Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 24:23
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here [is] Christ, or there; believe [it] not.
23. Then ] The transition is marked by this word, it was possibly also marked by a pause in the Saviour’s discourse.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
23 31. The Second Coming of Christ
Mar 13:21-27; Luk 21:24-28
The following scheme, intended to shew a parallelism between the two Predictions, is borrowed from an interesting monograph by the Rev. W. Sherlock, who argues for the division of the prophecy at Mat 24:22:
the fall of jerusalem ( Mat 24:5-22). the second advent ( Mat 24:23-31). 1. False Christs and false prophets ( Mat 24:5 ; Mat 24:11). 1. False Christs and false prophets ( Mat 24:23-24). 2. Persecution and apostasy ( Mat 24:9-10 ; Mat 24:12). 2. Dangers even to the elect ( Mat 24:24). 3. Wars, famine, pestilence ( Mat 24:6-7). 3. Distress of nations ( Mat 24:29). 4. Great tribulation ( Mat 24:21). 4. The sun and moon darkened ( Mat 24:29). 5. The abomination of desolation ( Mat 24:15). 5. The sign of the Son of man ( Mat 24:30). 6. The escape of the Christians ( Mat 24:16-18). 6. The salvation of the elect ( Mat 24:31). 24. shall deceive the very elect ] Compare this with the less dangerous influence of false prophets before the siege of Jerusalem, “shall deceive many.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Lo, here is Christ – The Messiah. The Jews expected the Messiah to deliver them from Roman oppression. In the time of these great calamities they would anxiously look for him. Many would claim to be the Messiah. Many would follow those who set up that claim. Many would rejoice to believe that he was come, and would call on others, Christians with the rest, to follow them.
Believe it not – You have evidence that the Messiah has come, and you are not to be deceived by the plausible pretensions of others.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Mat 24:23-26
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ.
I. Let us settle what we really want in life, and we may safely shut our ears to many counsellors.
II. Let us learn more and more of the true Christ, and we shall not be led astray by false Christs.
III. Let us give ourselves to earnest practical living, and not gape after wonders.
IV. Let us not think that some other Christ is needed when we are surrounded by great and unwonted troubles. (Anon.)
The glory of the coming of Christ
The coming of Christ will be-
I. Preceded by frequent delusive turnouts.
II. A self-evident manifestation.
III. A time of judgment.
IV. A time of great distress of nations.
V. With power and great glory.
VI. For the salvation of the elect. (Anon.)
I. The Christian dispensation is disturbed by attempts of impostors to delude the unwary.
II. These attempts at imposture are accompanied by credentials likely to deceive many.
III. There is in our possession a test sufficient to unmask all pretenders. (Anon.)
Forewarned
Our Lord forewarns-
I. His own people of the danger of being led astray.
II. Of the manner of His coming-sudden, unmistakable.
III. Sinners of the certainty of judgment. Do we heed the warnings? Do we live as if we gave attention to them? (Anon.)
Christs advent not restricted
Take as an example of the twilight condition in which the Christian world stands to-day, the different opinions that its members have concerning the Lords second coming. Some say He came in judgment when the Roman army encompassed and subdued Jerusalem. Lo I Christ was there; and so He was, in that Divine Word of His which then and thus became visibly true. Others affirm that He came in the descent of the Holy Ghost; and so He certainly did, and by that Spirit He still abides and works here on earth, remaining with and in His Church always even unto the end of the world. Yes, Christ is here as well as there, in this temple as well as in that where the first disciples were gathered. Yet another voice says, The Redeemer comes in every signal manifestation of spiritual life, in each great reformation and revival of faith, in each social uplifting of the people to holier desires and to a better life. In all of these Christ is, no doubt, present. By and in them He is evermore coming. And He comes, moreover, to each individual soul at baptism, at conversion, and in the Holy Communion. He comes into the secret closet of prayer and meditation. He comes to every open heart, and outside the closed door of others He stands, and knocks, and waits. Blessed truths are these, all of them. Christ does come by many paths to help the needy, and He comes with power. But no one of these comings is exclusive of the others. We are not to believe that Christ is altogether here or there, that His presence is entirely restricted to any single one of the many ways by which He has promised to bestow the blessings of His risen life. And all of these comings put together should not exclude from our minds the belief or the constant thought of that other coming, which is to be not as a combination or succession of separate star-gleams, but as the lightning, a body of glory covering the whole world, and reaching at once from the east even unto the west. (E. E. Johnson, M. A.