Lecture #8 - The Conflict Comes - Matt. 21-24

Matt. 21:1-16

When Jesus comes to the Jerusalem, at the beginning of his last week of ministry before he is exalted on the cross, he takes the message that he has been preaching throughout the land of Israel, and in certain gentile cites as well, and makes a prophetic public declaration about the temple system.

Jesus, rides from the mount of olives to the temple on a donkey, fulfilling a prophecy of Zechariah.

Zech. 9:9-10  

"Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.  (10)  I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim And the horse from Jerusalem; The battle bow shall be cut off. He shall speak peace to the nations; His dominion shall be 'from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.'

God intends to speak peace to the nations, and bring the blessing of his dominion to the world. Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey in order to send a symbolic prophetic message that it was time for the fulfillment of that prophecy to begin. The Jews in Jerusalem understood what he was doing (Mat 21:11  So the multitudes said, "This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth of Galilee.")

The purpose for which God set aside Israel as a priestly nation was so that they would go to the gentiles and bring them all to God.

Matt. 5:13-17

¹³ Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. ¹⁴ Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. ¹⁵ Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. ¹⁷ Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Isaiah 56:3-8

³ Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. ⁴ For thus saith the LORD unto the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; ⁵ Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off. ⁶ Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD, to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant; ⁷ Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people. ⁸ The Lord GOD, which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, yet will I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.

The nation of Israel was intended to be a stand in, doing what Jesus would come and finish.  They were set aside so that they would begin to bring the world to God the Father and then Jesus would come and finish 

the job. But when Jesus came, they were refusing to go to the nations and turning all of the light that was supposed to be for the world in on themselves. They refused to pass the torch to Jesus and, with the help of the Romans, they killed him instead.  They did not want to give up their place as God’s special people, even though that was the plan from the beginning. Abraham was set aside in order to bless all the families of the earth (Gen. 12:3;18:18; 28:14) and all the nations of the earth would be blessed (Gen. 22:18; 26:4). The Jews were called to continue fulfilling the call of Abraham. But instead they had filled the house of prayer for for all of the nations with thievery to the point that there was no room for gentiles.

Jesus was anointed as a priest after the order of Melchizedek at his baptism. One of the first things that he did when he began his ministry was go to the temple and run all of the money changers out of the court of the gentiles. 

John 2:13-17

¹³ And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: ¹⁵ And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; ¹⁶ And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house an house of merchandise. ¹⁷ And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.

This is Jesus first visit to the leprous temple.  He cleansed it, throwing out the thieving money changers.  The people of God were always the temple.  When Jesus threw the money-changers out of the temple, he was cleansing the temple of the unclean stones.

Jesus makes this explicit when he returns at the end of his ministry.

Matt. 21:12-14

¹² And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, ¹³ And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. ¹⁴ And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them.

Mark adds that Jesus would not let anyone carry anything through the temple (Mark 11) and Luke adds the detail that this cleansing is a sign of the coming destruction of the city (Luke 19)

Now in Matthew, the story of the fig tree never producing fruit again is Jesus prophesying that the temple would be removed, (see below). We learn from the Gospel of Mark that Matthew put two events together for the sake of telling the story, which happened before and after the cleansing of the temple (Mark 11).  Now Jesus goes into the temple for the second time and finds the same leprosy that was in the temple three years earlier spreading again.  He finds the court of the gentiles filled with thieves with no room for the God-fearing gentiles to come and worship God.  So he begins to overturn the tables of the money changers, and we are told specifically that he turned over the seat of the men selling doves, which is what the temple would have needed to atone for the fretting leprosy if it would have been cleansed the first time, and then Jesus would not let anyone take anything through the temple, because the temple had become unclean. 

Now, at this point it seems likely that Jesus had these house leprosy laws in mind, but we can be absolutely sure he did if we look up the two verses that he compares.  My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer is a quote from Isaiah 56:7 for mine house shall be called an house of prayer for all people.  But Jesus goes on to say that the Israelites have turned the temple into a den of thieves.  Two background verses for this are Jeremiah 7-9, where God is telling the Israelites why he is about to lay Jerusalem waste, and the first thing that they are told to do is shave off all of their hair, which is what a person with leprosy was supposed to do if they were healed and the last thing in the prophecy is God going to turn Jerusalem into a heap of ruins and Judah into a desolate place. 

