His Word Today

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15 (ESV)

I find the content of the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24 -25) intriguing, interesting and challenging to properly interpret. The Apostle Paul’s instruction to Timothy is quite personal for me; as a pastor and seminary professor. I desire to accurately preach and teach God’s Word. I do not want to lead anyone astray. I do not want to make a mistake.

Therefore, I began to seek out godly men of whom I respect and highly value as sound teachers. I wanted to know their thoughts on the various genre’s contained in Jesus’ discourse regarding His return. What follows are some selected comments which proved helpful for me, and I trust for you pertaining to the Parable of the Ten Virgins. May you be encouraged.

“Parables are meant to communicate one main point. The main point here is: A people of God are being instructed about how to get ready to meet the bridegroom. The bride doesn’t even show up in this parable. But we may, then, collapse it into other teachings and say: Okay, we treat this as the bride, even though they are ten virgins leading the bridegroom into the bridal chamber. So, don’t stumble over these details. Go for the main, central thing,” explains Dr. John Piper.

Matthew 25:2–4, “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps.” All ten of them had a job to do. They had lamps. The lamps were supposed to be ready, ignited when he comes. Light. “Prepare the way of the Lord” (Matthew 3:3, quoting Isaiah 40:3). He is coming. Light your lamps. Lead him in. This is their job. This is a job. These ten women have a job to do, and they are supposed to be ready to do it. That is the situation.”

“Five of them are foolish. They are not taking seriously their calling to give light. They are neglecting the only means by which their lamps can do any good. What good is a lamp in that culture which has no oil to burn so it can make light? Their job was to provide light when he comes. If they go off, they are candles without wicks, as it were, light bulbs with no electricity, lamps with no sufficient oil, torches with no fire.“

“They liked their position. They could have left if they didn’t like it. They liked being lamp carriers. “I have a lamp. I have a lamp. I have a shiny lamp” — with no attention to its emptiness. Their foolishness was to think that mere religious form was sufficient. Their foolishness was to think that power for light can be borrowed in the last minute. Have you ever heard anybody talk about getting saved like that? “I will just wait. I will just wait.” That is really dangerous,” states Dr. Piper.

A college friend of mine said those words to me when I shared the Gospel to him. I was a new believer in Christ. He listened to what I said but then remarked he would wait until he was about to die, and then he would receive Christ as his Savior and Lord. He wanted to go to heaven and did not want to go to hell. However, he also did not want to live for Christ while on earth. He enjoyed the pleasures of sin too much.

That conversation occurred some 50 years ago. I often think about Frank and wonder if he is still alive. I also wonder if the Lord’s grace broke through his heart of stone and turned it into a heart of flesh. What about you?

Soli deo Gloria!

⁶ “But at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ ⁷ Then all those virgins rose and trimmed their lamps. ⁸ And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ ⁹ But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. ¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹² But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” (Matthew 25:6–13 (ESV)

The bridegroom finally arrives. It is midnight. Jesus provides no explanation as to why the delay in the bridegroom’s arrival. The announcement of his coming awakens the ten sleeping maidens (Matt. 25:5). They are now to accompany the bridegroom to meet his bride.

The ten trimmed their lamps, or lit their torches. Five of the ten had a sufficient supply of oil to replenish their torches and keep them ablaze. The remaining five did not. They came unprepared, not expecting it would take such a long time for the bridegroom to arrive.

The unwise virgins asked the other five to give them some of their supply of oil. However, the wise virgins refused to do so because there would be not enough oil for them all. They told the unwise virgins to the dealers and buy some more oil. How this was to be done a midnight is not explained.

“Instead of finding fault with these girls because of their heartlessness, we must try to understand their situation. Wedding processions generally move slowly. Besides, this is midnight. Not only must the girls go out to meet the bridegroom; they must also escort him back to the house with their lamps still brightly burning all the time. Their reply is therefore not unreasonable. It is rather “in character,” showing forethought, a further manifestation of the same careful planning they had done when they had filled their lamps with oil,” comments Dr. William Hendriksen.

However, while the five unwise virgins went to buy some more oil, the bridegroom came. Those who were ready to accompany him to the wedding feast did so. Upon the entourage’s arrival to the place of the feast, the door to the building was shut.

