Christ's words had been spoken in the hearing of a large number of people; but when He was alone, Peter, John, James, and Andrew came to Him as He sat upon the Mount of Olives. "Tell us," they said, "when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Jesus did not answer His disciples by taking up separately the destruction of Jerusalem and the great day of His coming. He mingled the description of these two events. Had He opened to His disciples future events as He beheld them, they would have been unable to endure the sight. In mercy to them He blended the description of the two great crises, leaving the disciples to study out the meaning for themselves. When He referred to the destruction of Jerusalem, His prophetic words reached beyond that event to the final conflagration in that day when the Lord shall rise out of His place to punish the world for their iniquity, when the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain. This entire discourse was given, not for the disciples only, but for those who should live in the last scenes of this earth's history.

Kristi ord var blevet sagt i overværelse af en mængde mennesker; men da han blev alene, kom Peter, Jakob og Johannes hen til ham på Oliebjerget, hvor han havde sat sig til hvile. De sagde: "Sig os, når dette skal ske? Og hvad er tegnet på dit komme og verdens ende?" Jesus besvarede ikke sine disciples spørgsmål ved hver for sig at beskrive Jerusalems ødelæggelse og den store dag, hvor han skulle komme igen. Han blandede beskrivelsen af disse to begivenheder sammen. Hvis han havde afsløret fremtidens begivenheder for disciplene, sådan som han så dem, ville de ikke have været i stand til at udholde synet. I sin barmhjertighed blandede han beskrivelsen af de to store skæbnesvangre vendepunkter og overlod så til disciplene selv at granske betydningen. Når han omtalte Jerusalems ødelæggelse, nåede hans profetiske ord ud over denne begivenhed til den sidste vældige verdrnsbrand på den dag, hvor Herren skal rejse sig i sin vælde for at straffe verden for dens ugudelighed, hvor jorden skal bringe sit blod for lyset og ikke mere skjule sine dræbte. Hele denne tale blev ikke blot holdt for disciplenes skyld, men også for deres, som skulle opleve de sidste begivenheder i denne jords historie.