Mount Olivet Discourse -
Part 1
by Paul George
Matthew 24:1-6
The Olivet Discourse, delivered shortly before Jesus'
crucifixion, is the most important single passage of
prophecy in the entire Bible. It is significant because it
came from Jesus Himself immediately after His rejection by
His own people and because it provides the master outline of
end-time events.
The setting for the Olivet Discourse, at least for Matthew'
s account, is found in preceding events leading up to
Matthew 24. Christ had presented Himself to the nation as
their Messiah, but they rejected Him. Not only did the
people reject Him, but their rulers did as well. Jesus
rebukes and exposes their hypocrisy and unbelief in Matthew
22 and 23. This present generation of Jewish leaders is like
those from previous generations who killed the prophets
(Matthew 23:29-36). Jesus then tells the Jewish leaders,
“Truly, I say to you, all these things shall come upon this
generation" (Matthew 23:36). What things, the judgment,
which will come upon the Jewish people through the Roman
army in a.d. 70. All hope for a turning of Israel to God in
repentance has gone; the King therefore has no alternative
but to reject that nation for the time being with regard to
the coming of the promised kingdom.
In spite of the fact that the Jewish people deserved the
approaching judgment, like a caring parent about to
administer a just punishment, Jesus weeps and reveals what
He wanted to do, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the
prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I
wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen
gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling"
(Matthew 23:37). Jesus wants to gather His people, as He
will in 24:31, instead, He will scatter them via the a.d. 70
judgment (Luke 21:24).
Jesus then declares in verse 38, “Behold, your house is
being left to you desolate!" To what does the house refer?
In the context of this passage, it must be a reference to
the Jewish Temple. What Jesus says will be desolate, the
Temple, in verse 38, He describes more precisely in Matthew
24:2.
Then Jesus said, “For I say to you, from now on you shall
not see Me until you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the
name of the Lord'" (v. 39). Not only does this verse predict
judgment, but also the promise of hope and blessing upon the
Jewish nation. Since Jesus came in the name of the Lord, and
since He will not return until Israel says, “Blessed is he
that comes in the name of the Lord,” it is clear that the
people of Israel will see and recognize that Jesus was and
is their true Messiah. The last few verses of Matthew 23
mean that judgment was coming in the near future, but beyond
judgment, deliverance and redemption awaits the Jewish
nation. Judgment did come in a.d. 70 and Matthew 24 speaks
of the still future redemption of Israel.
Matthew 24:1-3
Matthew 24:1-3, provides us with the setting for which
Christ delivers His prophetic sermon. We see that Jesus is
making His way from the Temple (v. 1) to the Mount of Olives
(v. 3), which would mean that He most likely would travel
down the Kidron Valley and on up to Olivet. As He was going
from the Temple His disciples point out the temple buildings
to Him (v. 1). This statement leads us to believe that they
were talking to Jesus about how beautiful the Temple complex
was that Herod was still in the process of remodeling and
refurbishing. Such an emphasis is borne out in the parallel
references in Mark 13:1-2 and Luke 21:5-6 as the disciples
speak of the beauty of the Temple buildings. The Lord must
have startled and confused His disciples by His response to
their gloating over the beauty of the Temple complex when He
said, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you,
not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will
not be torn down" (v. 2).
The scene shifts from the Temple grounds to the Mount of
Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, Mark 13:3 tells
us that the disciples who came to Him privately were Peter,
James, John and Andrew, and that they were sitting on the
Mount of Olives looking at the Temple. The disciples coming
to Jesus privately fits the practice of Jesus teaching only
His believing disciples once the nation rejected Him as
their prophesied Messiah in Matthew 12. From Matthew 13 on,
Jesus speaks publicly to the rejecting nation only in
parables (Matthew 13:10-17). However, many times He would
later explain a public parable privately to His disciples.
In the Olivet Discourse, we see Christ following this
practice. This private explanation, which is the Olivet
Discourse, means that Jesus will provide His explanation of
future history for the benefit of believers.
While sitting on the Mount of Olives these four disciples
ask Jesus the following questions: " Tell us, when will
these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming,
and of the end of the age" (v.3)? Immediately debate rises
over whether these are two questions or three. Clearly, the
first question relates to the destruction of the Temple,
fulfilled in the Roman invasion and destruction of a.d. 70.
