Matthew24:35

The reason Jesus said this was because they had assumed all along that the Messiah figure would take on the Roman Empire and give Israel its political freedom. Jesus’s purpose was to give people spiritual freedom, not political freedom. So He made clear to them that the manifestation of His full power would not look like what they had in mind, but they should still trust it because it was more sure and reliable than anything they could imagine. He was also saying, “Many things will change, even some things that you would never expect to change, such as the temple, but be assured of this, what I have spoken, must be fulfilled.” And it was. Only the true Messiah could make a statement so definitive as this one and then make it come true.

Before looking at the examples and parables Jesus used in Matthew 24 and 25 it is worthwhile to take a quick look at Acts chapter 1. There the disciples asked a question similar to the one in Mt 24:3.

In Acts 1:6 the disciples asked Jesus the following question:

“Lord, at this time are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus’ answer in Acts 1:7 was, “It is not yours to know the times or seasons which the Father has established by His own authority.”

The way the disciples worded their question reveals their incorrect assumption. “Restore the kingdom to Israel” was a very political statement. Notice they were not seeking the establishment of God’s kingdom, but of the Israelite kingdom. They were saying, “We’re really glad you did not stay dead after the cross incident. You really scared us bad. But now you are alive again and that’s great. So, we are still wondering what we have always been wondering. Are you now, finally, going to get rid of those terrible Romans and establish Israel as a nation again, with a king, and with its own army that is respected by the whole world?”

Here again He tells them to stop trying to figure it all out and just do what they are supposed to be doing—being witnesses to what they have seen and experienced (v. 8). I think they understood that His answer was basically “No, I’m not going to do what you have hoped I would do and I want you to focus on something else.”

The rest of chapter 24 of Matthew contains the following examples that Jesus used to press home His point—that the things He spoke about would be unpredictable:

A Wedding day (v. 36) (their weddings were not on a set date)

The days of Noah (vv. 37-39)

Two men in a field (v.40)

Two women grinding with a hand mill (v. 41)

The arrival of a burglar (vv. 42-44)

The return of the master (vv. 45-51).

In Matthew 25 Jesus follows up these examples with three parables that illustrate the same point:

The ten virgins (vv. 1-13)

The talents (vv. 14-30)

The Sheep and the Goats (vv. 31-46).

(They are discussed in detail in the file called Matthew 25.)

I believe the admonition of Jesus is more than just a restriction against trying to name a specific date for His return; I am convinced it also refers to things like forming schematics, timelines and an “order-of-events.”

I am convinced that this discourse makes sense only in light of the 7 key points I have outlined earlier. I will repeat them here:

1) The destruction of the temple will serve as a confirmation to you that “this era” (meaning the era they were living in which we call the era of the Law) has passed and a new era has begun,

2) I will make obvious the true purpose for which I have come,

3) I will also reveal myself in power someday,

4) What I am talking about will happen after a delay in which several things will take place first.

5) These things are unpredictable; you cannot predict them ahead of time.

6) When they start to happen, you will know it, for they will be obvious, and you will know what they mean.

7) Don’t try to figure out any more than what I have told you.