Today, we introduce the great "Eschatological Discourse" which takes as its central themes the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple, the Last Judgment and the end of the world. This discourse —found in all three Synoptic Gospels with certain variations— could, perhaps, be described as the most difficult text in the whole of the Gospels.

This is due in some measure to the complexity of its contents. The text refers, partly, to historical events that have taken place in the meantime, but mainly to a future that lies altogether beyond time. Jesus, speaking as He always does in continuity with the Law and the Prophets presents this material using a wave of scriptural allusions, within which He locates the new elements of His mission: the Son of Man brings the Justice of God before anything else, offering His life for us.

—It is not a matter of describing the future (as it could be expected from seers), but of inserting the substance of the future in the Word of God, by guiding us on the straight path for today and for tomorrow.