A more detailed version of this analysis is available upon request (elmerphd21@hotmail.com).
The bulk of Jesus' discourse in this chapter consists of His replies to questions posed by his apostles
regarding future events. Some commentators (full preterists) feel that all of Jesus' comments refer to
the events of 70 AD when Jesus came figuratively to judge Israel for her rejection of him. Some
problem verses for those holding this view are:
v. 14: “The good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world...”
v. 29: “The sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, etc.”
vv. 30-31: “(Everyone on earth) will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds and he will send out
his angels with a loud trumpet call to gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to
the other.”
Thoroughgoing futurists, however, feel that Jesus is talking exclusively of events yet to take place. But
it is hard to fit vv. 15-22 into that scheme since they appear to describe practical means to escape
suffering by leaving Jerusalem before it is too late. Verse 34 poses even more of a problem: “Truly I
tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.” Even C. S. Lewis
labeled this verse the most embarrassing one in the Bible since Jesus mistakenly thought the Second
Coming was coming soon. (The Earth's Last Night and Other Essays) Attempts by futurists to get
around this crux usually center around the words “this generation.”
Groups such as the Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah Witnesses zero in on the word “this” and
interpret it to refer to the generation which witnessed the tribulations described in the chapter, usually
defined as the events of either WWI or WWII. Dispensationalists often prefer to use as their starting
point the founding of the Modern State of Israel. This idea is based on the short parable in vv. 32-33:
“Now learn this lesson from the parable of the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender
and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.” They reason that the fig tree is a symbol of the
nation of Israel and the putting forth of leaves is equivalent to the founding of Israel in 1948.
There are several problems with these sort of explanations:
1. Simple grammar indicates that if Jesus were referring to the generation witnessing some future
event just described, he would have said “that generation” instead of “this generation.”
2. Elsewhere in the NT, Jesus uses “this generation” to refer to his immediate audience.
3. Treating the fig tree as a reference to Israel requires Jesus' saying to be a symbol inside of a
parable. This is highly unlikely and certainly contradicts the usual, more literal hermeneutic practiced
by dispensationalists.
Others concentrate on the word “generation” (genea) and define it as:
1. Old Covenant period. But then aeon or genos would have been used.
2. Part or all of the Jewish people. But then laos or ochlos would have been used.
Two Different Events
So it seems more likely that two separate sets of events are being described by Jesus. Now the apostles
might have believed that the destruction of the temple would occur at about the same time as Jesus'
Second Coming. However, they were not known as being the swiftest theologians during Jesus'
lifetime and were constantly being corrected by him, especially regarding future events. So we can't
necessarily go with their preconceived notions. I happen to think that even the apostles knew better.
Otherwise they would have asked something like, “How will we know when you are coming again to
destroy the temple and usher in the end of the age?” And even if they did feel the events would all
occur together, that is no guarantee that Jesus agreed with them.
For one thing, in ch. 24 Jesus alternates between saying that certain events will happen without any
warning, when you least expect it, while in other passages he seems to provide concrete signs that his
audience is to look for. The parallel passages in the other Synoptic Gospels also bear out this
interpretation. In Mark's briefer account, the question posed by the apostles after Jesus' comment
regarding the destruction of the temple is, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all
these things are about to be accomplished?” Luke, in his ch. 21 account, appears to feel that only the
destruction of Jerusalem is being addressed: “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that
this is about to take place?” However, as described below, Luke pulls out all references to end-time
events from Jesus' discourse and completely displaces them to an earlier portion of his account.
Proposed Structure
The next logical question to address is, “Which verses refer to the one event and which to the other?”
Figure 1 is an attempt to parse Jesus' reply so as to answer this question. This proposal is almost
identical to that of J. Stafford Wright except that he sees vv. 15-28 as comprising the second section
instead of ending it at v. 22. The divisions in Fig. 1 take care of the seeming inconsistency of Jesus
regarding signs to look for and also have the effect of isolating the specific references to Jerusalem and
events happening within the current generation to the two sections referring to 70AD. Now there are
two obvious problems with this proposed structure that need to be addressed: (a) the second question of
the apostles is addressed first and (b) the unnatural five-fold, back-and-forth alternation in Jesus'
answer.
Figure 1: The Structure of Matthew 24
Introduction: Two Questions (vv. 1-3)
Question 1–When will the Temple be destroyed?
Question 2a–What will be the sign of Christ’s Coming?
Question 2b--What will be the sign of the End of the Age?