“Certain passages of Scripture are filled with pathos, with a deep feeling of tragedy. Think, for example, of 2 Sam. 18:33, “O my son Absolom, my son, my son, Absolom.…” So also the “never again” at the close of the six lines of Rev. 18:21–23a. And so here also: when the bridegroom comes, those who are ready enter. The others never get in, for when they arrive they discover that the door is shut. (Luke 13:25),” states Dr. Hendriksen.

When the five unwise virgins arrived to the wedding feast, having presumably purchased more oil for their lamps, the master of the house refused them entry. He announced he did not know them.

“In Jesus’ parable, the bridegroom for whom the ten virgins are waiting is the Savior Himself (v. 1). Jesus is here implicitly claiming to be God incarnate; the Old Testament often pictures the Creator as a groom and His people as His bride (Isa. 54:4–8; Hos. 2:14–20). The bridegroom’s arrival is clearly taking longer than expected, for all ten ladies fall asleep (Matt. 25:2–5). This reveals that although we cannot know the exact time of His return, the fact that Jesus has tarried 2,000 years and counting is not unexpected,” states Dr. John MacArthur.

“The foolish virgins are unprepared for the bridegroom (vv. 8–13). They did not count the cost of being in the processional and did not ready themselves for its delay. Like many others, the foolish girls have not understood the price of discipleship; sacrifice and forethought are required to stand in the day of trial and to be assured that one’s faith is real (Eph. 6:10–20; 2 Tim. 3:16–17; 1 John 5:13). Only the spiritually prepared — the wise virgins — will enter the kingdom.”

Jesus’ concluding statement was a word or warning and preparation. “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.” True then, true now.

Soli deo Gloria!

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom. ² Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. ³ For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, ⁴ but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. ⁵ As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.” (Matthew 25:1–5 (ESV)

God the Father alone knows exactly when He has decreed God the Son, Jesus Christ, to return to earth in power, might and glory (Matt. 24:29-31, 36), With this in mind, believers in Christ are live in anticipation of the Son’s return. The Lord Jesus could return any day. Therefore, using illustrations and parables, the Lord explained how to prepare for His coming (24:37–25:30). Today, we begin to examine the Parable of the Ten Virgins.

Jesus introduced the parable with the phrase, “the kingdom of heaven will be like.” The kingdom of heaven is the Lord Jesus Christ’s rule and reign over His servants; believers in Christ. Matthew 8 contains several kingdom parables. Today’s text indirectly compares the kingdom of heaven to ten virgins and a wedding. Jesus used this analogy to prepare His disciples for a long delay for His return to earth in power, might and glory. He cautioned all followers to be ready.

The parable begins with ten virgins taking their lamps and meeting a bridegroom. Obviously, a wedding is about to take place. Presumably, it is a Jewish wedding. It is also taking place at night, which explains the need for lamps. The word lamps (λαμπάς; lampas) literally means torch. It most often refers an oil saturated wick contained is a bowl like vessel. However, lamps may also refers to Roman torches.

“Weddings were held toward evening and torches were used as part of the celebration, which focused on a procession leading the bride to the groom’s house,” explains commentator Craig Keener.

“It is unlikely that “lamps” refers to the small Herodian oil lamps, which could be carried in the hand; all the evidence points instead to torches, which were also used in Greek and Roman wedding ceremonies. These torches may have been sticks wrapped with oil-soaked rags. In many traditional Palestinian villages in more recent times, the wedding feast occurs at night after a day of dancing; the bridesmaids leave the bride, with whom they have been staying, and go out to meet the bridegroom with torches. They then escort him back to his bride, whom they all in turn escort to the groom’s home.”

Jesus made a distinction between the ten unmarried bridesmaids. He said five of these women were foolish and five of them were wise. In other words, there was a lack of understanding among half of the women which the other half possessed.

This wisdom, or lack thereof, directly related to the supply of oil required to keep the respective lamps lit and burning. The foolish women did not take extra oil with them. The wise women did. This was all the more necessary because the bridegroom was delayed in his arrival. Whereupon, all ten virgins became drowsy and slept.

“As is clear from a comparison of 25:13 with 24:42, 44, there is a close connection between this parable and the immediately preceding one. Both emphasize the need of being prepared at all times for the coming of the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ,” comments Dr. William Hendriksen.

