The Gospel of Matthew Study Help (Matthew 23:34-39 & 24:1-3)
The End of Jesus’ Public ministry
Questions to be answered in this study
- What is the last week of Jesus’ life on earth called?
- How many of the apostles were martyred?
- When did evil men begin persecution the righteous of God?
- How many Christians there recorded by the time of Pentecost and how many were baptized and added to the church on that day?
- What was the results of Israel rejecting Jesus as the Messiah?
- When did Jesus’ private ministry begin?
- What did Jesus say concerning Herod’s Temple?
- What were the questions the disciples asked Jesus about His second coming?
- Why can’t we use the answers to the disciples concerning the second coming to determine when it will take place?
- What was Paul’s purpose for teaching on the second coming of Jesus?
Introduction
Today we come to a completion of Matthew Chapter 23 and begin Chapter 24. This Chapter is great; monumental things take place in the Chapter that we need to know and understand. So, I hope you stay with me as we learn God’s word more clearly. We have been studying the final week of Jesus’s life and ministry on earth and the end of His public ministry. It is just a couple more days before the Passover. It is Tuesday of the week of passion, between Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday, and Jesus has spent the past three days teaching in the Temple. Large crowds have gathered to listen to Him. The Pharisees and the religious leaders are present also, and they have constantly been Harassing Jesus, and Jesus has been revealing these men for the hypocrites they are.
These false teachers have failed in every attempt to convict Jesus of any wrong doing; instead, Jesus has proven that He is the spotless lamb of God without mark or blemish, who came to earth to die for man’s sins. Jesus has delivered scathing remarks in chapter 23 with His seven woes pronounced on these false religious teachers convicting them of hypocrisy and misleading Israel, causing them to miss the kingdom and face the judgment of God facing eternal hell.
Six months earlier, in Chapter 12, Jesus was offering Himself as Israel’s king. Instead of accepting Him, they committed the unpardonable sin of rejecting His offer and rejecting Him as their Messiah even after He had performed miracles before them that they had never in their life witnessed before. They believed the lies of the false teachers instead of the truth presented to them from heaven. Even after recognizing Jesus as the Son of David, they still refused to believe. That is why they committed the unpardonable sin of forfeiting their place in the kingdom of heaven. Their great sin of rejecting Jesus as their Messiah still lingers to this very day. What a horrible thing the Pharisees and false leaders committed. Please think of the millions of Jews who have died in the past two thousand years still believing their lie.
After that, Jesus turned away from them and began to teach His disciples to be leaders of the coming Church as he headed for Jerusalem and the cross. In today’s study, Jesus’ death is only two days away, and His public ministry has ended.
In His final public statement, He laments Israel’s fatal decision:
Matthew 23:34-36, “Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the Temple and the altar. 36Vrily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.”
Jesus gives a bottom line to the seven woes He pronounced on the Pharisees that we studied previously. In the seventh woe, Jesus scorned the Pharisees for saying they were more righteous than their forefathers. In the past, Israel prosecuted the prophets God sent to warn them with the truth. As John proclaimed in John chapter one, these Pharisees loved darkness and hated the light. They hated it when their evil deeds were exposed, one of the reasons they hated John the Baptist and killed him, and now they are scheming to kill Jesus. Recorded in the Acts is the Pharisees’ scourge against the apostles after they crucified Jesus driving them from city to city. Ultimately, beginning with James in Acts 12, all the apostles were martyred except John. The latter was exiled to the Isle of Patmos.
In verse 35, Jesus is foretelling how these men would prove themselves as guilty as their evil forefathers. Evil men have been persecuting and killing the righteous of God since Cain slew his brother Abel and unto the blood of Zacharias, son of Barachias, whom they slew between the Temple and the altar. Paul says in Galatians 4:20 that it would always be that way. Notice that the killing of Abel to Zechariah is from A to Z in English, and it included all of those in between. The hatred of God’s people continues until this day; terrorists executed 10 Christians just last week.
We in America are yet to experience the same persecution that the early New Testament Christians experienced, nor have we experienced it as much as other parts of the world where Islam is prominent. However, it is becoming more common in America, and if things continue as they have in recent years, you can expect to see more and more persecution of Christians in this country. The more we stand for Christ, the more apt we are to experience it ourselves. We might escape persecution if we hide our witness, but that will result in the Church becoming weaker and weaker. The enemies of God would not need to persecute us because we will have already quieted ourselves. God help us never to do that.
In the days of Jesus, the entire generation of Israel shared the guilt of the Pharisees except the few that were saved; the Bible only records 120 of them in the upper room by the time of Pentecost after the death of Jesus, although there could have been more. We know that 3,000 were baptized and added to the Church on the day of Pentecost, in AD 31, by the preaching of the Apostle Peter.
A swift judgment passed on Israel because they rejected their Messiah. They lost the opportunity to be part of the kingdom and doomed themselves to an eternity separated from the love of God. That is still happening to this very day, even though some Jews have turned to Jesus. Isreal, in those days, faced a grim future because God would send them into captivity, and they would cease to be recognized as a nation until 1948 when they became a nation again after nearly 2500 years. These things came upon Israel because they followed their corrupt leaders and rejected Jesus as their Messiah.
