Matthew 24/Luke 21/Mark 13: The Olivet Discourse

Hunter McDavid

Revelation • Sermon • Submitted 6 months ago • Presented 6 months ago

Mark 13

Matthew 24

Luke 21

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Matthew 24/Luke 21/Mark 13: The Olivet Discourse

Sermon in a sentence: Jesus Christ has been vindicated and now rules of all creation!

The Text : Matthew 24

vs. 1-4: Jesus is asked about the physical temple in Jerusalem by the disciples. We must be careful to not forget the original context. If Jesus is only talking about the end of the world then this response is not a benefit for the disciples that are asking him. Jesus’ teachings were for the disciples in the first century.

vs. 3 - The disciples ask two questions.

When will this take place?

What are the signs that point to the destruction of the temple?

vs. 4-14

vs. 4-8 : Earthquakes, wars, rumors of wars, and famine are all just the beginning of the birth pains! Jesus is telling his disciples to not be concerned by all these things because they are just the beginning. In other words, these things are to be expected as normal! These things will happen from now until the return of Christ! Most people flip this on its head and use these as markers for the return of Christ. Jesus explicitly tells his disciples to not be concerned about these things.

vs. 9-14 : Jesus tells his disciples will be put through tribulation (θλῖψις - thilipsis). Even ALL THE NATIONS will hate the disciples (remember, Jesus is speaking to the disciples that asked him a question). Jesus will often use language like the whole earth/the world/all creation not literally. There will be apostacy, false prophets, betrayal, and lawlessness.

Also, the gospel will be proclaimed to the “world” before the end will come. The word “world” is not κοσμοs (world) but οἰκουμένη. This word means a known region.

See:

Luke 2:1 - οἰκουμένη, Acts 11:28 - οἰκουμένη, Acts 24:5 - οἰκουμένη, Colossians 1:5-6 - κόσμος, Colossians 1:23 - κτίσις

vs. 15-31

vs. 15-21 : Jesus references Daniel 9. Premillennial Dispensationalism interprets the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy to be speaking of this seemingly future event. However, I believe that Jesus is speaking of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in 70 AD. Why in the world do I think that?

See Luke 21:20.

Jesus’ words tell his disciples to flee the local destruction by fleeing to the mountains and leaving the city! He also speaks of winter and the Sabbath, both temporary timetables.

vs. 22-44

vs. 29-31 : Language that describes the collapse of cosmic bodies, therefore, was often used by “OT prophets to symbolize God’s acts of judgment within history, with the emphasis on catastrophic political reversals.” Therefore, France concludes that “if such language was appropriate to describe the end of Babylon or Edom under the judgment of God, why should it not equally describe God’s judgment on Jerusalem’s temple and the power structure which it symbolized?”

In summary, “it is crass literalism,” notes Wright, “in view of the many prophetic passages in which this language denotes socio-political and military catastrophe, to insist that this time the words must refer to the physical collapse of the space-time world. This is simply the way regular Jewish imagery is able to refer to major socio-political events and bring out their full significance.”1

1. Sam Storms, Kingdom Come: The Amillennial Alternative (Fearn, Scotland: Mentor, 2013), 265.

Jesus’ cosmic language is referring to the political destruction of Israel by the Romans, not the destruction of this world. Let us look at some OT examples of God using cosmic destruction language to describe the destruction of a nation.

Isaiah 13:9-13 : The destruction of Babylon

Isaiah 34:4-5 : The destruction of Edom

Ezekiel 32:1-8 : The destruction of Egypt by the Babylonians

Other Helpful Passages - 2 Kings 6:17, Isaiah 37:36, Ephesians 6:12,

vs. 30-31

vs. 30: The sign of the Son of Man will appear. Notice this is language of Daniel 7 with the Son Of Man coming in the clouds of glory. Here, Jesus does not say you will see him in the clouds but the sign of the Son of Man. Also, Daniel’s prophecy does not say that the Son of Man comes to earth on clouds of glory! Instead, it tells us that the Son of Man comes to The Ancient of Days (God the Father) to obtain his everlasting kingdom. In other words, Jesus is saying the disciples would see that he was vindicated and now he will take the kingdom from the Jewish leaders that crucified him. His power, authority, and kingdom is an everlasting kingdom!

vs. 31: Admittedly, the use of “trumpet” here is difficult due to its connotations is other eschatological and apocalyptic passages (1&2 Thessalonians, Revelation). However, this is the normative way of speaking of an king’s victory. This would make since if Jesus’ vindication is in view here. Also, the angles could refer to angelic beings or merely human messengers. Remember, the Greek word “αγγελος” means messenger. It is not difficult to understand Jesus’ words to refer to the proclamation of the gospel and salvation of his elect to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8)

vs. 32-35 : Jesus’ words are quite clear. The reference to the fig tree is not a reference to the nation of Israel being restored, despite Dispensationalism’s teaching. Here, Jesus is using the image of the fig tree’s bloom as a measure for summer’s proximity. Likewise, the things Jesus said to his disciples were serve as a sign of the proximity of the destruction of the temple like the blooming of the fig tree.

vs. 34 - Jesus says “THIS generation will not pass away UNTIL ALL THESE THINGS take place”. We cannot merely ignore these words. Jesus didn’t say that some of this stuff will happen during the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and the sun/moon/stars/angels/four winds parts will happen later. No, Jesus told his disciples this would all take place before this generation (a generation was 40 years in Jewish reckoning). I am going to once again argue that Jesus’ words did find their fulfilment in 70 AD when emperor Titus destroyed the temple of Jerusalem.