“The ten are alike in ever so many respects. All intend to meet the bridegroom and to escort him to the place where the festivities are to be held. All have lamps. All are expecting the bridegroom to come before another day has arrived, but none of them knows at what hour he is coming. All are looking forward to taking part in the marriage feast. When the bridegroom lingers, all these ten girls fall asleep, a sleep from which all are suddenly aroused (verses 5 and 6).”

The significance of this sudden awakening, and the lack of knowledge of the bridegroom’s arrival, will concern us as we continue our study tomorrow. Are you prepared to meet the Lord?

Soli deo Gloria!  

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:45–51 (ESV)

God the Father alone knows exactly when He has decreed God the Son, Jesus Christ, to return to earth in power, might and glory (Matt. 24:29-31, 36), With this in mind, believers in Christ are to still live in rapt anticipation of the Son’s return. The Lord Jesus could return any day. Therefore, using illustrations and parables, the Lord began explaining how to be prepared for His coming (24:37–25:30).

Recently, we examined two distinct phrases Jesus used commanding His disciples to a have particular perspective regarding His return. They were to stay awake and to be ready. In today’s text, Jesus also illustrated His soon return with a parable of two servants. One is wise and the other is wicked. Yesterday, we examined the wise servant. Today’s focus is on the wicked servant.

⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The word wicked (κακός; kakos) refers to what God deems as evil, wrong, incorrect and harmful. It is behavior that is in opposition to God and His Word. To be wicked is to live a life of hateful rebellion against the Lord and His disciples. The wicked do not believe in the soon return of Christ. They may not even believe in the return of Christ at all; soon or otherwise.

Consequently, their behavior reflects this unbelief. They treat other individuals harshly, indulge in drunkenness with little of no concern of God. They live a life, according to one commentator, of “carelessness, cruelty and carousing.” They fail to understand they are ultimately facing the Lord’s righteous judgment.

“The lesson of the parable, therefore, is this “Be and remain actively loyal to the Master, sensibly and joyfully carrying out the task assigned by him, in the interest of those who are precious to him,” states Dr. William Hendriksen.

Bishop Hilary of Poiters, an early church father, says, “Our ignorance of the day of Christ’s return should provoke us to be careful as we eagerly await his coming.”

“Knowing that Jesus could come at any minute should motivate us to pursue holiness, loving God and neighbor. We certainly do not want the Lord to catch us off-guard. Instead, we want to be found working diligently so that He will have no cause to be ashamed of His people,” concludes Dr. R. C. Sproul.

Soli deo Gloria!

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. ⁴⁸ But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ ⁴⁹ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, ⁵⁰ the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know ⁵¹ and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matthew 24:45–51 (ESV)

God the Father alone knows exactly when He has decreed God the Son, Jesus Christ, to return to earth in power, might and glory (Matt. 24:29-31, 36), With this in mind, believers in Christ are to still live in anticipation of the Son’s return. The Lord Jesus could return any day. Therefore, using illustrations and parables, the Lord began explaining how to be prepared for His coming (24:37–25:30).

Yesterday, we examined two distinct phrases Jesus used commanding His disciples to have a particular perspective regarding His return. They were to stay awake and to be ready.  In today’s text, Jesus also illustrated His soon return with a parable of two servants. One is wise and the other is wicked. Today, we examine the wise servant.

⁴⁵ “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? ⁴⁶ Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. ⁴⁷ Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions.”

Jesus called this first servant faithful and wise. To be faithful (πιστός; pistis) means to be trustworthy, dependable and reliable. To be wise (φρόνιμος; phronimos) means to be understanding and prudent. In light of the Lord’s soon return, the faithful and wise servant is the disciple, or church leader, who remains dutiful to their tasks in spite of the Lord’s delay in returning (2 Peter 3:1-10). The Lord pronounced an oracle of blessing on such servants.  

“The duty of faithfulness applies not only to leaders but also to followers. Doing the will of the Master and caring for those in need, whether this need be material, spiritual, or both, is certainly the task assigned to all,” explains Dr. William Hendriksen.