A. Answer to Question 2 (Part 1) – “Non-signs”
1. False Christs lead astray (vv. 4-5)
2. Tribulations (v. 6a)
3. End not yet (v. 6b)
2'. Tribulations (v. 7)
3'. Only the beginning (v. 8)
2''. Tribulations (vv. 9-10)
1'. False Prophets lead astray (vv. 11-12)
3''. The End will come (vv. 13-14)
B. Answer to Question 1 (Part 1) – The Siege of Jerusalem (vv. 15-22)
A'. Answer to Question 2 (Part 2) -- Second Coming
1. False Christs and Prophets lead astray (vv. 23-28)
2. Disturbances in the Physical Universe (v. 29)
3. Conclusion: Christ comes for the Elect (vv. 30-31)
B'. Answer to Question 1 (Part 2) – Advice to watch for signs (vv. 32-35)
A''. Answer to Question 2 (Part 3) – Impossibility of knowing the time
1. No one knows the day or hour (v. 36)
2. The days of Noah (vv. 37-38)
1'. The people did not know then and won’t know in the future (v. 39)
2'. Daily activities (vv. 40-41)
1''. You do not know the day (vs. 42)
2''. The householder and the burglar (v. 43)
1'''. An hour you do not expect (v. 44)
2'''. Good and wicked servants (vv. 45-49)
1''''. A day he does not expect and an hour he does not know (vv. 50-51)
The Order of Jesus' Answers
One thing to keep in mind from the start is that most of Jesus' teachings are given in parables or using veiled language. Even after Jesus' speech in Matthew 24, the apostles are still complaining about this. In John 16:18 right before Jesus' arrest, they say, “We do not know what he is talking about.” He explains, “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures.” Jesus is especially vague whenever the disciples ask him about future events. He either refuses to give an answer or is evasive. Examples are Acts 1:6-7 (When will you restore Israel?), John 13:33-14:7 (Where are you going, Lord?), John 21:21-23 (When will the Beloved Disciple die?), Mark 10:35-40 (James and John – Can we sit on either side of you in your glory), and Mark 10:28-31 (What reward will we get for following you?)
It doesn't seem logical that Jesus would start out answering the second question first? But it was not an
uncommon biblical practice to refer to previous writings or comments in their reverse order. In Deut. 4,
Moses reviews part of the 10 Commandments and deals with the 2nd commandment before the first. In
that same passage he also lists the animals or objects of which no images are to be made in the reverse
order of their creation as outlined in Genesis 1. In I Cor. 1:11-13, Paul first quotes from the Corinthians
regarding the leaders with whom they had aligned themselves, and then he addresses their statements
in reverse order.
Alternations in Jesus' Answers
The next problem with the present proposal is its strange back-and-forth arrangement. If Jesus actually gave his reply in the order Matthew gives, it would have been very hard for the apostles to have understood him. This, of course, would be in line with Jesus' veiled comments regarding the future elsewhere. However, there is also the possibility that Matthew structured the order of Jesus' words to fit the sort of complex literary composition we see elsewhere in his gospel. Some other examples of Matthew's habit for arranging his material in alternating blocks of similar material are given below.
The overall gospel can be seen as an alternation between narrative sections and long discourses of Jesus (see previous post on the structure of Matthew's Gospel). Each of the five discourses ends with a similar concluding statement.
Then there is the overall structure of Matthew 1-2:
Joseph's first dream (1:18-25)
Scene with Herod (2:1-12)
Joseph's second dream (2:13-15)
Scene with Herod (2:16-18)
Joseph's third dream (2:19-23)
Finally, this phenomenon also occurs in sections within Matthew 24 (see sections A and A'' in Fig. 1).
Key Words
Additional support for this analysis comes from matching up key words in the two questions with their
appearances in Christ's answers. Christ's coming (vss. 5, 14, 23-24, 27, 30, 37, 39, 42, 44), the “end,”
(vv. 6, 14) and “sign” (v. 30) are only clearly mentioned in the “B” sections while the word “when” is
only found at the start of the “A” sections (vv. 15, 32-33).
Figure 2: Key Words in Matthew 24
A. When will this be (destruction of the temple)?
B. What will be the sign of your COMING and of the end of the age?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. (24:4-14) “end” (6, 14); “COME/COMING” (5, 14)
A. (24:15-22) “when” (15)
B. (24:23-31) “sign” (30); “COME/COMING” (23-4, 27, 30)
A. (24:32-35) “when” (32,33)
B. (24:36-51) “COME/COMING” (37, 39, 42, 44)
Evidence from Luke's Gospel
The next thing to consider is how the other gospels treat this passage. John doesn't record this speech at
all, and Mark's account is basically the same as Matthew's but a little shorter. That leaves only Luke as
a possible help. As mentioned earlier, Luke 21 records the apostles asking Jesus only about signs
concerning the destruction of the temple, not about any end time issues. Luke displaces Jesus'
comments on these later events to a completely different setting in Ch. 17.
