And then if any one say to you, Lo, here [is] the Christ, or Lo, there, believe [it] not.
This discourse opened with warnings about false Christs, and here they come back sharper: a rumour that the Messiah has arrived and can be visited at a spot on the map. How will anyone caught in that hour tell the true Christ from a fake?
Commentators place this cry at the last stage of the prophecy, not at its beginning.
Then comes a burst of warning, not just as before, but even more forceful... Clearly there is a final appearance, a fresh cloud of these deceivers in the last days, just as there was when this prophecy first applied. Their aim is to seduce even the elect, if that were possible.
The dangers the Lord names are wide, and He points to one safeguard against them all:
The Lord warns the disciples against false hopes of rescue, against false reports of false Christs, against false prophets, false signs, and apparent wonders. Their safety will be in remembering His words: "I have told you all things beforehand."
Anyone pointing to a place is describing something the real Christ will never do.
Through the tribulation the devil will try to crush and wipe out the elect. But that is not all, as verses 21 and 22 show. At that time a special number of false Christs and prophets will appear, and through them he hopes to seduce the elect. He would do it, "if it were possible." Thank God, it is not possible. True saints will know that the real Christ is not going to hide Himself in some corner, so that people have to say, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "Look, there He is!" He will shine out in His glory when He comes, and every eye will see Him.
Who could a cry of "here" or "there" actually fool? The answer turns on what a person is waiting for.
But clearly the Lord Jesus assumes real danger for the disciples here. Being Jewish and not Christian, the cry that He was here or there on earth might well deceive them. No Christian could be in such danger, but the Jewish disciples were open to it. They were looking for the Lord to come to the earth. They knew that in that day His feet would stand on the Mount of Olives.
Commentators differ on how tightly the danger is confined. One writer agrees the elect in view are an earthly people, yet holds that others will face the same deceptions in that day:
I do not say that such words about them must mean they are an earthly people. No. From Revelation 13, I believe many heavenly men will face deceits in that day, and will be kept from being deceived in the same way.
The phrase "if it were possible" draws a line the deceivers cannot cross.
The clause "if it were possible" clearly implies that they would be deceived, if it were not for the protection of God's grace and power. God has decreed that the elect will not be swept away, despite coming so close to it... Believers, however, have no excuse for accepting such deception. The Lord has warned them beforehand how subtle it is, and their protection is in His Word.
The Lord does not warn here as the glorified Son of God. He speaks in another character, and it shapes everything He tells them to do:
"But," says the Lord, "be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand." For here the Lord speaks as the Prophet of the Jewish remnant, and must be received in that character — not as the glorified Son of God, nor as the "Son of man who is in heaven." With those titles the setting would have to be heavenly, not a warning to flee and to save your life.
- Hour — The cry "here is the Christ" belongs to the last crisis. A fresh wave of deceivers rises then to seduce even the elect.
- Lie — The report defeats itself. The real Christ will not hide in a corner for people to point at. He will shine out in glory, and every eye will see Him.
- Target — A rumour about a place only moves people who expect a Messiah on the earth. Commentators differ on whether others face the same snare.
- Limit — The deceivers show signs and wonders. They would succeed "if it were possible" — but God's grace and power hold His own, so it is not possible.
- Shield — Safety is in words already spoken. The Lord told them everything beforehand, so no one who keeps His word has an excuse for falling for it.
For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and give signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
The Lord has just warned His disciples to ignore any report that the Christ has turned up here or there. Now He says why those reports will sound so convincing: the men behind them will back their claims with miracles. Two questions follow. Can a real wonder come from the wrong source? And what keeps God's own people from being swept away by one?
Kelly reads the verse as a final wave of deceivers, matching an earlier one:
Clearly there is a final appearance, a fresh cloud of these deceivers in the last days, just as there was when this prophecy first applied. Their aim is to seduce even the elect, if that were possible. But the Lord warned them: "Take heed: behold, I have told you all things beforehand."
Baines finds nothing in the first century that matches it:
Nothing of the kind happened before the siege of Jerusalem, so it formed no part of the prophecy as Luke reports it. But other Scriptures show us this is exactly the state of things that will come before Christ appears in power and glory to set up His world-kingdom.
The verse takes for granted that liars can work wonders. Darby gives the test God has provided instead:
God gives safeguards so that His people may not be deceived. Miracles must be for the truth, or we are not to receive them. If they are for what is not the truth, we must utterly reject the man who works them; Deuteronomy 13. I add that Scripture reveals this: Satan will work amazing signs, to deceive the elect if possible. And in the last days, Scripture speaks of signs and miracles only on Satan's side. Then they will happen. They are the sign that the man of sin is coming. So a miracle by itself cannot be the test of truth.
Hole, writing on the same warning in Matthew, explains the devil's aim and sorts signs into two kinds:
At that time the devil will know very well that the coming of Christ is about to happen. So he will try to confuse the issue by raising up imposters and giving them supernatural powers, hoping to deceive the elect who are looking for Christ. Verse 24 shows plainly that not all miraculous signs come from God. There are two kinds — the divine and the devilish. The divine kind displays God's character in grace and power. The devilish kind is often flashier, more startling, and more attractive to people who are not converted. People today who crave the miraculous should take great care. They can be deceived.
