Matt 24:1–35 — Christ’s Return At the End of the Age

The Olivet Discourse

So we are now embarking upon the fifth major block of teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. Just to review, the first block of teaching is the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. The second block of teaching is Jesus’ commissioning of the apostles to accomplish the mission to Israel in Matthew 10. The third block is the parables of the kingdom in Matthew chapter 13. The fourth block of teaching is in Matthew 18, in which Jesus gives instruction concerning discipleship in community.

Now we come to the final and fifth major section of teaching in the Gospel of Matthew. All of these sections are identified as such because of the way that Matthew, the editor, the narrator, adds these words at the very end. If you turn over to Matthew 26, verse 1, he says, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he so-and-so did the following. And that same phrase, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, is found after each of those five blocks of teaching, indicating that Matthew was wanting to highlight them as important sections of the teaching of Jesus.

And so Jesus here is teaching on the end times. He is teaching on the nature of the entire period between his first and second coming and what we should expect in that time. And he is also teaching about his second coming in glory and in power. This is important teaching for the disciples because he is about to go to the cross, he is about to conclude his earthly ministry and then be ascended into heaven, and he wants to leave them with some basic instruction about how they should live in this present age until his return and how they need to be prepared and ready and expecting his return and yet at the same time also serving him and being witnesses to Christ and proclaiming the gospel to the whole world.

Approaches to the Text

This is a very complicated and difficult passage of scripture. There are a number of different interpretations of Matthew chapter 24. There are three main approaches to this passage. There are many more than these three, but these are the three big ones that are out there that you may have heard of. The first main approach to this passage is the dispensational premillennial view.

And, of course, in order to make sense of the passage according to that scheme, they have to bring in a lot of other passages as well, because this passage does not specifically refer to the rapture and the seven-year tribulation and so on, although it does mention tribulation, but it does not say seven years.

But they read all of those things into the text and use this passage to fit it within their scheme of how the end time will work out. The main focus of the dispensational premillennial view is that all of this is way off in the future. None of this has anything to do with what happened to Jerusalem in AD 70, has nothing to do with the present. It is totally future interpretation, even the abomination of desolation in verse 15, and all of that is referring to what will happen in the seven years after the church is raptured from the earth.

I am not going to spend too much time talking about that particular interpretation. We could spend a whole series of lectures getting into the details of the dispensational scheme, and there is a lot to it? You have to not only look at this passage, but also Daniel chapter 9, the prophecy of the 70 weeks, you have to look at the book of Revelation. So it would be too much for us to get into all of those details here.

But that is one of the major views that is out there. It is beginning to decline, I believe, in popularity, but it is still widely held in many fundamentalist circles, especially in America. Although it is, importantly, important to point out, a very recent interpretation. It did not begin in the history of the church until the 1800s. So the fact that it is so novel ought to be a warning to anyone. But let us leave that particular view aside. There are two other views, and I want to focus on these two other views today. The second option is that there is the post-millennial preterist interpretation of this passage.

The post-millennial view is that the church age between now and the second coming is a time in which, although there is a period of tribulation and difficulty at the beginning of that church age, the church age is going to progressively get better and better until conditions prevail in which the gospel is successful in converting most of the population of the earth. And so the post-millennial view is very optimistic in its view of the success of the church and the success of the Great Commission, and believing that things are only going to get better from here on out. And that there is not going to be a terrible decline in religion and a terrible crisis at the end of the age, as you might think if you look at this passage here in Matthew 24, because Jesus focuses upon how bad things will be at the end? There is going to be tribulation and persecution. There is going to be lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold, and it is only the one who endures to the end who will be saved.

So in order to make sense of those negative aspects of the text, post-millennialists are also preterists. Preterism is just simply the word for past. That means that all of these things here have been fulfilled already in the past, in the first century of the church. So postmillennial preterism is the interpretation that this whole passage here that we read from beginning in verse four all the way down to verse 35 has already been fulfilled in the first century of the church, primarily focusing upon the destruction of Jerusalem in the year AD 70 by the Romans.

And I want to explain that view, critique it, and then provide a defense of the third view, which is the amillennial view. The amillennial view is the one I hold to, and it is the view that the entire church age will be characterized by tribulation, and the ultimate conclusion of that is that Christ will return in glory and deliver us from our enemies. Now it is important to read Matthew chapter 24 in light of the rest of the teaching of the New Testament. In my opinion, the other parts of the Bible, especially Paul and the book of Revelation that deal with similar topics must be brought in to this conversation as we interpret this text. So for example, in 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul gives detailed teaching about the crisis at the end, the man of lawlessness, the Antichrist, the coming of Christ in glory to defeat the man of lawlessness, and all of that then is also brought up again in the book of Revelation concerning the beasts and so on. If our interpretation of this passage does not take those other passages into account, then we end up going down the wrong path.