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 23. Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo here is Christ] Our Lord had cautioned his disciples against false Christs and prophets before, Mt 24:11; but he seems here to intimate that there would be especial need to attend to this caution about the time of the siege. And in fact many such impostors did arise about that time, promising deliverance from God; and the lower the Jews were reduced, the more disposed they were to listen to such deceivers. Like a man drowning, they were willing to catch even at a straw, while there was any prospect of being saved. But as it was to little purpose for a man to take upon him the character of the Christ, without miracles to avouch his Divine mission, so it was the common artifice of these impostors to show signs and wonders, ; the very words used by Christ in this prophecy, and by Josephus in his history: ANT. b. xx. c. 7. Among these Simon Magus, and Dositheus, mentioned before; and Barcocab, who, St. Jerome says, pretended to vomit flames. And it is certain these and some others were so dexterous in imitating miraculous works that they deceived many; and such were their works, that if the elect, the chosen persons, the Christians, had not had the fullest evidence of the truth of Christ’s mission and miracles, they must have been deceived too: but, having had these proofs, they could not possibly be deceived by these impostors. This is simply the meaning of this place; and it is truly astonishing that it should be brought as a proof for the doctrine (whether true or false is at present out of the question) of the necessary and eternal perseverance of the saints! How abundant the Jews were in magic, divination, sorcery, incantation, &c., see proved by Dr. Lightfoot on this place.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Mark hath much the same, Mat 13:21-23. There is no doubt but that our Saviour here hath a special respect to those persons who, about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, taking advantage of the Jewish expectation of the Messiah as a secular prince, who should restore them to liberty, (an opinion which, as we have often heard, had infected the generality of the Jews, and not a little even the disciples of Christ), made themselves heads of parties, and pretended that they were the Messiah, the Christ, thereby to encourage people to follow them, and to stand up for their liberty; of which kind there were several mentioned both in the history of Josephus, and in the Roman history, respecting those times. Our Lord therefore cautions his disciples against such, and thereby taketh them off their expectation of any such secular kingdom of the Messiah as they had dreamed of. He tells them that there would such persons arise, and some of them should do great signs and wonders, insomuch that if it were possible they would deceive the elect of God; but he had prayed for them; only they must also watch and take heed, that they might not be cheated and deceived by them, though they came with never so fair pretences, for his coming would be quite of another nature, and his kingdom would be a quite other kingdom.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
Then if any man shall say unto you,…. Either at the time when the siege shall be begun, and the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place; or during the days of tribulation, whilst the siege lasted; or after those days were shortened, and the city destroyed, and the Roman army was gone with their captives: when some, that were scattered up and down in the country, would insinuate to their countrymen, that the Messiah was in such a place: saying,
lo! here is Christ, or there, believe it not; for both during the time of the siege, there were such that sprung up, and pretended to be Messiahs, and deliverers of them from the Roman power, and had their several abettors; one saying he was in such place, and another that he was in such a place; and so spirited up the people not to fly, nor to deliver up the city; and also, after the city was taken and destroyed, one and another set up for the Messiah. Very quickly after, one Jonathan, a very wicked man, led many into the desert of Cyrene, promising to show them signs and wonders, and was overthrown by Catullius, the Roman governor q; and after that, in the times of Adrian, the famous Barcochab set up for the Messiah, and was encouraged by R. Akiba, and a multitude of Jews r.
q Joseph. Antiq. l. 7. c. 12. r Ganz. Tzemach David, par. 1. fol. 28. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Lo, here is the Christ, or here ( ). The false prophets (24:11) create the trouble and now false Christs (–, verse 24) offer a way out of these troubles. The deluded victims raise the cries of “Lo, here,” when these false Messiahs arise with their panaceas for public ills (political, religious, moral, and spiritual).
