And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately.
The Mount of Olives was opposite the temple, and from there all the splendor of Jerusalem was visible. This position is symbolic: the Lord is seated facing the city and reveals its future. The four disciples ask privately, because what they had heard had stirred deep anxiety within them. They could not easily imagine that God’s temple was going to be destroyed. Asking privately shows the right spirit of discipleship: when the Lord’s word is heavy or hard to understand, it must be brought before Him in order to receive light and explanation.