Matthew 24:1-14

Read Matthew 24:1-3 and consider the following background information before going on.

In Matthew 21:23, Matthew told us that Jesus had come into the Temple area.  Jesus’s confrontations with the leaders and his denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees occur on the Temple grounds – on their turf, in the place where they were used to being comfortable and in control.

Jesus’s last words in the previous chapter told us that the Temple would one day be desolate – i.e., deserted (Matt. 23:38).

Now, Jesus leaves the Temple area and leaves the city itself.  He crosses the Kidron Valley to the east and climbs up the Mount of Olives.  The peaks of this mountain ridge are slightly higher than the Temple Mount in the city of Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives offers a clear, even breathtaking, view of the Temple and the city.  Matthew tells us that Jesus’s disciples approach him while he is seated on the Mount of Olives (24:3).

The location of this conversation between Jesus and his disciples is significant because the Mount of Olives is mentioned in the Old Testament.

Zechariah

In the book of the prophet Zechariah (chapters 12-14), Zechariah speaks an oracle from God that later generations interpreted as a messianic prophecy about the coming of the kingdom of God.  In his prophecy, Zechariah describes a time when Jerusalem will be attacked and God will act on behalf of Jerusalem to vanquish its enemies.  Before the prophecy mentions the Mount of Olives, it makes several statements that Christians interpret as prophecies about Jesus:

• Zechariah 12:10 says that “when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a first born” (NRSV).

• Zechariah 13:1 says: “On that day a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity” (NRSV).

• Zechariah 13:7b says: “Strike the shepherd, that the sheep may be scattered” (NRSV).

Then Zechariah mentions the Mount of Olives:

Read Zechariah 14:1-5.

What will happen to Jerusalem, according to this prophecy?

It will be plundered, and the people will be sent into exile.

According to Zechariah 14:3-4, whose feet will stand on the Mount of Olives to defend the people of Jerusalem from their enemies?

God’s feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.

Now, in Matthew, Jesus’s feet stand on the Mount of Olives – Jesus, who is God incarnate.

How are these passages relevant to the discussion we saw earlier in Matthew, where Jesu explains that the Messiah (i.e., Jesus) is greater than David?

Ezekiel

The Mount of Olives also appears at a key moment in the book of the prophet Ezekiel.  Ezekiel is warning about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, Ezekiel is describing a vision where he sees the glory of the LORD rise up from the Temple (the first temple, which was built by Solomon) and move toward the east gate of the Temple (Ezek. 10:18-19).  The glory of the LORD then moves away from the city to the mountain east of the city (Ezek. 11:22-23).  That mountain is the Mount of Olives.  Soon after that, the first Temple is destroyed in 586 BC.

Ezekiel later has a vision of God rebuilding the Temple, and when the Temple has been properly built and furnished, the glory of the Lord returns to the city from the east and fills the Temple (Ezek. 43:1-4).

The book of Ezekiel describes the Lord God moving out of the city of Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives before the city is destroyed in 586 BC, and then returning when the Temple is rebuilt.  How might this be a foreshadowing of Jesus?

These passages from Zechariah and Ezekiel show how the Mount of Olives becomes a significant place in the Old Testament.  Because of this background, Jesus’s movement between the city and the Mount of Olives is sometimes interpreted in prophetic or apocalyptic terms.

Read Matthew 24:1-14 the destruction of the Temple and the beginnings of calamities

When the disciples point out the Temple buildings, which they can see at a distance from the Mount of Olives, what does Jesus say will happen to the Temple (verse 2)?

We know that this happened at the culmination of the war from AD 66 to 70, and Matthew’s readers know it because it happened before the Gospel of Matthew was written (probably in the 80s).

They ask him two questions in verse 3: When will this happen, and what will be the sign of Jesus’s return as the Son of Man and the end of the world as we know it?  Jesus clarifies that these are two separate events and that it will be a long process.

 What does Jesus say will happen before the end, in verse 5?  What does he add in verse 6?  What does he add in verse 7?