And Zechariah 5:3-4

   ³Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.   ⁴I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

Jeremiah alludes to a den of thieves being like leprosy, unclean, But Zechariah says it explicitly.  A house full of thieves has leprosy and the leprosy will consume the timber and the stones of that house, and Jesus says that the temple is that kind of house, a leprous house and since this is the second time that the priest has come to inspect the house, so now we know what Jesus is going to do, he is going to tear down the temple and cast it into an unclean place.  One Chapter later Jesus as he sat upon the Mount of Olives over against the temple points at the Temple and said, “Seest thou these great buildings? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Mark 13:2).

Jesus came to the temple and it was filled to the brim with leprosy, so he cleansed it, and when he returned, the leprosy was back, so he tore down the temple in 70AD.

The passage in Jeremiah is clear that the temple is coming down. It is clear that one of the reasons that it is going to be coming down is that the people that act this way are people that have begun to trust in the temple.

Jer. 7:3-4  Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel: "Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.  (4)  Do not trust in these lying words, saying, 'The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these.'

But when we turn anything into an idol, we end up destroying it. Jeremiah's prophecy connects this and the next story of the cursing of the fig tree and provides a background and meaning to Jesus' actions.

Jer. 8:11-13  For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, Saying, 'Peace, peace!' When there is no peace.  (12)  Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among those who fall; In the time of their punishment They shall be cast down," says the LORD.  (13)  "I will surely consume them," says the LORD. "No grapes shall be on the vine, Nor figs on the fig tree, And the leaf shall fade; And the things I have given them shall pass away from them."

When you see these things together, then know that the things that God has given to the nation of Israel are going to be taken and given to another. (Which is exactly where Jesus is going next in Matt. 23:23-32).

But it is not just that the temple is going to be destroyed. Jesus is clear that it is, but he is radically restructuring everything that the temple symbolized around himself. He is claiming that his own ministry is superseding and replacing the temple. He stops the temple and claims himself as the replacement.

The temple was the central symbol of Judaism. It was the location where Israel did most of the rituals that made Israel, as well as the place where Israel would point to answer many of her most important questions.

The temple was the joy of Israel, and as such was intended to be the joy of the whole earth (ps. 48:2). The temple was the center of Israel because God's presence was there. From his throne in the heaven of heavens, above the firmament and the seven wandering stars, God came to dwell on the earth in the presence of his people. He moved into the tabernacle and then the temple so that he could live with his people.

He gave them the sacrifices so that they could be near to him. He gave them the sacrifices so that they could be in fellowship with him. The presence of God in the temple was the point. they were near to their God, and through the sacramental actions of the sacrifices they could commune with their God. God's presence had always been the point (Ex. 33:12-17). God's presence is what sets Israel apart, and the temple with it's sacrifices is the central symbol of that presence. For Jesus to stop the sacrifices of the temple (Matt. 21:12) and to sit in the temple, so that the blind and lame could come to him so that he could heal them, is the equvalent of saying, 'if you want God's presence, then turn away from this temple and turn to me.' Jesus is the tabernacle now. That means that the prophecies about the destruction of the temple (Lev. 26; 1 Kings 9:1-9) are not going to be ultimate. Instead the tearing down of the temple will lead to a rebuilding of the temple.

This is, in fact, precisely what Jesus had said when he had cleansed the temple three years earlier.

Joh 2:18-22  So the Jews answered and said to Him, "What sign do You show to us, since You do these things?"  (19)  Jesus answered and said to them, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up."  (20)  Then the Jews said, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will You raise it up in three days?"  (21)  But He was speaking of the temple of His body.  (22)  Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them; and they believed the Scripture and the word which Jesus had said.