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
23. If any one shall then say to you. He again repeats what he had said about impostors, and not without reason; for there was great danger arising from this temptation, that wretched men, while their affairs were in a troubled and desperate condition, would be deceived by false pretenses, would seek phantoms instead of Christ, and would embrace the delusions of Satan, as if they were assistance from God. As the Jews, when they were so severely oppressed on account of having despised redemption, needed, at least, violent remedies to restrain them from treachery, Satan cunningly held out to them new hopes, which would withdraw them still farther from God. And certainly, when we are left without direction in adversity, nothing is more pernicious than to be deceived, under the disguise of the name of God, by falsehoods which not only shut against us the door of repentance, but increase the darkness of infidelity, and at length overwhelm us with despair, and drive us to madness. The repetition of the statement, therefore, was far from being superfluous, when the danger was so great; and especially when Christ warns them that false prophets will come prepared with no ordinary instruments of deception, with signs and wonders fitted to confound weak minds. For since it is by miracles that God attests the presence of his power, and since they are therefore seals of the true doctrine, we need not wonder if impostors gain credit by them. By this kind of delusion God revenges the ingratitude of men, that they who rejected the truth may believe a lie, and that they who shut their eyes against the light which was offered to them may be plunged deeper and deeper in darkness. He exercises, at the same time, the constancy of his followers, which comes to shine with greater brightness, when they give way to no kind of impostures.
Again, since our Lord declares that antichrists and false prophets would be armed with miracles, there is no reason why the Papists should talk so haughtily on this ground, or why we should be terrified by their boasting. In support of their superstitions they plead miracles, — those very miracles which, the Son of God predicted, would corrupt the faith of many, and which, therefore, wise men ought not to hold in such estimation as to be sufficient of themselves to prove either one or another kind of doctrine. If it be objected, that such reasoning would overthrow and set aside the miracles by which both the Law and the Gospel were ratified, I reply, that the Spirit engraved on them an undoubted mark, which removed from believers all doubt and fear of being mistaken. For when God displayed his power for the purpose of confirming his people, he did not act in so confused a manner as not to manifest the true and infallible distinction. Besides, the manner in which miracles seal doctrine is such, that the doctrine itself mutually shines before them, and dispels all the clouds by which Satan darkens the minds of the simple. In short, if we wish to guard against impostures, let us preserve the connection between miracles and doctrine unbroken.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(23) Lo, here is Christ, or there.Better, Lo, here is the Christ. The narrative of Josephus, while speaking of many deceivers claiming divine authority (Wars, ii. 13, 4), is silent as to any pretenders to the character of the Messiah. It is scarcely conceivable, however, that this should not have been one of the results of the fevered dreams of the people, and the reticence of the historian was probably a suppressio veri connected with his own recognition of Vespasian as a quasi Christ (Wars, vi. 5, 4).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
23-27. Our Lord now proceeds to give such warnings as should protect his followers from being deluded by false Christs, which should appear. Their coming would be on earth, while his next advent will be in the sky, like the lightnings flashing along the firmament.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
23. Lo, here is Christ The notion that the coming of Christ would be at the destruction of Jerusalem, was liable to lead them to credit the false deliverers, by which the Jews were deluded in immense numbers to their own destruction.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Then if any man shall say to you, ‘Lo, here is the Messiah’, or, ‘Here’, do not believe it.”
Once again He warns of the dangers of false Messiahs, those who will pretend to be on earth as the ‘anointed of God’ (see Mat 24:5). For no such genuine Messiah will ever come. Thus whether they say ‘look here’, or ‘look there’ it will make no difference. The very fact that these Messiahs are on earth will demonstrate that they are not the Messiah (Who will have risen and ascended to glory, and will come in that glory). So whether it be out in the wilderness among separatists, or whether it be in secret conclaves in the great cities of the world, all such claimants must be rejected.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The attack upon the faith:
v. 23. Then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not.
v. 24. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
v. 25. Behold, I have told you before.
v. 26. Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert, go not forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers, believe it not.
v. 27. For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.
