Introduction
This is the word of the Lord
Matthew 24:1-3
Matthew 24:1–3 ESV
1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.
2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Let us pray.
Having now completed the two weeks of laying the groundwork for the subject of Eschatology, here we are now, finally, at Matthew 24.
I want to urge those of you who’ve either not heard those two sermons, or heard them poorly, to go back and listen to it again. Again, I believe that the groundwork we’ve laid in the past two weeks are crucial to our study and understanding of this subject.
Recap
Having said that, I’m going to give you a recap in a very short set of points, before we jump into the text here.
In the first week, we considered ‘Why Eschatology’. And in the second week, we looked at how we ought to approach the study of this subject.
1. Why?
• Because God wrote about it in his word
• The collateral effects of eschatology
• The foolish ignore the prophecies of God.
2. How?
Here are then my summary points on how to approach the study of Eschatology
a. Recognize Eschatology as God’s Word: Understand the mystery of prophetic language and its divine origin.
b. Hermeneutical Principles Matter: Application of sound principles impacts your eschatological stance and conviction.
c. Treasure Prophetic Genre: Like a discerning artist, value the prophetic genre and diligently seek its riches.
d. Embrace Ambiguity: Acknowledge ambiguity in interpretations and respectfully engage with differing views.
e. Exercise Caution in Position Holding: Be cautious in holding to a particular millennial view, recognizing the historical oscillation of theologians.
f. Avoid Division: Eschew unnecessary conflicts over eschatological interpretations.
g. Foster Fellowship and Discussion: Encourage learning, discussion, and debate within the Christian community.
h. Approach Eschatology with Sobriety: Engage in the study of Eschatology with seriousness, solemnity, and joy, avoiding fantastical interpretations.
Learning to Disagree
It is an important lesson for most Christians to learn what it means to agree to disagree.
As I mentioned last week, there is a practical sense of disunity that arises from disagreement, and as long as the disagreement is peripheral and not cardinal, unity must be fought for.
Ephesians 4:1–3 ESV
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called,
2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Philippians 2:2 ESV
2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
Now, I do not believe that Paul is instructing us to have a utopian understanding of unity where there are no differences. Instead, I think his arguments are for us to unite in full accord with one mind on the things that are certain.
This same Paul describes unity in Romans 14 between the vegetarians and non-vegetarians as being considerate of one another. The solution there was not to agree principally on the issue of food, but to agree on the higher calling of loving one another.
1 Corinthians 11:17–22 ESV
17 But in the following instructions I do not commend you, because when you come together it is not for the better but for the worse.
18 For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you. And I believe it in part,
19 for there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized.
20 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat.
21 For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk.
22 What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not.
Here, Paul says that there must be factions in order that the genuine are proven. I take that to mean that genuine Christianity is proven in the midst of conflict and controversy and not in the midst of comfort.
Love is questionable till it is measured out in pain and sickness, in the worst of times.
The division here was not merely doctrinal, but divided the very table of the Lord. When disagreement rise in the church, the question is – does it divide fellowship? If it does, then the question is if the disagreement is of a cardinal nature worthy of such a division.
And if it is not, then you despise the church of God and humiliate one another.
Context
As I made clear in the previous two sermons, eschatology is too vast a subject for us to unpack comprehensively in this series. So, what I’m going to do is unpack the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24 from the preterist perspective because I believe that it is the most biblically coherent view of the end times.
And since this is a subject that can generate more questions than any other, these are the conversations we can have after the service, and during our Wednesday Bible Study.
And by the preterist perspective, what I mean is that when Jesus repeatedly said that he would return soon, he meant it. That word ‘soon’ wasn’t symbolic of a distant future that we still await. Rather, that he did return in judgment during the time of the apostles in AD 70.
And I believe that this present age of the church is the millennium, where all authority has been given to Jesus in heaven and on earth and the church is presently growing under his millennial rule.
And yes, I take the reference to a 1000 years to be symbolic.
Matthew’s Focus on the Messiah & his Kingdom
Now, something you need to know about the apostle Matthew is that he is keen to show us Christ as the fulfilment of all the OT prophecies.
In fact, Matthew quotes the OT more than Mark, Luke and John combined, a total of 99 times.
In other words, it is particularly important for Matthew, from his perspective, to show us clearly how one should have anticipated the coming of Christ. So, he narrows in repeatedly on how specific words and actions of Jesus’ are an evidence of his fulfilment of OT prophecies.
Matthew 3:2 ESV
2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Matthew 4:17 ESV
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
When the Jews heard the message that the Kingdom of heaven was at hand, they were undoubtedly concluding that to mean that the time of the Messiah had come.
Because it was the Messiah who would rule as heir to David, ushering in a kingdom that has no end.
Isaiah 9:6–7 ESV
6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Isaiah 11 continues the theme of the Messiah’s kingly rule. This is why we read in John 6:15,
John 6:15 ESV
15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
Matthew is also known for his constant reference to the Kingdom theme.
