The Olivet Discourse
I have been thinking about the Olivet discourse recently and I am pretty convinced that it is not looking to the second coming of Jesus but rather the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem.
This is the context that sets up what Jesus says to the disciples:
Matthew
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
Mark
As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”
Luke
Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
Furthermore, Jesus uses the apocalyptic language of Isaiah 13:10 where we find the destruction of Babylon spoken about thus, “The stars of heaven and their constellations will not show their light. The rising sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light” and Ezekiel 32:7-8 where the destruction of Pharoah is described thus, “When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you; I will bring darkness over your land, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
Jesus is using this imagery to describe the coming destruction of Jerusalem not his second coming. The tribulation reffered to is the war against Jerusalem waged by Titus in AD70, just read Josephus and the vivid descriptions of what happened…it’s horrible!
The coming of Jesus on clouds reminds us of Daniel 7:13-14, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” and of course Daniel 2:44 “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.”
Again, this describes the first advent of Jesus not his second coming. It is reminicent of Isaiah 19:1 which reads “An oracle concerning Egypt: See, the LORD rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt.” This was how the destruction of Egypt was described, so Jesus is making use of this imagery to describe the coming destruction of Jerusalem not his second coming.
Note also that in Isaiah 34:4 we find the destruction of Edom described “All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved and the sky rolled up like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree” and Jesus makes reference to fig trees in his discourse!
As if to clinch the deal, Jesus states “I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
Check out Daniel Newman’s post on Matthew 24:1-35!
Are you only assigning one meaning to “generation”?
I think only one meaning is natural and only one meaning is needed from the context; the question of the disciples related to the destruction of the temple, Jesus foretells of the destruction of the temple and this happened within a generation from when the olivet discourse was given.
An excellent book is Great Tribulation–Past or Future?
It seems to me that the disciples asked two distinct questions: 1. The destruction of Jerusalem; and 2. The End times.
“This generation” fits a future generation that will witness the signs outlined by Jesus during the Tribulation Period.
Btw, How many blogs do you have? Which one do I add to my roll?
Question, look at what the disciples said synoptically.
1. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
2. “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”
3. Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
Now the only one you could possibly get “two distinct questions” from is Matthew. But then the question must be referring to what Jesus said. What did he say? Well he spoke of the Temple being destroyed. The straightforward reading is to see the disciples’ question as referring simply to that. What then about Matthew, well it is certainly not obvious that there are “two distinct questions” and both Mark and Luke should be used to aid our understanding of the odd (to us) phraseology of Matthew.
I have two blogs; this one which is fairly general in terms of content and Psalterium which only looks at issues relating to the Psalms. I will leave the decision up to you.
The 3 accounts are NOT the same. You are right on the one account. Matthew was written for the Jews and it does pertain to the second coming. Luke’s is addressed toward gentiles and it addresses the fall of Jerusalem.
Luke 21:36-38
Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode
in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.
How may they “escape” all these things and “stand before” the Son of Man? Apparently Luke’s “Olivet Discourse” didn’t occur on the Mt. of
Olives: these are summaries of teachings in the Temple over several days!! [Contrast Mark’s (Peter’s) rendering which was confined to four
insiders.]