Jesus answered and said to them, “Be careful that no one deceives you,
Jesus begins to answer by first warning them to beware of deception. Before revealing future events, he emphasizes the most important spiritual danger: delusion. Christ chooses to warn first rather than explain everything at once, because delusion begins precisely where hearts lose vigilance. In this brief but profound word, the necessity of spiritual wakefulness is underscored, so that believers will not be led astray. As we will see next, Jesus will give details about the ways deception will operate throughout the course of the world’s history.