloom of such thoughts was lit by one hope—that in the times of the Messiah all losses would be repaid a hundredfold, that a new Jerusalem would appear, a still more magnificent Temple, a purer and holier worship. With such a hope one could even wish that the unavoidable evil should come to pass as soon as possible, so that the expected good might appear the sooner too. «Until this ill-fated Temple is destroyed, the Teacher cannot ascend the throne of Israel. When, then, will this be?» With such a question all their suppositions and guesses naturally ended. Curiosity, all the keener for seeming all the more legitimate, took hold especially of Peter, James, Andrew, and John, who, long accustomed to being witnesses of the Teacher’s most hidden acts, felt more keenly than the others whatever they did not understand in His discourse.

When the Teacher, having climbed the hill, sat down to rest in His favorite spot, these four disciples, taking advantage of the distance of the others, who were resting on various knolls, entered into conversation with Him about His discourse, and at once turned the talk to the Temple, which stood directly opposite them and appeared from there in all its majesty and beauty. «Tell us, when will the destruction of the Temple You foretold take place? What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?» These events, in the disciples’ opinion, in keeping with popular belief, were to follow at the same time, or very soon one after another.

Notwithstanding that the disciples’ wish to know the future was more the result of curiosity than of real necessity, the Teacher found it useful to give them some instruction. The time of parting was already drawing near, after which the apostles were to become the leaders of a numerous company of believers who, as is known from the history of the early Church, were animated in all their conduct, especially in bearing sufferings, by the expectation of Jesus’s imminent coming. Knowing nothing definite about the time of this event, and hence having no sure rule for their conduct, the first Christians would have been in constant danger of being led astray by the deception of some false Christ, of whom there was no lack in that day. A single mistaken opinion, that the second coming of the Messiah would follow immediately upon the destruction of Jerusalem, had it gone unexposed and unrefuted, would have become the source of many calamities for the Christian Church, and might perhaps have plunged it into severe confusion. Then an unfulfilled expectation might have cooled faith, extinguished hope, shaken the very foundation of Christianity. For all these reasons, the disciples’ perplexity concerning the last days of the world could not be left unanswered, though an answer, under the present circumstances, was extremely difficult: the disciples could not yet bear much of it.

The discourse of Jesus that follows will show, however, that this difficulty did not exist for Him who knew the whole future as if it were present. We shall find in it a full answer to all three parts of the great question the disciples had posed: to the first part—concerning the destruction of the Temple—a very definite answer, even in chronological-topographical terms, though without numerical indications; to the last two parts—concerning the end of the world and the universal judgment—an answer not complete, but entirely sufficient. To understand better the sense and spirit of these answers, one must keep constantly in view the purpose for which the future is now disclosed to the disciples. It consisted not in satisfying idle curiosity, not in a chronological determination of future events, but in destroying the false and dangerous notion that the second coming of the Messiah would follow immediately upon the destruction of Jerusalem, in warning them, during a troubled and threatening age, against deceptions, in strengthening the hope and patience of those to whom the Savior’s not-soon coming might seem a delay, and at the same time in turning all His future followers from a spirit of prying curiosity—concerning the end of the world—to watchfulness, prayer, works of love, and devotion to the will of the Heavenly Father.

Besides this, in reading the discourse of Jesus that follows, one must recall the character of prophetic language, in which events most distant in time often appear contemporary, and everything, as in a perspective drawing, is presented on a single surface, until the true vantage point is found. Where needed, we shall point out this vantage point, without, however, hindering anyone’s own opinion, or passing off what we see in the subject as the subject itself.

— You are not concerned for the future without cause—thus, as it were, the Lord began His discourse with the disciples—for after your parting from Me, many temptations and snares do indeed await you. Be especially on guard, lest anyone deceive you with words about the Messiah’s coming. Falsehood and deception will grow so strong that many will come in My name and say, «I am the Christ! The times of the Messiah have come!» There will be no few who will believe them and be led astray. But do not go after them, be on your guard! You will also hear of various wars and civil strife; however terrible these reports may be, do not be terrified! All this must be, and yet the end (of the Temple and the city) does not follow immediately upon it. Still greater calamities will come: nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom; after universal strife will come, in various places, famine, plague, and earthquakes. The very heavens will give signs in fearful and extraordinary phenomena. But even these terrors (which many will take for a decisive sign of the Messiah’s coming) are only the beginning of birth pains166 (Mt 24:8).

