48: STANDING FIRM - Part 1 (Mt 24:1-14) + Communion

JOKE - Good News/Bad News

Doctor: I've got some good news and some bad news. What would you rather hear first?

Patient: Gee, I don't know...gimme the good news first I guess.

Doctor: The operation was 100% successful

Patient: That's great news! So what's the bad news?!

Doctor: We amputated the wrong leg…But we also have some more good news.

Patient--What is it?

Doctor: The patient in the next bed wants to buy your shoes.

So, today I have some Good News & the Bad News. Do you want the GOOD NEWS first, or the BAD NEWS first?

Let’s start with the GOOD NEWS first - Jesus is ALIVE and He WILL return. And..He promises to walk with us through life, in good times and in tough times.

BAD NEWS - There will be a lot of difficult days until HE returns, and He might NOT return in our lifetimes. I know you’ve heard it for years and years… “We are living in the last days. Jesus is coming back in our lifetime. We see all the signs. It’s never been this bad before so the judgement of Jesus is about to happen!”

where do people get that from and are they right stating with the scriptures are saying?

today we are about to find out as we launch into Matthew 24, where Jesus specifically refers to The Judgment of Jerusalem. But WHEN is that going to happen?

Some say it’s just on the horizon with Israel currently at war. This isn’t the first time Israel has been at war, by the way. Yet prophecy pundits are quick to run to THIS TEXT - Matthew 24 - pulling passages out of context to say, “Here we go!”

Others say everything in Matthew 24 is PAST - it’s already happened.

And then there are others - like me - that see a combination of PAST & FUTURE events, where MUCH of what we are about to read HAS ALREADY HAPPENED, some of it seems to lay ahead.

With that said, this is why we are taking several weeks to attempt to rightly interpret one of the most intriguing, misunderstood, and misinterpreted passages of all time dealing with…the END of time - or so many people think.

PRAY

You’ll remember from last week that Jesus finishes His passionate judgement-filled talk pronouncing impending doom on the hypocritical scribes & Pharisees with these words:

Matthew 23:31–34 (NIV) So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started! “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

Matthew 23:35–36 (NIV) And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

Matthew 23:37 (NIV) Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings

As we saw last week, Jesus wants to PROTECT the people of Jerusalem, as a hen does her chicks under her wings. While it’s not strange language for a prophet of Yahweh to speak on behalf of God, it IS strange for a prophet to speak as though He IS God. And Jesus now speaks that way, wishing to give them protection, like a bird gathering chicks under her wings - a metaphor used of God in Ps. 91:4 that says:

Psalm 91:4 (CSB) He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield.

However, Jesus is mourning how many rejected Him as He says…

Matthew 23:37–39 (NIV) Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

But the majority of the religious leaders & their followers were not willing to receive Jesus as their Messiah. Instead, they rejected and murdered their Messiah. Because of this, judgement is coming on the unbelieving Hebrew people, and that judgement will be coming on this generation - the same generation of people Jesus is speaking to - those who saw and heard Jesus, yet refused to believe & wanted Him dead.

And your house is left to you desolate - What’s THAT mean? This is similar to what God said in the OT regarding the destruction of the temple (Isa. 64:11; Jer. 12:7; 22:5) - more on that in just a moment.

You might also remember that we briefly touched on this: “You will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” Why would Jesus say that about the FUTURE if that had already happened in the PAST (Matthew 21:9)?

So, despite the IMPENDING JUDGMENT Jesus warns of, there is a FUTURE HOPE that is coming too - a time when many people of Israel WILL WELCOME, TRUST, & FOLLOW their Messiah.

So, now the stage is set. All the woes & warnings against the hypocritical religious establishment have been spoken and Jesus is leaving the temple & his enemies for the last time until…until they come to arrest Him across the Kidron Valley on the Mt of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Matthew 24:1–2 (NIV) Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

How could this be? King Solomon, had created this ENORMOUS campus, built on top of Mt Moriah in 957 BC. The Temple was built atop flattened ground made from tons and tons of fill dirt & rocks held in place by retaining walls.

That temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. But the temple was rebuilt and completed in 516 BC, although not nearly as elaborate as Solomon’s Temple. [1]

In 20 BC Herod took on the task of doing a massive renovation & enlargement to the temple mount and its buildings. It was considered one of the wonders of the ancient world. Although King Herod died not long after the birth of Jesus, his construction efforts had continued. When Jesus said, “Destroy the temple and I will raise it up again in 3 days”, the people responded, “It has taken 46 years” (Jn 2:18-21) and it was still over 20 years from being completed in AD 63 - after 83 years of building!

Underneath the temple Herod’s engineers built large barrel vaulted supports for the Temple mount above. King Herod had made it even larger than King Solomon did with the 1st temple 1000 years previous. Herod’s Temple campus was 36 acres! That’s big enough for 26 football fields!

But it wasn’t just the SIZE, but the SPLENDOR of this place was simply incredible!

Listen to Josephus - the Jewish historian - describing the Temple from a distance:

Now the outward face of the temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men’s minds or their eyes, for it was covered all over the plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays. But this temple appeared to strangers, when they were at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for, as to those parts of it that were not gilt [or covered in gold], they were exceeding white. [2]

Of course, NO TEMPLE exists today - that’s been the case for almost 2,000 years. More on that in a moment. The Temple Mount - the ground on which the Temple used to stand - still exists -

VIDEO: Temple Mount - Here’s a quick look of what it looks like today.

NONE of the temple exists today, although the walls supporting the Temple Mount structure still do.

The western ‘wailing’ wall in Jerusalem is one of the four support walls that holds up the Temple Mount. While much of the stone-cut retaining wall has been replaced over the years, many of the stones from Jesus day are still in place today!

This wall is NOT part of the temple, it is only a wall that supports the temple mount, up and over the wall. The Muslim shrine called “The Dome of the Rock” now stands where the Temple stood in Jesus’ day.

That support wall is 62 feet high! Yet, the wall itself from its foundation, goes much lower than what you see in this picture. In total, above and below ground, the wall is 105 feet high. This wall, much of which is now covered behind ancient medieval homes, runs 1,600 ft - that’s more that 5 football fields goal-line to goal-line.

We were able to go into the building to the left which took us underground to see some of the foundational stones of the wall.

One of those stones that we were able to touch is 44.5 ft long, almost 11 ft high, and estimated to be 6-8 ft wide - with an estimated weight of 250-300 tons.

One 2,000 square foot home weighs around 200 tons, so this ONE STONE weighs up to 1/3 heavier than most of our houses! [3]

So, Jesus has clearly claimed that the Temple was going to be totally destroyed. This was unthinkable to the people of Israel. After all, this is Yahweh’s house! How could He allow that to happen?

History Repeats Itself

From the past we know that it CAN happen, because it already had happened in 586 BC, when Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem & the temple, and took the people captive to Babylon (e.g. Daniel, 3 men in fire). God told them:

Jeremiah 12:7 (NIV) I will forsake my house, abandon my inheritance; I will give the one I love into the hands of her enemies.

You can imagine how this future prophecy echoed in their minds, since it would mean:

an end to the religious freedom the Jews had experienced under Roman occupation - no place for the nation of Israel to gather to worship Yahweh

an end to sacrifice for sin, as animals could only be sacrificed at the temple

and the slaughter of a tremendous number Hebrew people in & around the city.

…so they had to ask Jesus about it.

Matthew 24:3 (NIV) As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

This is commonly known as “The Olivet Discourse” - a conversation between Jesus and His disciples on the Mount of Olives. From this mountain they could likely SEE the Temple, which led to the questions.

They actually ask a couple of questions that they expect to occur at the same time.

When will THIS happen? “This” is referring to what Jesus had previously told them - the destruction of the temple - not 1 stone left on another (Mt 24:2).

What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

“The end of the age” is likely referring the total shift that would happen as the Temple is destroyed.

His “coming” of Jesus is referring to His bringing judgment & redemption. Remember back when we noted something strange Jesus had said related to His “coming”?

