Read Parts 1 and 2. In Mt 24-25, Jesus set his disciples’ expectations about the end of it all. The end of the age would be an age of the end. The disciples assumed there would soon be a cataclysmic event to inaugurate Messiah’s reign. Wanting to be prepared, the asked Jesus about signs and times (24.1-3). They learn, however, the Messianic kingdom will come in stages. There would be […]
Read Part 1. Jesus’ disciples asked him what they thought was one big question (Mt 24.3): When will this world end and the Messianic kingdom begin? Surely, the temple’s destruction (24.2) coincided with the Son of Man’s “coming” (παρουσία) in final judgment to make an end of God’s enemies. The way Jesus answered their questions, however, corrected their premise. The destruction of Jerusalem and her temple (AD 70) would not […]
Jesus spent his evenings during “Passion Week” with his disciples in a village on the Mount of Olives, just east of Jerusalem. On Wednesday (?) evening, Jesus “was sitting on the Mount of Olives” (24.3) when his quizzical disciples sidled up for clarification. Earlier that day they left the temple complex and Jesus, rather matter-of-factly, buried the lede. Messiah wasn’t coming to raise Jerusalem and her beloved (and corrupt) temple. […]