In an attempt to move along and listen to Jesus’ response to
the disciples’ question as they react to all that He has said and done in the
Temple, this study will not attempt to interpret and apply every statement that
Jesus makes. Rather, it is more important to listen to Jesus with the
full realization that He is responding to a question about the fall of the
Temple, whether it be the question on offer in Matthew, Mark, or Luke. In
doing so, taking an unwarranted flight of fancy so as to hear Jesus talking
about anything but that which He has been asked to address will not be allowed.
The obvious intention of the authors does not allow for this.
So as Jesus answers, every word must be heard in connection
with His statement, in reference to the Temple, that “not one stone will be
left on another. All will be torn down,” along the disciples’ inquisitive
response to that statement, inquiring when this earth-shaking event will take
place. This is not exactly a far-fetched or groundbreaking idea,
especially when considering how Temple-centric the Gospel narratives have been
since Jesus made His triumphal entry.
As Jesus tells His disciples how they will know that the
Temple is about to fall, He begins by saying “Watch out that no one misleads
you” (24:4b), which is quite prescient, considering the many strange paths down
which many erstwhile interpreters have attempted to lead the Creator God’s
people, as Jesus’ rather straightforward discourse is presented in isolation
from all that comes before it. Continuing on, Jesus says “For many will
come in My name, saying ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many.
You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not
alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come” (24:5-6).
What is “the end”? In context of the statement, the
question, and the answer of course, “the end” is the fall of the Temple. Foreign
notions are not to be here imported into the text. The end is the fall of
the Temple, and for Matthew, it is already and also known that this end is
connected to the son of man appearing before the Ancient of Days, as detailed
in Daniel 7. Both Mark and Luke have Jesus here speaking of the end, and
since neither one of those records have the disciples asking about the end of
the age (which is most decidedly not a reference to the end of the physical world),
this reinforces the fact that the end of which Jesus speaks is the end of the
Temple that currently stands in Jerusalem, for that is the object that is squarely
and most unmistakably in view.
Jesus continues: “For
nations will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these
things are the beginning of birth pains” (24:7-8). If these things are
the beginning of birth pains, what will be the result of those birth
pains? Clearly, the answer, unless one allow himself to be diverted from
the subject at hand, is the throwing down of the Temple. What else will
be associated with these birth pains? In conjunction with all that Jesus
has said will happen in the lead-up to the fall of the Temple, Jesus says “They
will hand you over to be persecuted and will kill you. You will be hated
by all nations because of My name. Then many will be led into sin, and
they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false
prophets will appear and deceive many, and because lawlessness will increase so
much, the love of many will grow cold. But the person who endures to the
end will be saved” (24:10-13). Yet again, here is another “end.”
What is the “end”? The fall of the Temple. It is necessary to keep
coming back to that point, for far too many are far too conditioned to let their
minds wander off to different ideas.
No comments:
Post a Comment