One thing to note there just really briefly is in verse 31, when Jesus says that he is going to send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds. That trumpet is mentioned elsewhere in the New Testament? The trumpet call. It is mentioned in First Thessalonians. It is mentioned also in First Corinthians 15. The Apostle Paul speaks of that trumpet at the end, which coincides with the resurrection of the dead and the second coming of Christ in glory and in power.

So let us look a little bit at the post-millennial preterist interpretation of this passage. The post-millennial preterist interpretation is that this passage, especially verses 15 to 22, which talks about the abomination, talks about the tribulation that will be so great that people will will be wondering if this is the end, if Christ has come.

They say that all of this has been fulfilled in the first century. And just to give you some idea of how they interpret this passage, so they would say that all of these things here, even going back to verse six, where it talks about wars and rumors of wars, Verse 7, where it talks about famines and earthquakes, that all of these can be documented from the writings of the Roman historians, such as Josephus and so on, that these things did happen in that time frame, in the period leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem. There was a great war, beginning in the year AD 66, where the Jews revolted against Rome, and there was a period of time of about four years where the Jews and the Romans were fighting in a war, and the Romans won, and they ended up destroying the city of Jerusalem. They would also, the post-millennial preterist interpretation would say all these things here about earthquakes, about famines, about wars, about people claiming to be the Messiah, they were all fulfilled during that time period. And it is true, you can find in the writings of Josephus descriptions that fit that, very well. There were indeed people that claimed to be the Messiah during that time of crisis for national Israel. But there are some difficult things in the passage that are hard to fit in and so you have to see how do the preterists interpret those.

So for example in verse 14 where it says, this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations and then the end will come They are trying to be consistent and fit this whole passage into the first century. And so they say, well, that is not really referring to the whole world as we think of it today, including, you know, where we are here on the Western hemisphere. It is just referring to all the nations of the Roman Empire, and that this was fulfilled during the time of the apostles when they preached the gospel, when, you know, the apostle Paul went around the Roman Empire and preached the gospel. And so verse 14, is not referring to the global mission of the church after that, but it is referring to something that happened in that time frame, in the period leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

In verse 15, where it talks about the abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place. They interpret this as referring to the time when the Roman army came into the city of Jerusalem and they offered pagan sacrifice in the literal temple before they destroyed it.

Continuing on in verse 16 where it says, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. This is referring to the fact that we know it is documented from church history that the Jewish believers, the Jewish Christians, they fled from the city during that time and they fled to a rock fortress north of Jerusalem called Pella. And so this is what Jesus is referring to here. Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. That is why it refers to the fact that, you know, pray that this not happen on a Sabbath day because the Jewish believers were still observing the literal seventh day Sabbath at that time.

But there are some other difficult verses in the context here to fit into this first century past or preterist interpretation. Let us see how they deal with them. So for example, verse 29. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, referring to, in their view, the destruction of Jerusalem, immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

And the Preterists say that this somewhat language here is figurative language. It is not to be taken literally as literal cosmic signs appearing in the heaven. but rather it is figurative language for divine judgment. And a cross-reference that you could turn to in the Old Testament that might seem to support this would be Isaiah chapter 13. Isaiah chapter 13 is one of the oracles against Babylon. I remember Babylon, they were the ones that came and destroyed the temple a long time ago, in 586 BC, and now God is promising to judge the Babylonians, and there is a day of judgment coming for them because of their sin in thinking that they were greater than the God of Israel.

And so in Isaiah 13.10, if you want to turn there, you can see it. It uses similar language.

And it is clear that this is an oracle concerning the judgment that would happen to Babylon. in that time frame. Behold the day of the Lord comes cruel and with wrath and fierce anger to make the land a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light. The sun will be dark at its rising and the moon will not shed its light. That was Isaiah 13, verses 9 through 10.

And you might think, well, this sounds like it is talking about the day of the Lord, but it actually says, verse 17, I am stirring up the Medes against them. We know that it was the Medes and the Persians who God used to judge the Babylonians, and that happened within that time in around the year 605 BC. So all of this then is supporting the Preterist interpretation that when we read back in Matthew 24 verse 29, that immediately after the tribulation of those days, that is the fall of Jerusalem, that when it says the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, that this is not literal language, but rather is referring to a figurative way of speaking about God’s judgment upon national Israel.

What about verse 31 where it talks about the angels being sent out with a loud trumpet call to gather his elect? Well, they say the word angels can also be translated as messengers. And so this is referring to the preaching of the gospel, gathering the elect through the preaching of the gospel.

