Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Matthew: Chapter 24].
skilful perspective may give on the same surface the inside of a
room, the fields outside the window, and the sky far beyond.
Certainly in this discourse Jesus blends in apocalyptic language
the background of his death on the cross, the coming destruction
of Jerusalem, his own second coming and the end of the world. He
now touches one, now the other. It is not easy for us to separate
clearly the various items. It is enough if we get the picture as
a whole as it is here drawn with its lessons of warning to be
ready for his coming and the end. The destruction of Jerusalem
came as he foretold. There are some who would date the Synoptic
Gospels after A.D. 70 in order to avoid the predictive element
involved in the earlier date. But that is to limit the
fore-knowledge of Jesus to a merely human basis. The word
\parousia\ occurs in this chapter alone (3,27,37,39) in the
Gospels, but often in the Epistles, either of presence as opposed
to absence (Php 2:12) or the second coming of Christ (2Th
2:1).
24:4 {Lead you astray} (\h–m•s plan•s•i\). This warning runs all
through the discourse. It is amazing how successful deceivers
have been through the ages with their eschatological programs.
The word in the passive appears in 18:12 when the one sheep
wanders astray. Here it is the active voice with the causative
sense to lead astray. Our word planet comes from this root.
24:5 {In my name} (\epi t•i onomati mou\). They will arrogate to
themselves false claims of Messiahship in (on the basis of) the
name of Christ himself. Josephus (_Wars_ VI, 54) gives there
false Christs as one of the reasons for the explosion against
Rome that led to the city's destruction. Each new hero was
welcomed by the masses including Barcochba. "I am the Messiah,"
each would say. Forty odd years ago two men in Illinois claimed
to be Messiah, each with followers (Schlatter, Schweinfurth). In
more recent years Mrs. Annie Besant has introduced a theosophical
Messiah and Mrs. Eddy made claims about herself on a par with
those of Jesus.
24:6 {See that ye be not troubled} (\horate m• throeisthe\).
Asyndeton here with these two imperatives as Mr 8:15 \orate
blepete\ (Robertson, _Grammar_, p. 949). Look out for the wars
and rumours of wars, but do not be scared out of your wits by
them. \Throe•\ means to cry aloud, to scream, and in the passive
to be terrified by an outcry. Paul uses this very verb (\m•de
throeisthai\) in 2Th 2:2 as a warning against excitement over
http://www.ccel.org/r/robertson_at/wordpictures/htm/MT24.RWP.html (2 of 8) [28/08/2004 09:03:24 a.m.]