Holy Week // MatThew 24
Matthew 24
After reading this passage, how do you feel? Anxiety? Confusion? Fear? Something else? Take a moment to reflect and journal about your feelings. Before we can interpret this text, it is important to make note of what experiences & emotions we bring to it. Whatever you are experiencing is completely valid.
Okay. Let’s come back to the text. We’ve read it. We’ve acknowledged our feelings & experiences. Now, it is time to interpret it. To do this, we will answer the following two questions:
What is Jesus communicating to his disciples in this teaching’s original context?
What impact should this teaching have on us?
What is Jesus communicating to his disciples in this teaching’s original context?
At this point in Jesus' ministry on earth, we’ve seen him teach some radical things. He instructed his disciples to love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them (Matthew 5:44). He asserted that the law and the prophets are fulfilled by loving God and neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).
The Jewish people are under violent and oppressive Roman occupation, yet Jesus comes instructing them not to take violent revenge against the kingdom of Rome, but instead to enter Jesus’ own kingdom where submission to God is the governing principle. This means that instead of violence and revenge, the Jewish people seek love, peace, mercy, and forgiveness from their enemies. Jesus ends chapter 23 talking about how he longs “to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.”
Yet, many have decided to reject Jesus' kingdom. Jesus then gives them a warning: the temple, which is the symbol of God’s presence with the Jewish people (especially important during the Roman occupation), will be destroyed.
This leads the disciples to ask two questions:
When will this (the destruction of the temple) happen?
What will be the sign of Jesus coming, and thus the redemption of all things?
While there is some scholarly debate on this point, it appears that Jesus answers the first question in verses 4-35. He warns his disciples that the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem will happen within this generation (verse 34). And it does get destroyed 37 years later. The second question is answered in verses 36 - 44, where Jesus claims that “no one knows…but only the father” (verse 36).
Jesus’ description of the destruction of the temple in verses 4-35 shows his disciples that without the embracing of Jesus’ kingdom, they will be embracing chaos and destruction. The temple, which was once the dwelling place of God with his people, will soon be obsolete and destroyed. In the wake of the coming disaster, will they choose to put their hope in King Jesus and His Kingdom?
What impact should this teaching have on us?
Jesus promised that the years leading up to the destruction of the temple would be chaotic for that generation. But in the same way, we still live in times of pain, chaos, and violence. In the face of disaster and uncertainty, what should we do?
Look at what Jesus says to his disciples in verse 13: “but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
Stand firm. Endure. Hold on to the hope of Jesus and the Kingdom until the end. As you do, take the gospel to the world.
While Jesus was teaching about the destruction of the temple, He knew that He, the living temple of God with His people, was about to be destroyed. Yet, unlike the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, Jesus would be resurrected and exalted to intercede for His people forever. And though the time is unknown, he will return to bring His Kingdom in full and forever.
This is the hope we get to hold onto as our lives get chaotic. We get to live in Jesus’ kingdom even when earthly kingdoms become corrupt, violent, or untrustworthy. We get to live in Jesus’ kingdom when disaster comes.
It can be scary to read about war, earthquakes, and destruction. It’s even scarier to experience this type of chaos. As we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection on Sunday, let us remember that we have a king in the kingdom of heaven. He is with us, loves us, and invites us to enter his kingdom of hope.
