What Does Matthew 24:3 Mean?

(3) **The disciples came unto him privately.**—From St. Mark we learn their names—“Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew;” *i.e.,* the four in the first of the three groups that made up the Twelve. The position of Andrew as the last is noticeable, as connected with the general pre-eminence of the first three. **The sign of thy coming.**—Literally, *of Thy presence.* The passage is memorable as the first occurrence of the word (παρονσία,* parousia*)*,* which was so prominent in the teaching of the Epistles (1Thessalonians 2:19; 1Thessalonians 3:13; James 5:7; 1John 2:28, *et al.*)*.* They had brought themselves to accept the thought of His departure and return, though time and manner were as yet hidden from them. **The end of the world.**—Literally, *the end of the age.* In the common language of the day, which had passed from the schools of the Rabbis into popular use, “this age,” or “this world,” meant the time up to the coming of the Messiah; the “age or world to come” (Matthew 13:40; Matthew 19:28; Hebrews 2:5; Hebrews 6:5), the glorious time which He was to inaugurate. The disciples had heard their Lord speak in parables of such a coming, and they naturally connected it in their thoughts with the close of the age or period in which they lived.