The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21:5–38)

The texts below are quoted verbatim from public-domain English translations; nothing is paraphrased.

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St. John Chrysostom (c. 347–407)

Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, Homilies 75 and 76 (on Matthew 24:1–31) Source: trans. in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, First Series, Vol. 10. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/npnf110.iii.LXXII.html

On "there shall not be left here one stone upon another":

He no longer thenceforth talks to them of desolation merely, but foretells an entire destruction.

On the twofold war that must first come, of the deceivers and of the enemies:

For the war, saith He, shall be twofold that of the deceivers, and that of the enemies, but the former far more grievous, as coming upon them in the confusion and turmoils, and when men were terrified and troubled.

On why Jerusalem is destroyed only after the Gospel has been preached in all the world:

And for this cause, after the gospel is preached in every part of the world, Jerusalem is destroyed, that they may not have so much as a shadow of an excuse for their perverseness.

On why the coming of the Son of man, unlike the deceivers, cannot be hidden:

So shall that coming be, showing itself at once everywhere by reason of the shining forth of His glory.

On "immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened":

The very creation being then transfigured, for "the sun shall be darkened," not destroyed, but overcome by the light of His presence; and the stars shall fall, for what shall be the need of them thenceforth, there being no night?

St. Cyril of Alexandria (c. 376–444)

Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, Sermon 139 (on Luke 21:5–28) Source: trans. R. Payne Smith, Library of Fathers, 1859. Public domain. Full text: https://www.tertullian.org/fathers/cyril_on_luke_13_sermons_135_145.htm

On the temple thrown down by the Romans as retribution for the slaying of the Lord:

For He forewarned them, that however worthy the temple might be accounted by them of all admiration, yet at its season it would be destroyed from its foundations, being thrown down by the power of the Romans, and all Jerusalem burnt with fire, and retribution exacted of Israel for the slaughter of the Lord.

On how the discourse interweaves the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world:

But in the middle the Saviour places what refers to the capture of Jerusalem: for He mixes the accounts together in both parts of the narrative.

On "they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory":

Then, He says, they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Christ therefore will come not secretly nor obscurely, but as God and Lord, in glory such as becomes Deity; and will transform all things for the better.

On the elect lifting up their heads at His coming:

For when these things, He says, come to pass, lift up your heads, and look upwards: for your redemption is near.

Origen of Alexandria (c. 185–254)

Commentary on Matthew (on Matthew 24:1–31) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Matthew. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.ii.xxiv.html

On the Lord going out from the temple He had upheld:

Christ, when He had foretold all that should come upon Jerusalem, "went forth out of the temple," He, who while He was in it, had upheld the temple that it should not fall.

On the sign of the Son of man in heaven as the power of the cross:

"And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven," that sign by which the heavenly things were made, that is, the power which the Son wrought when He hung upon the cross.

On the gathering of the elect from the four winds:

the Angels of Christ shall then gather together not only all who from the coming of Christ to the end of the world have been called and chosen, but all from the foundation of the world, who like Abraham have seen the day of Christ and rejoiced therein.

St. Hilary of Poitiers (c. 310–367)

Commentary on Matthew (on Matthew 24:3–29) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Matthew. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.ii.xxiv.html

On the threefold question answered according to distinct times:

And because the questions of the disciples are threefold, they are separated by different times and meanings. That concerning the destruction of the city is first answered, and is then confirmed by truth of doctrine, that no seducer might prevail with the ignorant.

On the darkening of the heavenly lights as the glory of His coming:

The darkening of the sun, the failing of the moon, and the fall of the stars, indicate the glories of His coming.

St. Jerome (c. 347–420)

Commentary on Matthew (on Matthew 24:2–30) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Matthew. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.ii.xxiv.html

On the three things the disciples ask:

They ask Him three things. First, The time of the destruction of Jerusalem, saying, "Tell us when shall these things be?" Secondly, The time of Christ's coming, saying, "And what shall be the sign of Thy coming?" Thirdly, The time of the consummation of this world, saying, "And of the end of the world?"

On the overthrow of the temple read as the passing of the Law:

When the Lord departed from the temple, all the buildings of the Law and the structure of the Commandments were so overthrown, that none of them could be fulfilled by the Jews, but, the Head being taken away, all the parts were at war among themselves.

On the Gospel preached in all the world as the sign of the second coming:

And the sign of the Lord's second coming is, that the Gospel shall be preached in all the world, so that all may be without excuse.

Blessed Augustine of Hippo (354–430)

Letter 199, to Hesychius, on the End of the World (on Matthew 24:6–30) As preserved in the Catena Aurea on Matthew. Public domain. Full text: https://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/catena1.ii.xxiv.html

On the three events folded into the one answer:

To this enquiry of the disciples the Lord makes answer, declaring all things which were to come to pass from that time forwards, whether relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, which had given occasion to their enquiry; or to His coming through the Church, in which He ceases not to come to the end of time ... or relating to the end itself when He shall appear to judge the quick and the dead.

On the care needed to sort the signs to their events:

When then He describes the signs which shall attend these three events, we must carefully consider which signs belong to which events, lest perchance we refer to one that which belongs to another.

On the Son of man coming to judge in the very body in which He ascended:

The first and most apparent meaning of this is of that time when He shall come to judge the quick and the dead in His body — that body in which He sits at the right hand of the Father, in which He died and rose again and ascended into heaven.