1.
And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
2.
And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
3.
And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
4.
For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
5.
And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,
6.
As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
7.
And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?
Mark saith, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately. Matthew brings two things more within the compass of their question, viz. What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? Our Saviour answereth this question from Luke 21:8-32. The most of what he saith we have before met with in Matthew and Mark. It is the harder to distinguish between the signs Christ giveth of the destruction of Jerusalem and of the day of judgment, because the signs of both are generally the same, and most divines think that God in the destruction of Jerusalem intended to give a specimen of the general conflagration, and ruin of the world at the last day; so as signs of the same kind with those seen before Jerusalem was destroyed, shall be seen before the great and terrible day of our Lord’s coming to judge the world.
8.
And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.
See Poole on "Matthew 24:4-5", See Poole on "Mark 13:5-6". This happened, and was abundantly fulfilled, before the destruction of Jerusalem, and probably will receive a further fulfilling in the latter end of the world. But before the destruction of Jerusalem it was, as Josephus assures us, fulfilled in many, particularly:
1. In one Theudas, whether the same mentioned by Gamaliel, Acts 5:36, or some other of that name, is uncertain.
2. An Egyptian sorcerer, mentioned Acts 21:38.
3. One Dositheus, a Samaritan.
4. Another in the time of Festus’s government.
5. Simon Magus is also reckoned for one, Acts 8:9. He boasted he was the great power of God. Others also reckon one Menander, a disciple of Simon Magus.
It is certain there were many who arrogated to themselves the name of the Messiah, to countenance their heading of a faction. There have also been many since the destruction of Jerusalem, and probably will be many more before the end of the world, 2 Timothy 4:3; 2 Peter 2:1; 1 John 2:18.
9.
But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.
10.
Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
11.
And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
12.
But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake.
We have all this justified from holy writ, Acts 4:3; Acts 5:18; Acts 7:4; Acts 16:24. What of this shall be seen before the end of the world, time must show; though the prophecies of holy writ speak enough of that also.
13.
And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
That is, your persecution shall turn to you for a testimony: for a testimony against your adversaries; so as they themselves shall be brought by your confession of me to own me as the true Messiah; and their cruelty, which they mask under the vizor of religion, shall be openly detected, and it shall at last appear to all the world, that the judgments of God are just, for the cruelty they have exercised upon you. And to you it shall be for a testimony; you shall have a more ampler occasion of testifying, both before kings and great men, that I am the true Messiah. Your faith, patience, and constancy shall be made more manifest; you shall also testify that my kingdom is not of this world, and that my disciples care not to expect a terrene felicity. They shall also be a testimony to you, that you expect not your portion and felicity in this, but in another life.
14.
Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:
15.
For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
16.
And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.
17.
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.
18.
But there shall not an hair of your head perish.
It is a proverbial speech, signifying that they should have no hurt or damage by any thing which their enemies should do against them. When at the last you come to cast up your accounts, you shall find you have lost nothing, and your enemies shall also find that they have gained nothing.
19.
In your patience possess ye your souls.
Patience is either passive, seen in a quiet, free, and courageous suffering those evils which God will please in his providence to order us for our portion; or active, seen in a quiet believing, waiting for, and expectation of what God hath promised.
Possess your souls, that is, yourselves; do not decline suffering for my name’s sake, but live in the exercise of Christian courage and fortitude until the Lord will please to release you. In this sense James expounds this prase, James 1:4, But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Others say, possess your souls is the same with save your souls. So it seems to be expounded by Matthew 24:13, and Mark 8:13, But he that shall endure to the end shall be saved.
20.
And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.
21.
Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.
22.
For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23.
But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.
24.
And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
25.
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
26.
Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
27.
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28.
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
29.
And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30.
When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31.
So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32.
Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33.
Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
34.
And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
35.
For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
37.
And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.
38.
And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.