What this means then is that the great tribulation spoken of by Jesus here in this text is not something in our future. It is not future for us. Rather, it occurred back when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in AD 70. And the reason why they take it this way is because this then gives them a way of getting around the apparent teaching of Jesus that conditions would get worse before he returns, not better.

Jesus clearly teaches in verse nine that there would be persecution, that many would fall away, that there would be false prophets, that there would be lawlessness, and the love of many would grow cold, and thus requiring the necessity of God’s people enduring to the end. If all of that negative stuff in verses nine through 13 was in the past, then that enables them to still have a very optimistic view of the future, that conditions will get better before Christ returns, and that there will be no persecution, that there will be a general prosperity of the gospel throughout the world until Christ returns. Now in response, I would say this, I would say that the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in the year AD 70, which is clearly documented from history, is surely in view in this passage to a degree. It is surely in view to a degree. You cannot avoid the fact that it is there in the peripheral vision of Jesus. How do we know that? Well, because of the way Jesus begins.

Before he goes over to the Mount of Olives, which is a mountain just to the east of Jerusalem, to the Mount of Zion, before he goes over there, they are leaving the temple. literal temple, and the disciples come to Jesus and they point out to him the buildings of the temple.

And what does Jesus say to them? He says, 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. And then they crossed over the brook Kidron, they go back over to the Mount of Olives, hence the title Olivet Discourse. And he sat down, and the disciples came to him, they heard these words ringing in their ears that the temple would be destroyed, and they asked Jesus, verse 3, tell us, when will these things that you just spoke of be and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age. Jesus said this temple is going to be destroyed. The disciples asked him, when is this going to happen?

And then Jesus gives this discourse here, the Olivet discourse. And so surely some of what Jesus is saying here does apply to their question. We do not want to say that Jesus simply ignored their question and said, I am talking about something completely different that is way distant from your life and has nothing to do with you. He is answering their question.

And we also can see that AD 70 is in view to a degree in our passage when you compare this account in Matthew 24 with Luke’s parallel account in Luke chapter 21. The three Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they all have their parallel version of the Olivet Discourse. Mark’s version is in Mark 13, Luke’s version is in Luke 21.

It is very interesting to see Luke’s version, because in Luke’s version of it, when he gets to this point here, verse 15, when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, His parallel verse there says this, this is Luke 21 verse 20, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. And then he mentions a few verses later in verse 24 that Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, referring to the Romans. So Luke’s parallel account clearly tells us that the destruction of Jerusalem is in view, and that is confirmed by the fact that the disciples are asking Jesus about it.

However, we cannot allow AD 70 and the events that took place then to take over and swallow up everything in the passage to the point where even the second coming of Christ is eliminated. And there are many things in our text here that suggest that Jesus, while he does have one eye to the immediate future of what will take place in 40 years, he is also looking ahead to the very end of the age.

A number of things that support that. Number one is the fact that the disciples asked that question. They not only asked, when will the temple be destroyed? They also asked, what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And Jesus mentions the end of the age throughout this passage.

Another clue that there is more than AD 70 going on here, that AD 70 does not exhaust everything that is being discussed in this prophecy, is a clue like verse 21. So right after this description that sounds very literal, talking about Judea and pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath, sounds very much like in the very near future, right, in 40 years from now, but right in that very context, What does Jesus say in verse 21?

Very interesting. He says, So if he is talking about AD 70 only, I am not saying he does, he is talking about it, but if he is talking about that only to the exclusion of something future before he comes back, this does not make any sense because clearly there has been greater tribulation even for the Jewish people after AD 70. Think of the Holocaust, for example, during World War II. But also an even greater crisis for the whole world before the second coming of Christ.

Another key passage here, or another key text, or feature of the text that tells us that the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70 cannot exhaust everything that Jesus is talking about here is verse 27, where Jesus says, as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

He is saying that my coming will be so visible and so unmistakable that no one is going to be able to miss it. Whereas if you take the Preterist interpretation, then you have to say that when it talks about the coming of Christ in verse 30, that is not the coming of Christ in the visible parousia, the final coming of Christ in glory and power, that is referring to a coming of Christ in judgment to judge national Israel. Also verse 30, “…then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man.” So verse 27 talks about as the lightning comes from the east and the west and you cannot miss it. Then in verse 30 he says, “…then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn.” and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. The preterist interpretation of that verse is very hard.

