Three Questions The Disciples Asked Jesus
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BLACK MAMBA ESCHATOLOGY
One of the things that separate great players from legendary players is drive. Great players wake up early in the morning and give everything they have in practice. Legendary players get up hours before everyone else, play through blood, sweat, and tears, perfecting every facet of their game before practice, and then outwork everyone else during practice. Great players get scoring titles and end up in the hall of fame. Legendary players put their teams on their back and will get them into championship, after championship, after championship. Great players are disappointed after a hard-fought loss. Legendary players would rather die than lose a game.
That, in my humble opinion, is what differentiates truly great players like Shaquille O'Neal, Allen Iverson, and Lebron James from NBA legends like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, (also known as the black mamba). One group was truly great and deserves all the accolades we can give them. The other group lived with a never-ending obsession to be the greatest that ever lived and they are in a class all by themselves.
One of the ways we see this distinction playing out is among childhood fans. Fans love the great players and cheer for them. But when it comes to who they want to be when they grow up, or who they pretend to be in their driveway when no one else is looking, children almost always choose the legends, because they can sense the difference. And as a child growing up in the 80s, I certainly fell afoul of this fandom, wanting with all my heart to be “Like Mike”, while being unwilling to put in the effort of men like Jordan and Kobe. This silly introduction, ironically, may help us understand one of the great dilemmas in eschatology and may aid us when we come to Matthew 24.
THE MOST IMPORTANT CHAPTER
When it comes to Biblical chapters of eschatology, Matthew 24 is the zenith of all the end-times passages. It is the Superbowl, it is game seven of the NBA finals or the last round at Augusta. No one wins at that level accidentally just as no one begins to understand Matthew 24 by sloth. It is a chapter that will only yield its treasures to the ones who are willing to put in the maximal effort. Perhaps this is why so few understand eschatology in the church today. Because passages like this one can only be understood with rigorous effort, which is out of style in a culture of easy believism.
For the last eight weeks, we have been working towards Matthew 24. We did so by attempting to understand the basics and introductory materials of eschatology in our first couple of weeks. Then we moved along to Malachi where we learned the hermeneutical principles for interpreting eschatology. From there we saw those principles playing out in the theology of John the Baptist and our Lord. And over the last several weeks, we have observed how Matthew 21-23 provides the essential context that will aid us in understanding Matthew 24. Had we not labored in the way we did, we would not have been prepared for what we now face. So, with that introduction, let us remember very briefly the context and then let us dive, or maybe only stick our pinky toe, in the water of Matthew 24.
REMEMBERING THE CONTEXT
Matthew 24 occurs as a part of the dramatic events surrounding Jesus’ final week where He will bring judgment to some and salvation to others. In judgment, He rides into the fruitless city, judges the fruitless temple, curses a fruitless tree, and shows how this judgment applies to Jerusalem (Matthew 21). With three successive parables of judgment, Jesus demonstrates that Jerusalem will soon fall and that God’s Kingdom will be given to a people who will bear God’s fruit (Matthew 22). After prophesying Jerusalem’s downfall, Jesus seals their fate with seven covenantal curses of woe and pronounces the wrath of God upon the city and its temple (Matthew 23). In Matthew 24, Jesus does not abandon the narrative of judgment against Jerusalem but instead gives the clearest prophecy ever uttered describing its downfall.
Since this passage is of the utmost importance for our understanding, we will move slowly through it over the next several weeks until we have sufficiently covered its material. Our goal is that we would understand it, not fly through it. With that, let us begin.
A SHOCKING POINT
The passage picks up immediately where Matthew 23 left off. Jesus finished uttering fiery woes against the Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-33). Then He prophesied God would visit that generation with the harshest judgment ever given (Matthew 23:34-36). And then He tells them Jerusalem’s house, the temple, will be left entirely desolated (Matthew 23:37-38). The air would have been so thick you could have cut it with a hacksaw.
From there, Jesus abandoned the temple mount with His disciples and proceeded towards the Mount of Olives. Matthew records the walk this way.
“Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.” Matthew 24:1-2
Considering that Jesus was around thirty-three years old at this point and had been to Jerusalem for every Passover, for all kinds of feasts, and had spent considerable time at the temple in His ministry, He would have been plenty familiar with the temple and its buildings. Knowing this, we cannot imagine the disciples were pointing out the buildings like a tour guide would to a tourist seeing the property for the first time. There was deep anguish in their hearts! They had just watched Jesus scathingly rebuke the double-dead Pharisees. They heard Him prophesy that the temple would be abandoned and left empty in desolation. Now, on the road, their goal was not to point out a few side buildings Jesus wasn’t aware of. They were pointing in pure shock at the buildings He just specifically condemned.
Perhaps, the conversation on the road may have sounded something like this:
Peter: “Brothers! Did you hear what Jesus just said about the temple?”
Andrew: “I did, brother! How could this be true?”
James: “Right! Could the place where God has chosen to dwell ever become desolate?”
Peter: “Yeah, I am not quite sure myself! Why would God allow His temple to be abandoned? That just doesn’t make any sense! How could we worship Him without the temple?”
John: “Hey Pete, I agree with you. It doesn’t make sense… Why don’t you ask Him?”
(Before Peter could answer John his feet were already shuffling up next to Jesus who was at the head of the group. Peter begins speaking, before thinking, wildly pointing at the buildings in an animated fashion)
Peter: “Hey Jesus, you know what you said back there, about the ‘house’ being made desolate, abandoned by God, and left in a state of disrepute… Well, it kind of seemed like you meant this house!”
(Points at the temple).
Peter: “And I was thinking, there is no way you are talking about all of this”
(Points to the Antonia Fortress, then Solomon’s Portico. Likewise, a few others point to various other parts of the temple complex and mutter words like:)
Various Disciples: “It can’t be!”, “Surely not!”, “God forbid!”, “We would never stand for such a thing”...
(Silence fills the air for just a second, but it felt like ages. Peter momentarily breaks the silence with a quivering voice, saying)
Peter: “Right, Jesus?...
(Peter waits awkwardly for a second as Jesus prepares to answer:)
Jesus: “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
It was then that Peter and the other disciples first heard the full ramifications of Jesus’ prophecy. Not only would the temple be abandoned so that weeds would overrun it within a generation. It was much worse than that. It would be destroyed in a period of forty years so that it would no longer exist. That thought must have been particularly hard for them to swallow as they walked along in stunned silence. That is, until they arrived at the Mount of Olives.
THREE QUESTIONS
Perhaps the tension was too much for a few of His disciples to bear. They had several moments to collect themselves on the walk. Now, under the shade of a few thousand olive trees, Peter, James, John, and Andrew (Mark 13:3) were ready to get some answers to their most pressing questions. This is how the encounter with Jesus went.
As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” - Matthew 24:3
It is important to remember two things as we continue. First, we need to remember why the disciples are asking these questions in the first place. They have not been thinking about global events that will transpire at the end of the world or cataclysmic phenomena that would usher in the end of history. These men were thinking about the things that were in front of them, such as the abandonment and destruction of their beloved temple and when Jesus would return to make sure that event happened. They were not assuming a multi-millennia wait for the second coming of Christ. They saw His next coming would be against Jerusalem when He destroyed it within a generation.
Second, it is important to remember how normal people answer normal questions. Suppose at lunch I said to a few friends that within forty years, the American republic would be no more. It would be overthrown and systematically dismantled so that nothing would remain but a pile of rubble. That would be a shocking statement.
Now suppose after lunch, while everyone is back at the office, a few of my coworkers came to me and said: “when will these things happen?”. If I were a normal person, I would remember my shocking statement at lunch, and I would give a few more details to help my coworker understand my position. I would not respond like this: “Hey, great question! But, tuck that away for a moment because I have another doozy for ya.” Then, instead of answering his sincere question, I would just opine about events so far into the future that my answer would border on the nonsensical and certainly would not be relevant to our conversation.
CONCLUSION
Thus, the disciples want to know three things. First, when will the destruction of the temple and its abandonment happen? Second, they are asking Jesus to give them some signs and things to be looking for so they will know when that judgment coming is about to happen. And finally, they want to know about the end of the age, which is not a question about the end of human history. They are wondering if the age of the Jews will come to an end with the destruction of the Jewish temple?
In the weeks ahead, we will examine Jesus’ response to these three very specific questions. What we will see in greater detail, and what we may already begin to suspect, is that everything in this chapter has to do with the downfall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. That is the question these men were asking about. And that is the answer Jesus gave them.
Until next time, God bless you!
