Matthew 24:3-5 (NKJV)

Matthew 24:3-5 (NKJV)

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

Undoubtedly the disciples were immediately confounded by the Lord’s prophecy; however, they held their tongues until they had left the temple mount, crossed the Kidron Valley, and had come to the Mount of Olives. There Jesus sat in the manner of teachers (Matt. 5:1) and the disciples finally questioned Him about the destruction of the temple. Some say that the verse contains two questions: “When will the temple be destroyed?” and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age? Others feel one basic question is in the disciples’ minds. According to Zech. 14:1–9, the destruction of Jerusalem, the deliverance by the Messiah, and the end of the age will occur in order and very quickly. To the disciples, the devastation of the city and the coming of the Messiah were parts of one large event. The questions therefore should be taken as one, though the fulfillment comes in stages. An important matter that must be clarified, however, and which is often misunderstood by Bible teachers and lay persons alike, is that the teachings and signs of Matthew 24 do not concern the rapture of the church, a truth not yet revealed (1 Thess. 4:14–17: 1 Cor. 15:51, 52). Instead they generally address matters which will occur during the Seventieth Week of Daniel, especially the Great Tribulation. The modern, western reader expects Jesus to be presenting a strictly sequential development, but in the manner of the east (Book of Job), the presentation is more cyclical with a broad panorama that fills in specific details.

This warning was especially appropriate for the disciples. The destruction of Jerusalem did not necessarily mean the nearness of the end of the age. This was a point of confusion for them (Luke 19:11–27; Acts 1:6, 7).