John Calvin Commentary Matthew 24:9

"Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all the nations for my name`s sake." — Matthew 24:9 (ASV)

Then will they deliver you up to be afflicted. Christ now foretells to the disciples another kind of temptation by which, in addition to ordinary afflictions, their faith must be tried: namely, that they will be hated and detested by the whole world.

It is painful and distressing enough in itself that the children of God should be afflicted in such a way as not to be distinguished from the reprobate and the despisers of God, and should be subjected to the same punishments that those men endure on account of their crimes. It appears to be still more unjust that they should be severely oppressed by grievous calamities from which the ungodly are exempted.

But just as wheat, after being beaten by the flail along with the chaff, is pressed down and bruised by the millstone, so God not only afflicts his children in common with the ungodly, but also subdues them by the cross even beyond others, so that we might be inclined to think them more unhappy than the rest of mankind.

But Christ treats here strictly of the afflictions the disciples had to endure on account of the gospel. For, though what Paul says is true, that those whom God has elected are likewise appointed by him to bear the cross, that they may be conformed to the image of his Son (Romans 8:29), yet he does not distinguish all by this special Mark of enduring persecution from the enemies of the gospel.

It is of this kind of cross that Christ now speaks, when it becomes necessary for believers to incur the hatred, meet the reproaches, and provoke the fury of the ungodly for the testimony of the gospel. For he intended to warn his disciples that the doctrine of the gospel, of which they were to be witnesses and messengers, would never be pleasant or agreeable to the world, as he had formerly explained to them. He foretells not only that they will have to contend with a few enemies, but that, wherever they come, all nations will oppose them.

But it was monstrous and incredible, and was calculated to astonish and shake even the strongest minds, that the name of the Son of God should be so infamous and hateful that all who professed it would be everywhere disliked.

Accordingly, the words of Mark are, take heed to yourselves. By this expression, Mark points out the purpose and use of the warning: that they ought to be prepared for endurance, lest, through lack of caution, they might be overwhelmed by temptation.

Mark also adds that this will be for a testimony to kings and rulers, when the disciples of Christ are brought before their tribunal. Luke expresses it a little differently, this will happen to you for a testimony, but the sense is quite the same; for Christ means that his gospel will be that much more fully attested when they have defended it at the risk of their lives.

If the apostles had only given their attention to preaching the gospel, and had not stood so firmly in defending it against the furious attacks of enemies, its confirmation would not have been so complete. But when they did not hesitate to expose their lives, and were not driven from their purpose by any terrors of death, their unshaken constancy made it manifest how firmly they were convinced of the goodness of their cause.

It was therefore an authentic seal of the gospel when the apostles advanced without terror to the tribunals of kings and there made an open profession of the name of Christ. Accordingly, Peter calls himself a witness of the sufferings of Christ (1 Peter 5:1), whose badges he wore; and Paul boasts that he was placed for the defense of the gospel (Philippians 1:17).

This is eminently worthy of attention, that those on whom God bestows so great an honor as to make them defenders of his truth may not through base treachery fall from the faith.