Arthur Carr reports that in descending the Kedron Valley, to the east of the temple, and then ascending the slope of the Mount of Olives, the disciples could look back and see "the Temple [rising] with its colonnade of dazzling white marble, surmounted with golden roof and pinnacles, and founded on a substructure of huge stones".[2]
In this "introductory scene",[7]: 876 Jesus predicts that "not one stone shall be left here upon another".[8] The prediction follows the sentiments expressed by Jesus in Matthew 23:37–38:
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem ... See! Your house is left to you desolate.
Methodism's founder John Wesley says that the prediction was "most punctually fulfilled" in that the majority of the temple buildings were burned and then dug up on the orders of the invading Roman general Titus in 70 AD.[9]
Mount of Olives
Jesus and his disciples then proceed to the Mount of Olives, where a conversation occurs about "the end of the age". Jesus's words here called the "Little Apocalypse" or "Olivet Discourse". Jesus appears to have gone ahead of his disciples (Matthew 24:3), who come to him to enquire about the time of the temple's destruction (Tell us, when will these things be?, verse 3) and the significance of his parousia (Greek: παρουσιας, parousias). Mark 13:3 states that only Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to speak with him.[2]
Dale Allison divides Jesus' warnings into three groups:
the beginning of the woes in the world at large (verses 3-8),
the intensification of the woes in the church (verses 9—14), and
the climax of the woes in Judea (verses 15—28).[7]: 876
Verse 5
For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.[10]
This verse reads 'I am Christ', lacking the definite article, in the Geneva Bible (1599),[11] the King James Version,[12] and the New Matthew Bible [13] (a modernised version of the New Testament of William Tyndale).[14]Carr (1882 onwards) observes that "the Christ, the Messiah" is correct, departing from the King James Version then in use.[2]
Verse 9
Then they will hand you over to persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name.[15]
Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation', spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand)[16]
Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath.[18]
The hardship associated with escape during winter is likely to arise from bad weather.[19] Allison notes the absence of any explanation as to why flight on a sabbath day might also be more challenging; he suggests that Matthew's community might still have observed the sabbath as a day of rest, with its traditional travel restrictions, and been both hesitant and unprepared for flight on such a day.[7]: 877
Verses 29-31
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, the moon shall not give its light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet."[20]
In the Bahá'í Faith, Bahá'u'lláh gives an interpretation of Matthew 24:29-31 in his major theological work Kitáb-i-Íqán (The Book of Certitude),[21][22] giving detailed explanations about the allegorical meanings of each of these phrases.[23]
Verse 35
Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.[24]
Jesus's words refer to an Old Testament saying recorded in Isaiah 51:6:
For the heavens will vanish away like smoke,
The earth will grow old like a garment,
And those who dwell in it will die in like manner;