v. 28. For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together. The Lord still has in mind principally the days preceding the destruction of Jerusalem, though His words may be said to find a general application. The external afflictions would become still more unbearable owing to the fact that the attacks on the faith of the disciples of Christ would be more subtle and be managed with much boldness. False Messiahs would attempt to gain power, at least for a time. The manner and circumstances of their conduct are here briefly sketched, and they find their application to this day. They would present to an astonished world great signs and wonders, such in appearance as well as such in truth, such as are easily explained by reference to religious psychology and plain swindle, and such as baffle the investigators. There is need of careful distinction here to keep the false Christs separate from the true Christ, the false teachers from the true teachers. “Here you may consider whereon the right doctrine, from which we dare not budge, depends. Here remember: The right doctrine does nothing else than to show and set before thee Christ, in order that thou mayest comfort thy heart through Him against sin and death. This is done thus that we are taught Christ is the true, eternal, almighty God, together with the Father and the Holy Ghost, come down to us men on earth, conceived by the Holy Ghost, and born of the Virgin Mary into this world; that He finally died on the cross, not on account of His sins, for He, as God, could not sin, but on account of our sins, in order that God by such death might be satisfied and our debt be paid, and we by Christ’s resurrection from the dead might also come to eternal life; that therefore Christ conquered sin and death for our benefit, that sin and death should not harm us; and now henceforth sits at the right hand of God, in order to defend us against the devil, mercifully grant us His Spirit, and hear us in all things which we need for body and soul and ask in His name. That is preaching correctly concerning Christ, and agrees in every detail with the Word; therefore one need not worry about the Antichrist and his lies in that case. ” In case one’s faith is firmly based upon this Gospel of Jesus, he will not be disturbed by the signs and wonders of the false Christs. “This we should remember, in order that we may meet such as praise the miraculous signs so highly and say: I know the devil, he can imitate God (for he is God’s ape), he can do all miraculous signs, but they are false miraculous signs. The people imagine, indeed, that they are true signs; even those upon whom they are performed, have no other feeling than that they are blind, dead. But they are false signs, which are done for the purpose that we desert God and pledge ourselves to some saint. But when the people have pledged themselves, then the devil removes the ghost. Then the people say: This or that saint has helped me, and are strengthened in their idolatry. Such false miraculous signs, which the devil has done to substantiate his lies and errors, and that idolatry might become all the greater in the world, the Pope has confirmed and strengthened with his indulgences. ” Thus the subtlety of the false Christs might succeed, if such a thing were possible, if God should permit such an outrage, in deceiving even those that are believers. But no man can pluck them out of His hands, Joh 10:28.
Two further characteristics of false teachers are that they always aim to pique curiosity by making their teachings as obscure as possible, either by going out into desert places or by hiding themselves in inner chambers. Such cases are mentioned not only in the Bible, Act 21:38, and by the historian Josephus, but they have had their logical successors in the ascetics, the monks and nuns of all times, that shut themselves away from the world in the foolish effort to know Christ more fully. Many such people were regarded with the greatest veneration by the ignorant and vested with the personality and power of Christ Himself. Such fanaticism is branded in the words of Christ: Behold, I have told you in advance; believe it not! And He emphasizes His words by a picture, that of the unexpectedness of the lightning, whose brightness nevertheless illumines the earth. So will Christ come to Judgment, first of all upon the Jews that had rejected Him and His Word. The clouds may have been coming up for some time and the thunder reverberated in the distance, but the sudden flash of lightning, sending its bolt in fearful destruction, is unexpected. So the signs preceding the fall of Jerusalem, as those presaging the Judgment Day, will make the watchful more alert, and yet the actual appearance of the Judge will be like a bolt of lightning, sudden, terrible. Hence the striking, though homely admonition: wherever the dead body is lying, there the carrion vultures will assemble. Where Christ is, there shall His elect also be. “Thus the Lord has made use of two parables, first of a heavenly one, that of the lightning, which is a fine light, to indicate that His kingdom is unfettered and uncaptured. For since Jerusalem is now destroyed, where the kingdom of Christ was formerly, the question is asked where the kingdom will now be, since Jerusalem is now torn to pieces. There it is said: Where the lightning and where the carcass will be, that is, where the divine Word will be, whether it be here or in another place, there will the Church be.”