He was the new temple. And the temple would be destroyed and rebuilt. This is fulfilled in the resurrection and in the building of the church out of Jew and Gentile together throughout history.

Eph 2:10-22  For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  (11)  Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh--who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands-- (12)  that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.  (13)  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  (14)  For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,  (15)  having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace,  (16)  and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.  (17)  And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.  (18)  For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.  (19)  Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,  (20)  having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,  (21)  in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,  (22)  in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

1 Pet. 2:4-10  

Coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious,  (5)  you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.  (6)  Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHIEF CORNERSTONE, ELECT, PRECIOUS, AND HE WHO BELIEVES ON HIM WILL BY NO MEANS BE PUT TO SHAME."  (7)  Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED HAS BECOME THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE,"  (8)  and "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.  (9)  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  (10)  who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

Matt. 12:17-22 

And he left them, and went out of the city into Bethany; and he lodged there. ¹⁸ Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. ¹⁹ And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. ²⁰ And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! 

The language of Prophecy (which works like a political cartoon) was developed by the Holy Spirit in his guiding of History.  It is a series of symbols and metaphors that are designed to “fill to the full” the language of a prophet.  So Jesus’ use of a tree, and his use in particular of a fig tree, for this prophetic action is loaded and overflowing with meaning. He is pulling together Jeremiah's prophecy and applying it typologically to his own day and his own ministry. As William Hendriksen wrote, “In cursing the fig tree and cleansing the temple Jesus performed two symbolic and prophetic acts, with one meaning” (Hendriksen, William Commentary on Matthew).  Concerning figs, there was only one tree (besides the sacramental trees, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and the tree of life) that was singled out in the garden of Eden; the fig tree.  Adam and Eve sewed together fig leaves.(Gen 3:7)  The Ten Spies Brought grapes, pomegranates and figs out of the land(Num. 13:23), Moses Describes the Promised land as a land of milk honey and figs (Duet. 8:8), there is the cryptic parable of the trees in Judges (ch 9) Isaiah says that a nation destroyed by God is a Fig tree with no fruit (Is. 34:1-14). God compares Israel to a fig tree (Jer. 8:13) Nahum compares Israel to a fig tree (Nah. 3:12), Joel says that Jerusalem is like a fig tree whose bark was stripped (Joel 1:7) but then prophesies that after Pentecost, Jerusalem will have enough figs for all the wild beasts (Joel 2:22) and Hosea writes that When God came to Israel in the wilderness that she was like a newly budding fig tree, but she turned into a whore (Hos. 9:10).

Jesus puts together the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree as a prophetic act to show that Israel's time is done and that the kingdom is going to the gentiles, with himself as the new temple and his disciples as the new Israel. The Chief Priests and the Elders understand his claim. Seeing that he had popular support, they try and trap him, and ask where his authority comes from.

Matt. 21:23-32  

Now when He came into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people confronted Him as He was teaching, and said, "By what authority are You doing these things? And who gave You this authority?"  (24)  But Jesus answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, which if you tell Me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things:  (25)  The baptism of John--where was it from? From heaven or from men?" And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say to us, 'Why then did you not believe him?'  (26)  But if we say, 'From men,' we fear the multitude, for all count John as a prophet."  (27)  So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know." And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.  (28)  "But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.'  (29)  He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went.  (30)  Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go.  (31)  Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you.  (32)  For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.

His answer is to tell them a riddle that reveals that their true motivation is not faith, but fear of the people. He then tells a story that reveals their faithlessness.

Matt. 21:33-46

A parable is a subversively told story meant to redefine and redirect history.  Jesus tells parables to explain the world he is interacting with, to explain his own ministry, and to recreate the world around Him.  God created the heavens and the earth by speaking Jesus, God, recreated the world by a speaking Jesus.  When Jesus came, he came speaking the message of the kingdom of God, and he spoke the message in parables.  By doing so he is being decidedly Jewish, not because no one else ever spoke in parables, but because the content of His parables was almost exclusively taken from the Old Testament. A parable works like a political cartoon.  It takes well known symbols and images and then reorders them into something that you don’t expect in order to make a point.  This is what Jesus is doing.  He is taking the familiar symbols of the Hebrew Bible and reordering them, flipping them on their head in order to call Israel to renewed commitment to God and away from their current commitment to the Devil.  This would instruct the righteous and confuse the wicked (Matt.13:10-17).  We will look at the parable of the wicked tenants to get a feel for how this works.

