“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.”
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. The wars and rumors of wars that will precede the end are paired with the command not to be alarmed — the events must take place, but they are not the end itself. The must communicates the divine sovereignty over the events: they are not accidents but part of the framework.
Church Fathers on Matthew 24:6
To this enquiry of the disciples the Lord makes answer, declaring all things which were to come to pass from that time forwards, whether relating to the destruction of Jerusalem, which had given occasion to their enquiry; or to His coming through the Church, in which He ceases not to come to the end of time; for He is acknowledged as coming among His own, while new members are daily born to Him; or relating to the end itself when He shall appear to judge the quick and the…
Here He speaks of the battles which should be fought at Jerusalem; when He says, 'Ye shall hear wars, and rumours of wars.'
To hear the shouts raised in the battles, is to 'hear wars;' to hear 'rumours of wars,' is to hear accounts of wars waged afar off.
Read all 13 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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