Would
you like to stir up a heated debate about Biblical prophecy? If that’s your
aim, then you’ll need a good starting point... how about the Olivet Discourse
as recorded in Matthew chapter 24? You can probably foment the debate to a
fever pitch among elders and scholars even in the same church body.
A
review of various Bible Commentaries clearly shows that there is little
agreement about the meaning of Matthew 24. This section of Scripture has
perplexed many interpreters and caused a multitude of speculations and differing
opinions about what Jesus meant. In fact, it might be fair to say that there
may be no passage of Scripture that has been the focus of more controversy than
the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel record. It’s like throwing fuel on a simmering
fire... soon it rages.
D.A.
Carson, a well known New Testament scholar, begins his commentary on Matthew 24
with these words: "Few chapters of the Bible have called forth more
disagreement among interpreters than Matthew 24 and its parallels in Mark 13
and Luke 21. The history of the interpretation of
this chapter is immensely complex" (The Expositor's Bible Commentary,
volume 8, page 488). No kidding.
Carson's
statement amplifies the difficulties people have encountered when trying to
interpret Matthew
24. While the chapter is a marvelous collection of prophetic implications, it
has been victimized by considerable theological speculation. Several theories,
spawned by a misunderstanding of this chapter, have generated confusion in the
religious community.
Interpretations
of Matthew 24 have spawned entire religious movements, denominational creeds,
divisions and divisiveness. It has been used to endorse the “labels” attached
to various schools of eschatological thinking such as... Pretorism, Realized
Eschatology and Dispensational Premillennialism.
This article isNOT about finding common ground with any particular
interpretive perspective
on Matthew 24. It's about simple TRUTH. It is essential that we understand
what Jesus was saying in Matthew 24. Christ is returning... aside from the
Cross and the Resurrection “the day [or time] of His return will be the day of
all days”. Nothing is more important
to a believer than understanding what Jesus meant in Matthew 24. But we must
approach its interpretation with great caution, avoiding self-serving
simplistic views and arrogant dogmatism.
The Context is Critical
Studying
Matthew 24 in the larger context of preceding chapters will help avoid
interpretation pitfalls. Considering the importance of “context”... the
background to Matthew 24 actually begins at least as far back as chapter 16:21.
There, we are given the following summary statement: "From that time Jesus
began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things
at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he
must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."
By
his comments, Jesus set the stage for what appeared to be to the disciples a
showdown in Jerusalem between himself and the religious authorities. He
continued telling his disciples about this imminent conflict as they made their
way to Jerusalem (20:17-19).
During
the time Jesus was explaining that he was to suffer at Jerusalem, he took
Peter, James and John up to a high mountain. There, they experienced the
transfiguration (17:1-13). This of itself must have made the disciples wonder
whether the establishment of the kingdom of God was close at hand (17:10-12).
Jesus
also told the disciples they would sit on 12 thrones judging Israel "when
the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne" (19:28). No doubt, this
sparked additional questions about the time and manner of the coming of the kingdom
of God. Jesus' talking about the kingdom even prompted the mother of James and
John to ask him to give special positions in the kingdom to her two sons (20:20-21).
Then
came the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, in which Jesus rode into the city on a
donkey (21:1-11). This, said Matthew, fulfilled what the prophet Zechariah had
spoken, and which was thought to refer to the Messiah. The entire city was
aroused, wondering what would happen as Jesus arrived. In Jerusalem, he
overturned the moneylender's tables and took other actions to demonstrate his messianic
authority (21:12-27). "Who is this?" people asked in response to his
audacious behavior (21:10).
Next,
in 21:43 Jesus told the chief priests and elders of the people: "I tell
you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people
who will produce its fruit." His audience knew he was talking about them.
Jesus' statement could have been taken as an implication that
he was ready to establish his messianic kingdom, but the religious leaders holding
power, would not be a part of it.
Is the kingdom to be established?
The
disciples who heard this certainly would have been confused, wondering what was
going to happen. Was Jesus ready to announce his messiahship? Was he ready to put
down the Roman authority? Was he on the verge of ushering in the kingdom of
God? Would there be a war, and what would happen to Jerusalem and the sacred
temple?
We
now come to Matthew 22 and verse 15. Here the final scene begins to develop
with the Pharisees laying plans to trap Jesus by asking him a question
regarding the paying of taxes. They hoped to use his answer as the basis for
accusing Jesus of rebelling against the Roman authority. But
Jesus answered rather cleverly, and their plan was foiled.
That
same day the Sadducees also had an encounter with Jesus (22:23-32). Not
believing in the resurrection, they asked him a trick question about seven
brother s marrying one woman. Whose wife would she be in the resurrection?,
they asked. Jesus answered them indirectly by telling them they didn't understand
their own Scriptures. He confounded them by pointing out that there is no marriage
in the kingdom.
Next,
the Pharisees and Sadducees together tested Jesus on the meaning of the
greatest commandment in the law (22:36). He answered them by quoting Leviticus
19:8 and Deuteronomy 6:5. Then Jesus asked them a trick question about whose
son the Messiah was to
be (22:42). They fell into his trap, and "no one could say a word in
reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions"
(22:46).
Chapter
23 shows Jesus criticizing the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. Toward
the end of the chapter, Jesus talked about sending them prophets, wise men and
teachers whom they would flog, kill and crucify. He laid the responsibility for
all the slain prophets at their feet. The anger and tension of the religious
leaders was obviously growing. The disciples must have been wondering about the
meaning of these hostile encounters. To them, Jesus gave the appearance of
provoking these encounters. Was Jesus about to take control of the government
as Messiah?
Then,
in a prayer to Jerusalem, Jesus spoke of its house as becoming desolate. This
is connected to his cryptic comment: "For I tell you, you will not see me again
until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord'" (23:39).
By this point in time, the disciples must have been utterly confused, curious
and anxious about the things Jesus was saying. Was he about to proclaim himself
King? Would his seemingly unlimited power overturn the Roman empire?
Temple to be destroyed
After
these things, Jesus leaves the temple. As he was walking away, his anxious
disciples pointed to its buildings. In Mark's words, they said, "Look,
Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" (13:1). Luke
says the disciples remarked how the temple was "adorned with beautiful
stones and with gifts dedicated to God" (21:5).
Think
of what must have been going through the disciples' minds. Jesus' comments
about Jerusalem's desolation and his confrontation with the religious leaders
both frightened and excited the disciples. They must have wondered why he was
speaking of impending doom on Judaism
and its institutions. Wasn't the Messiah coming to glorify both by becoming the
Messianic King? By their comments about the temple, it seems as if the
concerned and
confused disciples were thinking, Surely, nothing can happen to this beautiful
temple in which God dwells!?
Jesus
then made the disciples more curious and frightened. He brushed aside their
lavish praise of the temple. "Do you see all these things?" he asked.
"I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every
one will be thrown down" (24:2).
This
must have been shocking to the disciples. They thought the Messiah was going to
save Jerusalem
and the temple, not allow both to be destroyed.
As
Jesus spoke of these things, the disciples must have thought about the end of
gentile rule and the glory of Israel, both which are prophesied so many times in the Hebrew
Scriptures. They knew these events would occur at "the time of the
end" (Daniel 8:17; 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9). It was at this time that the
Messiah would appear or "come" to usher in the kingdom of God.
It would mean that Israel would again rise to national greatness and prominence
throughout the known world.
Those
confused and anxious disciples would have been thinking... surely this is what
Jesus was preparing to do. He is the Messiah, our King and he’s going to
restore Israel and bring forth the kingdom of God... now. R4L
