Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 24:22

"And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect`s sake those days shall be shortened." — Matthew 24:22 (ASV)

Should no flesh be saved — The words are, of course, limited by the context to the scene of the events to which the prophecy refers. The warfare with foes outside the city, and the faction-fights and massacres within, would have caused an utter depopulation of the whole country.

For the elect’s sake — This refers to those who, as believers in Jesus, were the “remnant” of the visible Israel and therefore the true Israel of God. It was for the sake of the Christians of Judea, not for the sake of the rebellious Jews, that the war was not protracted, and that Titus, under the influence of Josephus and Bernice, tempered his conquests with compassion (Ant. xii. 3, § 2; Wars, vi. 9, § 2).

The new prominence that the idea of an election gains in our Lord’s later teaching is truly remarkable (Matthew 20:6). The “call” had been wide; in those who received and obeyed it, He taught people to recognize the “elect” whom God had chosen. Subtle questions about whether the choice rested on foreknowledge or was absolutely arbitrary lay, if we may reverently say so, outside the scope of His teaching.