A Side Lesson on the Second Advent
As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" Matt. 24:3, NASB.
We noted yesterday that the disciples were confused about the relationship of the destruction of the Temple and the Second Advent. If I were Jesus I would have put them straight on the topic and told them that they were both coming but that 2,000 years would lapse between the two events.
But Jesus didn't follow my logic. His answer mixes the two events and their signs in a manner that Christians have been hard put to disentangle.
One wonders at the logic of His strategy when He could have made things clear. The only thing we can say for certain is that He deliberately mingled the two events in His explanation.
But why? The chapter supplies us with the reasons. Foremost among them is that Jesus is not so much seeking to tell us when the end will come as to alert His hearers that they must live in a state of continued expectancy as they look for the end. That aim becomes clear as Matthew 24 nears its end and enters into the watch-and-be-ready counsels (verses 36, 42, 44, 50). The great parables of chapter 25, which form the conclusion to the sermon, begin in chapter 24 and continue to drive home the lessons of faithful waiting and responsible working as Christ's followers anticipate the end of the age.
A second reason for His less-than-precise teaching strategy is that it forces readers to continually rethink His teachings regarding the Second Advent as they seek to penetrate His meaning. That approach is similar in some ways to His use of parables. In Matthew 13:10-15 He intimated that He taught in parables rather than in straightforward language because such teaching would compel those who were truly interested to wrestle with the ultimate meaning of what He said and thus make it their own.
As a result, the very ambiguity of some of His statements has driven readers to struggle with the significance and meaning of the topic. The result has been an ongoing awareness and interest in the subject of the Second Coming. Such a technique has aided people in identifying with the major point of His sermon--to watch and be ready, because they truly know not the hour of the Master's returning.
As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" Matt. 24:3, NASB.
We noted yesterday that the disciples were confused about the relationship of the destruction of the Temple and the Second Advent. If I were Jesus I would have put them straight on the topic and told them that they were both coming but that 2,000 years would lapse between the two events.
But Jesus didn't follow my logic. His answer mixes the two events and their signs in a manner that Christians have been hard put to disentangle.
One wonders at the logic of His strategy when He could have made things clear. The only thing we can say for certain is that He deliberately mingled the two events in His explanation.
But why? The chapter supplies us with the reasons. Foremost among them is that Jesus is not so much seeking to tell us when the end will come as to alert His hearers that they must live in a state of continued expectancy as they look for the end. That aim becomes clear as Matthew 24 nears its end and enters into the watch-and-be-ready counsels (verses 36, 42, 44, 50). The great parables of chapter 25, which form the conclusion to the sermon, begin in chapter 24 and continue to drive home the lessons of faithful waiting and responsible working as Christ's followers anticipate the end of the age.
A second reason for His less-than-precise teaching strategy is that it forces readers to continually rethink His teachings regarding the Second Advent as they seek to penetrate His meaning. That approach is similar in some ways to His use of parables. In Matthew 13:10-15 He intimated that He taught in parables rather than in straightforward language because such teaching would compel those who were truly interested to wrestle with the ultimate meaning of what He said and thus make it their own.
As a result, the very ambiguity of some of His statements has driven readers to struggle with the significance and meaning of the topic. The result has been an ongoing awareness and interest in the subject of the Second Coming. Such a technique has aided people in identifying with the major point of His sermon--to watch and be ready, because they truly know not the hour of the Master's returning.
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