34.Matthew 23-25 (2) Matthew 24:1-31
Jesus has just announced that
Israel’s “house,” that is, its temple – the centerpiece of its life and the
world’s hope – is left to it “desolate.” He has already pronounced judgment on it
and here he prophesies its destruction.[1]
Which, I remind us, will happen to “this generation” (23:36). With have seen
this note sounded repeatedly by Jesus. His time frame is within the lifetime of
the current generation. Not centuries or millennia future at the supposed end
of the world. This generation! This is the moment of God’s New Exodus, which as
we have often noted means salvation for those Jews who followed Jesus but judgment
on the rest, incorrigible ethnic Israel which had made a career of resisting
God and dirtying his name and reputation before the world. Here Jesus deals
with the judgment of recalcitrant Israel.
Israel’s role on God’s plan is the
issue here. As Israel bears the hope and destiny of the world in its faithfulness,
so to in its faithlessness it bears the sin and guilt of the world. As a “priestly
kingdom” (Ex.19:6) in the midst of the “whole earth” that belongs to God
(Ex.19:5) Israel is responsible for atoning for the world’s guilt (Abel’s blood;
23:35).
“God is going to send another flood, the
flood of Roman armies, to destroy the world that then was, and to make way for
a new world. Blood cries out from the ground, and Jesus says it will be
answered. The fall of the city of Jerusalem is not a minor event in the corner of
the Mediterranean. It is not a minor disaster for a small, albeit tenacious,
Semitic people. It is the end of the accumulation of blood; as much as the
flood, it wipes away innocent blood and cleanses the creation.”[2]
When this flood comes it will wipe
away the temple, “not one stone will left here upon another” (v.2). Later on
the Mount of Olives the disciples approach Jesus and broach with him the question
of timing: “when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of
the end of the age?” (v.3). These are three aspects of one reality they are
asking about.
-This temple
destruction, Jesus, uh, when’s it going to happen?
-Or your coming,
parousia?
-Or the end of
the age?
Jesus has already answered the first
part a number of times. Within this generation. Some who heard him that day
will be alive to experience it!
And since these concerns are inter-related
they are all within that same time frame. There is no justification for
splitting these events into three different time frames or seeing them all
referring to something far, far distant in the future. The word the disciples
use translated “coming” has a bit different nuance to it than the English “coming.”
Wright explains,
“Much of the Roman empire was Greek-speaking; and the Greek word
that they would use for such a state visit, such an 'appearing' or 'presence',
was parousia. The same word was often used to describe what happens when a god
or goddess did something dramatic - a healing miracle, say - which was thought
to reveal their power and presence. And it's this word parousia which the
disciples use in verse 3, when they ask Jesus about what's going to happen.”[3]
When this destruction of the temple
happens will that mean Jesus’ royal messianic “appearing” which will signal the
“end of the age” and the dawn of God’s promised new age?
“Birth Pangs” (Mt.24:3-14)
Jesus begins to answer them in terms
of “birth pangs” or labor as we would say today (vv.3-14). He warns them that
between then and the end (70 a.d.)
-false messiahs would arise (vv.4-5; e.g. Judas the Galilean who
led a tax revolt against Rome in 6 a.d.),
-increased military conflicts (vv.6-7a), and
-various social and natural disasters (v.7b).
-lawlessness and loss of love (v.12)
This is the time in which the
disciples are to take the gospel not only to Israel but indeed the whole world
(v,14; the mission of the church into the Gentile world after Pentecost; “from
one end of the Mediterranean to another”[4] ).
A time of severe testing, persecution,[5] for
Jesus’ followers requiring
-discernment (v.4),
-fearlessness (v.6), and
-perseverance (vv.9, 12-13).