Instead of vain expectations of the end of the age, your attention must be turned entirely to yourselves and your own task. For you especially are threatened by danger (Lk 21:12): even before the beginning of the general calamities, you will have occasion to experience upon yourselves every kind of misfortune. For all your innocence, the hatred of all nations will turn against you, the malice of Jews and Gentiles alike. You will be persecuted, thrown into prisons, subjected to disgrace, torment, and death. In blind frenzy born of prejudice, your very nearest kin, parents, brothers, friends, will become your persecutors, betrayers, and murderers. Many of you will lay down your soul for Me. But do not lose heart! Amid all these calamities, the providence and love of the Heavenly Father will be over you; without His almighty will, not one hair will fall from your head. At that time you will more than once have to give account, both in the synagogues of your own land and in foreign courts of law, to testify to My name before kings and rulers. For all such occasions, make it a rule not to worry beforehand about what and how you are to speak, for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit, whom you will receive. I will then give you such a mouth and such wisdom that not one of your adversaries will be able to withstand.

More painful and more dangerous than any persecution will be this: that (because of the corruption of morals) the bonds of love will grow weak even among your own; divisions and hostilities will break out; traitors and betrayers will appear even among those close in the faith; false prophets and false teachers will arise from within your own community. Mutual trust will lessen, friendship and love will grow cold, faith itself will suffer eclipse. There will be hard times: but you, who are chosen by Me for those times, must redeem your souls through endurance. Whoever endures to the end will be saved (Lk 21:19; Mt 24:13).

However much, and whoever, may persecute you, God’s work cannot be stopped or delayed. The persecuted Gospel of the kingdom will be preached to all nations before the fate of Jerusalem and the Jewish people is decided.

Finally, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that the time of its destruction has drawn near. Especially when the abomination of desolation, foretold by the prophet Daniel, stands in the holy place, then everyone must abandon hope for the fatherland’s salvation and think only of his own safety. Those who are in Judea would do best then to flee to the mountains, for there will be no refuge on level ground. Even if this dreadful time should overtake anyone on his rooftop, let him flee straight away, and not go down to take anything from his house167. And whoever is in the field, let him not return to the city, even for the most necessary thing, but flee straight away. For all, there will be only one salvation—the swiftest flight. These are the days of the fulfillment of the prophetic threats, terrible days of judgment and heavenly retribution. Woe then to those who are pregnant and to those who have just given birth: pray and ask God that this misfortune may not happen, at least, in winter or on a sabbath… I tell you that there will then be tribulation such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, and never will be again. Many will fall by the sword, still more will be led captive into all nations. Jerusalem will be stripped of heaven’s covering and given over to be trampled by the Gentiles, which will continue «until the times of the Gentiles are completed» (Lk 21:24)… Had those calamitous days not been shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened…

While the God-man was speaking thus, the rest of the disciples (Mk 13:5–37)—one after another—drew near to Him and began to listen to His discourse, which was equally instructive for them all.

— All the more cautious must you be at that time—Jesus continued—for the weight of the calamity will so intensify the expectation of the promised Deliverer that it will dispose men to believe every report about Him, and this will give occasion for the sons of perdition to abuse the name of the Messiah. See that you believe no one who says: «Here is Christ, or there!» Do not be deceived even by the very wonders of the false prophets. Some of them will perform such strange and extraordinary deeds that, were it possible, even the elect would be led astray by them. This is why I tell you all this beforehand, so that you may stand firmer against deception (Mk 13:23). I say again, see that if anyone tells you: «See, He (the Messiah) is in the wilderness!» — do not go out; or: «See, He is hiding in the inner rooms!» — do not believe it! The Messiah will not come in such a way, when He is to come. He will have no need of guides. As lightning goes out from the east and flashes at once to the west, so will be (in its own time) the coming of the Son of Man (unexpected, instantaneous). And wherever the corpse (the Messiah) is, there (of themselves, drawn by an unseen power) the eagles too (the Messiah’s true followers) will gather.

The God-man fell silent (Lk 21:10). The disciples waited for Him to continue, for nothing had yet been said about the second—equally weighty—part of their question, concerning the end of the world and the time of the Messiah’s coming.

After the tribulation of those days (when, however, the times of the Gentiles will already have ended) (Lk 21:24), terrible phenomena will follow on earth and in heaven. The sun will darken, the moon will give no light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken: everywhere order and rank will be overturned. On earth it will be as before a storm: everywhere despondency, perplexity, fear, and trembling. The sea will roar and be in turmoil. The expectation of calamities will become more terrible than the calamities themselves. All nature will be in the pains of childbirth. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear. Seeing it, all the tribes of the earth will weep for their sins and impiety. But for My true followers this time must be a time of hope and comfort. They may then calmly cry out and lift up their heads. At last (after all these events), the Son of Man Himself will appear (so long, and by so many, unrecognized), will appear before the face of all people on the clouds of heaven, in all majesty and glory, surrounded by the heavenly host. At His signal, hosts of angels will fly from one end of the universe to the other with the sound of a trumpet, and will gather His elect from all four winds. And then will come the end of the world, and the beginning of the glorious Kingdom of God on earth.

