Chapter 24

Chapter 24. — On the Consummation, the Day and the Hour

¹ And Jesus went out and was departing from the temple, and his disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. But Jesus said to them: Do you see all these things? Truly I say to you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. Going out from the temple, he showed that he would remove himself from the Jews. And just as he had said, Your house is left to you desolate, so indeed he also does. And he foretells to the disciples the destruction of the temple; for since they, being earthly-minded, were astonished at the beauty of the buildings, and as it were were showing Christ, See of what house the beauties are which you leave desolate, he leads them away from being nailed to earthly things, and sends them on toward the Jerusalem above. There shall not remain, he says, one stone upon another here; and this he said, hinting at the utter destruction of the building, and making his statement in a hyperbolic manner.

² And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the consummation of the age? They come privately, as being about to question him concerning great matters. For they question him about two things: When shall these things be, that is, the destruction of the temple and the capture of Jerusalem; and another, What shall be the sign of your coming?

³ And Jesus answered and said to them: See that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying: I am the Christ; and they will deceive many. Many, he says, will come proclaiming themselves to be Christs; for indeed Dositheus the Samaritan said, I am the prophet foretold by Moses; and Simon the Samaritan named himself the great power of God.

⁴ And you will be about to hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in various places; but all these things are the beginning of birth-pangs. By wars he means those of the Romans at Jerusalem. And he says that not only wars will come to pass, but also famines and pestilences, showing that the wrath against the Jews will be sent from God. For the wars one might say come about through the malice of men; but the famines and pestilences from nowhere else than wholly from God. That they might not suppose that the world will be consummated before they preach, he says: Do not be troubled. For the consummation is not yet; nor will the general consummation come together with the razing of Jerusalem. And he says that nation shall be raised against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, because of the evils that are to befall the Jews, which are the beginning of birth-pangs. For just as the birth-pangs come upon the woman in labor, and so she gives birth, so too the present age, after its confusions and wars, will bring to birth the things to come.

⁵ Then they will deliver you up to tribulation, and will kill you; and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will be made to stumble, and will betray one another, and will hate one another; and many false prophets will arise, and will deceive many. And because lawlessness will be multiplied, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end, the same shall be saved. He foretells the evils that will come to pass, encouraging the disciples by foretelling them. For the unexpected is wont to frighten and disturb. He levels out their fear, then, by foretelling the coming terrors, the envyings, the enmities, the stumblings, the false prophets, who are forerunners of the Antichrist, leading the many astray, so as to hurl them headlong into every kind of lawlessness; and because of the multiplying of lawlessness through the deceit of the Antichrist, men will become so brutish that they will not keep even a drop of love toward their nearest kin, but will be betrayed by one another. But he who endures to the end, and bears it patiently, and does not give way before the things brought upon him, shall be saved, having shown himself an approved soldier.

⁶ And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the inhabited world, for a testimony to all the nations; and then the end shall come. You shall not be hindered in your preaching; take courage. For the Gospel will be preached among all the nations, for a testimony, that is, for a reproof, for an accusation of those who did not believe; and then the end shall come, not of the world, but of Jerusalem; for before Jerusalem was captured, the Gospel was preached, as Paul too says: The Gospel having been preached in all creation under heaven. For that he speaks concerning the end of Jerusalem is plain from what follows; for he says:

⁷ When, therefore, you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place—let him who reads understand— By the abomination of desolation he means the statue of the one who took the city, which he set up in the inner sanctuary of the temple; of desolation, then, because the city was laid waste; and an abomination, because the Hebrews, hating idolatry, called the statues and the images of men abominations.

⁸ Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; let him who is on the housetop not come down to take the things out of his house, and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his garments. Hinting at the inescapable excess of the calamities, he says that one must flee without turning back, taking no thought for the things in the houses, neither garments nor other goods. But some, understanding the abomination of desolation to be the Antichrist, as one who will come for the desolation of the world and the overthrow of the churches, and will sit in the temple, understand these things too in this way: that he who is on the housetop, that is, who is in the height of the virtues, must not come down from the height of the virtues so as to take up the things of the body. For the house of the soul is the body. And one must withdraw also from the field, that is, from earthly things; for the field is this life; and one must not take up the garment, the old wickedness which we have put off.

⁹ But woe to those who are with child and to those who give suck in those days. For the women with child will not be able to flee, weighed down by the burden of the womb. And those who give suck, because of their sympathy toward their children, being able neither to leave them, nor yet to carry them and be saved together with them, will not escape the wrath of that time. Or Christ hints also at this, the eating of children. For Josephus says that, there being a famine because of the siege, a woman roasted her own child and ate it.

