With the telling of three parables and a polemic litany of accusation(Matthew 21-23), Jesus had just pronounced judgment on Jerusalem and the religious leaders of Israel. Imagine the disciples listening to all this in the temple…and then they hear the words, “Your house is left to you desolate.” These were a people who had God on their side…they were invincible. But, to be told of the soon-to-be judgment must have left them feeling a bit vulnerable….numb. Could it really happen? Could this center of their worship…the focal point of their identity as a people group…become desolate?
No, it couldn’t! It simply can’t be. Listen to how Josephus describes the temple and imagine its size and splendor…
”Now the exterior of the building wanted nothing that could astound either mind or eye. For, being covered on all sides with massive plates of gold, the sun was no sooner up than it radiated so fiery a flash that persons straining to look at it were compelled to avert their eyes as from the solar rays. To approaching strangers it appears from a distance like a snow-lad mountain; for all that was not overlaid with gold was of purest white…some of the stones in the building were 45 cubits(67.5 ft) in length, 5(7.5 ft) in height, and six(9 ft) in breadth.”(1)
The disciples point out to Jesus the buildings of the temple. Some of them are talking about the adornment of the temple(Luke 21:5). And then Jesus said to them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”(Matt. 24:2) So, not only will your religious leaders receive judgment, this temple…this impressive center of your religious identity… impressive and a wonder to behold…but it will be destroyed.
Ok…that’s a lot to take in in a span of a couple days. Sunday, Jesus rides through Jerusalem to the praises of the people…the Triumphal Entry. Monday, in a prophetic act of judgment, Jesus cleanses the temple. Tuesday, He debates with the religious leaders, decimating their arguments and vociferously accusing them…then walks out of the temple and says it’s going to be destroyed! I can imagine them walking away from the temple in numbed silence.
They all leave the temple and the city, and are together at the Mount of Olives. Imagine the questions that have been stirring in their minds. Does anyone really think they’re wondering what’s going to happen in the distant future? Or, do we think they might be wondering what in the world Jesus is talking about and when this is all going to happen…and how will they know? And that’s exactly what they finally work up the nerve to ask Him. “When will this happen? What will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?”(24:3)
3 questions: 1) When will this happen? 2) What will be the sign of your coming? 3) What will be the sign of the end of the age? These 3 questions are all related to what Jesus has just pronounced and have nothing to do with Jesus’ final return. When we read the other gospels, we realize it has to do with the judgment Jesus has just pronounced.
“What will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?(Mk. 13:4)
“What will be the sign that these things are about to take place?”(Lk 21:7)
So, basically Jesus has pronounced a complete change in the way things are and they want to know when it’s going to happen. They are not asking about an event in the distant future. They don’t even believe He’s leaving so they are not asking about His physical return. They are asking about His return to Jerusalem in judgment.
The third question was concerned with the end of the present age. The Greek word is “aion” which means “era” or “age”. It is not referring to the end of the “kosmos”, or world. The Israelites divided time into two ages: the present age and the age to come. The present age was the age in which they lived…the Mosaic age. The age to come was the anticipated age of the Messiah. They were asking when this present Mosaic age was going to end. They are not asking about the end of the world.
Jesus gives them a number of signs.