Now Jesus closes out the Chapter as He laments their sad and unnecessary future in verses 37-39:
Matthew 23:37-39, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. 39For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”
These verses reiterated what we studied back in chapter 12, the very moment when Israel officially rejected Jesus as the Messiah sealing their doom as citizens of the kingdom. At that time, Jesus performed a miracle that confirmed that He was the Messiah beyond doubt, but the religious leaders assigned it to Satan’s power. So, Israel decided to side with the religious leaders instead of Jesus; this was blasphemy of the Holy Spirit, which is an unpardonable sin. In these verses, Jesus pronounced judgment on that generation, declaring that He would leave the house of Israel desolate, that is, without hope. It also included a near-future time when Israel would be taken into captivity.
These were Jesus’ departing words to Israel, a people He loved and came to earth to save. His public ministry is now finished, and there is no turning back for Israel; they have determined their destiny, and it saddens Jesus, who would have saved them as a hen would gather her chicks under her wings.
Jesus will now turn to His disciples in His private ministry and give them some final instructions before He goes to the cross. He teaches His disciples the present age, which will end at His second coming to earth. He also teaches the disciples the meaning and purpose of the Communion Dinner as they celebrate the last Passover before Jesus fulfills it by His crucifixion.
Now we move into the Olivet Discourse at the beginning of Chapter 24:
Matthew 24:1–2, “And Jesus went out, and departed from the Temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the Temple. 2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
Three days Jesus has been teaching in the Temple, and as the third day ends, Jesus leaves the city to spend the night in Bethany, a short walk through the Eastern Gate, down the Kidron valley, and up to the other side of the Mount of Olives. Jesus probably is staying with Lazarus and Martha.
It is Tuesday afternoon as Jesus leaves the temple area; his disciples admire the extraordinary beauty of the Temple. Herod updated the Temple, making it one of the most impressive buildings of history. It wasn’t finished when Jesus was there. It took an additional forty years after the death of Jesus to complete it, making it one of the most extended projects in history at the time. It was finished just in time to be destroyed during the revolt of AD 70, just four years after its completion.
As Jesus and His disciples walk along, Jesus offers no comment other than saying that the massive building would be torn down stone by stone. I’m sure the disciples found the prediction to sound astounding and unbelievable, although they believed Jesus.
At first, the disciples remained silent until later, as we see in the following verses:
Matthew 24:3, “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
They ask Jesus three questions: When will the Temple be destroyed? What will be the sign of your second coming? What will be the signs of the end of the age? In the gospel of Luke, there is recorded a fourth question: Luke 21:7, They questioned Him, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”
Jesus’s answer covers the remaining part of chapter 24 through chapter 25; this will take the next few weeks to protect. In addition to answering the four questions, Jesus discusses the fifth issue outside of what the disciples asked. He explains to the disciples some things which will not be signs of the end. Also, Jesus answers their questions out of the order form they were asked, which suited His purpose in revealing the future events. Over the years, there has been much disagreement on what the meaning is concerning the answers Jesus gave.
We can’t use the answers Jesus gave His disciples to determine the exact time of the end of the age. Jesus said in Acts 1:7-12 (KJV), “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
Jesus wanted His disciples to concentrate on the job at hand, the mission He had given the disciples. We don’t need to know the time of the second coming, although we should be looking for and anticipating it. Our present responsibility is found in Hebrews 10:25: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (KJV).
It is estimated that 40% of the Bible concerns prophecy. That being the case, it seems vital for us to take an interest in it. We refer to the end time events as eschatology, things to come. Paul teaches in 1Thessoloins that understanding the end-time events is essential to our future hope. Paul begins by saying he did not want believers to remain ignorant concerning the end-time events that they lose not hope over those who have died. Paul further explains events of the Lord’s second coming. Those who claim that we should not study Revelation are teaching the opposite of the Apostle Paul.
Paul does not want us to lose hope concerning the resurrection of the dead in Christ with a new glorified eternal body. We live in a world filled with trouble and violence; therefore, it is easy to be distracted from our future hope in Christ. So many are preoccupied with worldly affairs without remembering the glorious hope we have in our Lord and savior. We need to abide by the teaching of God’s word and live out our hope. In other words, live like we have lovely hope. Matthew’s chapter is an excellent reminder of our future hope.
What is our hope? The wonderful truth of the Christian hope is in knowing that we have been saved from the penalty in and, which is spiritual death. Even though the world is in turmoil, we need not be worried or afraid. We can’t have that assurance unless we study the word, which gives us the confidence it is true. Paul instructed the Church to share these teachings with others to assure their hope.
Paul had a reason for teaching on the end-time events. He knew that knowledge of the future would bring with it comfort and preparation to meet Jesus when He returns. So, get excited about our glorious future; that is the contest of the following several studies. As we study, we will discover that all those we thought to be troubled begin to melt away with the consideration of the glorious future that lies ahead for believers in Christ. I know of no more needful time than right now for the people of God to get a new perspective of the second coming of Jesus and the hope it offers. It should strengthen our motives for being faithful to our Lord, trusting Him, and obeying Him.