The Temple

Intro

What will be the sign of Jesus coming and of the end of the age? That is the question the disciples ask Jesus in Matthew 24, and the passage we are going to spend the next several weeks looking at. Throughout last year and this year, we as a congregation have worked through what is known as the 5 discourses in Matthew. Each discourse being a larger section of teaching from the mouth of Jesus Himself. As a quick refresher, and if you would like to go back and read them again or for the first time, here were the first 4.

Matthew 5-7 : The Sermon on the Mount

If you are new to your Bible, if you are unsure what Jesus is all about, start here. This is the greatest sermon in all of human history, spoken by Jesus Christ Himself.

Matthew 10 : The Missionary Discourse

In this discourse, Jesus is giving instructions to His disciples on what to expect as He sends them out. Given that we who have chosen to follow Jesus are disciples, this passage has lost none of it’s importance.

Matthew 13 : The Parabolic Discourse

Jesus spends this time telling 7 parables about the Kingdom of Heaven. What it is like, and how to think about God’s eternal kingdom.

Matthew 18 : The Discourse on the Church

Here, Jesus teaches about life in the church, how we should live in community, and how to deal with sin within the church.

Each discourse is not an island. They each build on the previous concepts.

And now we come to the 5th and final discourse. It is often referred to as the Olivet Discourse, because Jesus is sitting on the Mount of Olives. But there’s also another, perhaps more alluring name. Found in Matthew 24-25, this discourse is know as “The Discourse on the End Times.”

Matthew 24-25 : Discourse on the End Times

Everybody likes end times stuff. What is going to happen, and when? The rapture, the second coming, end of the world…it’s going to be in our lifetimes, right? Just as every generation has thought since these gospels were written.

So let me tell you right off the bat. The moral of the story. Be prepared today. There will be a day when the trumpet sounds, the Lord descends, and life as we know it changes. It’s no use speculating on the when, only if we are actively engaging in the kingdom of God today. This passage we’re going to look at, though, has much to do with the destruction of the temple, which for us is way in the past, but for them was in the future.

Before diving in to Jesus answer to the question asked at the beginning, what will be the signs, we’re going to take today to look at the context surrounding this discourse, this teaching.

Often Matthew 23 is included in this discourse, but it’s a little bit separated in the narrative. However, it is important to look through the interaction Jesus has before we come to chapter 24.

So let’s go through and summarize chapter 23.

Jesus is at the temple. At this point in Jesus ministry, there is no holding back. He is calling people out. Jesus is days away from being handed over to be crucified. These conversations are some of the last He will have, these messages in the temple are some of the last things He will say.

So He says Matthew 23:1-3

Matthew 23:1–3 NIV

1 Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

In this moment He elevates the law of Moses, God’s laws and statues, the scriptures, for the Jewish people, but... He calls out all the leadership. All those who teach the law. He goes on to say that everything they do is for people to see. Accuses them of exalting themselves, and then says in Matthew 23:11-12

Matthew 23:11–12 NIV

11 The greatest among you will be your servant. 12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

If we seek to elevate ourselves, God will humble us. How do we humble ourselves? It’s not beating ourselves up, but elevating others. Then God raises us up. Not in the eyes of man, but in His kingdom.

Jesus then goes on to really hammer on the pharisees. Here’s what we need to remember as we read what He told them. At the end of all these things He is saying, we read that the chief priests and elders assemble and Matthew 26:4

Matthew 26:4 NIV

4 and they schemed to arrest Jesus secretly and kill him.

What He says here is the final straw. Jesus is dead within a few days of this. What does He say?

Starting in chapter 23, verse 13, we enter what is known as the “Seven Woes on the Teachers of the Law and the Pharisees.”

The 7 Woes

Or as Keanu Reeves would call them, the “7 Whoas”

Woe to you = What sorrow awaits you

The New Living Translation translates it as “what sorrow awaits you.” Let’s look at all 7 briefly.

Matthew 23:13 NIV

13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Jesus has been preaching the Kingdom of Heaven from the beginning. The Kingdom of heaven is justice and mercy, is repentance, is authentic love for the creator God. The pharisees not only don’t practice that, they do everything they can to stop others.

Matthew 23:15 NIV

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

As a teacher, I have the benefit of of saying follow Jesus example. I’m doing my best to do the same, but Jesus is the one to look to. The pharisees would say “do as I do.” But they were compromised, so there’s degradation person after person.

Matthew 23:16–17 NIV

16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred?

They are so focused on things that they have forgotten that nothing material in the temple makes the temple sacred. It is only the very presence of God that is important.

Matthew 23:23 NIV

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Here again, He does not diminish the law, but He sets back in to place the purpose of the law. It’s easy to set some material things aside, but far more important to live out the justice, mercy, and faithfulness God calls us to.

Matthew 23:25–26 NIV

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

You see how He is building here. Now He’s really getting to the point. You clean up nice, but inside you are filthy. Not only filthy, but worse

Matthew 23:27–28 NIV

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

In this culture, the idea of being clean and unclean was huge. There was a process of cleansing because of various things, one of which was if you had contact with a dead body. You were unclean. The teachers of the law prided themselves on being clean. But here Jesus tells them, you are always unclean. You are never worthy to enter the temple. Because the dead body is within you. So much of life revolved around the temple, where the presence of God dwelt.

This place was meant for people to draw near to God. A wonderful place where God’s chosen people would gather together, as one people. To repent and be freed. But it was no longer that place. The corruption and greed had infested what was once marvelous. Throughout their history, God had sent prophets to bring Isreal back on track, and now the son of man, God the son, was among them. And He knew where it was all headed. He knows what they are going to do to Him. And so He ends with this. Let’s look at the entirety of this last one.

Matthew 23:29–32 NIV

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

Matthew 23:33–36 NIV

33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 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. 35 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. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.

Matthew 23:37–39 NIV

37 “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. 38 Look, 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.’”

Jesus loves these people. He loves this place. He grieves what it has become and what now must happen. This is the last time He stands in this place a free man. They are going to do what they always do. Kill the one sent from God. And He says it right to them.

Now we come to chapter 24. It begins with “Jesus left the temple.” Now we understand the weight of leaving the temple. What just transpired. What was said. Jesus mixture of anger, love, and grief as He walks away. His final words that the house is desolate, and you will not see me again until you say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Matthew 24:1–2 NIV

1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “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.”

Jesus is looking far into the future now. Almost 40 years. The temple was destroyed in the year 70 AD. The historian Josephus, who witnessed the destruction, recorded

Now as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done), [Titus] Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and Temple… He then writes

it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it [Jerusalem] had ever been inhabited

Jesus sees it. He sees what is to come. He sees His people continuing to reject Him, as many still do today. And this is where we will end

Matthew 24:3 NIV

3 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?”

I’d encourage you to read this passage in it’s entirety this week. Matthew 24 and 25. But for now, a little bit of a cliff hanger. Let’s Pray.