(Tap footnote to read it. Old Testament quotations are underlined. "Love" with a caret ("^love") is agapé.1"agapé" The Greek words ἀγάπη (agapé, noun), and ἀγαπάω (agapaó; verb) are typically translated "love". However, unlike our English word "love" – which primarily speaks of affection and feelings – agapé centers on choice and behavior. It’s the "love" based on will, choice, behavior, and action; not feelings. (Feelings-based love is the Greek word φιλέω (phileó), which properly means "brotherly love/affection".) Thus, you could hate someone passionately and still treat him with "agapé". Agapé "love" is best understood as the pursuit of what is most beneficial to someone or something, regardless of the cost to yourself or the type of response received from the person or thing. It can also indicate a preference for someone or something over other things. )
The Temple’s Destruction Prophesied
- And having gone out from the temple, Jesus was departing and His disciples approached Him to show Him the temple buildings.
- But answering, He told them: “Don’t you see all these things? Amen I tell you: there definitely won’t be one stone left upon another stone here which won’t be torn down.
- And while He’s sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him in private saying; “Tell us: when will these things be? And what’s the sign of your coming and the culmination1“culmination” is literal, though many translations render it “end”. It refers to an end which is not merely a cessation, but rather the completion and can indicate ushering in the next time era. of the age?
- And answering, Jesus told them; “Watch out, lest someone leads you astray.
- “For many will come in My name, saying; “I am the Anointed” and they will lead many astray.
- “And you will be about to hear of wars and rumors of wars. Behold, don’t be alarmed for it must happen, but it’s not yet the end.
- “For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places,
- “but all these things are merely the beginning of the birth pains.
- Then they will hand you over into persecution, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of My name.
- “And then many will fall away, and they will betray one another, and they will hate one another.
- “And many false prophets will arise and will lead many astray.
- “And because disregard for God’s commands2“disregard for God’s commands” is one word in Greek, and is more literally “disregard for God’s law”. It’s a noun, and literally means “those who are without law”; i.e. those who – either by ignorance or by rebellion – don’t obey God’s (moral) law. is to be multiplied, the ^love of many will grow cold.
- “But the man who endured to the end, he will be saved.
- “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole inhabited world3“inhabited world” is one word in Greek, and is more literally “the world inhabited by Romans”. This Greek word originally referred to those who lived in Greece, excluding all others. Later – after they were absorbed into the Roman Empire – it came to mean those who lived in the Roman Empire, excluding those outside it. However, it’s occasionally used in a broader context to mean the entire inhabited world. as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
- “Therefore, when you see that the abomination of desolation4Quotation/allusion to Daniel 9:27 (the one spoken of through Daniel the prophet) *standing in the holy place, (let the man reading this understand)
- “then let the men in Judea flee to the mountains.
- “The man on the housetop must not come down to take things from his house,
- “and the man in the field must not turn back to take his cloak.
- “But woe to the women having a child in their womb, and to the women nursing in those days.
- “And pray that your flight won’t happen in winter, nor on a Sabbath.
- “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as hasn’t happened from the beginning of the world until now; and it most definitely won’t5“and it most definitely won’t”. In Greek, this is a triple negative (and not, no, not) to add very strong emphasis. While double negatives are occasionally used to add emphasis in Greek, triple negatives are extremely rare and make the statement even more definitively negative. Since English double negatives cancel each other out (instead of adding emphasis) the words “most definitely” were added to keep the very strong emphatic sense of the Greek. happen again.
- “And unless those days were cut short, no flesh would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
- “Then if someone tells you; “behold, here is the Anointed”, or “He’s here” don’t believe it.
- “For false anointed ones and false prophets will arise. And they will give great signs and wonders in order to lead many astray; if possible, even the elect.
- “Behold; I have forewarned you.
The Coming of the Son of Man
- “So if they tell you; “Behold; He’s in the wilderness!” don’t go out. Or if they say “Behold; He’s in the inner rooms!” don’t believe it.
- “For just as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
- “Wherever the carcass might be, the vultures will be gathered there.
- “And immediately after the tribulation of those days: The sun will be darkened and the moon won’t give its light.6Quotation/allusion to Isaiah 13:10 And the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.7Quotation/allusion to Isaiah 34:4
- “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes8“tribes” the Greek word here refers to a people descended from a common ancestor. In the New Testament, it’s almost exclusively applied to the twelve tribes of Israel, who descended from Jacob. of the land will mourn. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.9Quotation/allusion to Daniel 7:13
- “And He will send His angels with a great trumpet call. And they will gather His elect from the four winds; from the ends of the heavens10“heavens” the Greek word for “sky” is the exact same as the word for “heaven”. Only context determines which is intended, so “sky” is equally correct here. as far as their other ends.
The Fig Tree Explained
- “Now, learn from the parable of the fig tree. When its branch at last becomes tender and sprouts leaves, you know that summer is near.
- “And likewise, when you see all these things, you know that He is near; right at the doors.
- “Amen I tell you: this generation definitely won’t pass away until all these things happen.
- “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words definitely won’t pass away.”
Keep Watch
- “But concerning that day and hour, no one *knows except the Father alone; not even the angels of the heavens nor the Son.
- “For just as the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
- “For as in those days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving daughters in marriage, until that day Noah entered into the ark,
- “and they didn’t know until the flood came and took all of it away; the coming of the Son of Man will also be like this.
- “At that time, two men will be in the field; one is taken, and one is left.
- “Two women are grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one is left.
- “So keep watch because you don’t *know what day your Lord comes.
- “And know this: if the master of the house had known what watch of the night the thief comes in, he would’ve watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.
- “Because of this, you also must become ready, because the Son of Man comes in that hour you don’t expect.
- “Who then is the faithful and prudent slave whom the lord set over his household of servants to give them food in the proper season?
- “Blessed is that slave whom his lord will find doing likewise when he comes.
- “Amen I tell you: he will set him over all of his possessions.
- “But if that wicked slave says in his heart: “My lord delays”,
- “and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and he eats and drinks with the drunkards,
- “Then the lord of that slave will come on a day which he doesn’t expect and in an hour which he doesn’t know.
- And he will cut him in two and will set his place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.
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