Genealogy and Birth of Jesus (Matthew 1-2): The Gospel begins with the genealogy of Jesus, tracing His lineage back to King David, emphasizing His royal lineage and messianic identity. The visit of the Magi, who inquire about the new-born king of the Jews, further underscores Jesus’ kingly status.
Jesus’ Ministry Begins (Matthew 3-4): Jesus’ public ministry commences with John the Baptist proclaiming the arrival of the kingdom of heaven and calling people to repentance. Jesus’ baptism and subsequent temptation in the wilderness affirm His divine Sonship and authority as the King of the kingdom.
Teachings on the Kingdom (Matthew 5-7): In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus articulates the principles and values of the kingdom of God. The Beatitudes, teachings on righteousness, prayer, and forgiveness all reflect the character and priorities of the kingdom.
Parables of the Kingdom (Matthew 13): Jesus uses parables to illustrate the nature and growth of the kingdom of heaven. Parables such as the sower, the wheat and tares, and the mustard seed highlight the kingdom’s mystery, growth, and ultimate triumph.
Authority of the King (Matthew 8-10): Through His miracles and teachings, Jesus demonstrates His authority as the King of the kingdom. Healings, exorcisms, and His commissioning of the disciples affirm His power over sickness, demons, and death.
Conflicts and Rejection (Matthew 11-12): Jesus encounters opposition and rejection from religious leaders who challenge His authority and ministry. Their refusal to accept Jesus as the Messiah-King reveals their misunderstanding of the nature of the kingdom.
Foretelling the Kingdom’s Triumph (Matthew 16-17): Jesus predicts His death and resurrection and reveals the future glory of the kingdom. The Transfiguration serves as a glimpse of the kingdom’s ultimate fulfillment and Jesus’ divine authority.
Triumphal Entry and Passion (Matthew 21-27): Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday is a royal proclamation of His kingship. The events leading to His crucifixion and resurrection fulfill messianic prophecies and inaugurate the kingdom’s victory over sin and death.
Great Commission and Promise of Presence (Matthew 28): After His resurrection, Jesus commissions His disciples to make disciples of all nations, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom. He assures them of His presence and authority as they continue His mission.
But while doing this, Matthew is also recording for us NT prophecies of Christ’s return. And I believe that it would be inconsistent for Matthew to be keen to clarify the former (the kingdom of God is at hand) and not the latter (the soon coming of the Son of Man).
Matthew 10:23 ESV
23 When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.
Matthew 16:28 ESV
28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Matthew 24:32–34 ESV
32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
The Two Comings
These references to the Son of Man coming have a distinct difference from the physical and final return of Christ at the end of all time.
• For one, this coming would happen at the time of that generation
• Secondly, this generation would see it, and we know that they did not see the physical final return of Christ
And Jesus when standing his ground before the sanhedrin gave the final stroke of provocation that would lead to them condemning him to death, in Matthew 26:64
Matthew 26:64–65 ESV
64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy.
Caiaphas, the high priest, from that time on was to see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven. And without a doubt, Caiaphas knew this reference.
Daniel 7:13–14 ESV
13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.
14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.
This then is not a reference to the final second coming of Jesus, but rather to the Son of Man wrapped in the clouds of heaven given Power and dominion by the Ancient of Days. This is a picture of Christ’s ascension and his ongoing, unstoppable rule and power as his kingdom conquers the world.
The Great Commission is the Kings order to fulfil his rule over all the earth.
We will see the nature of these two comings, one is judgment language of the destruction of Jerusalem and the other being the final second physical coming of Christ at the end of the world.
At this point, I think it is important that I remind you that this is a sermon series through Matthew 24. This means that the unravelling of this text and prophecy will progress steadily as we unpack it week on week. So, I urge you to be patient.
Exegesis
A common pushback that I’ve received so far are people saying that whatever be our eschatological position, we have to understand that we have to go with the plain reading of Scripture because the Bible was written for the common man.
Can I come to the conclusion that you have come to by just sitting in my room and reading the Bible?
Now, there’s a problem with that presupposition. Virtually no man, except maybe a highly intellectual few, and especially not this category of the plain common man would ever become a Calvinist by the plain reading of Scripture.
A common man with a plain reading would never come to a stable formation of the doctrine of the Trinity by reading the Bible himself.
For many such doctrines therefore, God has appointed teachers in the church to teach the people.
Furthermore, if you say that the Bible is written for the common man, I would say that is incorrect, and add the qualifier that the Bible (and I mean the New Testament) was writter for the common Jewish man in the first century.
Not for the unassuming bystander of the 21st Century, who wouldn’t recognize a metaphor if it danced on their nose and a literal passage if it punched them in the face.
Yes, eating Christ’s body and drinking his blood are symbolic, and no, the splitting of the red sea is not symbolic, it is literal.
Even those who push for the plain common man reading, would often find themselves expecting that common man to put on some brain in certain parts of the text.