“See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.(Matt. 24:4-13, ESV)
False messiah and false prophets. They knew Daniel’s prophecy was coming to a close…they knew the 69 years was coming to an end…and they were looking for the Anointed One. Many came forward claiming to be the Anointed One. Then, within 1 year of Christ’s death, Dositheus the Samaritan arose, claiming to be the Messiah.(2) He is soon followed by his disciple, Simon Magnus. Jerome quotes Simon as saying, “I am the Word of God, I am the Comforter, I am Almighty, I am all there is of God.” Irenaeus tells us that Simon claimed to be the Son of God and creator of angels.(3) Eusebius writes of Simon that he “was the original author of all heresies. From his time down to ours, his followers, while pretending Christianity, prostrate themselves before pictures of Simon and Helen, worship them with incense, sacrifices, and libations.”(4)
About 3 years later, another Samaritan imposter rose, an armed multitude assembled under him but were defeated by Pilate. In Acts, Luke writes that Gamaliel tells of an imposter Theudas who rose up,, a well as Judas the Galilean. Eusebius quotes Josephus concerning Theudas, “who persuaded a vast multitude to take their belongings and follow him to the river Jordan. Claiming that he was a prophet he promised to part the river by his command and provide them an easy crossing, which decided many.” He was captured, beheaded, and his head brought to Jerusalem.(5)
Under Felix(about 18 years after Christ’s death), deceivers rose up daily, persuading people to follow them into the wilderness were they would see signs and wonders performed. Many were killed. Around 55AD, another imposter arose, collected 30,000 followers who went with him to the Mount of Olives where he claimed they would see the walls of Jerusalem fall at his command…a prelude to capturing the Roman garrison and gaining control of the city.(6)
Wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation. At nearly any other time in world history, this would be a poor sign because nations rise against nations throughout history. But it was a shocking statement during the Pax Romana….the only time in the history of the known world when war had essentially been eliminated because all enemies of the empire had been conquered. But, the whole period from the death of Christ until the destruction of Jerusalem could easily illustrate this prophecy. 150 pages of Josephus’ history pages are stained with blood.
Within several years of Christ’s death, Caligula ordered his statue placed in the temple and Jews resisted. The whole nation was so apprehensive about war they neglected to till their land. The war never happened. About this time, Greeks and Syrians rose against a group of Jews, the slaughter “had no parallel in any former period of their history,” wrote Josephus. 5 years later, another contest arose between Jews at Perea and the Philadelphians regarding city limits, and many Jews were slain. 8 years had not lapsed before the Jews made war against the Samaritans and ravaged their country. At Caesarea, Jews had a contention with the Syrians which began a cruel contest between these two nations. In Caesarea alone, 20,000 Jews were killed. This did not end the rage that spread wherever Jews and Syrians lived together. Throughout every city, town, and village, mutual animosity and slaughter prevailed. At Damascus, Tyre, and other cities, the carnage was dreadful. At Damascus, 10,000 Jews were killed in one hour; at another, 13,000 in one night. In Alexandria, Jews rose against the oppression of the Romans and 50,000 Jews were killed…neither infants nor elderly were spared. In 67AD, Romans laid siege to another Jewish town, not less than 40,000 Jews died.(7)
The Annals of Tacitus describes the tumult of the period with phrases such as “disturbances in Germany,” “commotions in Africa,”insurrections in Gaul,” and more. Wars were fought from one end of the empire to the other.(8)
While all this was happening in the East, the western parts of the Roman Empire were torn by fierce contentions of 3 emperors: Galba, Otho, and Vertellis. All 3 of them, with Nero, their immediate predecessor died a violent death within 18 months. Finally, the entire nation of Jews took up arms against the Romans and provoke a dreadful war which, in a few years, would deluge Judea in blood and lay its capital in ruins.