Grant treats the words "if possible" as a real limit:
The clause "if it were possible" plainly implies that they would be deceived, if the grace and power of God did not protect them. God has decreed that the elect will not be carried away, though they come so close to it. At that time the chief of all false christs, the Antichrist, will lure great numbers away by power and lying signs and wonders (2 Thessalonians 2:9). But believers have no excuse for accepting such deception. The Lord has warned them in advance how subtle it is, and their protection is in His Word.
Part of that protection is knowing what the true coming will look like:
True believers will know that the real Christ is not going to hide Himself in some corner. Men will not have to say, "Look, here is the Christ!" or "Look, there!" He will shine out in His glory at His coming, and every eye will see Him.
Mackintosh starts from what the human heart cannot do:
The human heart has no power at all to resist "great signs and wonders" put forward in support of the deadliest error. Only one thing can strengthen the soul to resist the devil and all his deadly delusions: the word of God. Storing up the precious truth of God in the heart is God's secret for keeping us from every error, even error backed by the most astonishing miracles.
- Warned — the Lord tells His own in advance. The warning is itself the protection, and His truth stored in the heart is where safety lies.
- Wonders — signs and wonders prove nothing on their own. If they serve what is not the truth, reject the man who works them.
- Two kinds — the divine sign displays God's character in grace and power. The counterfeit is flashier, and it attracts the unconverted.
- Limited — "if possible" marks a line the deceivers cannot cross. God's grace and power keep the elect, though they come near to it.
- Unmistakable — the real Christ will not hide in a corner. He will shine out in glory, and every eye will see Him.
But do *ye* take heed behold, I have told you all things beforehand.
This verse closes a run of warnings about the trouble ahead and the deceivers who will use it. The question it raises is simple: if the Lord has already told His people what is coming, what should they do with that knowledge?
The warning looks ahead to the Lord's departure. He would no longer walk with them, so He named the dangers in advance.
They would have to walk a road full of dangers, and here the Lord warns them how to escape the judgment about to fall on the beloved people for their sins. He would no longer be present to guide them. But His heart could not leave them in the dark about the path or about the difficulties they would meet. And the testimony Jesus gave about it would turn those difficulties and dangers into proof that His words were true, and into encouragement for their hearts when they found themselves in the trouble.
The phrase in this verse is not new. It runs through the whole discourse, and one writer counts its four appearances as the frame that holds the prophecy together.
In verse 33 the words "Take … heed" come for the fourth time. The Lord opened His discourse with these words and closed with them, and He spoke them twice in between (verses 9 and 23). Every prophetic revelation He gave is meant to touch our consciences and our lives. He forewarns us so that we may be forearmed.
The warning answers the false Christs and false prophets of the two verses before it. The tone rises sharply at this point, and the deceivers described are read as a late crop, matching an earlier one.
Then comes a burst of warning, not just as before, but even stronger. Clearly there is a final appearance, a fresh crowd of these deceivers in the last days, as there was when this prophecy first applied. Their aim is to lead astray, if it were possible, even the elect.
The words "if it were possible" carry great weight. One writer reads them as a promise that the deception will fail.
The words "if it were possible" show that they would be deceived if it were not for the protection of God's grace and power. God has decreed that the elect will not be swept away, even though they come so close to it. But believers have no excuse for accepting such deception. The Lord has warned them in advance how subtle it is, and their protection is in His Word.
The danger comes from more than one direction. The answer to every form of it is the same.
The Lord warns the disciples against false hopes of deliverance; against false reports, of false Christs; against false prophets, false signs, and apparent wonders. Their safety will be in remembering the words of the Lord, "I have told you all things beforehand."
Several writers point out that the setting of this passage is local and Jewish. The surrounding details — Judea, flight, flesh being saved — mark out a specific group in a future crisis rather than the church.
In the future crisis only "those in Judea" are concerned. The question here is of "flesh" being saved and of "this generation," not of resurrection and of being caught up on high. Jewish disciples only are in view, and deliverance comes down to the earth in displayed power and glory.
A warning given in advance only helps someone who knows what was said. One writer draws two results from that.
In tender concern for our weakness, the Lord, through His servants, has warned us in advance of what to expect among His professing people. Two important things follow. First, only in the light of the Scriptures can we read the state of professing Christianity correctly. Second, if we do not know the teaching of the Word of God, we are open to disappointments and deceptions of every kind.
- Told — The Lord would not leave His own in the dark about the road ahead. He spoke before the trouble came.
- Trusted — When the dangers come, they prove His words true and encourage the heart.
- Guarded — "If it were possible" means the deception fails. God's grace and power hold the elect, and their protection is in His Word.
- Heeded — The same warning sounds four times in this chapter. Prophecy presses on the conscience: forewarned is forearmed.
- Applied — The scene is a future crisis in Judea. Even so, only those who know Scripture can read their own times without being deceived.