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Mat 24:23-24. Lo, here is Christ, or there In fact, many such impostors did arise about that time, and promised deliverance from God; but as it was to little purpose for a man to take upon him the character of the Christ, or even of a prophet, without miracles to vouch his divine mission, so it was the common artifice and pretence of these impostors to shew signs and wonders. Simon Magus performed wonders, according to the account given of him, Act 8:9-11. Dositheus likewise was reputed to do so; and Barchochebas is said to have pretended to vomit flames. Such also were the Jews of whom St. Paul speaks, 2Ti 3:8; 2Ti 3:13. There is a strange propensityin mankind to believe things marvellous and astonishing; and no wonder that weak and wicked men, Jews and Samaritans, were deceived by such impostors, where, if it had been possible, they would have deceived the very elect,even the Christians themselves. See Bishop Newton. This is not a mere repetition of what was said before, Mat 24:5 but relates more particularly to those impostors who appeared during the time of the siege; concerning whom, see Josephus’s War, b. 6. 100: 5. Euseb. Eccles. Hist. b. 4: ch. 6 and Grotius on the place.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Mat 24:23 ff. ] then , when the desolation of the temple and the great shall have arrived, false Messiahs, and such as falsely represent themselves to be prophets, will again come forward and urge their claims with greater energy than ever, nay, in the most seductive ways possible. Those here referred to are different from the pretenders of Mat 24:4 f. The excitement and longing that will be awakened in the midst of such terrible distress will be taken advantage of by impostors with pretensions to miracle-working, and then how dangerous they will prove! By such early expositors as Chrysostom and those who come after him, Mat 24:23 was supposed to mark the transition to the subject of the advent, so that would pass over the whole period between the destruction of Jerusalem and the second advent; while, according to Ebrard (comp. Schott), the meaning intended by Jesus in Mat 24:23-24 is, that after the destruction of the capital, the condition of the church and of the world, described in Mat 24:4-14 , “ in posterum quoque mansurum esse .” Such views would have been discarded if due regard had been paid to the by which the point of time is precisely defined, as well as to the circumstance that the allusion here is merely to the coming forward of false Christs and false prophets. Consequently we should also beware of saying, with Calovius, that at this point Christ passes to the subject of His adventus spiritualis per evangelium . He is still speaking of that period of distress, Mat 24:21 f., which is to be immediately followed , Mat 24:29 , by the second advent.
] those who falsely claim to be Messiah; nothing is known regarding the historical fulfilment of this. Jonathan (Joseph. Bell. vii. 11. 3) and Barcochba (see on Mat 24:5 ) appeared at a later period.
] according to the context, not Christian teachers (Mat 24:11 ), in the present instance, but such as pretended to be sent by God, and inspired to speak to the people in the season of their calamity , deceivers similar to those who had tried to impose upon their fellow-countrymen during the national misfortunes of earlier times (Jer 14:14 ; Jer 5:13 ; Jer 6:13 ; Jer 8:10 ). Comp. Joseph. Bell. ii. 13. 4 : , , . . . Others suppose that the reference is to such as sought to pass for Elijah or some other prophet risen from the dead (Kuinoel), which would scarcely agree with the use of a term so general as the present; there are those also who think it is the emissaries of the false Messiahs who are intended (Grotius).
] not: promise (Kypke, Krebs), but: give , so as to suit the idea involved in . Comp. Mat 12:39 ; Deu 13:1 .
On , between which there is no material difference, see on Rom 15:19 . Miracles may also be performed by Satanic agency, 2Th 2:9 .
(see critical notes): so that the very elect may be led astray (Khner, II. 2, p. 1005) if possible ( : si fieri possit; “conatus summus, sed tamen irritus,” Bengel).
Mat 24:25 . , Euthymius Zigabenus. Comp. Joh 14:29 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. (24) For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
I detain the Reader again, at this blessed statement of the Lord Jesus, concerning the safety of the elect. No signs nor wonders shall deceive them, our God saith; that is, shall deceive them to their injury, so as to hurt them really so in the present life, (see Rom 8:28 .) much less for the life to come, by any falling away. They may, and they will be frequently made the dupes of artifice, and the laughing stock of the world, and the drunkards’ song. But this is no injury. And as they were chosen in Christ without respect to anything of merit in themselves, before the world began; so are they secured in Christ to grace and glory. But let them remember, and remember it with all thankfulness, that all their safety here, and happiness hereafter, is not the result of their faith in Christ; but the sole purpose of their being elected in Christ. And the very reason wherefore they are kept in safety is, because they are chosen in Christ: so that their faith, and love, and joy in the Lord, are the effects of their election, and not the cause. Oh! the preciousness of this truth, and the security of God’s people! Read that sweet scripture, Isa 54:14 to the end.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
Ver. 23. Then, if any man shall say ] Here again our Saviour returns to the description of the last times, containing the rise, reign, and ruin of Antichrist, whose chief engine shall be to persuade Christ’s corporal presence here and there in certain places, and to tie his worship and service to such or such a city, country, temple, &c., where he may be seen, touched, eaten, &c., as they feign in the eucharist.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
23 26. ] These verses have but a faint reference (though an unmistakable one) to the time of the siege (Jos., B. J. ii. 13. 4, says, , ): their principal reference is to the latter days . In their first meaning, they would tend to correct the idea of the Christians that the Lord’s coming was to be simultaneous with the destruction of Jerusalem: and to guard them against the impostors who led people out into the wilderness (see Act 21:38 ), or invited them to consult them privately, with the promise of deliverance. In their main view, they will preserve the Church firm in her waiting for Christ, through even the awful troubles of the latter days, unmoved by enthusiasm or superstition, but seeing and looking for Him who is invisible. On the signs and wonders , see 2Th 2:9-12 ; Deu 13:1-3 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mat 24:23-28 . False Christs again (Mar 13:21-23 , Luk 17:23-24 ; Luk 17:37 ).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
if . . . &c. The condition is hypothetical. App-118.