The
End (Mt.24:15-31)
A “desolating sacrilege standing in
the holy place” is the sign that the end has come. This sign is prophesied in
the book of Daniel. Amid the welter of continuing cries of false messiahs and
false prophets (vv.23-26), and a crucible of unprecedented suffering (v.21),
Jesus’ disciples are to remain vigilant. Jesus warns them ahead of time to prepare
them to resist the lure of false gospels and persevere through the coming
hardships (v.25). But the sure sign, the north star by which the discip0les can
orient themselves is this sign from Daniel.
Apocalyptic imagery is the only
appropriate language 1st century authors had for describing
cataclysmic, world-altering events like the destruction of the temple for Jews.
And Daniel was an apocalyptic book they read regularly at the time to try and
understand their times. And Dan.9 refers to this sign, which is the key sign the
disciples are to look for. It is here we find the answer to their questions
about the timing and coming of his “appearance” (parousia).
“In particular,
look out for the pagan invasion that will end up placing blasphemous objects in
the Temple itself. This nearly happened within ten years of Jesus' own time. In
AD 40, the Roman emperor Gaius Caligula tried to place a huge statue of himself
in the Temple. He deliberately wanted to do this to snub and offend the Jews.
In the end he was assassinated before it happened; but, had he gone ahead, all
the events described in Matthew 24 could have happened right away. In fact, it
was another 30 years before Roman legions surrounded the Temple and eventually
placed their blasphemous standards there. That was indeed the beginning of the
end for Jerusalem, the end of the world order that Jesus and his followers, and
their ancestors for many generations, had known.”[6]
What are Jesus’ disciples to do
when they see this sign? Hit the road and get out of Dodge, that’s what! Not
stand and fight, nor deny and ignore, or accept with a resigned shrug. But rather
they are to flee to the mountains, not returning from the field to grab a coat or
gather provisions from the house . They are to hope they are not pregnant or
nursing when this time comes and that it is not winter or the sabbath
(vv.16-20). This crisis will be so severe that God will cut it short so that
the elect may be saved (v.22). That is, they are to flee the divine judgment
befalling the great city.
This event, flashing suddenly like
lightening across the sky, is the “appearance” (parousia) of the Son of Man.
And it will not be ambiguous or hard to figure out. This judgment, this destruction
of the holy city is his vindication. “Where the carcass is, there the vultures will
gather: the ancient world didn't always distinguish between vultures and
eagles, and when the eagles on the Roman standards gathered around Jerusalem
they would seem like birds of prey circling over a corpse in the desert, coming
in for the final kill.”[7]
“Immediately after” all this (still
in the 70 a.d. time frame) Matthew continues his apocalyptic description of
this unthinkable reality. Using Isa.13:10 and 34:4 he portrays the shutdown of
the skies. Moon, sun, stars and the “powers of heaven” no longer function. This
is typical imagery to describe large-scale social and political dislocations
(not literal, actual physical phenomena). And God’s judgment of his people
signals his reclaiming his rightful authority from a rebellious world and
reordering the governing authority of the world.
The apocalyptic imagery continues with
Matthew reverting back to Daniel to ch.7:13, the “Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven” (24:30). It is crucial to realize that this “coming” of the
Son of Man in Daniel is not from heaven to earth but the reverse, from earth to
heaven. This can only refer to Jesus resurrection and ascension. His victory and
vindication are his “coming.” And along with the destruction of the temple and
the spread of the gospel throughout the world his “power and great glory” are
on display (to the eyes of faith, of course). Jesus’ lordship is symbolized by
the sending out his angels to gather the elect “from one end of heaven to the
other” (v.31) – the missionary growth and spread of the church.[8]
In sum, this chapter (and it
parallels in Mk.13 and Lk.21) so beloved of end times enthusiasts as a literal description of future events at the supposed
end of space-time history (something no Jew could have imagined) is nothing of
the sort. Instead, it encodes in apocalyptic symbols and imagery what lay ahead
of Jesus’ hearers – the destruction and judgment of Jerusalem in 70 a.d. and
all that means and signifies for Christian faith.
