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Matthew 21:23-23:39 (Controversies with the Jewish Leaders) Matthew 24:1-25:46 (Jesus’ Teaching About the Future)

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Matthew 21:23-23:39 (Controversies with the Jewish Leaders) Matthew 24:1-25:46 (Jesus’ Teaching About the Future) CONTEXT FOR CHAPTERS 23-25 (JESUS’ “FIFTH DISCOURSE”) Matthew 21:23-23:39 (Controversies with the Jewish Leaders) Matthew 24:1-25:46 (Jesus’ Teaching about the Future) OUTLINE OF MATTHEW 24 Matthew 24:1-2 (Jesus Predicts the Temple’s Destruction) Matthew 24:3-14 (Jesus Warns against Premature Expectation) Matthew 24:15-28 (Judea’s Coming Crisis) Matthew 24:29-35 (Climax of the Crisis within “This Generation”) Matthew 24:36-25:13 (The Unexpected Parousia of the Son of Man/Parable of the Virgins) OUTLINE OF MATTHEW 25 Matthew 24:36-25:13 (the Unexpected Parousia of the Son of Man/Parable of the Virgins) Matthew 25:14-30 (Parable of the Talents) Matthew 25:31-46 (The Last Judgment) NOTES ON MATTHEW 24 Jesus Predicts the Temple’s Destruction (24:1-2) - Jesus’ “leaving the temple” symbolizes the end of its relevance in the purpose of God. - The fact that Jesus goes from there to the Mount of Olives (v. 3) may be a further echo of Ezekiel 11:23, where “the glory of the LORD,” on leaving the temple, stops at the same point. - The disciples’ preoccupation with the buildings, therefore, is not only to a tourist’s fascination (which they well merited – see the description in Josephus, Antiquities xv. 392–402, 410–420) but also to incredulity that Jesus could be repudiating such a noble structure dedicated to the glory of God and still in the process of completion. - Jesus’ response goes beyond the repudiation of the temple to foretell its total destruction. Micah (3:12) and Jeremiah (7:12–14; cf. 26:1–19) had dared to make a similar prediction about Solomon’s temple, and it had been fulfilled in 587 BC, but Jewish apocalyptic belief in Jesus’ time was that the temple was indestructible. - Jesus’ prediction became known and was quoted in a garbled form at his trial (26:61) and at his execution (27:40). It was the starkest expression of his rejection of Jewish nationalism and of those leaders whose power was focused on the Temple and its rituals. Jesus Warns against Premature Expectation (24:3-14) 24:3 - Contrast the disciples’ question here with Mark 13:4, where the disciples’ question apparently relates only to the date of the destruction of the temple. - Here, the disciples ask Jesus a two-part question. The first question (Question A) is “when will these things happen” (i.e., when will the temple be destroyed). - The second question (Question B) is a “two-parter,” to wit: “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” In the original Greek, a single definite article links the two parts of this question together. - For the disciples, the destruction of the temple is synonymous with Jesus’ Second Coming (the parousia – Greek for “presence,” but a term used for high-ranking state visits and divine visitations)/the end of all things. - Jesus rejects this linkage, expands the disciples’ horizons, and will go on to teach that things will continue after the temple’s destruction – i.e., the temple is not the be-all, end-all of everything. 24:4-5: - Jesus’ reply begins immediately with the danger of being led astray, of jumping too hastily to eschatological conclusions. - “In my name” does not mean they come with, or even claim, Jesus’ authority, but rather that they aim to usurp His place. He is the only Christ, and anyone else claiming that role is an impostor. In the years leading up to the Jewish War (66-73AD) there were many nationalistic leaders who collected a popular following (see Acts 5:36–37; 21:38 for mentions of only a few of them). “While they are not specifically recorded as claiming to be the Messiah, there is little doubt that their followers tended to see them in that light.” (R.T. France) 24:6: The ancients often considered these things as signs of “the end,” but these things have always been part of human history. They will occur as part of God’s overarching purpose, but are not necessarily signs of THE end. 24:7: Jesus alludes to Isaiah 19:2. 