Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Matthew 24:3

"And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" — Matthew 24:3 (ASV)

The Mount of Olives is an appropriate site for a discourse dealing with the Parousia (cf. Zechariah 14:4). The disciples ask Jesus several questions privately (i.e., without the crowds around) about the temple’s destruction and the signs that will presage it and about the end of the age and Jesus’ return.

“The end of the age” is used six times in the NT (13:39, 40, 49; 24:3; 28:20; Hebrews 9:26), five of which are in Matthew and look to final judgment and the consummation of all things. Parousia (“coming”; GK 4242) is found twentyfour times in the NT, four of which are in Mt 24 (vv.3, 27, 37, 39). The term can refer to “presence,” “arrival,” or “coming”—the first stage of “presence”—and need not have eschatological overtones (2 Corinthians 7:6; 2 Corinthians 10:10). Yet the word is often closely tied with Jesus’ glorious “appearing” or “coming” at the end of human history.