This parable was told in this context: triumphal entry, cleansing of the temple, cursing of the fig tree, Pharisees question Jesus’ Authority but Jesus answers with questions about John, Parable of the wicked tenants.  The main symbols of this parable are: vineyard/fruit [Is. 5:1-7; Deut. 7:7-11, 32:32; Ps. 80:8-11; Gen. 49:11-12, 22; Jer. 2:21; Hos. 10:11; Ezek. 17:5-6; Is. 16:8; Jer. 5:10, 17, 6:9, 12:10; Hos. 2:12; Amos 4:10, Jn. 15:5, rejected stone (ps. 118:22-23 Is. 8:14-15; 28:14-18, Acts 4:11 Dan 2:34-35).

So God is the owner of the vineyard, the vineyard is Israel, with the servants being the prophets, the wicked tenants being the Pharisees and scribes and Jesus being the Son.  So Jesus’ point is that the current authority structure of Israel is not producing fruit so they are going to be destroyed and Israel is going to be handed over to the gentiles and then Israel will be rebuilt upon Christ.

Ch. 22

1-14

15-22

23-33

33-46

Ch. 23

In Matt. 23 Jesus curses the theological and religious rulers of Israel and goes on to describe what will happen to that generation because their sin had reached its fullness in Jesus’ day and Jesus uses the particular commandments that he laid forth in the beatitudes as the offenses for which Jerusalem was going to be destroyed. 

Matt. 5:1-18	Matt. 23:1-24:35
1 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: 2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Jesus takes Moses seat.	1-10 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2 Saying The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: Moses seat is filled with Egyptian Masters.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.	V. 11-13 for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.	V. 14 for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: (Rather than comfort them) therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.	V. 15 for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte Their attempts at inheriting the earth are creating sons of hell like themselves
6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled	V. 16-22 You hunger after Bureaucratic hoops rather then the true root of righteousness.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.	V. 23-24 you tithe fervently so that you can forget the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.	V. 25-26 you clean the outside of the cup rather than worry about being pure in heart.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.	V. 27-28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness (which is the opposite of peace)
10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.	V. 29-36 you persecuted and killed God’s prophets.
13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. 14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.	36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,  . . . Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.  . .  24:33 - So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. (23:36-24:34)  Jerusalem and Israel has refused to obey, so it is going to be destroyed.  They have tried to put new wine in an old wine skin and it is going to burst.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.	35 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Jesus’ proclamation of the judgment coming was for having disregarded the New Moses when the new law was established.  The Sermon on the mount was binding on the Israelites at it’s declaration (which happened multiple times; see the Gospel of Luke’s sermon on the plain- [Luke 6:20ff]).  It was God establishing a New Covenant with a new law and when the Pharisees and the Sadducees disobeyed the Gospel of the new covenant, then Jesus declared the first act of judgment that he would perform on the world.  He was going to cast down Jerusalem (with the temple in particular in mind) so that it would be trodden on by men because that was all that salt without savor was good for. 

34-39

³⁵ That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. ³⁶ Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. This is a clear time marker as to when Jesus believed that all of this would happen.  So that we wouldn’t miss it (since none of the 1^st century hearers would have missed it) he says it again later in the passage (24:34)

³⁷ O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Deut. 32:10-11)

³⁸ Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.  From this point on, there is no turning back.  The house is left desolate.  The sacrifices will lose their effectuality, the temple will become a center for anti-Christian worship (rev. 18:1).

³⁹ For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.

