The Olivet Discourse
An Introduction
Matthew 24-25
We just finished a Sunday School study of the Kingdom of Heaven parables of Matthew 13.
As we were in that study I commented a few times that I thought about including in that study the parables of Matthew 25.
I elected not to do that for a couple of reasons:
First, Matthew 13 had a natural finish to it.
Second, I became interested in studying Matthew 24 and 25 in context and spending some time on them.
What happens is that I get interested in a study of something in the Bible and then sort of give you the drippings of that study.
Matthew 24 and 25 record what is called by Bible students “The Olivet Discourse.”
It took place just shortly before the Lord was captured and crucified and is a key to understanding the prophecies of the Bible.
The setting is something like this:
Jesus and his disciples have left the city of Jerusalem and they are climbing their way up the side of the Mount of Olives to a spot Jesus often went to pray and teach.
As they climb, the hill, perhaps the sun is shining on the beautiful Temple in Jerusalem and the disciples comment on its wonder.
Jesus told them the day would come when there would not be one stone of the Temple left standing on another.
Which leads the disciples to ask two very important questions
- When shall these things be and
- What shall be the sign of thy coming.
They understood Jesus’ statement to be prophetical and we should understand Jesus answer as the same.
I have three points I want to bring this morning to kick of this study of Matthew 24 and 25
I. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT
I Jn 3:1-3
Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. (KJV)
The study of prophecy is one of the most important things Christians can get a grasp of.
And what we believe about prophecy will impact how we behave today.
This will not mean that much to most of us but there are a number of different positions Bible students take
• Premillennialist or a-millennialist,
o Do we believe in a literal kingdom of Jesus Christ on this earth or not?
• Futurist or preterist, or
o Do we believe that the prophecies of Matthew 24 have already been fulfilled, or are they still future events?
• Pretribulationists or posttribulationist
o Do we believe Christians will be raptured, before, during, or after the Great Tribulation Period?
An amillennialist believes the kingdom is something inside us and Jesus will not literally come again. Meet anyone who is convinced of that doctrine and you will meet someone who does not seriously keep from sin
A post or mid tribulationist believes that Jesus will not rapture Christians to heaven until they have gone through some of all of the Tribulation period. Meet someone who holds that view much and you will meet someone who has little hope in Christ.
But a pre-tribulationalist believes that Jesus could come at any moment. He lives with his eyes fixed toward heaven and he wakes up every morning thinking “perhaps today Jesus will come for me.” Meet someone like that and you will meet someone who is motivated to forsake the vanities of this world and has hope for his future with Jesus.
And properly understanding Matthew 24 impacts where we will fall in these areas.
There have almost always been those who have disagreed on the prophetical portions of the Bible.
But only recently have the issues of prophecy begun to divide and create difficulty within independent Baptist Churches.
It is for that reason I am very motivated to teach and preach much about future events and especially how they relate to the rapture.
I have to tell you I am believe in the pre tribulation rapture of the Christians.
I like what my grandfather in the faith, Evangelist Al Lacy said.
• He said he was so “pre” he believed in
o Pre soaking his clothes before the wash
• He was so “pre” he believed in
o previewing books before he read them
• He was so “pre” he did not even like to go into the
o “post” office.
It is important what we believe about prophecy and therefore it is important that we understand Jesus Olivet Discourse.
II. THIS IS JEWISH
There are two main concepts we have to understand in order to properly understand Matthew 24 and 25
• This is a Jewish passage and
• This is a future prophecy
I will address the second concept in a moment.
Let’s take a minute though and examine to whom this passage is addressed.
A. Any good interpretation has to consider
• Who is the writer?
• To whom is he writing and?
• What are the conditions or circumstances under which it is written?
These questions have to be asked to properly understand any piece of writing.
It is so important that most of the time we do it almost subconsciously.
My wife writes me a love letter
• I know she wrote it – otherwise I don’t want to read it; if someone else wrote me a love letter I had better get rid of it!
• I know she wrote it to me – otherwise I have cause to be very concerned. I don’t want her writing love letters to anyone else
• I know she wrote it while she was away at a retreat. And I know she was missing me or something like that.
However, the Bible was written so many years ago that it takes some extra effort and thought to answer these questions.
B. Matthew is known to be the most “Jewish” of all of the Gospels.
- Matthew gives a genealogy of Christ that traces the line of Joseph because to the Jews the important (and legal) lineage would be that of the father.
The Jews would not believe Jesus had a “legal” right to sit on the throne of David if Joseph were not a son Of David.
Luke take the more Gentile, logical approach. Since Joseph was not Jesus’ father by birth, logically to the Greek, Joseph’s lineage would not have mattered. So Luke demonstrates that Mary was also of the line of David.
Matthew directs the attention of the Jewish person to the Kingdom of Heaven, which is a Jewish promise, more than the other Gospels and
Matthew highlights Jesus Christ as a King – which the Jews looked for the Messiah to be, more than do the others.
There isn’t enough time for me to expand on this any more but suffice it to say that when we read Matthew 24 we have to be careful and see it as it refers to the Jews and not to Christians.
III. THIS IS FUTURE
There are a couple of approaches to interpreting the prophecy of Matthew 24 and 25
One is called the preterist position
The other is known as the futurist position
A. The preterist believes that all of the prophecies of these two chapters have already been fulfilled.
In the year 70 AD a Roman general named Titus marched into Jerusalem.
The city was completely torn down and every Jew:
• Man
• Woman and
• Child
were executed
The remaining Jews were holed up in a plateau named Masada, where they eventually committed mass suicide rather than be captured by the Romans.
And from about 73 ad until just after WWII, there were no Jews living in Israel.
The preterists consider that the complete fulfillment of the prophecies of Matthew 24 and would therefore say none of the signs or warning or such have any bearing on either Jews or Christians living today.
This also impacts their views of other prophetical Scriptures, giving credence to a-millennialism.
We hold to
B. The futurist position
For reasons that would be too detailed and probably not that well received in a Sunday School setting – a little too dry – I won’t try to explain why.
Suffice it to say that conservative and fundamental students of the Bible believe that the prophecies of Matthew 24 though foreshadowed in the events of 70 ad, are yet to be fulfilled today.
Just to give you a little taste of what they refer to –
This is largely a prophecy and description of the Tribulation Period.
We’ll begin studying it in some detail next week.