On their way out of Jerusalem for the day, the disciples begin commenting on how amazing Herod’s building project is. At this point in history, the entirety of the Temple Mount had not been completed and this immense structure would still be astounding to behold. Jesus responds to his impressed disciples that, in fact, destruction is sitting on the doorstep of Jerusalem, describing how not one stone will be left upon another. Later, his disciples come to him and begin asking him about timelines. Exactly when is this destruction supposed to come?
And with that we are launched into one of the most intensely discussed discourses surrounding the “end times.” We immediately click into our “when-is-Jesus-coming-back-and-how-do-we-tell-the-future” mentality, drowning in all the details. I can remember writing a paper in Bible college on the teaching in Matthew 24 and the argument about which part of the chapter was talking about what. Was the entire conversation about the end times? Was the first part about the destruction of Jerusalem and the last part about the end times? If so, when does the shift take place in Jesus’s discourse?
So, before we even get started, let me make the case up front: This entire discourse is about the destruction of Jerusalem. That is the topic that got Jesus into this conversation, that is the topic that sits at the center of the conversation, and there is nothing in Jesus’s words that would warrant a shift in subject matter. In fact, to turn this into a dialogue about the end times would completely ignore Jesus’s closing points about not knowing the future.
Nevertheless, let’s walk through the passage and try to see how Jesus interacts with this question from the disciples. They want to know, “When is all of this destruction going to take place?” Jesus responds:
“Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.”
Jesus’s point: You are going to hear rumors about coming destruction and false messiahs who will promise deliverance. Do not be deceived. The world is going to get crazy. This is unavoidable.
He continues:
“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.
“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
“Immediately after the distress of those days
“ ‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
“Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
After quoting the book of Daniel, Jesus continues to use multiple prophetic images from the Nevi’im that speak about coming destruction (mainly of ancient Babylon) as a parallel to the coming destruction from Rome. Jesus quotes prophets whose messages will be of perseverance. He reiterates, You are going to have to persevere through these tough times; there will be no escaping it.
Jesus then continues with more confirmation of these points to his disciples:
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
Please notice that Jesus’s point is that nobody will be ready for this coming destruction. Nobody can tell the future and destruction always comes when people least expect it. Jesus’s point is, Keep watch and be ready, because you do not know when this will happen.
But all of this might raise the question: What are supposed to be ready for? What are we supposed to be ready with? How do I make sure I am doing what I need to do to be ready?
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
This teaching is a little tricky, but pretty straightforward, especially in the context of the last few days and a withered fig tree in the distance. The answer to the question about the steward is easy. The faithful and wise steward represents the priests. However, as we have seen, they are certainly not getting the job done.
If we see this discourse as one conversation given in response to the disciples’ question, it helps us see the packaged answer Jesus gives them, without getting lost in our infatuations with the end times. Jesus’s response would sound something like this:
You’re going to hear rumors of the end and false messiahs; do not believe it.
The world is going to get crazy and there is nothing you can do to stop it.
All of this is going to have to happen and you will have to persevere.
You will have to be ready; being ready means taking care of God’s people.
The priests aren’t doing it, so you will have to.
Persevere and be ready by taking care of the oppressed.
Of course, as always, Jesus isn’t done. He has some parables to throw on top of this teaching…
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