Matthew 24:32–44

Verse 34. This generation; that is the nation of the Jews shall not cease to exist, until all these things shall be accomplished: thus we see the nation of the Jews still continue, and will certainly continue to the end of the world. Tirinus.—Then the cross, which has been a scandal to the Jew, and a stumbling-block to the Gentile, shall appear in the heavens, for the consolation of the good Christian. Hoc signum crucis erit in cœlo, cum Dominus ad judicandum venerit.—If it be to be understood of the destruction of Jerusalem, the sense may be, this race of men now living; if of the last day of judgment, this generation of the faithful, saith Theophylactus, [4] shall be continued: that is the Church of Christ, to the end of the world. Witham.—This race, I tell you in very truth, shall not pass away till all this be finally accomplished in the ruin of Jerusalem, the most express figure of the destruction and end of the world. V.—By generation, our Saviour does not mean the people that were in existence at that time, but the faithful of his Church; thus says the psalmist: this is the generation of them that seek the Lord. Psalms 23, verse 6. Saint John Chrysostom hom. lxxvii.

The word for “generation” (genea) can also be translated as “race.”

Verse 35. Shall pass away: because they shall be changed at the end of the world into a new heaven and new earth. Challoner.

Verse 36. No man knoweth … but the Father alone. The words in Saint Mark (13:32) are still harder: neither the angels, nor the Son, but the Father. The Arians objected this place, to shew that Christ being ignorant of the day of judgment, could not be truly God. By the same words, no one knoweth, but the Father alone, (as they expound them) the Holy Ghost must be excluded from being the true God. In answer to this difficulty, when it is said, but the Father alone, it is certain that the eternal Son and the Holy Ghost could never be ignorant of the day of judgment: because, as they are one and the same God, so they must hove one and the same nature, the same substance, wisdom, knowledge, and all absolute perfections. 2. It is also certain that Jesus Christ knew the day of judgment, and all things to come, by a knowledge which he could not but have, because of the union by which his human nature was united to the divine person and nature. See Colos. 2:3. And so to attribute any ignorance to Christ, was the error of those heretics called Agnoitai. 3. But though Christ, as a man, knew the day of judgment, yet this knowledge was not due to him as he was man, or because he was man, but he only knew the day of judgment, because he was God as well as man. 4. It is the common answer of the fathers, that Christ here speaks to his disciples, only as he was the ambassador of his Father; and so he is only to know what he is to make known to men. He is said not to know, says Saint Augustine [5], what he will not make others know, or what he will not reveal to them. Witham.—By this Jesus Christ wished to suppress the curiosity of his disciples. In the same manner after his resurrection, he answered the same question:’Tis not for you to know the times and the moments, which the Father has placed in his own power. This last clause is added, that the apostles might not be discouraged and think their divine Master esteemed them unworthy of knowing these things. Some Greek MSS. add nor even the Son, as in Mark 13:32. The Son is ignorant of it, not according to his divinity, nor even according to his humanity hypostatically united to his divinity, but according to his humanity, considered as separate from his divinity. V.

NU adds “nor the son”

Verse 37–38. And as it was. The same shall take place at the coming of the Son of man at the last day, as at the general deluge. For, as then they indulged their appetites, unmindful of the fate that was attending them, γαμουντες και εκγαμιζοντες, marrying and given in marriage, solely occupied with the concerns of this life, and indifferent to those of the next; so shall it be at the end of the world. They are not here accused of gross sins, but of a supine security of their salvation, as is evident from what follows. Jans.

Verse 37–38. And as it was. The same shall take place at the coming of the Son of man at the last day, as at the general deluge. For, as then they indulged their appetites, unmindful of the fate that was attending them, γαμουντες και εκγαμιζοντες, marrying and given in marriage, solely occupied with the concerns of this life, and indifferent to those of the next; so shall it be at the end of the world. They are not here accused of gross sins, but of a supine security of their salvation, as is evident from what follows. Jans.

Verse 39. And they thought not of the deluge, though preached and predicted by Noe, (which rendered their ignorance and incredulity inexcusable) till it came and swept them all away. So shall it be at the coming of the Son of man. Saint Luke adds, (chapter 17, verse 28,) likewise as it was in the days of Lot; they shall be eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, that is totally immersed in worldly pursuits. Hence the apostle; when they shall say peace, that is from past evils, and security, that is from future, then shall destruction come upon them on a sudden. But some one may ask, how can there possibly be all this peace, all this security, when the evils mentioned above, famines, wars, plagues, earthquakes, and particularly the darkness of the sun, and so forth and so forth are presages calculated to strike with panic and consternation minds the most thoughtless and giddy? I answer, that the wicked are chiefly designed here, who in the midst of the afflictions and alarms of the good, will still indulge in their pleasures and luxuries, like cruel soldiers, whilst the peaceable inhabitants are plundered. S. Jerom adds, that the world for some time before its final dissolution, will be freed from all those calamities. As to what is said (verse 29,) of the darkness of the sun and moon, these are circumstances that refer to the very coming of the judge. Jans.

Verse 40. Then of two men, who shall think of nothing less than of going to appear before God, one shall be taken to be placed among the number of the elect, and the other shall be left condemned to eternal fire with the damned, on account of his crimes. V.—This example of the men in the field, and of the condition and disposition of men at the period of the deluge, strongly expresses how unexpectedly these evils will rush in upon mankind; and the subsequent account of the two women grinding in the mill, shews how little they were solicitous for their salvation. We are, moreover, taught by these examples, that some of all states and conditions will be saved, whether rich or poor, in ease or labour, or decorated with all the various degrees of worldly honour. The same is mentioned in Exodus, chapter 11, verse 5. From the first-born of Pharao, who sitteth on his throne, even to the first-born of the handmaid that is at the mill, … every first-born shall die. Saint John Chrysostom hom. lxxviii.

Verse 41. Two women. Slaves of both sexes were employed in grinding corn. Of these, one shall be carried up to heaven by angels, the other shall be left a prey to devils, on account of her bad life. V.—In many ancient MSS. both Greek and Latin, what we read in Saint Luke, (17:34) of two men in the same bed, one shall be taken, and the other shall be left, is here added.

Verse 42. Watch ye, therefore. That men might not be attentive for a time only, but preserve a continual vigilance, the Almighty conceals from them the hour of their dissolution: they ought therefore to be ever expecting it, and ever watchful. But to the eternal infamy of Christians be it said, much more diligence is used by the worldly wise for the preservation of their wealth, than by the former for the salvation of their immortal souls. Though they are fully aware that the Lord will come, and like a thief in the night, when they least expect him, they do not persevere watching, nor guard against irreparable misfortune of quitting the present life without previous preparation. Therefore will the day come to the destruction of such as are reposed in sleep. Saint John Chrysostom hom. lxxviii. on S. Mat.—Of what importance is it then that we should be found watching, and properly attentive to the one thing necessary, the salvation of our immortal souls. For what will it avail us, if we have gained the whole world, which we must then leave, and lose our immortal souls, which, owing to our supine neglect to these admonitions of Jesus Christ, must suffer in hell-flames for all eternity? A.