There will be false prophets, wars, and natural disasters.  Note that we have seen those repeatedly throughout history, so we should not place too much significance on any particular false prophet, war, or natural disaster.

In verse 8, what does Jesus say about those events?  Will the end coming swiftly after those things happen?

No.  In verse 8 he says these are only “the beginning of the birth pangs.”

The Jews expected that there would be tribulation and sufferings before the end.  What are “birth pangs” and is the time usually short or long between the “beginning” of birth pangs and the ultimate delivery?

Jesus says those troubles are just the beginning.  In verses 9-12, what does he say will happen to the Christian community?

In verse 9, it is interesting to see Jesus say they will be hated by “all the nations.”  The persecution reminds us of Matthew 5:11 in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are you when they . . . persecute you . . . because of me.”  The “all nations” prefigures Matthew 28:19, Jesus’s last instructions before his Ascension, when he tells the disciples to “make disciples of all nations.”

Matthew 5:11-12 and verse 9 here suggest that Jesus expects his followers to be persecuted.  Where are followers of Christ being persecuted today?

Should we expect, or at least be prepared for, persecution?  Are we doing the things that a follower of Christ would do that might lead to persecution?  Explain.

In verse 12, Jesus says, “because of the increase of lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold” (NRSV).  Why is it that when a society is in disorder (lawlessness), people are less concerned about others (show less love)?

We can see this link between lawlessness and a loss of love for others in our own day.  What are some social issues where people’s willingness to be charitable or welcoming or loving toward others might be affected by how they feel about whether their own situation is in good order or out of control?

Among many possible examples, here are 2: Those who work for restorative justice in the criminal justice system have experienced this.  Reforms that seek to place a greater emphasis on restoration and rehabilitation must be done in a way that it does not become associated with an increase in crime, because if crime rates go up, people are more likely to demand punitive measures and reject rehabilitative or restorative processes.  Similarly, it is harder to gain support for policies that are more welcoming toward immigrants when immigration is thought to be out of control or lawless.  When people perceive an increase in lawlessness, their hearts grow cold and unloving.

What encouragement does Jesus offer in verse 13?

Matthew is familiar with persecution and wants to encourage his community to persevere.  Why is perseverance important?

How is perseverance important for us?  What difference does it make?

In our own lives, we may not suffer persecution or martyrdom, but we are still called to “endure” (NRSV) or “persevere” (NABRE) to the end.  What would it look like in our own lives for us to endure or persevere to the end?

In verse 14, what does Jesus say happens before the end will come?

Verse 14 reflects a core theme of Matthew:  that the good news or gospel must be proclaimed throughout the world.  How important do you think this goal is, and why?

Note that Jesus does not say that “as soon as” the gospel has been preached to the whole world, the end will come.  There are groups today that make it sound like they are engaged in evangelism because they think it will hasten the Second Coming.  But Jesus does not draw such a direct link.  Moreover, sharing the good news (evangelization) is important for its own sake.  People need the good news of God’s salvation and the opportunity to have a relationship with God.  Their lives are better when they know Jesus, and they are blessed when they learn how to become more like him.  That is why we evangelize.

How good of a job do you think we are doing of proclaiming gospel – the good news of Jesus – throughout the world?

In what ways are you preaching or proclaiming the good news?

What more could you do personally to help proclaim the good news?

Take a step back and consider this:

God’s people, throughout the centuries, have tried to reach the whole world with the gospel.  But it isn’t “one and done” for any particular region or population.  First, new generations keep coming, who need to hear about the good news.  Second, whole areas that once claimed to be guided by the gospel of Jesus are now considered places where the gospel needs to be preached anew.  Some churches even have a word for this phenomenon: they describe some places as “post-Christian,” meaning that Christianity is no longer the predominant religion in that area and Christian values no longer seem to drive the society’s values, so the gospel must be preached again almost from scratch.

In what ways is your town, your community, your nation a “post-Christian” society where the gospel needs to be taught from scratch because people don’t even know the basics of Christianity?

What would your church have to do to better attract the people of a post-Christian society to spend some time with you and learn more about this “Jesus” whom you proclaim?