Commentary on Matt. 24 During the last week of His ministry, after coming to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, Jesus went up to the Temple Mount daily and taught the people. Worshipers had come from all over Israel, and many from foreign lands, to observe the most important festival of Judaism.
The Chief Priests, scribes, and Pharisees, listened intently, as Jesus taught, for some cause to accuse Him. They were increasingly agitated by His claims, as well as His condemnation of them, the religious leaders. The tension was building daily. The final straw came in the form of parables, designed to publicly convict the Jewish leaders as unfit shepherds of God's people.
Matt 21:33-43
33 Hear another parable: There was a certain householder, which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country:
34 And when the time of the fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruits of it.
35 And the husbandmen took his servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
36 Again, he sent other servants more than the first: and they did unto them likewise.
37 But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
38 But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance.
39 And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him.
40 When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
41 They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
42 Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes?
43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.
(KJV)
It was clear to these religious men, that Jesus was referring to them as the wicked husbandmen who had been entrusted with God's vineyard under the Law of Moses. But, Jesus was putting them on notice. The Kingdom of God was about to be taken away from them, and given to someone else. The "faithful husbandmen," who would soon take the place of the Jewish leaders as the caretakers of God's vineyard, were the disciples. Jesus had clearly told them this.
Luke 12:32
32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
(KJV)
The idea of these rag-tag followers of this self-appointed "Messiah" replacing them, made the Jewish leaders furious. How dare Jesus speak of their eviction from the Temple, and all it represents. They wanted Him dead, no matter what. And, they began to conspire how to kill Him. Jesus knew what they were up to, and continued to aggravate the situation by openly condemning them in front of the crowds. He began to publicly instruct His disciples, as the new "faithful husbandmen," who were being appointed charge of God's flock, and the crowd of worshipers. He told them how to act, and in doing so, condemned the actions of the Chief Priests, Scribes, and Pharisees.
Matt 23:1-12
1 Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples,
2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
3 All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.
4 For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.
5 But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
11 But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.
(KJV)
These are pretty strong words. But, not as strong as what followed. Jesus next turned directly to the Scribes and Pharisees and continued with an intense condemnation of them. I can picture Jesus standing there under Solomon's porch, pointing to them, reprimanding them publicly, while the crowds watched silently, and the disciples stood with their mouths open.
Matt 23:13-36
13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.
14 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.
15 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
16 Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor!
17 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold?
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
19 Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?
20 Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
21 And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
22 And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.
23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.
24 Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.
26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness.
28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous,
30 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.
31 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.
32 Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers.
33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
34 Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city:
35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.
36 Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
(KJV)
Notice, in verse 34, Jesus said He was going to send "prophets, wise men, and scribes" to Israel, but that the Jewish leaders would persecute them also. This prophecy finds its fulfillment in the book of Acts. The Apostles and others, like Stephen, are among the ones who were going to be constantly persecuted by the Jewish leadership. This is an important point, that will become clear as we discuss who the Olivet Discourse was intended for, the Church or Israel.
Following this, Jesus began to lament over Jerusalem, and the Jewish people. Their blindness would cause them great pain and suffering. But, eventually, they would repent.
Matt. 23:37-39
37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
39 For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
(KJV)
With this statement, Jesus turned His back on His own nation, resigned to the fact that they would have to endure the judgment of God before they could be restored to fellowship with their God. This had been prophesied by several Old Testament prophets, most notably by Hosea.
Hosea 5:14-6:3
14 For I will be unto Ephraim as a lion, and as a young lion to the house of Judah: I, even I, will tear and go away; I will take away, and none shall rescue him.
15 I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early.
6:1 Come, and let us return unto the LORD: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight.
3 Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth.
(KJV)
Here we see that there was a gap predicted, when Israel would be desolate, without God's care. This is what Jesus referred to when He said, "Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
Having pronounced judgment on Israel, in a cloud of turmoil, Jesus turned and began making His way through the crowd, leaving the Temple complex, with the disciples following.
Matt 24:1-3
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
(KJV)
Something occurred, between verses 2 and 3 that is not recorded in Matthew, but is included in Luke 21. While still within the Temple grounds, Jesus gave a rather lengthy discourse about the coming destruction of the Temple, [which was fulfilled in great detail in AD. 70]. For a thorough understanding of the Olivet Discourse, I suggest you read Luke 21 in its entirety. While this discourse focuses mostly on the destruction of Jerusalem in AD. 70 [in verses 12-24], it also briefly mentions the second coming of Christ after the tribulation to set up His Millennial Kingdom.
After hearing Jesus describe the total destruction of the Temple, Jesus and the disciples made their way out of Jerusalem, across the Kidron valley, and up the Mount of Olives. No doubt, they were thinking about the events of the day, with Jesus' condemnation of the Jewish leaders, Jesus' prophecy of the disciples replacing the Jewish leaders, as well as the coming destruction of the Temple. However, it seems that the thing the disciples were most interrested in, was the second coming of Christ, that Jesus had only briefly described in His discourse on the Temple mount. This is seen in the question they posed to Jesus, as they sat overlooking the Temple, on the Mount of Olives.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
Since Jesus had only briefly mentioned the details surrounding His second coming in the Temple discourse, [not even mentioning the tribulation], and since the disciples were mostly interested in the coming of Christ's Kingdom, they asked a rather straightforward question. How would they know when this day was approaching? What signs exactly would precede Jesus' coming in power and glory to set up His Kingdom? The disciples recognized, from their training in the Old Testament, that after the period of Israel's judgment, Messiah would appear in glorious splendor to set up His Kingdom. This was known as the "Day of the Lord," [See: Joel 3:9-17 & Zech. 14]. They were anxious to rule and reign with the Messiah. They wanted to know what signs would accompany this event, so they could know when it was approaching. They expected to live to see it. Little did they realize, that as a prelude to Christ's Kingdom being established on earth, they first had a great task to accomplish, spreading the gospel among all nations.
Go to: Matt. 24:4-8
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