24:8: The “beginning of the sufferings” (lit. “birth-pangs”) is a technical term in apocalyptic language for the period of suffering which must lead up to the new age; while all such events have an ultimate connection with the final consummation, they are far from being its immediate precursors, and so cannot be used to plot its nearness. All that is mentioned in vv. 5–8, then, is presented precisely as not being “signs of the end.” 24:9-12: - The attention on the “sufferings to come” now turns to the impact it will have on disciples, specifically. - In contrast to Matt. 10:17-22 and Mark 13:9-13, the persecution is to come from all nations, not just from the Jews. - This persecution will have adverse effects among Jesus’ disciples themselves. “It is a somber picture of a church in decline. All this…is part of the history which must run its course before ‘the end’ comes; but there is no indication as to the temporal relation between such a situation and ‘the end.’” (R.T. France) 24:14: Jesus points clearly to a time when Israel’s special priority will be over, and the gospel which Israel (in its leaders – see Matthew 23) has largely rejected will be preached to the Gentiles. Judea’s Coming Crisis (24:15-28) Verses 4–14 are a bit of a regression, indicating what are not to be regarded as “signs of the end.” Jesus now returns more directly to the question of v. 3, “When will this be?” Verses 15–22 describe the crisis which will soon come upon Judea (the prelude to the destruction of the temple predicted in v. 2); vv. 23–28 then go on to give further warnings against premature eschatological expectation even in that terrible situation – even then, “the end is not yet.” 24:15: - “The abomination of desolation” refers to Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, which itself echoes the similar language of Daniel 9:27. - An ‘abomination’ in Old Testament idiom is an idolatrous affront to the true worship of God. The reference in Daniel was to the pagan statue which Antiochus Epiphanes set up in the temple at Jerusalem in 167 BC, thus “desolating” the worship of the temple. - A number of historical events are candidates for the desolation of which Jesus speaks, but whatever the precise fulfilment of Jesus’ warning, it seems clear from what follows that it is in the events of the Jewish War of AD 66–70 that he sees the reappearance of Daniel’s “desolating sacrilege.” 24:16-18: A vivid picture of a sudden, catastrophic crisis. 24:19-20: A refugee’s lot is hard enough without extra impediments. In winter roads in Palestine were practically impassable with mud, and on a sabbath gates would be shut and provisions unobtainable. 24:21-22: - For the horrors of the siege, see Josephus’ “The Jewish War,” v. 512–518. - Jesus’ words recall Daniel 12:1, an eschatological (“end times”) vision which Jesus sees as at least foreshadowed in these catastrophic events. But the destruction will not be allowed to run its full course: the days will be shortened, perhaps in order to allow the elect to survive, or perhaps because the presence of the elect in the world mitigates the severity of God’s judgment (cf. the ‘righteous’ in Sodom, Gen. 18:23–32). 24:23-25: - Such a crisis will be a golden opportunity for the sort of Messianic pretenders already predicted in 24:5; in the urgency of Israel’s need they will be eagerly welcomed as God’s answer to her problems. - Often in the church’s history (and sometimes today) a period of crisis leaves God’s people wide open to plausible perversions of the truth, particularly if they are accompanied by great signs and wonders. ‘Miraculous’ activity is, in the Bible, by no means always the work of God (see Deut. 13:1–3, on which this passage may be based). - In such a situation the elect need to be forewarned (24:25) if they are not to be led astray into a premature expectation of ‘the end’. 24:26: - Popular expectation was that the Messiah would appear in the wilderness (hence perhaps some of the excitement about John the Baptist; several of the rebel leaders of the first century did in fact operate from there (see note on 24:5, and Josephus, Antiquities xx. 97–99, 167–172). - The inner rooms (lit. ‘store-houses’) probably indicates a secret place (as in Matt. 6:6), and may reflect the Jewish expectation of a ‘hidden’ Messiah, who would emerge from obscurity (see John 7:27). Such notions are easily played on to create a false expectancy in the absence of any evidence, and Jesus insists that His return (unlike His first coming) will be no secret affair which some may fail to recognize altogether. 24:27: - Contrary to popular expectation, Jesus’ Second Coming will be as unmistakable and as universally visible as a flash of lightning. Thus the mention of the parousia (Jesus’ Second Coming) here indicates that it is not to be looked for in the chaotic events of the Jewish War, but will be something totally different in type/character. 24:28: This is a proverbial saying (maybe based on Job 39:30), but similar sayings are found elsewhere in the ancient world.
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