“Now upon the faithful and sensible (cf. 25:2, 4, 8, 9) servant a special beatitude is pronounced: Such “blessedness” means that the servant upon whom the words of approval, congratulation, and cheer are pronounced is the object of his master’s special favor, is a delight to him. Moreover, the clause “whom his master shall find so doing” shows that the proper attitude on the part of the one who awaits the master’s return is active service in the interest of those whom the master has entrusted to him. When the figure is interpreted, this means that the proper spirit in which believers should eagerly await as Savior the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil. 3:20) is not the feverish nervousness of certain Thessalonians (2 Thess. 2:1, 2; 3:6–12), nor the nauseating lukewarmness of the Laodiceans (Rev. 3:14–22), but the active faithfulness of the Smyrniots (Rev. 2:8–11).”

“Therefore, we must be ready for Jesus’ return. Readiness, however, is not passive; rather, we are to serve our king actively, knowing that He could come at any minute. May we be wise, faithful servants who work for the kingdom, not those who lie down on the job and are fit only for destruction (vv. 45–51),” concludes Dr. R. C. Sproul.

Soli deo Gloria!

⁴⁰ “Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. ⁴¹ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. ⁴² Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. ⁴³ But know this that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁴ Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (Matthew 24:40–44 (ESV)

God the Father alone knows exactly when He has decreed God the Son, Jesus Christ, to return to earth in power, might and glory (Matt. 24:29-31, 36), With this in mind, believers in Christ are to still live in anticipation of the Son’s return. The Lord Jesus could return any day. Therefore, using illustrations and parables, the Lord began explaining how to be prepared for His coming (24:37–25:30).

Even in the first century there were those who scoffed at the Lord’s delay in coming again. They doubted God’s truthfulness and trustworthiness much like those who lived during Noah’s day (2 Peter 3:1-7). 

Stay awake! Two words. Important words. Inspired words by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16017; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Jesus’ words to His disciples; then and now. To stay awake (γρηγορέω; gregoreo) is a present, active imperative verb. It is a command. It means to be on the alert and to be watchful. Believers in Christ are to be on the alert and watchful for the Lord’s return.

Be ready! Two words. Important words. Inspired words by the Holy Spirit (2 Tim. 3:16017; 2 Peter 1:20-21). Jesus’ words to His disciples; then and now. To be ready (γίνομαι ἕτοιμος; ginomai hetoimas) is a present, middle imperative verb. It is a personal command. It means to be prepared and to be in a state of readiness.

Jesus used both phrases commanding His disciples to be on the alert and to be prepared for His second coming. Why was this truth so important for Jesus to emphatically communicate? It is because once He returns, salvation by grace alone, through faith alone in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone will be complete. All those who God the Father has elected unto salvation He will have saved (2 Peter 3:8-10).   

“It is clear that once this final day arrives, every opportunity still to be saved is gone forever. The door is shut. See on 25:10. The Lord arrives. Of two men engaged in the same kind of work, probably even toiling next to each other in the field, one is taken. By the angels he is gathered to be forever with the Lord. The other is left behind, assigned to everlasting perdition. The same thing happens in the case of two women who at that very moment are grinding with a hand-mill (cf. Exod. 11:5), made of two round, flat stones, with a handle near the edge of the upper stone. This mill must not be confused with the much larger one worked by donkey-power (see on 18:6). The lesson is the same: one of the two is taken, the other left behind. The One who takes is the Son of man himself through the agency of angels,” states Dr. William Hendriksen.

“Verses 40–44 stress the suddenness of Christ’s return. The taking of men and women from their tasks (vv. 40–42) is not a picture of a pretribulational rapture. Instead, Jesus is saying that the separation of the wicked and the righteous will be immediate. It is as if we will look up from our labor one seemingly ordinary day and find ourselves at the consummation of all things,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

“Just as a thief might suddenly break in without warning, so too will our Lord return at a moment when we are not expecting Him (vv. 43–44). These illustrations encourage us not only to be ready for the Savior’s final advent, but also to be prepared to meet Him at any point should we die before He comes.”

Puritan Matthew Henry comments, “We cannot know that we have a long time to live; nor can we know how little a time we have to live, for it may prove less than we expect.” Putting off repentance and faith can lead to eternal damnation.”

Be awake and be ready. Jesus’ return may be today.

Soli deo Gloria!

