Albert Barnes Commentary Luke 21:37-38

"And every day he was teaching in the temple; and every night he went out, and lodged in the mount that is called Olivet. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, to hear him." — Luke 21:37-38 (ASV)

Came early in the morning. He returned early from the Mount of Olives and taught in the temple. Our Savior did not waste his mornings in idleness or sleep. He rose early and went to the temple. The people also flocked to the sanctuary to hear him. This example is both an encouragement to early rising and to the early worship of God.

It is a reproof to those who spend the part of the day best suited for devotion in unnecessary sleep; and it shows the appropriateness, where possible, of assembling early in the morning for prayer and the worship of God. Early prayer meetings have the approval of the Savior and will be found to be highly conducive to promoting religion.

The whole example of Jesus shows the importance of beginning the day with God, and of lifting up the heart to him for direction, for the supply of our needs, and for preservation from temptation, before the mind is engrossed by the cares, distracted by the perplexities, and led away by the temptations of this life.

Beginning the day with God is like arresting evil at the fountain; prayer at any other time, without this, is an attempt to arrest it when it has swollen to a stream and rolls on like a torrent. Let the day be begun with God, and the work of piety is easy. Let the world have the ascendancy in the morning, and it will likely also have it at noon and in the evening.