So if they tell you, ‘There He is, in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Here He is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.
26. Lo, he is in the desert. Luke connects this discourse with another reply of Christ; for, having been interrogated by the Pharisees about the coming of the kingdom of God, he replied, that it would not come with observation; and then follows in Luke’s narrative that, turning to his disciples, he informed them that the days would come when they would no longer see...
For as the lightning cometh out of the east,.... The eastern part of the horizon, and shineth even unto the west; to the western part of it, with great clearness; in a moment; in the twinkling of an eye, filling the whole intermediate space; so shall also the coming of the son of man be; which must be understood not of his last coming to...
Verse 26. Behold, he is in the desert. The Jews had formed the expectation that the Messiah would appear suddenly, from some unexpected quarter. Hence many would be looking to the desert places, expecting that he would come from them. Accordingly, most of the impostors and pretended prophets led their people into the deserts. Go not forth. Do not follow them. They will only deceive you. In the secret chambers.