And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:
On the Mount of Olives Jesus privately answered Peter and James and John and Andrew when they asked when the temple buildings and stones would be thrown down and what sign would mark the fulfillment, His coming, and the end of the world. The verse opens and begins His answer with the command to take heed and guard against being deceived. Many would come in His name claiming to be Christ and would deceive and lead many astray. Later false Christs and false prophets would arise showing signs and wonders to seduce, if possible, even the elect.
The discourse beginning here does not separate the destruction of Jerusalem from the great day of Christ's coming but mingles the two great crises together, in mercy because the disciples could not have endured a full sight of the future, leaving them to study out the meaning for themselves. The warning belongs to the prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction but applies both to that event and beyond to the final judgment and conflagration when the Lord punishes the world for iniquity, and the whole discourse is given not for the disciples only but for those who live in the last scenes of earth's history. Against that danger His followers must take heed, watch and pray until the Son of man comes in the clouds with power and glory to gather His elect.
Jesus foretold the signs of the times to the disciples so that later believers would have instruction to help them prepare for the great conflict, so in this age God's people must discern those foretold signs and reach a higher standard.
On the Mount of Olives Jesus privately answered Peter and James and John and Andrew when they asked when the temple buildings and stones would be thrown down and what sign would mark the fulfillment, His coming, and the end of the world. The verse opens and begins His answer with the command to take heed and guard against being deceived. Many would come in His name claiming to be Christ and would deceive and lead many astray. Later false Christs and false prophets would arise showing signs and wonders to seduce, if possible, even the elect.
The discourse beginning here does not separate the destruction of Jerusalem from the great day of Christ's coming but mingles the two great crises together, in mercy because the disciples could not have endured a full sight of the future, leaving them to study out the meaning for themselves. The warning belongs to the prophecy of Jerusalem's destruction but applies both to that event and beyond to the final judgment and conflagration when the Lord punishes the world for iniquity, and the whole discourse is given not for the disciples only but for those who live in the last scenes of earth's history. Against that danger His followers must take heed, watch and pray until the Son of man comes in the clouds with power and glory to gather His elect.
Jesus foretold the signs of the times to the disciples so that later believers would have instruction to help them prepare for the great conflict, so in this age God's people must discern those foretold signs and reach a higher standard.