With such a majestic and comforting picture of the Messiah’s second coming—one still able, even now, to produce the most powerful and joyful impression on every good and pious heart—the curiosity of Jesus’s disciples concerning the time of this event was bound, naturally, to grow to the highest pitch. «When, then, when will all this be?» was said, no doubt, at that moment, by more than Peter alone. So, at least, the course of the discourse leads one to suppose.

— The most important events—the God-man answered—in the Kingdom of God, as in the kingdom of nature, foretell themselves: one need only be attentive. Look at the fig tree, and at all the other trees (Lk 21:29), and take from them an example for yourselves. When their branches grow soft and begin to put out leaves, seeing this, you yourselves (Lk 21:30) (without any prophecy) say that summer will soon be here. So, when you see all this (which I have said before) coming to pass (upon the Jewish people), know that the punishment is near (Mt 24:33; Mk 13:29), the judgment at the door. Yes, it is near—the Teacher added, raising His voice—truly I tell you, this present generation of people will not pass away before not one stone will be left upon another in Jerusalem. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away!..

An inexpressible divine majesty was reflected in these words of Jesus. Each of His hearers felt that he was hearing no mere threat, that heaven and earth themselves stood ready, in very truth, to depart from their own order, only to make room for the fulfillment of these words.

— As for that day and hour of the whole world’s end—the God-man continued (Mt 24:36)—no one knows it: not the angels of heaven, not even the Son Himself (Mk 13:32), but the Father alone. (For your instruction, this much can be said: at the coming of the Son of Man it will be as in the days of Noah—as before the flood men ate, drank, married—right up to the very day Noah entered the ark, no one gave thought to what was coming, no one foresaw any danger, until the flood came and swept them all away; so will it be also at the coming of the Son of Man: the same carelessness, indulgence, unbelief and corruption.) Because of the utter suddenness of that day—the Lord continued—it may happen that two men will be in a field: one will be taken, and the other left; two women grinding at the mill: one will be taken, and the other left. In such uncertainty, everyone must watch over himself, lest his heart be weighed down with gluttony or drunkenness, lest he be given over too much to the cares of this life. For that day will come suddenly—it will catch, like a snare, all who dwell upon the earth (Lk 21:35). Everyone must then act as the master of a house would act, if he knew that a thief would come at some unknown hour: he would not sleep at all, so as not to let his house be broken into. Much more, then, must one not sleep; for on a day they do not expect, the Son of Man will come.

The expectation of His coming may be compared further to the expectation of a household’s servants for their master. Imagine that someone, setting out on a journey, left his house in the charge of his servants, assigning each his own task. How well it will go for that servant whom his master, on returning, finds doing as he was told! Truly, he will set him over all he owns! But that worthless servant who, out of malice, began to reason with himself: «My master will not come soon—perhaps never»—and began to abuse the authority given him, to beat and torment his fellow servants, to squander his master’s goods, to eat and drink with drunkards—what, in the end, will become of that servant, when on a day he did not expect, his master comes? He will subject him to great torment, and hand him over to be shut up in the same place as the wicked, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Watch, then, and pray at every season; for you do not know when the master of the house will come—in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning—lest, coming suddenly, he find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say to all My followers: watch! Having fallen silent for a little while, the God-man again took up His discourse, so as to fix as firmly as possible in the disciples’ hearts the truths of which He had spoken.

— In that decisive hour, the same thing will happen as happened with the ten virgins, who, according to custom168, were to go out with lamps on the wedding day to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were wise, and five foolish. The foolish had indeed brought lamps, but were foolish enough not to bring oil with them. The wise, on the other hand, had prepared both. Since the bridegroom was delayed somewhat, they all grew drowsy and fell asleep, unnoticed by themselves. And then at midnight a cry suddenly rang out: «The bridegroom is coming! Go out to meet him!» All rose and began to trim their lamps. The foolish virgins now saw that they had no oil. «Give us some of your oil,—they said to the wise—our lamps are going out.» «But,—the wise answered—there may not be enough for us and for you as well; go rather to those who sell it, and buy for yourselves.» The foolish went. Meanwhile, at that very time, the bridegroom arrived. The wise virgins met him with their lamps burning, went in with him to the wedding feast, and the doors were shut at once. Afterward the foolish virgins also came and began to beg the bridegroom to open to them. But the bridegroom, seeing their folly, answered that he did not know them at all.