All the bloodguilt of all the righteous has been building in the earth and all of it is going to come upon Israel in Jesus’ generation.  In fact, Jesus is going to take the guilt for all those that flee under his wings, but the judgment of the whole world is coming on Jesus’ generation and as Jesus has made clear throughout the book of Matthew, all of that Judgment is falling on those in Jerusalem and in particular, the temple (2:1-3; 3:5-10; 3:12 (comp. ); 5:13-14; 5:29-30; 6:14-15; 7:1-6; 7:13-19; 7:21-27 (house language would evoke the temple); 8:11-12; 9:16-17; 10:14-16; 10:34-36; 11:22-24; 12:28-34; 12:33-42; 12:43-45; 13:24-30; 13:36-43; 13:47-50; 15:1-6; 15:12-14; 16:1-4; 16:14 (all prophets of judgment who were considered to be traitor because they prophesied against Israel); 17:20; 18:23-35; 19:28; 21:12-13 (comp. Jer 7:11-15); 21:18-22; 21:33-46; 22:1-14).  Jesus is the true prophet to the Jews, the true Priest of the Jews and the true King of the Jews, He is the true covenantal head of Israel, the new Adam, the new Moses, And the new David.  He has come and offered to stand between His generation of Israel and the wrath that will burn up the old heavens and the old earth and sacrifice himself like a mother hen in a fire who gathers her chicks under her wings and dies, but her chicks live.  That generation, (representing the whole world) rejected Christ, so when the wrath came, they bore it themselves.

As Jesus said on the way to His crucifixion, “Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves, and for your children. ²⁹ For, behold, the days are coming, in the which they shall say, Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bare, and the paps which never gave suck. ³⁰ Then shall they begin to say to the mountains, Fall on us; and to the hills, Cover us. ³¹ For if they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry?” (Luke 23:28-31)

Ch. 24

Matthew 24 is probably one of the most misunderstood passages in the Bible.  To understand it, we must try and take the chapter in the most natural way possible, that would make the most sense to the original hearers.

24:1-3¹ And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Jesus and his disciples leave the temple complex and the disciples start pointing at all of the buildings, do you see all of these buildings, they are going to get trampled and not one of them will still be standing within one generation.  The stones of this building are going to be scattered like salt that is only good for being trodden under foot.  And in fact not one stone was left upon another because the Romans melted the gold off of each brick one at a time, spreading the bricks out as they went.

24:3a

³ And as he sat upon the mount of Olives

Zechariah 14:1-9

¹ Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. ² For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. ³ Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. ⁴ And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. ⁵ And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the LORD my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. ⁶ And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark: ⁷ But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light. ⁸ And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be. ⁹ And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.

Zechariah Prophesies that when The Lord stands on the mount of olives that two things shall happen, Jerusalem will be destroyed and Jerusalem will be established.  Jerusalem will be destroyed by a great battle with Gentiles and the city will be taken; and Jerusalem will become the center of the Kingdom of God over all the earth, with the blessings flowing to the whole earth.

the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? ⁴

The Disciples want to know when and how will they know that he has come to usher in the new age (the word translated world means age).  This is not three questions, or even two questions, but one single question.

24:3b-14

And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. ⁵ For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. ⁶ And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. ⁷ For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. ⁸ All these are the beginning of sorrows. ⁹ Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. ¹⁰ And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. ¹¹ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. ¹² And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. ¹³ But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Don’t be deceived and don’t lose heart.  There is a rough time ahead involving death, destruction, war, apostasy, attempted revolution, and liars.  But hold out because the good news about Jesus’ kingdom is going to spread through the whole world (see Acts 17:6, 24:5, Rom. 1:8).

24:15-22

¹⁵ When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

Sometime between 64AD and 70AD there will be a repeat of the abomination of desolation, (which Daniel Prophesied about and which came to pass when the High Priest Antiochus Epiphanies In 167 B.C. a Greek ruler erected an altar to Zeus in place of the altar of burnt offerings in the temple and then sacrificed a pig on the altar to Zeus effectively halting true worship). 