¹⁰ But pray that your flight may not be in winter, nor on the Sabbath. He says these things in the person of the apostles to the Jews; for the apostles had already gone out of Jerusalem beforehand. To the Jews, then, he says to pray that their flight may not be in winter, since because of the difficulty of the season they would not be able to escape, nor on the Sabbath, for then they rest according to the law, and would not dare to flee. But understand it also thus: that we must pray that our flight from this life, that is, our death, may not be on a Sabbath, in the idleness of good deeds, nor in winter, in the barrenness of good things, but in the fair weather and tranquility of the soul.

¹¹ For then there shall be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be; and unless those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days shall be shortened. The tribulation then was unbearable. For the soldiers of the Romans were ordered to spare no one; but God, for the sake of those who were about to believe from among them, or who had already believed, did not allow them to be utterly destroyed, but shortened both the tribulations and the war. For if the war had prevailed longer, all those within would have perished by the famine. But some understand these things concerning the days of the Antichrist; yet these things are not about the Antichrist, but about the capture of Jerusalem. And the things concerning the Antichrist begin from here; listen.

¹² Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ, or there, do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise, and will give great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Behold, I have told you beforehand. Since the disciples brought forward two questions, concerning the capture of Jerusalem and concerning the coming of the Lord, having spoken of the capture, he now begins to speak concerning his own coming and the consummation of the world. And the word then does not indicate this, that immediately after Jerusalem is captured, if anyone says to you, and so forth, but it indicates that time at which it is about to come to pass; so that what is said is of this sort: Then, that is, when the Antichrist is about to come, there will be many false christs and false prophets, who through the phantasms of demons mock the eyes of those who behold them, so as to deceive some; so that, unless they are watchful, even the righteous will be deceived. But behold, I have told you beforehand; you have no excuse; for you are able not to be deceived.

¹³ If, then, they say to you, Behold, he is in the wilderness, do not go out; behold, he is in the inner chambers, do not believe it. For as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines as far as the west, so shall be the coming of the Son of man; for wherever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. If the deceivers come, he says, saying that the Christ has come, but he is hidden in the wilderness, or in some house, and in the inner chambers and more secret places of it, do not be deceived; for the coming of Christ does not need anyone to point it out, but will be manifest to all, just like the lightning. For this too is both sudden and clear to all; so that coming of his too will be evident to all who are in the world; for it is not as in the former coming, when he passed from place to place, that it will be in the second, but in the twinkling of an eye he will be present. And just as the eagles, that is, the vultures, swiftly gather over a dead body, so also, wherever Christ may be, all the saints will come, who fly to the heights and are to be caught up in the clouds like eagles. And the carcass is wholly Christ, because of his falling for us and dying, as Symeon too says: This one is set for the falling.

¹⁴ But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. After the coming of the Antichrist, he says, which will quickly be brought to an end—for this he indicated by the immediately—the sun shall be darkened, that is, shall be dimmed, not vanishing away, but overcome by the light of Christ’s coming; and likewise the stars and the moon. For what need is there any longer of such perceptible light, there being no night, and the Sun of righteousness having appeared? But also the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, that is, they shall be astounded and shudder, seeing the creation being altered, and all men from Adam until then about to give account.

¹⁵ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming upon the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. The Cross will then be seen in heaven, shining brighter than the sun, for a reproof of the Jews; for the Lord comes against the Jews as one having the Cross as a kind of mightiest vindication, just as if someone struck by a stone should display the stone. And by the sign he means the Cross, as a trophy and a royal emblem. Then, therefore, shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, namely the Jewish tribes, perceiving their own unbelief; and all those who are earthly-minded, even if they are Christians, shall mourn. For the tribes of the earth might be said to be those who are cast down upon earthly things. And if the Lord comes with the Cross, yet he comes also with power and great glory.

¹⁶ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. He will send the angels to gather together the saints, and those who have risen from the dead, so as to meet him in the clouds. He honors them, then, even with the calling through angels. And if Paul too says that they will be caught up through clouds, this is not contrary; for when they have been collected by the angels, the clouds will catch them up. And the trumpet is for the greater astonishment.

¹⁷ Now from the fig tree learn the parable: when its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near; so also you, when you see all these things, know that it is near, at the doors. When, he says, all these things have come to pass, the interval between the consummation and my coming will not be great. And by summer he means the age to come, and the calm after the storm, which is for the righteous; whereas for sinners it is rather winter and turmoil. As, then, he says, seeing the branches and the leaves of the fig tree, you hope for summer, so also, seeing those signs which I have spoken of, the sun and the moon being altered, look for my coming.

¹⁸ Truly I say to you, this generation shall not pass away until all these things come to pass. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. By generation here he means, not the one then existing, but that of the faithful; as if he were saying this: The generation of the faithful shall not pass away until all these things come to pass. For do not, because you hear of famines and pestilences, suppose that the generation of the faithful will be destroyed by these evils, but it will remain, and no terror shall prevail over it. But some understood the all these things of the capture of Jerusalem alone, and not also of the second coming; whence they interpret it thus: This generation shall not pass away, that is, the generation of you the apostles shall see the calamities of Jerusalem. And confirming what he has said, he says that it is easier for heaven and earth to vanish away, those fixed and unmoved elements, than for anything of the things spoken by me to prove false.

