Matthew 24:1-26

Jesus' Words After Leaving The Temple About The Future History of the World, About The Destruction Of The Temple And About His Second Coming (24:1-26).

After having prepared His disciples and would be disciples for the future (Matthew 23:1) and having exposed the Scribes and Pharisees, revealing why they needed to be displaced (Matthew 23:13), and having warned of the coming abandonment of the Temple by God (Matthew 23:37), Jesus now declares that as a consequence the Temple will be destroyed within that generation, and then goes on to describe His own second coming in glory and its consequences which will at some time follow. This whole section can be analysed as follows:

Analysis.

a Introduction in which Jesus declares that the Temple will be utterly destroyed (Matthew 24:1).

b His disciples ask both when that will happen, and when the end of the age/world will come (Matthew 24:3).

c Jesus describes the troubles and catastrophes soon coming on the world, and the tribulation awaiting the disciples and their followers. This will be accompanied by the spreading of the good news of the Kingly Rule throughout the whole world, along with which will be the sowing of the tares/darnel (Matthew 13:25; Matthew 13:38), that is, of the false prophets and teachers, and their words (Matthew 24:4).

d He describes the destruction of the Temple and the long and great tribulation coming on the Jews Who have rejected Him, commencing with the invasion of Titus and continuing on through time until ‘the times of the Gentiles' come to an end at the second coming (see Luke 21:24 and Deuteronomy 28:49). During this period false Messiahs and false prophets will come, who are not to be heeded, because in contrast His own coming will be sudden and unexpected (when it happens it will be from Heaven in glory and not as a man on earth) (Matthew 24:15).

e He describes the final days leading up to His coming, when He will come in glory and His angels will gather together His elect (Matthew 24:29).

d He warns them to watch for the signs that He has described, and to be aware that those initial signs and the destruction of the Temple will occur within their generation, although they are to be aware that that does not necessarily include His coming, for even He does not know the time of His coming. Meanwhile He warns of the suddenness and unexpectedness both of His coming and the gathering of the elect (Matthew 24:32).

c He narrates the parable of the servant who is set over the household, and who must choose whether he will be a good or bad servant (Matthew 24:45), likens the Kingly Rule of Heaven to the situation of ten virgins awaiting the bridegroom, and warns them to watch for His coming with their lamps filled, with only five fulfilling the requirement (Matthew 25:1), and likens the situation of the Kingly Rule of Heaven to that of three servants, two of whom fulfil their responsibility and are rewarded, and one who does not and is cast into outer darkness (Matthew 25:14).

b He describes pictorially the scene of the end of the age/world and of His final judgment (Matthew 25:31).

a He ceases His words in order to prepare for the destruction of the Temple of His body (Matthew 26:1).

Note that in ‘a' He speaks of the destruction of the Temple and in the parallel He goes off to prepare for the destruction of the Temple of His body. In ‘b' His disciples ask concerning the destruction of the Temple, and concerning His second coming and the end of the age, and in the parallel He describes what will happen at the end of the age. In ‘c' He describes the troubles and catastrophes soon coming on the world, and the tribulation awaiting the disciples and their followers, which will be accompanied by the spreading of the good news of the Kingly Rule throughout the whole world, along with which will be the sowing of the tares/darnel (Matthew 13:25; Matthew 13:38), that is, the false prophets and teachers and their words (Matthew 24:4), and in the parallel we have the parables which reveal these activities as being carried forward through the good and bad servants and the wise and foolish virgins. In ‘d' Jesus' coming is to be sudden and unexpected, and in the parallel His coming is to be sudden and unexpected. Centrally in ‘e' His coming is described.

The section gives us an interesting example of the way in which, in translating from the Aramaic, the Gospel writers or their sources both present their material and at times edit it in order to bring out what they see as important. A full transcription of Jesus words would be longer than the discourses in any of them. (See introductory article in which the narratives are collated to produce such a longer discourse using parallel citations as a basis on which to build it up).