The best they can do is say, well, it is not saying that the sign of the Son of Man will appear publicly. It is saying that because of the destruction of Jerusalem, that will be the sign that the Son of Man is in heaven. That will be the sign that he has been exalted to the right hand of God. Even though he is not physically visibly coming to earth, the fact that he from heaven destroys Jerusalem will be the sign that he is in heaven. But that is not what the text says. The text does not say it will be the sign that he is in heaven. It says, then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn.

you can cross-reference that to Revelation 1, verse 7, where, again, using this principle of comparing this text with the other teaching of the New Testament, we clearly see in Revelation 1, 7 that this is referring to the second coming of Christ in glory and power, visibly.

This is the end of the world. This is the day of judgment. This is the final conclusion. This is not simply a return in the form of judgment. So AD 70 does not exhaust everything that is here in this prophecy. I am not denying that Jesus has his eye upon that element, that there is a fulfillment of these things in AD 70, but it does not exhaust it. And the solution to this, how can that be? How can he have his eye on it, but then not exhaust it? The solution is to understand the nature of prophetic perspective.

The way the prophets often spoke was that they would be speaking of their own circumstances. and speaking of a judgment that was about to happen in the near future because of their own situation, but using that as a springboard to speak of the ultimate conclusion of the day of the Lord at the end.

In fact, the very passage that we looked at in Isaiah 13 is a great example of that. In Isaiah 13 that we mentioned, that is a passage that uses this language of the cosmic signs and the stars and the moon and so on. Even that passage has to be interpreted in this same way. Although Isaiah is looking ahead to something in the near future, God’s judgment upon Babylon, which happened historically when God raised up the Persians to judge them. Yet, Isaiah is not only speaking about that. He is using that in the near future as a way of looking ahead to the far future, because in the context in Isaiah 13, he clearly says this is the day of the Lord, and it is also going to be a judgment upon all the inhabitants of the earth, not just the Babylonians. And so this is the nature of prophetic perspective. What from the distance looks like one mountain range, when you get to it is actually two mountain ranges. There is a secondary fulfillment as well, or a double fulfillment of these things.

That means then that in verses 15 through 21, when Jesus is talking about the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, that he is looking at both elements, both the first level fulfillment with AD 70, but through that, beyond that, to a final crisis at the end, which the Apostle Paul speaks about in 2 Thessalonians 2.

He says, let no one deceive you in any way, for that day, that is the day of Christ’s coming, will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called God or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. And since we do not believe that the temple is literally going to be rebuilt at the end, this temple of God must refer to the visible church. And then it says, 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 8, the lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearing of his coming. You see the same sequence in our text here? You have this event of the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, and then immediately after the tribulation of those days, Christ appears and brings about the solution to this problem and defeats the ultimate expression of opposition to Christ’s kingdom. the Antichrist will be a future thing, although what happened in AD 70 is a foreshadowing of it.

What is Jesus’s point in this whole passage? Jesus’ main point is this. He is saying that the present age, this entire time between the first and the second coming of Christ, is going to be characterized by tribulation. That is the main thing he is trying to say.

The word tribulation is used three times in our text. In verse nine, verse 21, and verse 29. In verse nine, they will deliver you up to tribulation. Verse 21, there will be great tribulation. Verse 29, immediately after the tribulation of those days.

Jesus’s point is that this present age is characterized by tribulation with all that that involves, but Christ’s hidden kingdom is advancing, and he will return visibly at the end of the age to consummate his kingdom. What is involved in this word tribulation?

Well, it includes two main things. Difficulties for the world at large, wars, famine, societal upheaval, When you see the word famine, just translate that in your modern English to economic distress? When there is a famine, that means people are having a hard time making ends meet. They are going to have trouble feeding their families? Well, that would apply to us today in the form of economic difficulties.

So, tribulation includes difficulties for the world at large, including unbelievers, but it also includes, very pointedly, difficulties for believers, difficulties for the Church. And Jesus talks about those difficulties as well. False teachers, even in the Church. Apostasy, professing believers falling away because of the threat of persecution.

So this is what Jesus is saying about this whole point of this Olivet Discourse is partly to answer the disciples question, when is the temple going to be destroyed? And he describes how that is going to happen. But he is saying that is not the ultimate end. That is not the ultimate conclusion. There is going to be a long period of time in which the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to the whole world as a testimony to all the nations. And then the end will come.

And so side by side with the tribulation, whether that is tribulation for the world at large, including unbelievers, or tribulation for the church specifically. Side by side with this tribulation that is going to characterize the entire period between the first and second coming of Christ. there is this reality of gospel witness that is taking place. Christ is building his church in the midst of it all. Christ has ascended to the right hand of God, and he is reigning in the midst of his enemies.