It is equally clear that the two aspects of the second
question have yet to occur in history. It appears that the
disciples believed that all three aspects of their two
questions would occur around the same event- the coming of
Messiah. Why would they have thought this way? It is
possible that the prophet Zechariah influenced the disciples
thinking involving the departure of the King, the
destruction of Jerusalem, and coming of the Messiah. The
disciples had good scriptural ground for this since
Zechariah 14:1-2 describes the razing of Jerusalem. The same
passage goes on to describe the coming of the Lord to
destroy the nations that warred against Jerusalem (Zechariah
14:3-8). Following this, the millennial kingdom is
established (Zechariah 14:9-11). In other words, the
disciples thought that all three events were a single event,
the return of the Messiah as taught in Zechariah 14:4.
The questions showed that the disciples had arrived at
certain conclusions, Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of
the Temple was the destruction predicted by Zechariah that
would precede the advent of the Messiah. In Jewish
eschatology, two ages were recognized: the first was this
present age, the age in which Israel was waiting for the
coming of the Messiah; the second was the age to come, the
age in which all of Israel’s covenants would be fulfilled
and Israel would enter into her promised blessings, the
result of the coming of the Messiah. Even though the
disciples merged these events, Christ did not merge these
events into a single period. In fact, Matthew and Mark do
not deal with the destruction of Jerusalem in their accounts
of the Olivet Discourse. Their focus is upon the future days
of tribulation leading up to the return of Jesus. Only in
Luke’s account does Jesus deal with the destruction of
Jerusalem and the Temple (Luke 21:20-24). However, Luke also
deals with future days of tribulation and the second coming
of Jesus (Luke 21:25-36). For whatever reason, Matthew and
Mark’s entire focus is upon the last question that speaks of
“the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age."
The first question by the disciples is “Tell us, when will
these things be" (Matthew 24:3)? Since Jesus had been
speaking about the Temple and a time when "not one stone
shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down"
(Matthew 24:2), it is clear that Jesus predicted the
destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans in a.d.
70. Jesus had predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and the
Temple earlier in His ministry (Matthew 23:38). Luke records
another prediction of judgment upon Israel, as in Matthew
23:37-39, proceeded by Jesus weeping over the city of
Jerusalem (Luke 19:41). This prediction occurred at the time
of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem based upon Israel
rejection of Jesus as their Messiah (Luke 19:42). Jesus
prophesied in Luke 19:43-44 as follows: " For the days shall
come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before
you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and
will level you to the ground and your children within you,
and they will not leave in you one stone upon another,
because you did not recognize the time of your visitation."
We learn a number of things from this prediction; first,
"your enemies" undoubtedly refers to the Romans who
destroyed the city in a.d. 70. Second, "will throw up a bank
before you, and surround you, and hem you in on every side,"
is a clear description of the Roman siege used to defeat
Jerusalem. Third, the Roman siege resulted in a total
destruction of the city and of life within the city. Usually
in a wartime situation, if anyone is spared it will be the
children, but even most of them were killed. Fourth, the
very words of Jesus from Matthew 24:2 were used by Him
earlier in this passage when He said, " they will not leave
in you one stone upon another." Fifth, the reason for the
destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans will be that "you did
not recognize the time of your visitation."
Since Luke’s version of the Olivet Discourse, deals with the
destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple turn to Luke
21:20-24, since it records the prophecy about the first
question of the disciples. The passage reads as follows,
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, and then
recognize that her desolation is at hand. Then let those who
are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in
the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in
the country enter the city; because these are days of
vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be
fulfilled. Woe to those who are with child and to those who
nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress
upon the land, and wrath to this people, and they will fall
by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all
the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the
Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke
21:20-24)
It is clear that Luke 21:20-24 refers to the first-century
Roman invasion of Jerusalem. The entire passage speaks
repeatedly of judgment and wrath upon the Jewish people and
their city, just as Jesus predicted in Matthew 24:2. Yet,
when one searches the perditions of Matthew 24 and Mark 13
this language is missing. Instead of "great distress upon
the land, and wrath to this people," Matthew 24 speaks of
rescuing the Jewish people who are under great distress
(Matthew 24:29-31).
In the Olivet Discourse Jesus speaks of a single event
connected with the Temple, its desecration by an abomination
which was predicted by the Prophet Daniel (Matthew 24:15;
Mark 13:14), what Temple is Jesus speaking of here? Was the
Temple that was to be desecrated the same Temple as the one
predicted to be destroyed; there are a number of contrasts
within this text that indicate that Jesus was talking about
two different Temples:
The Temple described in Matthew 24:15 is not said to be
destroyed, only desecrated (see Revelation 11:2). By
contrast, the Temple in Jesus' day was to be completely
leveled: "not one stone would be left standing on another"
(Matthew 24:2; Mark 13:2; Luke 19:44). The Temple’s
desecration would be a signal for Jews to escape destruction
(Matthew 24:16-18), “be saved" (Matthew 24:22) and
experience the promised “redemption" (Luke 21:28). By
contrast the destruction of the Temple in Matthew 24:2 was a
judgment “because you did not recognize the time of your
visitation, Messiah’s first advent" (Luke 19:44b) and
resulted in the Temple being leveled to the ground and “your
children [the Jews] within you" (Luke 19:44a).