¹⁹ But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of the heavens, except my Father alone. Here he teaches the disciples not to seek to learn the things that surpass human knowledge. For in saying, not even the angels, he restrained them from learning now what even the angels do not know; and in saying that the Father alone knows, he prevented them from seeking to learn it for the time thereafter. For if he had said, I do know, but I do not wish to tell you, they would have been grieved, as though despised by him; but as it is, by saying that not even the Son knows, except the Father alone, he prevents them from seeking; just as fathers too, often holding something in their hands, and then being asked for it by their children, and not wishing to give it, hide it, saying, We do not have what you seek; and so the children cease their wailing. So also the Lord, that he might make the apostles cease from wishing to learn concerning the day and the hour, said that not even I know, except the Father alone; for that he himself too knows that hour and day was plain even from many other things. For all things that the Father has are the Son’s; and the Father has the knowledge of the day; the Son, then, also has it. And more evidently, from this: for how is it possible that the Son should be ignorant of the day, to whom the things before the day are thus known? For he who has led us to the very doorway, plainly knew the door also; but profitably he did not open it; for it is not profitable for us to know when the consummation is, lest we grow slack. For ignorance keeps us awake.

²⁰ But as the days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of man also be. For as they were in the days before the flood, eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and they did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so shall the coming of the Son of man also be. For the confirmation of his unerring words, he makes use of the things that came to pass in Noah’s time; for as then some accounted the building of the ark a thing to mock at, until the calamity came and swept all away, so now too some mock at the words concerning the consummation; but suddenly, he says, the destruction will come upon them. And he shows that, when the Antichrist has come, pleasure will prevail over men, and they will incline toward marriages and luxuries more insolently, just like the giants in Noah’s time.

²¹ Then two shall be in the field; the one is taken, and the one is left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left. Then, he says, when all are without care, and are working their own works, the one is taken, that is, the righteous one, to meet the Lord in the air, but the one, the sinner, of course, is left below, in Hades. But even if certain ones are servants and are grinding, of these too some are taken, all who are worthy, and others are left, all who are unworthy; so that from this also we learn that both servants and women are not hindered from virtue.

²² Watch, therefore, for you do not know in what hour your Lord comes. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what watch the thief comes, he would have watched, and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for in an hour when you do not think, the Son of man comes. He commands them to be vigilant and to make themselves ready, that is, to have the works of virtue stored up beforehand, so that, when the Lord comes, requiring some of the things he wills, we may have something to give. And see how he did not say, I do not know in what hour the thief comes, but, You do not know; and by the thief he means the consummation, and the death of each one. And he hints from this that his coming will be also by night. As, then, the thief comes unseen, so also my coming; therefore do not grow slack, but be watchful. For if we knew when our death will be, we would be eager to please God on that day alone; but now, being ignorant of it, we are ever watchful unto the works of virtue.

²³ Who then is the faithful and prudent servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, shall find so doing. Truly I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. The Lord raises the question who shall be the faithful and prudent servant, whom his master set over his household, in order to show that such a one is rare and hard to find. And of every steward two things are required, faithfulness and prudence; for whether he is faithful and steals nothing, but is not prudent, and squanders the goods to no purpose, or whether, while being prudent, he himself steals, there is no benefit. The one, then, who shall then be found faithful and prudent, that one will also attain the more perfect things, I mean the kingdom of heaven. For of all the possessions of God the saints shall be heirs. And a faithful and prudent servant is also every teacher who in due season gives the food to each of those taught by him, such as Paul, now giving milk to drink, now speaking wisdom, being a faithful minister, he who was formerly a blasphemer, and prudent, as not being ignorant of the devices of the enemy. But also everyone who has received anything whatever from God, whether money, or power, or rule, ought to administer these things both faithfully and prudently, as one who shall give account.

²⁴ But if that wicked servant says in his heart, My master delays his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the master of that servant will come in a day when he does not expect him, and in an hour when he does not know, and will cut him asunder, and will appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Having said how the faithful servant will be honored, he now says how the wicked one will be punished. For if anyone entrusted with the stewardship of some gift despises the judgment-seat there, and says, My master delays, that is, does not impose the punishment forthwith and immediately, and makes the long-suffering of God an occasion for wickedness, and beats his fellow servants—I mean, causes them to stumble, and beats their conscience; for the subjects, seeing the rulers using badly the things given them, are struck and made to stumble, and are harmed—such a one, then, will be cut asunder, that is, will be stripped of the gift that was his, and then he will appear for what he was, and will be cast into the darkness; for formerly through his outward guise he deceived, such as many of the chief priests, seeming to be holy because of their dignity; but then the grace will be taken from them. And they will be punished as hypocrites, being one thing and appearing another.