Matthew 10:23 (NIV) When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.

This leads us to an important principle of rightly interpreting Scripture. We must ask, who is the author & the audience before we dive into application for OUR lives.

A simple way to start is simply to answer the question, “Who is YOU?” in the text. “When YOU are persecuted” - WHO is that? That is referring to the 1st century disciples of Jesus. Now it makes sense why they are asking this question, because Jesus TOLD THEM they would not finish going through all the towns of WHERE? Israel…before the Son of Man - WHAT? - comes.

Keep in mind, this conversation is happening BEFORE the death, burial, & resurrection of Jesus.

I don’t the disciples understood that Jesus was going be LEAVING to ascend to heaven.

I DO THINK they were awaiting the time that He would be COMING IN GLORY - to take over - to bring judgment & redemption. They didn’t understand that Jesus could bring JUDGMENT on Jerusalem & others who persecuted His disciples well before He physically returned to Earth.

Again, they didn’t yet know/believe Jesus was LEAVING, so I don’t think asking about His coming refers to His 2nd coming. We wrongly read that INTO the text instead of asking what it meant for Jesus’ original audience.

Now, back to the text - when will THIS happen - the destruction of the temple - and how do all these things tie together?

Matthew 24:4–5 (NIV) Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.

Who is YOU? Who is Jesus giving warning to at this point? His 1st century disciples.

Why do I keep making this point? Here’s why: we have a tendency to dismiss the original audience & transplant the text into our world.

But Jesus was warning His 1st century disciples that there would come a time during THEIR lives that false messiahs would appear and claim the end was near. They weren’t to follow these men and would certainly warn their disciples of the same thing.

According to Josephus, there WERE false messiahs who popped out years after the ministry of Jesus.

For example,

In AD 44–46, Theudas showed up and called people to the Jordan River wilderness with the promise that he would divide the Jordan like Joshua and begin a new conquest of the land like Joshua of old did.

Several others between AD 52–59 also led crowds into the wilderness with promises of signs and wonders.

In AD 60-62 another ‘messiah’ showed up promising deliverance from Roman rule for those who would follow him into the wilderness.

In AD 64–66 another false messiah called Manahem ben Judah came to Jerusalem “like a king” and besieged to the city with his army, in an attempt to take it from the Romans. [4]

The disciples of Jesus weren’t to follow false messiahs. And obviously, today, if anyone claims to be the Messiah, WE shouldn’t follow them either.

When we were in Israel our Hebrew guide told us of a man who had died yet many still considered to be the Messiah - in OUR time - they had pictures of him posted throughout Israel. Is that the Messiah? NOPE!

But there would be more signs before the destruction of the temple.

Matthew 24:6–8 (NIV) You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

This is where it gets weird. Many who read these words of Jesus IN OUR DAY point to a war, an earthquake, a famine, a deadly disease, or the latest ‘blood moon’ prophecy and say, “Here it comes. The end of the world is near! This is what Jesus said would happen!”

But wait a second…who is YOU in this passage?

To whom is Jesus first saying, “Don’t be alarmed”? The disciples on top of the Mount of Olives who have asked about WHEN THE TEMPLE WOULD BE DESTROYED.

Don’t forget that context!

While wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, & great signs from heaven might very well happen before the return of Jesus, Jesus is still telling his 1st century disciples what THEY can expect.

In fact, there is ONE PHRASE that Jesus will later use that will make this crystal clear. We will cover it in the next couple of weeks. If you want to peek…continue through verse 34.

Just like the false messiahs showing up during the days of the 1st century followers of Jesus, so too they heard of wars, famines, earthquakes, & famines…DURING the generation of the disciples.

