John Wesley (1703 - 1791) METHODIST | BIOGRAPHY | On Matthew 24 | Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament

(On Matthew 24 ; The Significance of A.D. 70)
"Josephus' History of the Jewish War is the best commentary on this chapter. It is a wonderful instance of God's providence, that he, an eyewitness, and one who lived and died a Jew, should, especially in so extraordinary a manner, be preserved, to transmit to us a collection of important facts, which so exactly illustrate this glorious prophecy, in almost every circumstance." (Matt. Intro)

(On Luke 21:31-32)
" The kingdom of God is nigh-The destruction of the Jewish city, temple, and religion, to make way for the advancement of my kingdom. 32. Till all things be effected-All that has been spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem, to which the question, Lu 21:7,relates: and which is treated of from Lu 21:8-24.

(On Deuteronomy 28:49)
"But in the following he foretells their last destruction by the Romans. And the present deplorable state of the Jewish nation, so exactly answers this prediction, that it is an incontestable proof of the truth of the prophecy, and consequently of the divine authority of the scriptures. And this destruction more dreadful than the former shews, that their sin in rejecting Christ, was more provoking to God than idolatry itself, and left them more under the power of Satan. For their captivity in Babylon cured them effectually of idolatry in seventy years. But under this last destruction, they continue above sixteen hundred years incurably averse to the Lord Jesus." (in loc.)

(On Isaiah 66:6)
"6. A voice — The expression of a prophetical extasy, as if he said, I hear a sad and affrighting noise; it comes not from the city only, but from the temple, wherein these formalists have so much gloried. There is a noise of soldiers slaying, and of the poor people shrieking or crying out. Of the Lord — A voice of the Lord, not in thunder, but that rendereth recompence to his enemies. Thus he seems to express the destruction of the Jews by the Roman armies, as a thing at that time doing." (p. 1972)

(On Matthew 10:23)
"Till the Son of man be come - To destroy their temple and nation."

(On Matthew 16:28)
"For the Son of man shall come - For there is no way to escape the righteous judgment of God. And, as an emblem of this, there are some here who shall live to see the Messiah coming to set up his mediatorial kingdom with great power and glory, by the destruction of the temple, city, and polity of the Jews."

(On Matthew 22:7)
"7. The king sending forth his troops — The Roman armies employed of God for that purpose. Destroyed those murderers — Primarily the Jews."

(On Matthew 24:2)
"This was most punctually fulfilled: for after the temple was burned, Titus, the Roman general, ordered the very foundations of it to be dug up; after which the ground on which it stood was ploghed by Turnus Rufus."

(On Matthew 24:5)
"And, indeed, never did so many imposters appear in the world as a few years before the destruction of Jerusalem, undoubtedly because that was the time wherein the Jews in general expected the Messiah."

(On Matthew 24:14)
"This Gospel shall he preached in all the world—Not universally: this is not done yet: but in general through the several parts of the world, and not only in Judea. And this was done by St. Paul and the other apostles, before Jerusalem was destroyed. And then shall the end come—Of the city and temple. Josephus’s History of the Jewish War is the best commentary on this chapter. It is a wonderful instance of God's providence, that he, an eyewitness, and one who lived and died a Jew, should, especially in so extraordinary a manner, be preserved, to transmit to us a collection of important facts, which so exactly illustrate this glorious prophecy, in almost every circumstance. Mark 13:10." (John Wesley’s Explanatory Notes of the New Testament)

(On Matthew 24:15)
"When ye shall see the abomination of desolation - Daniel's term is, 'The abomination that maketh desolate' (xi. 31); that is, the standards of the desolating legions, on which they bear the abominable images of their idols. Standing in the holy place - Not only the temple, and the mountain on which it stood, but the whole city of Jerusalem, and several furlongs of land round about it, were accounted holy; particularly the mountain on which our Lord now sat, and on which the Romans afterward planted their ensigns."

(On Matthew 24:34)
"This generation of men now living shall not pass till all these things be done - The expression implies that great part of that generation would be passed away, but not the whole. Just so it was; for the city and temple were destroyed thirty-nine or forty years after."

(On Matthew 27:25)
"25. His blood be on us and on our children — As this imprecation was dread. fully answered in the ruin so quickly brought on the Jewish nation, and the calamities which have ever since pursued that wretched people, so it was peculiarly fulfilled by Titus the Roman general, on the Jews whom he took during the siege of Jerusalem. So many, after having been scourged in a terrible manner, were crucified all round the city, that in a while there was not room near the wall for the crosses to stand by each other. Probably this befell some of those who now joined in this cry, as it certainly did many of their children: the very finger of God thus pointing out their crime in crucifying his Son."

(On Luke 19:23)
43. Thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee around — All this was exactly performed by Titus, the Roman general.

(On Luke 21:31)
"The kingdom of God is nigh-The destruction of the Jewish city, temple, and religion, to make way for the advancement of my kingdom."

(On Luke 21:32)
"Till all things be effected-All that has been spoken of the destruction of Jerusalem, to which the question, Lu 21:7, relates: and which is treated of from Lu 21:8-24. Take heed, lest at any time your hearts be overloaded with gluttony and drunkenness-And was there need to warn the apostles themselves against such sins as these? Then surely there is reason to warn even strong Christians against the very grossest sins. Neither are we wise, if we think ourselves out of the reach of any sin: and so that day-Of judgment or of death, come upon you, even you that are not of this world-Unawares. Mt 24:42; Mr 13:33; Lu 12:35."

(On Nero, the Beast)
"The apostle was delivered out of the mouth of the lion, that is, of Nero" (2 Timothy 4:14)

(On Hebrews 8:13)
"ready to vanish away - As it did quickly after, when the temple was destroyed."

(On Revelation 1:1)
"The things which must shortly come to pass - The things contained in this prophecy did begin to be accomplished shortly after it was given; and the whole might be said to come to pass shortly, in the same sense as St. Peter says, 'The end of all things is at hand'; and our Lord Himself, 'Behold, I come quickly."

  Date: 10 Feb 2006
Time: 06:34:57

Comments:

Dear Sir, I just found your site which looks to be a wealth of information. I have for the past 6 years been reading the Ante-Nicene Fathers. All the wonderful old teachers, the Pseudepigrapha, The so called Apocrypha (now I know where the NT got all their names)AND EVERYTHING that I can get my hands on and the Lord stops me short when it is not right.This has been the most exciting 6 years of my life however it is very lonely no none wants to here any of it. I get so excited sometimes that I just about can't stand it. I love the Lord and want to stand on the street corner and yell REPENT. I am nobody and 61 year old woman at that. I pray and cry before the Lord. Lord what can I do to help. Sometimes I feel that my heart is going to break. Thanks for the chance to share. Christine

Date: 27 Oct 2006
Time: 15:40:11

Comments:

was this guy Hitler's mentor or what? let's not forget that Jesus was and always will be a JEW. John Wesley has conveniently swept this little fact under his antisemetic rug... and he's the father of Methodism??? shame!

Date: 15 Nov 2006
Time: 13:44:25

Comments:

You appear desparate when you include people who were not pereterists. Wesley, like many you have quoted, was a Historist. They agree with you that the events of Revelation began in the first century, but they all believed that the events have been ongoing for the last two millennia.

To include him on this list as a preterist is misleading.