Some would deny that Lk. 17 and Matt. 24 are taking about the same thing at all, even though much of
the wording in both is practically identical. Their reasoning is that the events are listed in a different
chronological order in the two accounts; if they referred to the same events, one of them would have to
be in error. This is a prime example of denying obvious data when it doesn't fit one's preconceived
notions, rather than considering that perhaps all events in the Bible are not necessarily recited in a
strictly chronological order.
Why would Luke separate the teachings found in Matthew 24 into two parts? It seems to be because
Luke tends to cluster together Jesus' teachings on similar subjects to give a thematic arrangement rather
than a chronological one. Notice how, in the symmetrical arrangement of Fig. 3, Luke pairs up part of
Jesus' discourse found in Matt. 24 with a similar section also dealing mainly with the coming judgment
on Jerusalem.
Figure 3: The Structure of Luke 19:47-21:38
A. Coming judgment on Jerusalem (19:47-20:18)
B. Teaching on Money (20:19-26)
C. Jesus answers Sadducees’ question (20:27-40)
C'. Jesus asks scribes a question (20:41-47)
B'. Teaching on Money (21:1-4)
A'. Coming judgment on Jerusalem (21:5-38)
There is an identical chiastic arrangement concerning Ch. 17 where Luke relocates those words of
Jesus to the apostles that seem to apply to the Last Days so that they are placed right next to the
Pharisees' question on the same subject.
Figure 4: The Structure of Luke 17:1-18:17
A. To the disciples: causing little ones to sin (17:1-4)
B. On faith and a humble attitude (17:5-19)
C. To the Pharisees – Kingdom signs (17:20-21)
C'. To the disciples – Kingdom signs (17:22-37)
B'. On faith and a humble attitude (18:1-14)
A'. To the disciples: let the children come (18:15-17)
Figure 5 demonstrates how those passages in Lk. 17 exactly parallel the Last Days sections proposed
for Matt. 24.
Figure 5: Luke 17 and Matthew 24
Second Coming (24:4-14)
Luke 17:22-23
Destruction of Jerusalem (24:15-22)
Luke 17: 31
Second Coming (24:23-31)
Luke 17:22-24, 27
Destruction of Jerusalem (24:32-35)
none
Second Coming (24:36-51)
Luke 17:26-27, 34-35
The only verse not conforming to this scheme is Lk. 17:31, which parallels a passage in Matt. 24
identified in Fig. 1 as pertaining to the Fall of Jerusalem instead. But even that anomaly can be
explained. Here is the context of the Luke 17 passage: “...the flood came and destroyed all of them.
Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot; they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting
and building, but on the day that Lot left Sodom, it rained fire and sulfur from heaven and destroyed all
of them – it will be like that on the day that the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, anyone on the
housetop who has belongings in the house must not come down to take them away; and likewise
anyone in the field must not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Those who try to make their life secure
will lose it, but those who lose their life will keep it [Lk. 9:4]. I tell you, on that night there will be two
in one bed....”
This is another example of how Luke tends to group together sayings that deal with the same topic.
Luke starts out as in Matthew's version with the story of Noah and the flood, but then he adds two
more examples: Lot and the destruction of Sodom and two people in a bed. The misplaced comment on
not turning back (in italics) was added here by Luke because it fits in naturally with Luke's reference to
Lot's wife turning back. I say “misplaced” because this advice obviously makes more sense in the
context of avoiding the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans than something to do in order to escape the
Last Judgment. And then as another example of grouping sayings topically, Luke repeats the
underlined saying of Jesus from earlier in his ministry because it seems to also fit here.
Association of the Two Events
However, in conclusion, we shouldn't really treat the destruction of Jerusalem and the Second Coming
as two totally unrelated events. One was and the other will be catastrophic judgments by God on those
rejecting Jesus as Lord and Savior. In addition, there are a number of places in the OT and NT where a
relatively short term event is given as a sign that another prophesied event will definitely be fulfilled
further off in the future. So the overall effect of Jesus (or Matthew) purposely coupling answers to the
two questions of the apostles together was to show that the destruction of Jerusalem in roughly 40
years would serve as a sure sign that a more complete judgment on all mankind would eventually take
place.
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