Christ = the Messiah. App-98.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
23-26.] These verses have but a faint reference (though an unmistakable one) to the time of the siege (Jos., B. J. ii. 13. 4, says, , ): their principal reference is to the latter days. In their first meaning, they would tend to correct the idea of the Christians that the Lords coming was to be simultaneous with the destruction of Jerusalem: and to guard them against the impostors who led people out into the wilderness (see Act 21:38), or invited them to consult them privately, with the promise of deliverance. In their main view, they will preserve the Church firm in her waiting for Christ, through even the awful troubles of the latter days, unmoved by enthusiasm or superstition, but seeing and looking for Him who is invisible. On the signs and wonders, see 2Th 2:9-12; Deu 13:1-3.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mat 24:23. , then) sc. at the time of the fall of Jerusalem.- , do not believe) For from that time forth the Son of Man will not be seen until His Advent. His coming to judgment, therefore, is mentioned incidentally in Mat 24:27, and professedly in Mat 24:29,[1048] 30.-, here) sc. where any one is who calls himself the Messiah.
[1048] Bengel means, that until His final Advent, which all must recognise when it takes place, Christ shall not be visible; and that, therefore, any who says he is Christ before then, is ipso facto an impostor. The coming, accordingly, in Mat 24:27, is not a personal one, but a virtual coming in the judgments inflicted on Jerusalem and Judea: therefore it is only incidentally dwelt on as His coming. But the coming, in Mat 24:29, is the personal, visible, and final coming; and therefore it is described professedly as such: Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man-they shall see the Son of man.-ED.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Deu 13:1-3, Mar 13:21, Luk 17:23, Luk 17:24, Luk 21:8, Joh 5:43
Reciprocal: Pro 26:25 – believe Eze 13:7 – The Lord Amo 8:12 – shall run Mar 13:6 – and shall Luk 17:21 – Lo here Joh 8:21 – I go 1Jo 4:1 – many
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
4:23
Then means while these times of tribulation were going on. The false prophets would use the disturbed condition as a pretext for pointing to some outstanding men and calling some one of them by the name of Christ and that the 2nd coming was upon the world. The warning was that such agitators were not to be believed.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 24:23. Then. Sufficiently indefinite to favor any or all of the interpretations of the passage. During the subsequent period, is exact enough.
If any man shall say to you, etc. This indicates that the disciples then expected that the second Advent would immediately follow; and was first of all a caution against impostors. But while such did arise in the first century, the details; of the following verses point to something further.
Believe it (or him) not. This phrase furnishes no argument against the visible personal coming of Christ, which seems to be taken for granted throughout.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
The Jews had all along cherished in themselves a vain expectation, that the promised Messiah should be a temporal deliverer, that should set them at liberty from the power and slavery of the Romans; and accordingly Christ declares to his disciples here, that immediately before Jerusalem’s destruction, several persons, taking the advantage of this expectation, would make themselves heads of parties, and pretend tha they were the true Messiah, who would save and deliver them from their enemies, if they would repair to them, and follow after them.
Hereupon our Lord cautions his disciples against such false Christs and false prophets, and bids them believe them not, though they did never so many great signs and wonders, and promised them never such glorious deliverances.
Learn hence, That the church’s great danger is from seducers that come in Christ’s name, and pretend to work signs and wonders by his authority.
