Then shall they deliver you up to tribulation, and shall kill you; and ye will be hated of all the nations for my name's sake.
The Lord has just called wars, famines and earthquakes "the beginning of the birth pains," and now the danger turns personal. This verse raises three questions: who is the "you," what time does the "then" mark, and why does the hatred fall on His name?
This suffering belongs to a definite stage, not to history in general. One commentator places everything up to verse 14 in the first part of the last week Daniel foretold:
Verses 4-14 contain our Lord's prophecy about the beginning of the end of the Jewish age. Verse 15 then describes the end itself, with its terrible great tribulation and "the abomination of desolation." The whole period is the last week of Daniel's great prophecy — a prophetic week of seven years, which cannot begin as long as the church is on the earth.
Commentators differ on how much of this was already fulfilled. One writer sees a partial fulfilment in the years before Jerusalem fell, and a trial with a fixed end:
So the Lord prepares the Jewish disciples, or remnant, for their special trials. This was partly true after His own departure, up to the destruction of Jerusalem. It will be fulfilled more fully before God once more acknowledges Jerusalem, after the destruction of the Antichrist. This means there is a defined period of endurance — an end will come, as surely as there was a beginning of sorrows. When our Lord speaks of the Christian's lot in the Gospel of John, He never names a beginning or an end. He implies instead that tribulation should be expected right through the Christian's life: "In the world you will have tribulation."
The men listening were already believers, but Christianity had not yet begun. Reading this chapter as if it describes Christians causes confusion:
Many people today, as in the past, have taken the whole discourse as if the Lord spoke it to Christians. They imagine that it all describes the position of Christians at one time or another. But this idea is mistaken. The Lord begins with the Jewish disciples, before Christianity itself was revealed. Christianity rests on the death, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord. These are the pillars of Christianity.
Another writer says who those disciples stand for:
The Lord was not speaking to sinners. He was speaking to men He had already brought into a relationship with Himself — His disciples. At that moment they represented the chosen remnant of Israel, who will be on earth at the time of the end.
They suffer not simply as Jews, but for the name they carry:
Though they are Jews, they have come to see that the Jesus whom they crucified really was the Messiah. So the nations persecute them not simply as Jews, but, as the Lord says, "for my name's sake."
The hatred falls on people who are announcing Him:
The one nation will draw on itself the hatred of the other nations, and that for the sake of His name. At that time they are the Messiah's missionaries, and they proclaim Him without fear.
The hatred reaches every nation. One writer draws a sobering conclusion from that:
From this it seems clear that the nations who now profess the name of Christ will have given it up. In Scripture's own words, the Apostasy will have come (2 Thess. 2:3) — the complete abandonment of Christianity.
One writer explains why the persecution of that time will be so fierce:
So there will be persecution, and of the severest kind. The Lord Himself warned His disciples about this same period: "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." The Holy Spirit will have departed with the church. Nothing will hold back the will of man and the power of evil. It will be man's hour and the power of darkness, and the result will be relentless hatred against everyone who holds to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
- Then — the word fixes the time. These sufferings belong to the beginning of the end, the first half of Daniel's last week, not to all of history.
- Testimony — the hatred begins with a message. They die as people who proclaim the Messiah their nation once crucified.
- Name — the nations hate them not for who they are, but for the name they carry.
- Nations — the hatred is worldwide. That alone shows the nations now professing Christ's name will have given it up.
- Unchecked — the Holy Spirit will have departed with the church, so evil runs free and the hatred is relentless.
And then will many be offended, and will deliver one another up, and hate one another;
On the Mount of Olives, Jesus answers His disciples' question about His coming and the end of the age, and His answer moves from wars outside to collapse inside the circle of His own followers. Who are these "many," and why does hatred break out among people who once stood together?
Jesus says "you" to the men sitting in front of Him. One writer argues those men stood for a later group:
He spoke as though the disciples in front of Him would be there at the end, because He saw them as representatives. The "brothers" spoken of at the end of the discourse are the disciples of the last days, and the disciples of the first days, whom the Lord was addressing, stood for them. A little later the Spirit baptised these first disciples into the one body, which is the church, as recorded in Acts 2. But at that moment they were simply a remnant of Israel who had found the Messiah in Jesus and joined themselves to Him.
Verse 9 describes hatred from the nations. Verse 10 shows what that pressure does inside the hunted group:
But this persecution from outside would cause people to fall away inside. Many would stumble. They would turn against those who had once been their companions, betray them and hate them. And because lawlessness was spreading, many hearts that were not fed straight from the flame of Christ's love would grow cold.
Older translations say "many shall be offended" — many will stumble. One writer ties that stumbling to faith that was only claimed, and adds that this trial has a fixed end:
There would be false profession, and hatred of those who were true, even among themselves — not only troubles from outside... So there is a set period of endurance. An end will come, as surely as there was a beginning of sorrows. But what trial, darkness, suffering and scandal before that end comes! When our Lord speaks of the Christian's lot in John's Gospel, He never names a beginning or an end. Instead He implies that a Christian should expect trouble all through his life: "In the world you will have tribulation."
The word "many" is not a vague crowd. One writer works out who they are from the fact that their love grows cold:
As well as the outward sufferings of the remnant, their trials from within will be sharp. Under the fierce temptation of that time, some will treacherously desert their ranks, causing all the shame and disappointment such failures must bring. Ties will be torn and friendships broken... The "many" here must mean many of the remnant. It could not mean Israel as a whole, because they will be hardened and estranged from God, as they are now. So those whose love grows cold must be people who had love that could grow cold.
Verse 9 names killing. Verse 10 names betrayal. One writer says which of the two costs more:
Opposition from outside is bad, but opposition from inside is far worse. They hate, betray and trip up one another... Losing trust, respect and affection for each other is the greatest loss of all. When people cannot be trusted like this, faith in God must be very strong, because His support alone can hold a person up.
Commentators differ over which persecution is in view. One writer separates Matthew's account from Luke's parallel:
Both Gospel writers speak of hatred, persecution and betrayal, but the character of it is different. Luke foretells the sufferings that the early Jewish Christians would suffer at the hands of their own countrymen and closest relatives... In Matthew, though, the persecution is a very different one. It comes from the Gentile rulers who oppressed the nation before the Lord's coming in power. So Matthew leaves out the feature of family conflict.
- Pressure. Hatred from the nations comes first. Verse 10 shows what that pressure does once it reaches inside the group.
- Fracture. The pressure turns companions into betrayers. People hand over and hate the friends they once loved.
- Exposure. Persecution does not create false faith. It uncovers it. Stumbling shows hearts that Christ's love never fed.
- Remnant. The "many" are drawn from those who had love to lose, not from a nation already hardened.
- Endurance. When no one around you can be trusted, only strong faith in God holds you up — and this trial has a set end.