We who remember the time when the Internet did not exist and who never dreamed that someday people would claim to be able to change their sex might say "It's a different world today!"
But imagine a world with no Gospel at all. A world in which all the nations of the world except one were are deceived by the devil. A world in which that one nation had no great commission to take a saving message to the other nations — in fact having early in its history a commission to exterminate other nations! People like Ruth the Moabitess or Uriah the Hittite could become members of that elect nation, but such proselytes were few and far between. Most of humanity was born into and died in pagan darkness and in their sin.
That's the world before the first advent of Christ, and we living so many years on the other side of the cross don't appreciate the magnitude of the change that came following His accomplishment of salvation by His life, death, and resurrection and with the establishment of His kingdom!
The burden of the epistle to the Hebrews is to teach early believers about those massive changes and to exhort them to leave the old behind and depend on Christ alone for salvation. Now we have a divine Messenger superior to angels. A better Housebuilder than Moses. A better High Priest Who had to make only one offering: "In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." (Hebrews 8:13).
That brings us to the Olivet Discourse and its context. What is the Olivet Discourse? A message given by Jesus in response to questions posed by His disciples. It is recorded at Mat. 24, Mark 13, and Luke 21. For this study we will concentrate on Matthew's account.
When we compare the three records of the discourse given in the three Gospels, we find that they are not identical. Does this mean that the Bible is in error? Not at all! Being under inspiration does not mean that the human authors of God's holy word were prohibited from summarizing or paraphrasing Jesus' exact words. And they record not only what Jesus said but their own commentary as well, which is equally God-breathed. The result is that we have three infallible, inerrant, divinely authoritative versions. As it is with the four Gospel accounts of Jesus' resurrection, the three records of the Olivet Discourse give us greater depth and richness than only one record would.
As usual, CONTEXT rules! The Lord had just spoken several parables per Matthew chs. 21 and 22 — the two sons sent to the vineyard, the evil vineyard tenants, those who snubbed an invitation to the wedding of a king's son. In Matthew ch. 23 He denounces the scribes and Pharisees with seven woes. Back in Matthew 21:13 He had referred to the temple as MY HOUSE (i.e. God's), but in 23:38 He says YOUR HOUSE is left desolate. Per the first verse of ch. 24, Jesus leaves the temple and Scripture gives no indication that He ever entered it again.
Do we read of the holy indignation of God incarnate overturning tables…casting out those who mistreated the temple TWICE, once at the beginning of His earthly ministry and again near the end? Now He disowns the same temple completely. It will be left desolate. Now He will build His new covenant temple made up of living stones.
How often the Lord had upbraided the disciples for the poverty of their understanding! Even after He rose victorious from the grave, before Pentecost, they were still thinking in terms of the centrality of national Israel, as our Acts 1 "guardian text" shows. So we should think of the disciples as utterly astounded and probably afraid to ask Jesus when such dreadful changes would come and what sign would indicate their approach! And His answer probably shocked them even more! This great temple of God forsaken, left desolate, even to be physically torn down by the despised Romans!? YES!
To what might we compare how Jesus' parables, denunciations, and statement about the desolation of the great temple effected the disciples? Imagine someone proclaiming that the Church against which, Jesus affirmed, the gates of hell cannot prevail would be surpassed by something greater. Imagine a teaching that the new and better covenant in Jesus' blood was to be superceded by yet an even better, newer covenant! It's impossible, we can't conceive of it! Of course it is impossible, and the new covenant is eternal. But to the disciples of that generation, what Jesus was saying was just that astonishing. They failed to remember that under the old covenant divine promises were made (cf. Jeremiah 31:31ff; Isaiah 53:3) that a new one was coming…that the kingdom was coming.
So the disciples, those men slow of heart to believe, amazed by what their Master has already said, do ask their WHEN and WHAT question.
To be continued. Go to A Survey of Eschatology, Part Three