S. Kent Brown, BYU Professor of Ancient Scripture

BYU Devotional, November 1999

“It was probably on Tuesday of the last week of His life that Jesus climbed the Mount of Olives after leaving Jerusalem. He had spent His day teaching at the temple. As the sun began to sink toward the western horizon at day’s end, Jesus paused high on the slope of the mountain with four of His apostles. They had evidently exited the city by leaving directly from the temple grounds through the so-called Golden Gate, which pierced the eastern wall. They then descended into the Kidron Valley before beginning their ascent. The Gospel of Mark names the apostles who were with Jesus. They were the two pairs of brothers from Galilee: Peter and Andrew, James and John. Thus Jesus spoke the words of His sermon in the presence of the most trustworthy witnesses of that age. I wish to emphasize that this point is not minor. This discourse, detailed in Matthew 24, was to be one of the most significant of Jesus’ mortal ministry.”