2. That such is the power of seduction and delusion, that many are carried away with seducers and false teachers.
3. That the elect themselves, if left unto themselves, might be seduced; but divine power guards them against seduction and delusion: They shall deceive, if it were possible, the very elect. Which phrase imports not what the event would be upon the elect, but the vehemency of the endeavours of seducers; namely, that they would do the utmost that they could, to shock the Christian, and cause him to fall upon his steadfastness.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Mat 24:23-26. If any man say, Lo, here is Christ, or there During the terrible calamities here foretold, the expectations of the nation were all turned toward their Messiah; for they thought if ever he was to appear, it would be then, to deliver them from the impending destruction. Hence many arose, pretending to be the Messiah, and boasting that they would deliver the nation; the effect of which was, that the multitude, giving credit to these deceivers, became obstinate in their opposition to the Romans, whereby their destruction was rendered both the more severe and the more inevitable. Our Lord, it must be observed, had cautioned his disciples against false Christs and false prophets before, (see Mat 24:5,) but what he here says is not to be considered as a repetition of that, but relates to those impostors who should appear during the time of the siege. And, in fact, many such impostors did arise about that time, as we learn from Josephus, (lib. 6. cap. 5, 2,) and promised deliverance from God, being suborned by the tyrants or governors, to prevent the people and soldiers from deserting to the Romans; and the lower the Jews were reduced, the more disposed were they to listen to these deceptions, and the more ready to follow the deceivers. Hegesippus also, quoted by Eusebius, mentions the coming of false Christs and false prophets about the same time. And shall show great signs As it was to little purpose for a man to take upon him the character of the Christ, or even of a prophet, without miracles to vouch his mission; so it was the common artifice and pretence of these impostors to show signs and wonders, , the very words used by Christ in this prophecy, and by Josephus in his history. Behold, I have told you before Behold, I have given you sufficient warning. If they shall say, He is in the desert It is surprising that our Lord should not only foretel the appearance of these impostors, but also the manner and circumstances of their conduct. For some he mentions as appearing in the desert, and some in the secret chambers; and the event, in all points, answered to the prediction. Josephus says (Antiq., lib. 20. cap. 7, and Bell. Jud., lib. 2. cap. 13,) that many impostors and cheats persuaded the people to follow them into the desert, where they promised to show manifest wonders and signs done by the providence of God; and many, being persuaded, suffered the punishment of their folly. And he mentions an Egyptian false prophet, Antiq., Mat 20:7, (spoken of also Act 21:38,) who led out into the desert four thousand men who were murderers; and who were all taken or destroyed by Felix: another impostor is also mentioned by the same author, who promised deliverance to the people if they would follow him into the desert, but Festus sent horse and foot against him, and destroyed both him and his followers. These things happened before the destruction of Jerusalem; and a little after, one Jonathan, a weaver, persuaded many to follow him into the desert, most or all of whom were slain or made prisoners, and he himself taken and burned alive, by order of Vespasian. As several of these impostors thus conducted their followers into the desert, so did others into the secret chambers, or places of security. One of these (according to Josephus, Bell., Mat 6:5) declared to the people in the city, that God commanded them to go up into the temple, and there they should receive the signs of deliverance. A multitude of men, women, and children went up accordingly; but, instead of deliverance, the place was set on fire by the Romans, and six thousand perished miserably in the flames, by throwing themselves down to escape them. Our Saviour therefore might well caution his disciples both against the former and the latter sort of these deceivers.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
5. The second coming of the King 24:23-31 (cf. Mar 13:21-27; Luk 21:25-28)
Jesus proceeded to explain to His disciples that His coming would terminate the Tribulation.
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
"Then" means "at that time," namely, at the end of the Tribulation (Mat 24:2). Jesus warned the disciples about people who would claim that Messiah had returned toward the end of the Tribulation, before He really did return. People professing to be the Messiah and others claiming to be prophets will arise and mislead many people because of their ability to perform impressive miracles (cf. Mat 24:11; Mat 7:21-23; Mat 16:1; Luk 17:23-24; Rev 13:15). Evidently Satan will enable them to perform these signs and wonders.
"While false Christs and false prophets have always been in evidence, they will be especially prominent at the end of the age in Satan’s final attempt to turn people from faith in Christ." [Note: Walvoord, Matthew: . . ., p. 189.]
"If possible" (Gr. ei dynaton, Mat 24:24) means the false prophets will hope to mislead the elect living in the Tribulation. It does not mean that the elect will inevitably remain true to the faith. Jesus had already said that some of His disciples would abandon the truth under persecution (Mat 24:10-11; cf. Mat 26:31). However the elect will not lose their salvation.