Matthew 24: Was Jesus wrong? (1)
In Matthew 24 Christ said his coming would occur before his generation would pass away. Was he wrong?
Matthew
24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 all deal with the same discourse by Jesus
Christ though obviously they all have their own agenda while they report
it. What event or events does Matthew 24 speak to? A glance at some of
the literature shows there is more than one answer possible. Some hold
that Matthew speaks of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the final coming of Jesus Christ which is still yet future.
I’d
like to suggest Matthew 24 has the destruction of Jerusalem in mind.
There is only one massive event in view in Matthew 24 and not two
events.
1. The comment of the disciples:
"Some
of his disciples were remarking how the temple was adorned with
beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God." (Luke 21:5) "As he
was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look,
Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings’." (Mark 13:1)
"Jesus left the temple and was walking away
when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its
buildings." (Matthew 24:1)
2. The initial statement by Christ:"As
for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be
left on another; every one of them will be thrown down." Luke 21:6 " ‘
Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus, ‘Not one stone
here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’ " (Mark
13:2)
" ‘Do you see all these things?’ he
asked, ‘I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on
another; every one will be thrown down.’ " (Matthew 24:2)
3. The questions asked by the disciples:
Luke 21:7 "When will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"
Mark 13:4 "Tell us when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?
Matthew 24:3" ‘Tell us,’ they said, when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?’
4. Some things to note:
The disciples asked about when and about signs that indicate when.
"When" is a time question and "signs" is a what question relating to the time.
In all three Gospels the when question concerns the "these things" relating to Christ’s temple remarks.
Matthew does not ask, "When is your coming and the end of the age."
So if we’re asked, "Which writer asks when the Lord is coming?" the correct answer is, "Not one of them."
Luke asks: When will these things happen?
Mark asks: When will these things happen?
Matthew asks: When will this happen?
To paraphrase them, the three writers ask, "When will the things you say about the temple happen?"
This seems crystal clear from a simple reading of the text.
"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, ‘I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on
another; every one will be thrown down.’ " ‘Tell us,’ they said, when
will this happen...?’ " (Matthew 24:1-3)
This should mean that if Jesus responds to a time question it will concern the destruction of the temple because that’s what they asked him about.
In Mark and Luke (read the texts again) both the when and the signs
questions relate to the same thing— "these things" relative to the
temple’s destruction. They are responding to Christ’s remarks about the
temple and its buildings and they are asking when the temple would be destroyed and what signs would warn them when it was going to happen.
We would expect a time question to be answered with an hour or a day or a week or some time indicator.
Let me repeat, Matthew does not ask about the time of "the coming"! He asks about the time of the temple’s destruction. So if we find Jesus saying "but no one knows about that day or hour..." we need to remember that no one, not even Matthew, asked when
the coming was to take place. When Christ answers a day and hour
question he is answering their question about the destruction of the
temple.
It won’t do then to go to Matthew 24:36 (or Mark 13:32)
and say, "But of that day and hour no one knows..." and apply it to the
coming of the Lord as if any of them had asked, "when will you be
coming?" As the texts word it, not one of them asks when he is coming.
All three asked, "when will the temple be destroyed?"
When we
read the three chapters we discover (allowing for some differences in
phrasing) that the signs are the same in all three.
Mark and Luke say the signs relate to the same thing as the when question. Read the texts above. This being true, both the when and the signs concern the fall of the temple.
Mark and Luke ask for signs related to the fall of the temple in 70 AD and Christ addresses that with signs.
Matthew
asks for signs related to "your coming and the end of the age" and
Christ gave him the same signs that he gave to Mark and Luke for the 70
AD judgment.
This means that "your coming and the end of the age" is another way of speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple.
But
why would Matthew introduce such a concept as the coming of Christ and
the end of the age? Why doesn’t he phrase it just as Luke and Mark have
phrased it? Perhaps that’s because he has a habit of linking Christ’s
discourses and this one is linked with the one in chapter 23 which
speaks of the desolation of Jerusalem and the coming of Christ.
Throughout
his book Matthew stresses the kingdom authority of Jesus Christ. In
chapter 23 the Christ speaks to his enemies who deny his divine
commission and refuse to accept that he is the One that comes in the
name of the Lord. At the close of chapter 23 he assures them that they
will indeed be forced to confess it (see also Matthew 26:63-64). So in
light of the judgment that is coming on that generation with the
destruction of their house I think Matthew is giving the theological
meaning of the destruction of the temple in 24:3. It is the coming of
the Lord in judgment and it is the sign that God has ended the Jewish
age (compare Acts 2:17-20, Hebrews 1:2 and 1 Corinthians 10:11).
It’s
important to note that after he has spoken of trembling heavens, signs
in the skies, the shaking of the powers, the massing of nations, wars
and rumours of wars, false Christs, the appearance of the abomination of
desolation and widespread fear and panic then he gives a general time
clue. He says his generation will not pass away before all those signs
are accomplished.
Note Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30 and Luke 21:32.
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.