Matthew 24:22 — Community Reflections

MATTHEW 24:22 — KING JAMES VERSION 0

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.”

And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. The divine limitation of the tribulation for the sake of the elect: without the shortening, no flesh would survive. The elect's sake as the reason for the shortening communicates the sovereign protection of the chosen community within the tribulation.

Church Fathers on Matthew 24:22

As above He had obscurely intimated the end of Jerusalem; He now proceeds to a more plain announcement of it, citing a prophecy which should make them believe it.
Chrysostom · 4th century

That, 'Let him that readeth understand,' is said to call us to the mystic understanding of the place. What we read in Daniel is this; 'And in the midst of the week the sacrifice and the oblation shall be taken away, and in the temple shall be the abomination of desolations until the consummation of the time, and consummation shall be given upon the desolate.' [Dan 9:27, septuagint]
Jerome · 4th century

Luke, in order to shew that the abomination of desolation foretold by Daniel had reference to the time of the siege of Jerusalem, repeats these words of our Lord, 'When ye shall see Jerusalem encompassed by armies, then know ye that its desolation draweth nigh.' [Luke 21:20]
Augustine · 4th century · Ep. 199, 31

Read all 26 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain

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