Earthquakes. During the reign of Claudius(41-54), an earthquake occurred in Syria where many Jews lived that was so destructive, the emperor canceled the requirement to pay tribute for 5 years to relieve their distresses. During the reign of Nero(54-68), Laodicea, Hieropolis, and Colosse(all in Turkey) were overthrown by earthquakes, as well as those in Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Chois, Samos, Capina, Rome, and Judea. Commentator Edward H. Plumptre writes..”Perhaps no period in the world’s history has ever been so marked by these convulsions as that which intervenes between the Crucifixion and the destruction of Jerusalem.” Seneca, famed philosopher and mentor of Nero, wrote…”How often have cities in Asia, how often in Achaia, been laid low by a single shock of earthquake! How many towns in Syria, how many in Macedonia, have been swallowed up! How often has this kind of devastation laid Cyprus in ruins! How often has Paphos collapsed! Not infrequently are tidings brought o us of utter destruction in entire cities.(9)
Famines. Agabus foretold of a famine in Acts that happened about 45AD and lasted a little over a year. It extended through Greece and even into Italy but was felt most severely in Juea, and especially Jerusalem where many died of starvation. Josephus relates that one day of food cost about a week’s wages. 3 famines occurred in the Roman Empire in the span of 11 years. He writes of the famine brought on by the siege of Titus, “Then did the famine widen its progress, and devoured the people by whole houses and families; the upper rooms were full of women and children dying by famine, and the lanes of the cities were full of the dead bodies of the aged; the children also and the young men wandered about the marketplaces like shadows, all swelled with the famine, and fell down dead wheresoever their misery seized them.”(10) Josephus writes of a mother who, holding her infant, cries out, “Poor baby, why should I preserve you for war, famine, and rebellion? Come, be my food–vengeance against the revels, and the climax of Jewish tragedy for the world.“(11) She then kills her child, boils him, and eats him.
Tribulations. We are all well aware of the tribulation and persecution the early Christians suffered during this time period. We know of the death of many of the disciples…Peter was crucified upside down, James was beheaded, John was boiled in oil, though survived. Paul was whipped, beaten, stoned. Multitudes suffered cruel deaths…in the gardens of Nero and in the Colisseum.
This was the great tribulation…a sign of the coming judgment of Jerusalem…a sign of the end of the age. We can relax and not worry about a future great tribulation. It already happened.
Another sign recorded in these verses that seems to offer the strongest proof that Matthew 24 is in our future is verse 14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world and then the end will come.” But, this phrase, or similar ones, are used elsewhere in the New Testament and other church writings. In Romans 1:8, Paul speaks of the faith of the Romans was “spoken of throughout the world.” In Col. 1:23, he tells them “the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven…” Clement, spoken of by Paul in Philippians says this of Paul in his own writing, ”He[Paul] taught the whole world righteousness, traveling from the East westward to the borders of the ocean.” Eusebius, who wrote a post-Acts history of the church, says, that “the Apostles preached the gospel in all the world..” Clearly, these men were all convinced that the gospel had been preached to the entire world. But, that is not what we see…there are many places on the globe that have not heard the gospel message.
The word translated world in verse 14 is “oikoumene” which means inhabited civilized world, not the global planet earth, which would be the word “kosmos.” Jesus was saying that the gospel would be preached throughout the Roman Empire…the entire known world…before He came in judgment. He encouraged them to be prepared…do not be dismayed or discouraged as these things happen…but hold on…because those who endure to the end will be saved. And they were…not one Christian died in the destruction of 70AD. This discourse was fulfilled so perfectly that some scholars point believe it must have been recorded after the destruction of Jerusalem.
All this was fulfilled during the apostles’ lifetimes. We aren’t waiting for the great tribulation as a harbinger of the end of the world. Nor are we waiting for every person to hear the gospel before Jesus will return. But, we do have work to do. The Mosaic age is over; the age of the Messiah…the Kingdom…has been inaugurated…and we are part of it. We are ambassadors charged with bringing heaven to earth!
Endnotes:
1. Michael Wilkins. (2002). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Background Commentary, vol 1,
2. Jonathan Welton. (2012). Raptureless, p. 29.
3. Gary DeMar. (1999). Last Days Madness. Powder Springs, GA: American Vision, 73.
4. Eusebius. (1999, 2007) The Church History trans. Paul Maier. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 63
5. Eusebius. The Church History, p. 63.
6. Welton. Raptureless, p. 30.
7. Welton. Raptureless, p. 32.
8. DeMar. Last Days Madness, p. 79.
9. as quoted in Welton. Raptureless, p. 34-35
10. as quoted in DeMar. Last Days Madness, p. 80.
11. Flavius Josephus. Wars of the Jews. 6:3:4. as quoted in Josephus: The Essential Writings, translated by Paul Maier.