Our exercise in expository interpretation of Matthew 24 will look like the exercise in thinking, contextualising and analysing that every common man in our time is called to do when interpreting the Bible.
Matthew 24:1 ESV
1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple.
Mark 13:1 ESV
1 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
Luke 21:5 ESV
5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said,
In the Jewish heritage, the temple was a symbol of more national significance than the church buildings that we are used to.
Israel was the chosen covenant people of Living God, and the temple was the house in which God resided.
Deuteronomy 7:6 ESV
6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
1 Kings 8:10–11 ESV
10 And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord,
11 so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
Isaiah 6:1 ESV
1 In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
The glory of the temple and its adorning in beautiful stone was meant to serve as a reflection of the glory of God among his people.
The Jewish sentiment to the temple were one of national identity and not just any other religious structure. This was the heart of Jewish identity and culture.
But keep in mind that as far as the disciples are concerned the God in the holy of holies was now walking by their side. The promised Messiah has come and he is the Son of God.
So, walking with him they admired the lofty structure of the temple.
Matthew 24:2 ESV
2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Jesus then issues a prophetic decree that would have made an Jewish man writhe and squirm. This was a statement that stabs the heart of Jewish expectations.
For if the temple was the sign and symbol of God’s presence with this people, what would the destruction of the temple then be a sign and symbol of? It would be a sign and symbol of God’s judgment.
Jesus challenged the Jewish establishment in John 2:19-21
John 2:19–21 ESV
19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
20 The Jews then 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 about the temple of his body.
His own temple they would destroy but he will raise it up in three days, but their temple he would destroy and none shall raise it again.
Matthew 24:3 ESV
3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Now, both Mark and Luke record the disciples as asking,
Mark 13:4
Mark 13:4 ESV
4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
Luke 21:7 ESV
7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”
Only Matthew includes the phrase the end of the age. And a strong argument can be made here, I believe, that Matthew is not talking about the end of the world.
Calvin assumes that the Jews considered the destruction of the temple with the end of the world.
“But it must be observed that, having believed from their infancy that the temple would stand till the end of time, and having this opinion deeply rooted in their minds, they did not suppost that, while the building of the world stood, the temple could fall to ruins.”
So, he concludes that as soon as Jesus announces the destruction of the temple, they turned to the end of the world. But the problem in Calvin’s assumption is that then Jesus here would be answering a question that had false assumptions.
The question here is not of the end of the world, but the end of the Jewish age.
The Coming of the Son
Here is a context setting for you.
• Ever since Matthew 21 , we see an unveiled Christ. He is no longer hiding his identity and his purpose. The time had come for Israel to know him.
And it began on the same Mount of Olives. From on top of that mountain he looks to Jerusalem and he has his eyes set on the temple.
Riding on a donkey of his divine choosing, he descends with the crowd crying out,
Matthew 21:9 ESV
9 And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
• And he marches into the temple and drives the people out for having profaned the temple of God saying, Matthew 21:13
Matthew 21:13 ESV
13 He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you make it a den of robbers.”
But that cleansing was not complete in the overturning of the tables, it would be properly cleansed when not one stone is left on top of another.
To put it chronologically, he cleanses the temple, then tears the curtain down the middle, and then burns it to the ground in AD 70
• The fruitless fig tree he then curses to whither up.
• When the leaders in Jerusalem question his authority, he turns the table and questions their authority.
And gave them a parable of the landowner whose servants were persecuted and killed (referring to the prophets who came before) and then finally when the son is sent they kill the son.
Then he tells them in Matthew 21:43-44
Matthew 21:43–44 ESV
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.
44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”
The King has come then not for reinstating the nation of Israel but to judge them and take the kingdom away from them.
• He then let them challenge him repeatedly till his responses led them to a point where, Matthew 22:46
Matthew 22:46 ESV
46 And no one was able to answer him a word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask him any more questions.
• Then, he began. His judgment was upon the temple and upon the self-appointed leaders of Israel. He turns to the Jewish leaders and condemns them and curses them repeatedly.
And then went on to say in Matthew 23:37-39
Matthew 23:37–39 ESV
37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
39 For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’ ”
Whatever we may believe happens to the future of the Jewish people in coming back to Christ, one thing, I believe that is decisively happening here is that the Messiah is bringing an end to the Jewish age.
So the destruction of the temple marks the end of an age, and marks the beginning of the reign of the Messiah. This is not the end of the world. Even the thief on the cross knew it. Luke 23:42-43
Luke 23:42–43 ESV
42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Conclusion
The entire Olivet discourse is Jesus’ response to this question from the Apostles regarding the end of the age.
And the statement that provoked that question of the end of the age is the destruction of the Jewish temple.
And the destruction of the Jewish temple happened in AD 70.
And the age to come then, according to Revelation is the Messianic age, the symbolic 1000 year rule of Christ. I believe this to be the present age of the church.
Church, the kingdom of God has been handed over to you to build.
Matthew 28:18–20 ESV
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