Psalm 110 verse 2. We always quote verse 1, and Jesus himself quotes verse 1. in Matthew 22, 44, just a few chapters earlier, but verse two is also very important because now we see it applied. We see verse two right here. This whole passage is basically Psalm 110, verse two.

It is Christ reigning in the midst of his enemies. Tribulation does not mean defeat. Tribulation is side by side with the progress of the kingdom of Christ as he is building his church through the preaching of the gospel throughout the world. There is a wonderful cross-reference in Revelation 1, verse 9. I mentioned verse 7, but a few verses later, verse 9, what does John, the author of the book of Revelation say? He says, I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom, And the patient endurance that are in Jesus was on the island called Patmos, where he had been banished because of his testimony of his faith in Christ. But notice that phrase, I, John, your brother and partner, in the tribulation and the kingdom.

The tribulation and the kingdom. Yes, there is tribulation throughout this church age, but there is also the reign of Christ through the preaching of the gospel and the building of the church. The tribulation and the kingdom go hand in hand. It may seem like it is only tribulation and no kingdom, and yet Jesus is saying, no, it is. I am reigning in the midst of my enemies because of his concern to gather his elect throughout this time.

Enduring Tribulation in Hope

So what is the application of this passage? There are three applications that we can draw from it. I know you are wondering, how do you deal with the part in verses 33 and 34 about this generation will not pass away? We will get to that next week. So I know that is a big question mark on your minds, and you are somewhat waiting for me to get to it, and I did not, so I need to wrap it up now with the application.

The application of this text is, first, the inevitability of tribulation. In other words, Jesus is saying, do not be surprised at tribulation. Tribulation will characterize the entire church age. There is going to be false prophets. There is going to be many led astray. There will be many professing believers who fall away. He even says in verse 25, look, I told you beforehand. It is the whole point of his message, the whole thrust of what he is getting at is to warn the disciples, this is what it is going to be like. Do not be surprised. Do not be caught off guard. Do not think, oh no, the kingdom of Christ is failing. Oh no, everything is terrible. No, this is what it is going to be like.

The inevitability of tribulation. But secondly, the call to the endurance of tribulation. Verse 13 is a key text in this passage. The one who endures to the end will be saved. So the first thing is be prepared for the inevitability of it, but then secondly, how do we respond to it? The response to tribulation is not to try to fix the problem. It is not to try to, okay, let us fix the economy so there is no more famine, or let us stop wars. No, the response to tribulation is to endure, to endure, to continue holding on to Christ in the midst of it.

The Apostle Paul, when he was planting churches throughout Asia Minor, and he would go back and visit the churches he had planted, he encouraged the disciples in Acts 14.22, and he said, through many tribulations, we must enter the kingdom of God. And so the call of the text is to endurance, to run with endurance the race that is set before us.

And then thirdly, the third application is understand what the true end of tribulation is, the true conclusion. What is the true solution to tribulation? It is not in trying to fix things or get things to be better now in this life. The true solution, the true conclusion, the true end of tribulation is Christ’s return.

That is the whole point of the passage. There is going to be tribulation throughout the entire church age, and the only answer, the only conclusion, the only response is Christ’s return. And so put all your hope in that. Put all your hope in Christ when he gathers his elect from the four corners of the earth. Luke in his parallel to this in Luke 21, 28 says, Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. Set your hope fully on this hope that Christ is going to come back. And that is when everything will be set right.

That is when all tribulation will be done away with. We are waiting with eager expectation for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Do not put your hope in anything else. Do not put your hope in conditions improving in this life before Christ comes back. Those are all going to be disappointing things? Yes, there might be periods of time where things are a little bit better. Might be times where there is less persecution or better economic conditions. But then what happens? Things change in an instant? Wars come and go. The Lord is saying, do not put your hope in any of those earthly things. Put your hope fully on me, on my return in glory and power. Matthew 24 verse 30.

That is for the unbelievers? They are going to be mourning because he is coming in judgment. But then for the elect, verse 33, And just one little thing to add here is that if our ultimate hope is The second coming of Christ and seeing Jesus come with the clouds of heaven. If that is our ultimate hope, then what about believers who die before that? And of course, looking back at church history, we see now that there is been 2,000 years of believers dying before that.

The Apostle Paul addresses that very question in 1 Thessalonians 4. What does he say? He says, we who are asleep, that is we who have died, will not miss out. on this glorious appearing because we will be raised first and then those of us who are alive will be transformed and we will meet the Lord in the air. There is this glorious hope of the resurrection of the body even for the believers who have died before the end so that we can all be there at that great day when Jesus comes back. to receive him and to see him face to face and to know that all of our tribulations are now over and to be carried with him into the eternal kingdom forever and ever.