The generation of Jews that are alive at the time that the
Temple is desecrated will expect Messiah’s coming
"immediately after" (Matthew 24:29), and are predicted to
not pass away until they have experienced it (Matthew
24:34). By contrast, the generation of Jews who saw the
Temple destroyed would pass away and would pass away without
redemption.
The text Jesus cited concerning the Temple’s desecration,
Daniel 9:27, predicts that the one who desecrates this
Temple will himself be destroyed. By contrast, those who
destroyed the Temple in a.d. 70, in fulfillment of Jesus'
prediction, the Roman emperor Vespasian and his son Titus,
were not destroyed but returned to Rome in triumph carrying
vessels from the destroyed Temple.
The time “immediately after" (Matthew 24:29) the time of the
Temple's desecration would see Israel’s repentance (Matthew
24:30), followed by, as Matthew 23:29 implies, a restoration
of the Temple. By contrast, the time following the
destruction of the Temple only saw a "hardening" happen "to
Israel," which is to last "until the fullness of the
Gentiles has come in" (Romans 11:25). The time for the
desecration of the Temple is during a worldwide tribulation
"coming upon the world" (Luke 21:26; compare Matthew 24:21-
22; Mark 13:19- 20), a global regathering of the Jewish
people "from one end of the sky to the other" (Matthew
24:31; Mark 13:27), and a universal revelation of the
Messiah at Israel' s rescue (Matthew 24:30- 31; Mark 13:26;
Luke 21:26- 27), when “all nations of the earth will be
gathered against it" (Zechariah 12:3). By contrast, the a.d.
70 assault on Jerusalem predicted in Luke 21:20 is by the
armies of one empire, Rome. Therefore, if there are two
different attacks on Jerusalem, separated by more than 2,000
years, then two distinct Temples are considered in Matthew
24:1- 2 and Matthew 24:15.
Luke 21:24 ends by saying that Jerusalem will be under
Gentile domination “until the times of the Gentiles be
fulfilled." The little word “until" clearly denotes that
there will be a time when the current domination of
Jerusalem by the Gentiles will come to an end. The end of
verse 24 serves as a transitional period between the
prophecy that refers to the past a.d. 70 event (Luke
21:20-24) and the prophecy that looks to a future
fulfillment at Jesus’ second coming (Luke 21:25-28). We now
live in the “times of the Gentiles."
A clear connection is established between Luke 21:24 which
speaks of the current era of "the times of the Gentiles"
being fulfilled and coming to an end and Romans 11:25 which
speaks of “the fullness of the Gentiles "having come in."
Both passages speak of Israel’s redemption (Luke 21:28;
Romans 11:26- 27). When we consider that the Old Testament
pattern which says that Israel will pass through the
tribulation, repent toward the end when they recognize Jesus
as the Messiah, experience conversion, and then the second
coming will occur to rescue them from their enemies, it
follows that " all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26) in
connection with the tribulation. This is in harmony with
Luke 21:25- 28.
The focus of Luke 21:25- 28 reveals a distinct shift from
the first century description of 21:20- 24. The differences
include the local focus of Jerusalem in the first century
judgment verses the global perspective of the future
tribulation. The tribulation will involve heavenly and
global events that did not literally occur in a.d. 70. The
emphasis of Luke 21:25-28 is the opposite of God’s judgment
upon Israel as stated in Luke 21:20-24. Instead, verse 28
tells Israel that, “your redemption is drawing near."
When one examines the entire Olivet Discourse as recorded in
Matthew 24 and Mark 13, there is no reference to wrath or
judgment upon the nation of Israel. Instead, Israel is
delivered from its invader as noted in Matthew 24:31, "And
He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they
will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one
end of the sky to the other" (see also Mark 13:27). The
question arises, " When was Israel rescued in a.d. 70?" They
were not! The events of Matthew 24 and Mark 13 (also Luke
21:25-28) will all be fulfilled in the tribulation, which
will take place in the future.
So the first question of the disciples to Christ in the
Olivet Discourse relates to the destruction of Jerusalem in
a.d. 70. The record of its fulfillment recorded only in Luke
21, Matthew 24- 25 and Mark 13 deal only with the last
question, which are a prophecy of events that are still
future. Since Matthew 24 is a future, end-time prophecy, the
next issue to tackle is when will verses 4 through 14 come
to pass?
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