Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 24:5

"For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray." — Matthew 24:5 (ASV)

Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ — It is better to translate this as, the Christ. No direct fulfillments of this prediction are recorded in the New Testament, by Josephus, or by other historians.

Bar-Cochba (the “son of the star”), who claimed to be the “Star” of Balaam’s prophecy (Numbers 24:17), is often named as a fulfillment. However, he did not appear until A.D. 120—nearly 50 years after the destruction of Jerusalem.

In the excited fanaticism of the time, however, it was quite likely that such pretenders would arise and then disappear, after each had lived out his short day and left no mark on history. The “many antichrists”—that is, rival Christs—of 1 John 2:18 may point to such phenomena, and possibly also the prophecy of 2 Thessalonians 2:4.

Theudas (the last rebel of that name—not the one mentioned in Acts 5:36, but the one recorded by Josephus in Antiquities 20.5) or “the Egyptian” of Acts 21:38 may possibly have mingled messianic claims with their pretensions, but there is no evidence of it.