Of all the passages in Scripture, this chapter of Matthew has suffered much abuse and misunderstanding. The greatest mistake is to forget Jesus is a Jewish rabbi teaching Jewish men a spiritual understanding of real world events. In the previous chapter, we saw Jesus ended by lamenting the coming destruction of Jerusalem. As a first-rate Hebrew writer, Matthew keeps the narrative in context, one principle of teaching leading to the next, all in context. This is no different. Jesus is warning His disciples about the coming destruction in AD 70, and how they should view it.
Naturally, the Twelve are still locked into those false Messianic Expectations. Foremost in their minds is noting the rising tension as a sure sign He is about to declare Himself Messiah and establish His reign in their world in some tangible way. They still don't see the Cross, they still don't see how the rejection of Christ by the Jewish leaders will bring destruction on the Holy City. Instead, they are wondering how He intends to take His throne there.
Jesus has fresh on His mind the sorrow of the City's destruction. Among His followers were residents of Jerusalem. As such, they were intimately aware of any new additions or modifications to the Temple edifice. These things they pointed out to Jesus, assuming He had not yet noticed. To these, along with the Twelve, He declared the very literal prophecy about Titus and his army ensuring no two stones of the Temple would remain vertically stacked.
They must have stared in stunned silence as Jesus walked away. How could the Temple of their God be destroyed? How could God want that? As they gathered later on the peak across the Kiddron Valley, where the Temple and the City in all its glory was visible on the opposite ridge line just below eye level, His entourage came privately and asked for a fuller explanation of the prophetic words. They asked two questions, believing they were connected. So many Christians today make the same mistake, assuming what follows are far distant events. That is, they assumed the Temple destruction, His rising in glory to declare the Kingdom, and the End of Times were all the same thing. However, they weren't sure how those things were connected, so they asked Him to explain.
Jesus takes pains to untangle what was actually three issues. He pointed out the destruction of the City was one event, and while tied to His proclaiming the Kingdom, that was not the same as the End of Times. First the Temple comes down, meaning the final nail in the coffin of Mosaic Law and the earthly nation of Israel. However, His Kingdom was not a historical event per se, but a spiritual event, because it was a spiritual Kingdom. As for His return and the End of Times, that was another matter entirely.
Jesus begins by answering the question implied, but not asked: What suffering comes with serving this Kingdom of Heaven? This is addressed to avoid confusing that answer with those for the other questions. He warns in verses 4-14 what events do not mark His Return: "See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass." Verse 7 is a known prophetic phrase (Haggai 2:22) reminding them not to be concerned with the rising or passing of any human government, nor any natural disasters. That's simply the background noise of fallen human existence: "All these things are merely the beginnings of sorrows." The next few verses (9-14) are just the typical reaction of the world to people possessed of a single-minded commitment to a Kingdom not of this world. The Final Day will come after the gospel has reached all the world; the words do not necessarily imply immediately following that accomplishment, nor is it precisely defined what that accomplishment means. It serves more to say, "It's a long way off. You need to be more concerned with your mission."
The specific prophecy of the Temple destruction we now know came true in AD 70. In this (15-22), Jesus warns them to flee the city when they see the Romans violating the Temple grounds, no longer honoring the prohibition they supported while ruling the Jews by keeping non-Jews out. Some of those living at the time would need to heed this advice, and leave town, or face being caught up in the slaughter. That it was indeed a major holocaust is not in dispute. Because Christians would certainly be still in the city, Jesus promised the Father would make it quick.
For the sake of long-term Christian teaching, Jesus warns His return will not be secret. Many evil and deranged folks would claim to be Him, but it won't be like that at all. It would be something so obvious, no human could miss it. When He Returns, there won't be any confusion whatsoever what is happening (23-28). Verse 29 is a standard prophetic statement, not to be taken literally. It refers to something so catastrophic, there is no way to describe it. The whole world as we know it would be completely altered. The Second Coming would not be secret, but painfully obvious.
Thus, Jesus turns to the second question (30-31). He describes some unmistakable earmarks of His Return, something different from the previous discussion. Every eye will see Him and recognize Him as God, and angels will be visibly present. He cautions them to fix this in their minds (32-33), to make sure they can tell the real deal as surely as they can discern the change of the seasons. The Second Coming is a distinct event, with no warning whatsoever. All these other signs mean other things. Then returning to His discussion of the Temple Destruction, He warns they would live to see it (34), so heed the signs of this one event which is clearly forecast by signs. He reinforces that warning by mentioning His words are The Word (35).
However, the Second Coming will not have any warning signs (36). The Son Himself was not entrusted to know, so it's not possible for Him to tell. It compares to the Flood in that no one (except Noah) knew it was coming (37-39). It came suddenly. Using terms commonly understood to depict a sudden coming of judgment and wrath, Jesus describes a couple of scenes depicting victims snatched up by arresting soldiers (40-41). The ones taken are the guilty, and any other meaning was unknown the Jews of that time. This will not be a convenient moment for anyone.
He launches finally into a call for faithfulness (42-51). The whole point of all this is there will be no signs. You cannot possibly predict by any digging and extracting details to establish a sequence. Get ready now, by obeying to the fullest extent. You can't know. You can't even guess. Don't try, because it's a waste of Kingdom resources.
Thus, Jesus answers the first question plainly, but warns them not to associate the second question with the same event. His mention of the Destruction of Jerusalem was quite consistent with His message of what really matters in the Kingdom: getting away from the ancient Covenant of Moses, getting away from the focus of One Place on earth (John 4:23). It would never again matter, because that covenant was about the be ended, fulfilled, completed, with no unfinished business. Every day He had tried to help break the spell of false understanding of His Disciples, teaching them the Temple would soon be just a pile of rubble. The old ritual framework would be dead, and being a Jew would mean nothing. Only those who walked Christ's path would find God's favor.
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Ed Hurst
29 December 2007
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