³⁷ “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ³⁸ For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, ³⁹ and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37–39 (ESV)

God the Father alone knows exactly when He has decreed God the Son, Jesus Christ, to return to earth in power, might and glory (Matt. 24:29-31, 36), With this in mind, believers in Christ are to still live in rapt anticipation of the Son’s return. The Lord Jesus could return any day. Therefore, using illustrations and parables, the Lord began explaining how to be prepared for His coming (24:37–25:30).

Even in the first century there were those who scoffed at the Lord’s delay in coming again. They doubted God’s truthfulness and trustworthiness much like those who lived during Noah’s day (2 Peter 3:1-7).  

These were people, who perhaps for close to 120 years during the ark’s construction (Gen. 6:1-3), ate, drank, married, and committed great wickedness until the day when Noah entered the ark (Gen. 6:5-22). They did not concern themselves with the things of God until it was too late.

The question might be asked, “What is wrong with these activities, or with ‘buying and selling, planting and building,’ as in the similar days of Lot (Luke 17:28–30)?” The answer is, “Nothing at all.” In fact, by means of them men are able to glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31). But when the soul becomes entirely wrapped up in them, so that matters such as these become ends in themselves, and spiritual tasks are neglected, they are no longer a blessing but have become a curse. They have become evidences of gross materialism, false security, and often cold selfishness,” states Dr. William Henriksen.

What is to be the perspective of the church today regarding the Lord’s return? Are we to live in skepticism because it has been close to 2,000 years since these promised were given? The Apostle Peter, directed by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:20-21), states otherwise.   

⁸ “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” (2 Peter 3:1–10 ESV)

Peter continued to encourage believers to live holy and godly lives while waiting for the new heavens and a new earth (2 Peter 3:11-12), to be diligent for Christ and to be without spot or blemish (2 Peter 3:14), and to not believe heresy and error (2 Peter 3:17). Rather, believers in Christ are to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord and to glorify Him in everything (2 Peter 3:18; I Cor. 10:31).

Soli deo Gloria!

³⁶ “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.” (Matthew 24:36 (ESV)

A significant shift occurs in today’s text. Matthew 24:1-35 primarily focuses on the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Now the emphasis is upon the “day” of the Lord’s return. Day (ἡμέρα; hemera) normally refers to the daylight in a 24 hour period of time (Genesis 1:1-31). However, it may also refer to a specific moment, or event, in time. This is its meaning in this context.

Although Jesus gave several signs by which they would know when Jerusalem’s destruction would occur, the specific day and hour of His second coming would remain a mystery. Jesus’s return could not, and cannot, be determined with any accuracy by human prophets and prophecies. It is futile to try, and yet many individuals attempt to do so. They are false teachers.                                                                                                                                                                          

The Lord’s return will be like a thief in the night (I Thess. 5:1-3; Rev. 3:1-3). Only God the Father knows the day and the hour of Jesus’ return. The angels of heaven do not know. Even Jesus, in His humanity, does not know.

Jesus Christ is fully God. How then could He not know the day and hour of His return? Jesus Christ is also fully human. In His humanity, Jesus was finite and changeable (Luke 2:52). It is within the context of Jesus’ humanity that He was ignorant of the exact moment of His return.

“The Savior’s ignorance regarding the timing of the end in 24:36 perplexes many believers. How could He who is fully God (John 1:1) not have known when the final day will be? Yet Jesus is also fully man (v. 14). Without surrendering His divine attributes, the second person of the Trinity took on a human nature and became the God-man,” explains Dr. R. C. Sproul.

“Jesus Christ, at times allowing His “divine nature [to be] in a state of repose” and not to “exert itself” (John Calvin). Apparently, the incarnate Son of God chose not to lean on His omniscience when He referred to the timing of His final advent in the Olivet Discourse. Instead, Jesus leaned on His humanity and kept this knowledge from the Twelve.”

“The series of events that shall precede Christ’s return has been described. The precise moment of that great event has however not been indicated. Neither could it have been, for that moment is known to the Father alone, and it has not pleased him to reveal it. The angels, though standing in a very close relationship to God (Isa. 6:1–3; Matt. 18:10), and though intimately associated with the events pertaining to the second coming (13:41; 24:31; Rev. 14:19), do not know the day nor the hour. Nor, in fact, does the Son himself, viewed from the aspect of his human nature. See also on 21:19,” states Dr. William Hendriksen.

