Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
All Commentaries on Matthew 24:23 Go To Matthew 24
Cornelius a Lapide
AD 1637
Then if any Prayer of Manasseh , &c. Some think that Christ here passes from the signs of the destruction of Jerusalem to those before the end of the world. But it is better to refer them to the destruction of Jerusalem, of which He has been speaking thus far. This is the force of the word then.
Lo, here is Christ. The Jews knew that the advent of the Messiah was now nigh at hand, because the sceptre had been transferred from Judah to aliens, Herod and the Romans , according to Jacob"s prophecy ( Genesis 49:10). Wherefore, many at that time flattered Vespasian by saying that he was the Messiah, as we learn from Suetonius. Others gave Herod the same flattering title. Moreover, there were at that time in Jerusalem, as Josephus and S. Jerome testify, three factions, which had each its own leader, who boasted himself to be the Messiah, who would defend the Jews against the Romans. These chiefs were Eleazar the son of Simon, John the son of Levi, Simon the son of Goria, who all contended for supremacy amongst themselves. Such also was the impostor who, under Adrian, pretended to be Messiah, and wished to be called Barchochabas, the son of a Star, as though in him was fulfilled the prophecy of Balaam, "A star shall rise out of Jacob." Of this man Eusebius says (H. E46): "Barchochabas, a wicked and cruel Prayer of Manasseh , was the leader of a Jewish army. And referring to the signification of his name, he persuaded them, as if they had been vile slaves, that he was a great star for their salvation, and that he bore the succour of light to sick mortals and those who were doomed to long darkness."
Such in our own age were David George; also John of Leyden, who seized a monastery in a city of Westphalia, where he made himself Christ, a king, and created twelve apostles, whom he sent into all the neighbouring cities, that they should bring all men to him as Christ. But being besieged by the Catholics and captured, he was hung alive in a wickerwork cage from the top of a tower, and being eaten by flies and wasps, he died A.D1536. There shall be many more such in the time of Antichrist. Tropologically: such are heresiarchs, who proclaim another Christ, in that they affirm other doctrines, which are not the doctrines of Christ, but of Antichrist. For although the word then properly denotes the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, yet it may be taken indefinitely, so as to denote any period whatsoever, from the fall of Jerusalem to the end of the world, as S. Chrysostom observes (Hom77). Moreover, the heretics foolishly say that by the words, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, Catholics are denoted, because they say of the Eucharist, "Lo, here is Christ." For Christ is here speaking of visible heretics and false prophets, who shall call themselves Christs, and draw away disciples after them. He is not speaking of the Eucharist, where Christ is invisible.