FAMINE

For example, Acts 11:28 tells us of a believer named Agabus. who foretold the four year famine from A.D. 44-48 that came during the reign of Emperor Claudius. [6]

WAR

Ken Gentry writes: “During the Roman Civil Wars of AD 68–69 several nations revolted in an attempt to leave the Empire. The Roman historian Tacitus mentions the Gallic provinces, Britain, Germany, and several others. It literally was a time of “nation against nation.” While Jesus’ day is a time of great peace in the Roman Empire known as the pax Romana, He warned that wars and rumors of wars will disrupt it.” [7]

PERSECUTION

But then the talk got personal. Jesus speaks to His precious disciples about the circumstances they will face in the future…difficult circumstances. Yet here’s why Jesus tells them about it beforehand. From Jesus’ words they are encouraged…

Matthew 24:9 (NIV) Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me.

At this point, most of us would say…OKAY…okay…I’ll stop reading myself into THIS PART - that persecution and death part can be for THEM. Of course, followers of Jesus from that time on HAVE and WILL be persecuted. It’s not that this is never true of OUR lives, but it was certainly true for the 1st century disciples of Jesus.

Reading this helps remind us of the context. The apostles of Jesus EXPERIENCED what Jesus said they would experience. All of them were flogged by other Jewish people.

James was beheaded.

Peter was thrown in prison, and ultimately crucified.

John was banished to a prison island.

Many other disciples were persecuted and even killed. WHY? because of Jesus. They so TRUSTED & FOLLOWED Jesus, that they were willing to be disgraced, persecuted, & even face death.

Are WE THAT committed to the Lord Jesus? Are we willing to DIE for Him? Not if we’re not willing to LIVE for Him!

Matthew 24:10–12 (NIV) At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold,

Matthew 24:13-14 (NIV) but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

After hearing the BAD NEWS, their ears must have been longing for the GOOD NEWS!

First, there WILL BE followers of Jesus who STAND FIRM to the end. It’s not impossible.

Secondly, their small movement only known within the small country of Israel would spread all over the known world and impact all nations! What a GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT this must have been to the 1st century disciples! The KINGdom would spread to all kinds of people in all kinds of places! Despite the tough times they would face, Jesus would not leave them to their own strength and they would not carry their own message, but HIS.

And sure enough, thousands of miles away and 2 millennia later - many of US have heard the GOOD NEWS about the KINGDOM and are now being used to further the GOSPEL to other nations & generations!

In conclusion, you might be wondering what we are supposed to do if we’ve been misreading this text - how are we going to know what’s coming next? False messiahs, earthquakes, famine, wars?

Here’s what we do: STAND FIRM. Follow Jesus. Encourage one another. And let’s follow our King’s marching orders, to become disciples who develop disciples of other generations & other nations.

PRAY & Lord’s Supper

Luke 22:14–20 (NIV) When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.

_________________

Robert H. Stein, Luke, vol. 24, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1992), 510.

Flavius Josephus and William Whiston, The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987).

https://weightofstuff.com/7-things-that-weigh-200-tons/

Chad Brand et al., eds., “False Christs,” Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003), 554.

F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 26.

Gentry, Ken (2011-05-23). The Olivet Discourse Made Easy (Made Easy Series) (Kindle Locations 1467-1470). NiceneCouncil.com. Kindle Edition.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Read Matthew 24:1-3. What near future event within the lifetime of the disciples were they asking Jesus about? How did hearing about the splendor & size of the temple impact your understanding of its significance in Jewish life?

How does knowing that the Mount of Olives looks over Jerusalem & the Temple help you to better appreciate this conversation?

So far in the text of Matthew 24:1-14, Who is “YOU”? How does interpreting “you” impact your view of this passage?

Based on who Jesus was talking to in Matthew 24, how should we respond when someone says something like, “Jesus is coming back soon because of…contemporary false Christs, wars, famines, earthquakes, or ‘blood moons’”?

Read Matthew 24:4-12. What were future events that Jesus warned His 1st century disciples of? How might 21st century followers of Jesus (us) prepare to STAND FIRM for persecutions that might await us in the future?

Read Matthew 24:13-14. Why might these words from Jesus be a HUGE encouragement for His 1st century disciples? How can 21st century disciples be encouraged and challenged by these words? W

hat does God want YOU to do with what we studied today?

How can we pray for/care for one another this week? (Pray for one another.)