“The Father, he alone, knows. This proves the futility and sinfulness of every attempt on man’s part to predict the date when Jesus will return, whether that imagined date be 1843, 1844, more precisely Oct. 22, 1844, the autumn of 1914, or any later one. See Deut. 29:29. Curiosity is wonderful. For nosiness, intrusiveness, impertinence there is no excuse.”

Be careful when pastors, preachers, authors and self-appointed prophetical experts seek to predict the exact date of the Lord Jesus Christ’s return. Their attempts to do so reveal their ignorance of Matthew 24:36. Have a blessed, and discerning, day in the Lord.

Soli deo Gloria!

³² “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. ³³ So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. ³⁴ Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:32–35 ESV)

Today’s text reminds us of Jesus’ cursing of a fig tree (Matt. 21:18-19). The object lesson then regarded Israel’s spiritual fruitlessness and carnality, evidence by the perverse businesses conducted in the temple courts, in contrast to the magnificence of the temple’s appearance. The cursing of the fig tree foreshadowed the temple’s destruction.

In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus again used a fig tree as an object lesson concerning His soon return. The appearance of buds, leaves and the blossoms which follow indicate the summer growing season is imminent. The leaves and the blossoms will develop into nourishing fruit. Therefore, Jesus’ return would follow the fulfillment of His predictions. This is the first of seven future-kingdom parables Jesus taught His disciples.

“Unlike most Palestinian trees, fig trees lose their leaves in winter; they would have been in leaf by this time of year, however, predicting the fruit that should appear on them in the summer. Jesus had earlier used this tree as a parable for the temple’s destruction (see Mark 11:12–25). But the meaning is ultimately decided by the context: when the signs he had listed (including the temple’s destruction) were fulfilled, his coming would be imminent,” explains commentator Craig Keener.

Jesus taught the imminent destruction of Jerusalem and the temple therein would occur during the disciples’ lifetime. However, the phrase “this generation” may refer to a kind of people or race. In the context, this would be the Jews. In other words, Jesus meant that Israel, then and now, would not become extinct prior to both the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the events throughout church history culminating with His glorious return. This is the most accurate interpretation of vs. 34.

“The temple was destroyed roughly forty years after Jesus spoke these words (which refer to the temple’s demise rather than to the Second Coming—see comment on 24:3). The Dead Sea Scrolls anticipated a final, forty-year generation of tribulation before the end; Jesus leaves the period between the final earthly sign (the temple’s demise) and his return indeterminate,” states Keener.

“There can be no question about that. Jesus now states that when “all this” (literally “all these things”) is seen, “it” is near, at the very gates. “All this” must refer to the fulfilment of the various predictions in so far as this fulfilment could be witnessed by the disciples; note “when you see all this.” It was with reference to Christ’s prediction that not one stone of the temple was going to be left upon another that the men had asked, “Tell us, when shall this happen?” (Matt. 24:3), explains Dr. William Hendriksen.  

“With reference to the rise of false Christs, wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, etc., events which did indeed begin to happen already before and in connection with the fall of Jerusalem, Jesus had said, “But all these things are (only) the beginning of birth pains” (verse 8). It is natural, therefore, to interpret 33 as meaning that when the disciples see “all this,” for some of them including even the fulfilment of the prediction regarding the “desolating sacrilege” (verse 15) as far as that prediction was fulfilled in their own day, then “it,” namely, the fall of Jerusalem and its temple, must be considered as being near; in fact, at the very gates.”

Jesus affirmed all He said as absolute truth. He confirmed to His disciples’ of all generations that His words would come to pass. All of the events of this discourse occurred in some degree before every member of the twelve disciples died. What has not occurred is the second coming of Christ. This remains future.

“We still wait for Jesus to return and usher in the new heaven and the new earth. Still, we should not underestimate the significance of His judgment of Jerusalem through Rome in AD 70. No longer is there one place in only one country where we may gather for worship, and this confirms God’s intent to save people from all over the world. Let us be grateful that we may worship Him wherever we are and strive to make the praise of our Creator a part of our daily lives,” concludes Dr. R. C. Sproul.

Soli deo Gloria!