24:16-22

¹⁶ Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains: ¹⁷ Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: ¹⁸ Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. ¹⁹ And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! ²⁰ But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: ²¹ For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. ²² And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

When you see it, run into the mountains, don’t gather your stuff, just run.  Woe unto you with nursing children (which is probably why the early church favored virginity, because they were going to have to hide in the mountains). Pray that it is not in winter (because it will be hard to travel) and that it is not on the Sabbath (because the gates would be locked) because the tribulation will be great. This is also probably why the early Christians were selling their property. Their property values were going to plumet

24:23-28

²³ Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. ²⁴ For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you before. ²⁶ Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. ²⁷ For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ²⁸ For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

The coming of the Son of Man will be obvious because the carcasses will pile up.  The “coming” is a coming in judgment to establish the Kingdom of Heaven (Jesus’ reign of earth from Heaven).  So if anyone claims that the kingdom is gathering steam in the wilderness, or if anyone is planning on bringing in the kingdom in some secret revolutionary meetings (which was very common in the 1^st century) then ignore them, Because the coming of the kingdom will be obvious because the eagles/vultures will be circling.  (This is perhaps a reference to the eagle on the shields of the Roman army).

24:29-31

²⁹ Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:

The collapsing universe motif is symbolic prophetic language used to describe the downfall of a nation.  Jesus is describing the destruction of Israel, and all that goes with it, (including the way in which the gentile nations were ruled by angels) as God dismantling creation.  He is going to destroy the old world order   (cf. Isa. 13:10, 14:12-15,34:4, Ezek. 32:1-10, Joel 2:28-32, 3:14-16, Heb. 1:7-12, 2 Pet. 3:9-13, Rev. 6:13-14).

³⁰ And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.

And He is going to replace it with a New World Order with Jesus as the ruler of heaven and earth. The coming on the clouds is a coming to heaven to receive all authority, which means that those that killed him will see him coming on the clouds in judgment.  (cf. Psalm 97:2-3, Ps. 104:3, Isaiah 19:1; Dan. 7:13,14, Matt. 16:27,28; Jn. 5:27).

³¹ And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

And as a result of Jesus new authority and His use of it to destroy the Old World Order, God will send messengers to the ends of the earth to gather his elect.  (cf. Deut. 30:4, Amos 9:14,15; Jer. 23:5-8; 32:37-40; Ezek. 37:21-28; Zech. 12:11-14, Is. 27:13)

“The gathering of Christ's elect from the four winds is the true fulfillment of numerous prophecies which promise the chosen people that they shall be gathered out of all lands and established forever in the mountain of God” (This is a quote from someone but I am not sure who, but isn’t it nice and concise.)

24:32-35

³² Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: ³³ So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.

³⁴ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. ³⁵ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. (Matthew’s use of ‘this generation’ always refers to the first century. Cf. 11:16; 12:41,42,45; 23:36, 24:34)

“This Generation” gives us a definite time frame for when all of these things are going to take place.  If this is about 28-33 AD by our reckoning of the calendar, then that gives us to about 68-73 AD when heaven and earth will pass away.  (See Installment 3 of our ongoing series) So the temple system and Israel’s privileged place in the world just about finished. 

24:36-42

³⁶ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. ³⁷ But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ³⁸ For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, ³⁹ And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. ⁴⁰ Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. ⁴¹ Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. ⁴² Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.

This verse is not talking about the rapture!!! It is talking about the destruction of the old heavens and the old earth (Just like in Noah’s day).  People will continue to remain blind to the coming destruction (Even some professing Christians, which is why Hebrews was written) and will refuse to enter the Ark so when the destruction comes upon them swiftly. While two are working in the fields, one is taken by an invading army (See Luke 17:34-37) to the pile of rotting corpses, they will be surprised.  So watch because you do not know what hour The Lord is coming in judgment by means of the Roman army.

24:43-51

⁴³ But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. ⁴⁴ Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh. ⁴⁵ Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁷ Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. ⁴⁸ But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; ⁴⁹ And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; ⁵⁰ The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, ⁵¹ And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.