And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
All Commentaries on Matthew 24:14 Go To Matthew 24
John Chrysostom
AD 407
Or otherwise; The disciples when they heard these things which were spoken of Jerusalem might suppose that they should be beyond reach of harm, as though what they now heard was the sufferings of others, while they themselves should meet with nothing but prosperous times, He therefore announces the grievous things which should befal them, putting them in fear for themselves. First He had bid them be on their guard against the arts of false teachers, He now foretels to them the violence of tyrants. In good season He thus introduces their own woes, as here they will receive consolation from the common calamities; and He held out to them not this comfort only, but also that of the cause for which they should suffer, hewing that it was for His name’s sake, “And ye shall be hated of all men formy name’s sake.”.
Having named two sources of opposition, that from seducers, and that from enemies, He adds a third, that from false brethren; “And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” See Paul bewailing these same things, “Without were fightings, within were fears;” .
And He adds, what is still more cruel, that such false Prophets shall have no alleviation in charity; “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”.
Then that they should not say, How then shall we live among so many evils? He promises not only that they should live, but that they should teach everywhere. “And this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world.”.
That before the taking of Jerusalem the Gospel was preached every where, hear what Paul says, “Their sound is gone out into all the earth;” .And this is the strongest proof of Christ's power, that in thirty years or a little more, the word of the Gospel filled the ends of the world. Though the Gospel was preached every where, yet all did not believe, whence He adds, “For a witness unto all nations,” in accusation, that is, of such as believe not, they who have believed bearing witness against them that believed not, and condemning them.
