Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."1
Three expectations expressed by Peter, James, John, and Andrew (Mark 13:3) comprising either two or three questions.
You [Jerusalem] will see me no more until... (Mat. 23:39)
Wikipedia lists 27 people who have claimed to stand in the role of Jesus within the 19th and 20th centuries alone.6 Some are names we recognize from the news headlines:
Wikipedia lists no less than 27 significant Jewish claimants to date.7
All Scripture is written for us, but it is not all written to us -- there are passages, such as this, where fulfillment is anchored in a specific historical context which we may not occupy in our lifetime.
Scripture makes clear this is no ordinary image: He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed (Rev. 13:15).
For as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. . . . The sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth will see the Son of Man coming . . . (Mat. 24:27).
Endnotes:
1. | NKJV, Mat. 24:3-8 |
2. | There is an intentional parallel with Jesus, the Glory of the Lord, departing the Temple to the Mount of Olives and the Shekinah Glory which departed in the same manner in Ezekiels day (Eze. 11:22-23 cf. Mat. 23:38). In both cases, some time thereafter the Temple was destroyed. |
3. | Upon his return, the location of the Davidic throne will be within the Temple (Ezekiel 43:6-7). Thus will be fulfilled the predicted unification of priestly and kingly role (the two crowns of Zec. 6:11). |
4. | Some concepts of 'The Christ' are non-personal, such as the panthesistic Cosmic Christ promulgated by Piere Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) and others, who teach that the world itself is being transubstantiated into Christ--The Cosmic Christ is that incarnation of God in the universe and especially in Mother Earth . . . imaging Mother Earth as Christ crucified, resurrected, and come again. See also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah (accessed 20110709). |
5. | http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/ChristNAM.html (accessed 20110709). |
6. | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_claimed_to_be_Jesus (accessed 20110709). |
7. | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Messiah_claimants (accessed 20110709). |
8. | Ref-1267, p. 1328 |
9. | Bar Kokhbas name, son of a star, is a reference to the Messianic prophecy of Num. 24:17. |
10. | Ref-1267, p. 1328 |
11. | Ref-1267, p. 1328 |
12. | Ref-1267, p. 1329 |
13. | Ref-1267, p. 1724 |
14. | Ref-1267, p. 698 |
15. | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Messiah_claimants (accessed 20110709). |
16. | Wars and reports of war are simply normative in human history. No matter how personally threatening such conditions may appear and no matter how great the threat to ones life or nation, this is not proof of the end of the age. Ref-1264, p. 464 |
17. | Isa. 13:8; 26:13-21; Jer. 30:6; 1Th. 5:3. |
18. | NKJV, Isa. 13:6-11 |
19. | Taken as a whole, the opening section, ending with Matthew 24:14, itemizes general signs, events, and situations which mark the progress of the age, and, with growing intensity, indicate that the end of the age is approaching. These signs, however, by their very characteristics and because they have occurred throughout the present age, do not constitute a direct answer to the question of the sign of the coming of the Lord. Ref-1268, p. 184 |
20. | The parallels include: 1. False Messiahs (Mat. 24:5, 11; Mark 13:6; Luke 21:8; Rev. 6:2). 2. Wars (Mat. 24:6-7; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9; Rev. 6:4). 3. Famines (Mat. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:10; Rev. 6:5-6,8). 4. Pestilences (Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:8). 5. Persecution (Mat. 24:9; Mark 13:9-13; Luke 21:12-17; Rev. 6:9-11). 6. Earthquakes (Mat. 24:7; Mark 13:8; Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:12). 7. Cosmic Phenomena (Mat. 24:29; Mark 13:24-25; Luke 21:11; Rev. 6:12-14). Ref-1265, Rev. 6:1 |
21. | The first Horseman of the Apocalypse rides forth with a bow, but no mention of arrows. Some see this as an indication of his ability initially to conquer through peaceful means (Dan. 8:23-26; 9:27; Rev. 6:2). |
22. | Early Christian sources speak of a group of Jewish Christians fleeing from Jerusalem prior to or during the Jewish war of A.D. 67�70 and settling in the Perean city of Pella. One of the cities of the Decapolis, Pella was located at the base of the foothills in the northern Jordan Valley, about two miles east of the Jordan River and eighteen miles south of the Sea of Galilee. Despite critical issues that have been raised, the historical probability of this event seems well grounded. . . . Epiphanius . . . in 392, writing in his Treatise on Weights and Measures . . . describes the small church of God existing in Jerusalem when Hadrian and his Jewish interpreter, Aquila, visited the ruined city in 129. He speaks of how the disciples of the disciples of the apostles had returned to Jerusalem from Pella and briefly recounts their original flight to Pella. When Jerusalem was about to be seized by the Romans, the disciples were forewarned by an angel to depart from the city. They settled in Pella of the Decapolis, across the Jordan. But after Jerusalem was destroyed, they returned. . . . Josephus also recounts how many Jews fled the city immediately after the Jewish victory over the Twelfth Legion in November of 66 (Josephus J.W. 2.20.1 �556). Jewish Christians might well have been among these refugees (for objections, see Brandon, 168�78). Ref-1172, Pella, Flight to |
23. | Ref-0565, 138 |
24. | At this point the death of Nero and civil unrest in Rome caused Vespasian to temporarily halt military operations in Judaea to await the outcome of developments in Rome -- he was eventually elected Emperor. This provided the Jews with an unexpected respite which many interpreted as divine intervention on their behalf. http://www.preteristarchive.com/JewishWars/articles/1998_scott_flee-pella.html (accessed 20110709). |
25. | e.g., Isa. 9:6-7; 61:1-2; Zec. 9:9-10; Mal. 3:1-2; Mat. 3:11-12; John 5:28-29. |
Sources:
NKJV | Unless indicated otherwise, all Scripture references are from the New King James Version, copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. |
Ref-0565 | Schaff, P. (1997). The Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers Vol. I. (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, 1997). |
Ref-1172 | Ralph P. Martin, ed., Peter H. Davids, ed., Dictionary of the Later New Testament and its Developments (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1997). ISBN:0-8308-1779-4b. |
Ref-1264 | Ed Glasscock, Matthew: A Gospel Commentary (Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock, 1997). ISBN:1-59752-044-6c. |
Ref-1265 | Anthony C. Garland, A Testimony of Jesus Christ: A Commentary on the Book of Revelation - Volume 1, (Camano Island, WA: SpiritAndTruth.org, 2004) [https://SpiritAndTruth.org/id/revci.htm]. ISBN:0-9788864-1-0d. |
Ref-1267 | Geoffrey Wigoder, ed. The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia, 5th edition (New York, NY: Doubleday, 1977). ISBN:0385125194e. |
Ref-1268 | John Walvoord, Matthew: Thy Kingdom Come (Chicago, IL: Moody Bible Institute, 1974). ISBN:08024-5189-6f. |