Resources Consulted

Matt. 21-25

  • Overview:
    • Jesus enters Mount of Olives; “Your king is coming to you”; “Blessed is he who comes” 21:1-11 (Psalm 118)
    • Jesus judges temple; “My house…”; some rejoice; some rebuked 21:12-17
    • Jesus curses fig tree 21:18-20
    • “And when he entered the temple…” Jesus’ authority questioned 21:23-27
    • 2 Sons: latter “go into the kingdom of God before you” 21:28-32
    • Vineyard leased; “the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits” 21:33-46 (Psalm 118)
    • King’s wedding feast; “The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city” 22:1-14
    • Pharisees test; “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s” 22:15-22
    • Sadducees test; Resurrection 22:23-33
    • Greatest commandment 22:34-40
    • David – Lord 22:41-46 (Psalm 110)
    • Woes to the Jews; “all these things will come upon this generation” 23:1-36
    • “Your house is left to you desolate”; “you will not see me again, until, ‘Blessed is he who comes’” 23:37-39 (Psalm 118)
    • Jesus left temple 24:1-2
    • Jesus on Mount of Olives; disciples ask 3 questions; Jesus responds 24:3-25:46
      • Temple in 70 AD – lots of signs / fig tree
      • His return later – no signs
      • King who comes and judges Matt. 25:31-46
  • 21:9 – quotes from Psalm 118:26 when he enters Jerusalem (see 21:42-44; 23:39)
  • 21:42-44 – Psalm 118:22-23; kingdom leaving Israel (see 21:9; 23:39)
  • 22:9 – “My people” destroy the city
  • 23:36 – “this generation” (clearly the Jews of his day)
  • 23:37 – how Jerusalem HAS acted
  • 23:38
    • Jerusalem’s past is even now bringing judgment
    • “your house is left to you” = God has abandoned you and your temple…it’s no longer “My house” / “My father’s house”…God has left it, and is about to completely leave Jerusalem never to return again to the Jews until his 2nd Coming
  • 23:39
    • looks forward to future consummation
    • you won’t see Me again UNTIL you say “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord”…I’ve left you for good, until/unless you repent.
    • You won’t see Him again until He returns
    • quotes Psalm 118:26 (see 21:9, 42-44)
    • See 21:9 – this is what they said when He first entered Jerusalem (now for the last time)
  • 24:1 – “Jesus left the temple” – He literally begins to fulfill his last words. He said what preceded from within the temple
  • 24:3 – Mt. of Olives (matches tightly with Matt. 21:1). When comparing Matt. 23:39-24:3 with 21:1-9, it becomes a tight symmetry. Jesus entered Jerusalem that way to bring judgment. He will enter again to bring blessing to those who receive Him.
  • 24:15 –
    • fits clearest with Dan. 9:27 and 12:11
    • D.A. Carson: “By the time the Romans had actually desecrated the temple in A.D. 70, it was too late for anyone in the city to flee…By the time the Roman military standards (an eagle in silver or bronze over the imperial bust, to which soldiers paid homage not far removed from sorship) surrounded Jerusalem, the city was defiled…there is reasonably good tradition that Christians abandoned the city, perhaps in A.D. 68, about halfway through the siege.”
  • 24:16-19 – D.A. Carson: “The instructions Jesus gives his disciples about what to do in view of v. 15 are so specific that they must be related to the Jewish War. The devastation would stretch far beyond the city; people throughout Judea should flee to the mountains, where the Maccabeans had hidden in caves. Most roofs were flat (cf. Deus 22:8; Mark 2:4; Acts 10:9)–pleasant places in the cool of the day. Verse 17 implies such haste that fugitives will not take time to run downstairs for anything to take with them but will run from roof to roof to evacuate the city as quickly as possible (cf. Jos. Antiq. XIII, 140 [v.3]). People in the fields will not have time to go home for their cloaks…It will be especially dreadful…for pregnant women and nursing mothers.”
  • 24:20 – D.A. Carson: “Flight is obviously harder in winter. As for fleeing on the Sabbath, travel would become more difficult because few would help, and many would try to prevent traveling farther than a Sabbath day’s journey. Jesus clearly expects these events to take place while the strict Sabbath law is in effect.”
  • 24:21 – “never to be equaled again” – this wouldn’t be said if he was referring to some final tribulation at the end of the age immediately preceding Christ. Instead, it points to 70 AD being terrible, but life still continuing until Christ returns. 
  • 24:34 – compare with 23:36
  • D.A. Carson on the Olivet Discourse (my paraphrase): The disciples think the temple’s destruction and Jesus’ return was 1 event. Jesus doesn’t see it quite that way. He says the delay before His coming will be marked by persecution and tribulation, as well as a very violent judgment of 70 AD. Immediately after the persecution, Christ will return. The vv. 32-35 warning applies to the entire period of persecution. It will come, and that current generation will experience all features pointing to Christ’s return. But when He returns is only known to the Father. The disciples questions are answered, the reader is exhorted to look forward to Jesus’ return while living faithfully while He is away.
    • This is similar to Exodus 12 (Passover) and Matthew 10 (sending out the disciples). In both places there is an immediate concern addressed, but then also stipulations that extend to generations yet to come.