_THE PROPHECY ON THE MOUNT._
MATT. xxiv., xxv.
We have seen that though the Saviour's public ministry is now closed,
He still has a private ministry to discharge--a ministry of counsel
and comfort to His beloved disciples, whom He soon must leave in a
world where tribulation awaits them on every side. Of this private
ministry the chief remains are the beautiful words of consolation left
on record by St. John (xiii.-xvii.), and the valuable words of
prophetic warning recorded by the other Evangelists, occupying in this
Gospel two long chapters (xxiv., xxv.).
This remarkable discourse, nearly equal in length to the Sermon on the
Mount, may be called the Prophecy on the Mount; for it is prophetic
throughout, and it was delivered on the Mount of Olives. From the way
in which it is introduced (vv. 1-3) we see that it is closely
connected with the abandonment of the Temple, and that it was
suggested by the disciples calling His attention to the buildings of
the Temple, which were in full view of the little group as they sat on
the Mount of Olives that memorable day--buildings which seemed stately
and stable enough in their eyes, but which were already tottering to
their fall before
"... that Eye which watches guilt
And goodness; and hath power to see
Within the green the mouldered tree,
And towers fallen as soon as built."
Thus everything leads us to expect a discourse about the fate of the
Temple. The minds of the whole group are full of the subject; and out
of the fulness of their hearts the question comes, "Tell us, when
shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and
of the end of the world?" From the latter part of the question it is
evident that the coming of Christ and the end of the world were
closely connected in the disciples' minds with the judgment that was
about to come upon the Temple and the chosen people--a connection
which was right in point of fact, though wrong in point of time. We
shall not be surprised, therefore, to discover that the burden of the
first part of the prophecy is that great event to which the attention
of all was at that moment so pointedly directed. But since the near as
well as the distant event is viewed as the coming of the Son of man,
we may give to what may be called the prophecy proper as distinguished
from the pictures of judgment that follow, a title which embodies this
unifying thought.