The
Lesson of the Fig Tree (Mt.24:33-35)
Jesus reinforces the need for his
followers’ discernment and the immediate time frame of these happenings with a simple
lesson from a fig tree: when its buds appear, summer is near. So with what
Jesus has just said. When its signs, especially the “desolating sacrilege,” appear,
the end (of Jerusalem, the temple, and ethnic Israel’s mandate to be God’s Abrahamic
Israel) is near. As God reclaims his rightful authority over the world, a new
Abrahamic people will emerge consisting of Jew and Gentile who will bear the
blessing of God to the world (Mt.28:18-20). And this will take place in “this
generation” (v.34). And this word of Jesus is surer than the existence of
heaven and earth, which will pass away.
The
Unexpected Hour (Mt.24:36-44)
When will this be though? We know
it will be in this generation of Jesus’ hearers. But can he be anymore
specific? No, says Jesus. Nobody, not even him knows that (v.36). Only the
Father. The times leading up to the day will be dissolute and unaware
(vv.37-39). Those who follow Jesus will (hopefully) remain aware of the situation
and not be taken unawares or caught off-guard by the Son of Man’s coming as
explained above (v.42). (As you can tell from my exposition I do not believe
that to interpret this passage in the sense of a “rapture” of the church before
Christ’s return fits the context at all.)
The
Faithful and Wise Slave (Mt.24:45-51)
Another parable concerning
readiness rounds off this portion of Jesus’ final discourse. But it is not mere
repetition. Jesus nuances this one to reflect on what this awareness, or lack
thereof, means for his community of followers. It is the faithful and wise
slave who cares for his fellow followers of Jesus while awaiting the master’s
return. Such a slave will be rewarded with more responsibility in the kingdom
(v.47).
The wicked slave who uses the master’s
unknown return time to use and abuse other slaves and indulge his baser passions,
however, faces a much grimer future when the master returns (v.51).
Conclusion
We have seen that this teaching on
the great calamity facing Israel is firmly anchored in the 1st
century a.d. That does not mean it is without relevance for us later followers
of Jesus. The New Testament is clear that his final return will be unexpected
and that if we are caught up in our own affairs and inattentive to God’s
affairs an unpleasant surprise may await us. While not providing a timetable or
speaking directly to our later situations it nonetheless speaks powerfully to
us later believers. The dynamics and expectations are quite similar.
[1] God regularly takes out Israel’s idolatrous worship
places aa a sign of his judgment on them: “Houses have been destroyed before.
Gardens have been left desolate. Stone temples have been reduced to rubble. It
happened to the tabernacle at Shiloh (1 Samuel 4-6). When Hophni and Phinehas
turned the tabernacle into a brothel and stole the Lord’s portion of the
sacrificial meat, and when Eli their father failed to restrain them, Yahweh
sent the Philistines to desolate the house of the Lord there. When the kings of
Judah had turned the temple of Solomon into a house of idolatry, the source of
oppression and false worship, Yahweh sent in the Babylonians to desolate the
house” (Leithart, The Gospel of Matthew: 3076.
[2] Leithart, The Gospel of Matthew: 3024-3030.
[3] Wright, Matthew for Everyone: 114.
[4] Leithart, The Gospel of Matthew: 3137.
[5] “Before the end, Christians will be persecuted (24:9).
This is what Jesus means when He speaks about the ‘Great Tribulation.’ The
tribulation is not the suffering of the Jews at the hands of Romans, or to the
horrific violence of the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, or some crisis in the
future. The tribulation that Jesus talks about is the tribulation of His
people; it refers to the sufferings of early Christians (“you,” see 24:9; v. 21
speaks of the same tribulation). This tribulation will put pressure on
disciples to renounce Christ, and many will fall away – there will be a great
apostasy during the first century, many who play Judas and betray other
Christians (24:10).” Leithart, The Gospel of Matthew: 3130.
[6] Wright, Matthew for Everyone: 118.
[7] Wright, Matthew for Everyone: 119.
[8] Wright, Matthew for Everyone: 122-123.
Comments
Post a Comment