— You see—the Lord said to the disciples—how needful watchfulness and prudence are: be ready always; for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man will come!

Besides the chief counsel of watchfulness, the disciples were meant to grasp two further important truths from this parable: (a) that the Messiah’s coming would be a long time off, so that even the wisest, as though wearied by the long delay, might give themselves to sleep—that is, cease to watch for the bridegroom at every hour; and (b) that a Christian’s virtue must go together with prudence and spiritual enlightenment, just as folly can lead to vice and corruption, and that a Christian is therefore bound to care for the enlightening of his mind and to avoid ignorance, whatever form it may take.

— Would you like—the Teacher continued—to know how the Son of Man will act at His coming, and how you, who wait for His arrival, ought to act? He will act like a man who, setting out on a distant journey, entrusted his property to his servants. Knowing well their character and abilities, he gave to each as much as was fitting: to one—the most diligent—five talents, to another two, to a third one—and set out. The one who received five talents went and put them to work, and gained another five talents besides. In just the same way did the one who received two talents: he gained another two. But the one who received one talent went and buried it in the ground, hiding his master’s silver away without putting it to any use.

His master had been long away; at last he returned and called his servants to account. The one who had received five talents came forward first; he brought, besides them, another five talents, and said: «Master, you gave me five talents—see, I have gained another five besides them—take them!» «You have done well, good and faithful servant,—the master answered—since you were faithful in a small thing, I will set you over much; enter into your master’s joy!» There came also the one who had received two talents, and said: «Master, you gave me only two talents, but I have gained another two besides them—take them!» «You have done well, good and faithful servant,—the master answered him—you were faithful in a small thing, you shall receive more: share also in your master’s joy!» At last there came also the one who had been given one talent. «Master,—he said bluntly—I knew well that you are a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter. What, then, was left for me to do with my one talent? I went and hid it in the ground; here is what is yours, neither more nor less than what was given me!» «Wicked and slothful servant,—the master answered—since you knew that I reap where I did not sow and gather where I did not scatter, all the more ought you to have put my silver out to the moneylenders, so that at my return I might have received it back with interest. Take the talent from him,—the master said to the other servants—and give it to the one who has ten talents; for to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw the worthless servant into the deepest and darkest dungeon, where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.»

— When—the God-man continued—the Son of Man comes in His glory, accompanied by the holy angels, then He will sit upon the throne of His glory, and all nations will be gathered before Him, and He will divide the whole human race into two parts, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The former (the good, the meek, the humble of heart) will be set on the right, and the latter (the wicked and depraved) on the left. To those standing on His right He will say: «Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world! For I was hungry, and you gave Me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me into your home; I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.» The righteous will be amazed at this and will say: «Lord, when was all this? When did we see You hungry and feed You? Or thirsty and give You drink? When also did we see You a stranger and take You in? Or naked and clothe You? None of us remembers this. When also did we see You sick, or in prison, and visit You?» «Truly I tell you,—the King will say—all this you did to Me, because whatever good you did for any of the least of My brothers, you did it to Me Myself.»

After that the King will turn also to those standing on the left side: «Go,—He will say to them—away from Me, you accursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels! For you gave Me nothing to eat when I was hungry; you gave Me nothing to drink when I was thirsty; you did not take Me in when I was a stranger; you saw Me naked and did not clothe Me; you heard that I was sick and in prison, and did not visit Me.» And the sinners, like the righteous, will likewise be amazed, and will ask the Lord when they saw Him hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not serve Him. But the Lord will say to them: «You truly did not do this: for if you did nothing of the kind for the least of My brothers, it is the same as if you had done nothing for Me Myself.»

— And the righteous—the Lord concluded—will go away «into eternal life», and the wicked into «eternal punishment» (Mt 25:26).

Having ended His discourse, the God-man suddenly turned His speech to a subject entirely unexpected by the disciples. «You know,—He said—that in two days is the Passover; know also this, that at that time the Son of Man will be handed over to be crucified.» Such a decisive and definite indication of the manner and day of His death held within it something exceedingly sorrowful and dreadful, unlike anything in all His former predictions of His own death. But the disciples’ imagination, filled with so many different things they had seen and heard throughout the whole day, had grown so dulled that they were no longer able to be deeply moved even by the weightiest matters; the Teacher’s dread prediction of His own death made, so far as one can judge from the circumstances, no particular impression on them, and roused no questions, lost, so to speak, in the general, undefined expectation of sorrowful events with which their minds had long been filled. The rays of the setting sun, dying away on the golden summit of the Temple, spoke of the rest of night. Everything inclined toward repose. The Teacher and His disciples looked once more upon the Temple and the city, and went on further—to Bethany.