The disciples wanted to know when the end of the world would take place. We all want to know about tomorrow. Few things are more problematic than trying to predict the future, and yet, few things more intrigue us as well.
We toy with harmless things like fortune cookies and laugh (I hope) at horoscopes. Remember; efforts at actually predicting the future are wrong.
Knowing the future would help us avoid tragedies, predict the stock market, and enjoy our joys before they happened. A Babe Ruth rookie card sold at auction last week for $675,000. This caught my attention because about 20 years ago, Ruth and I saw one for sale for $15,000. Had I known then what I know now, I would have mortgaged my house to buy that card.
By the way, the Babe Ruth card we saw was stolen about a week later and, as far as we know, never recovered. If I suddenly show up at church driving a brand new Lamborghini, please don't tell the authorities this story.
Being ordinary guys, the 12 wanted to know the future. Unfortunately, their questions were based on a false assumption. They had no concept of there being a time lag between the first and second comings of Messiah.
Just prior to our text, Jesus had said a day was coming when people would say, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” (23:39). Immediately after this, He had said the temple would be destroyed (24:2).
The 12 assumed both events would happen concurrently. They could not conceive history continuing without the temple. To them, destruction of the temple would end our present world order, and usher in Messiah’s reign.
It is easy for us to say the 12 were overly enamored with the temple, but we must admit its destruction marked more than merely the destruction of a building. It closed an epoch era, ending many things as they had been, including ending Abraham's physical offspring having supreme prominence.
A foreshadowing of the latter happened when Jesus died on the cross. The temple veil, separating the Holy of Holies (God’s dwelling place) from human view, was torn in two. Exposing the room to sinners’ eyes rendered it common. This event for sure graphically pictured two new vital truths. One, people can now come directly into God’s presence through Jesus. Two, God’s message was now set free from ethnic, national borders; the Gospel was released. Pray churches won’t be modern “temple veils”, hindering people who may want to come to God, and hoarding the Gospel from others.
Jesus knew the Twelve were not yet prepared to distinguish between the two events they had co-mingled in their false assumption. Thus, when Jesus answered their questions, He did not try to distinguish between the two. His answers are so interwoven that it is hard for us to disentangle them.
We may be wise to view the two events as sharing common characteristics. Instead of seeing the events as two mountains side by side, move one in front of the other. What happens to one can happen to the other.
Jerusalem’s destruction was a local Day of Judgment. The end of time will be a worldwide Day of Judgment. One is past; one is future. Since both are Days of Judgment, things that happen before the first could foreshadow things that will happen before the second. Jesus used images they would see before the destruction of Jerusalem to paint pictures of His Second Coming.
The 12 correctly saw the two as closely related. They erred in thinking the correlation between the two was timing rather than repeated happenings.
Warnings that happened before Jerusalem’s destruction will happen again before the world’s destruction. In fact, many of these warnings occur at all times due to God’s never-ending, ongoing judgment against sin.
God's moral constitution has operated through the centuries. We have seen many of these warnings in our generation, and in every era of history.
Jesus’ interweaving of warning signs should keep us from dogmatic predictions. Bible predictions usually carry a hint of obscurity until fulfilled. The people who see the fulfillment often say, "So that's what that meant."
Jesus avoided a timeline. He emphasized timing less than being on the alert, and remaining faithful to the end. "What Christ said to his disciples tends more to engage their caution than to satisfy their curiosity; more to prepare them for events that should happen than to give them a distinct idea of the events themselves" (Henry).
Jesus’ obscurity makes us think it could happen in any moment. This suspense keeps our vigilance high. Knowing precisely when the Second Coming will happen would rob it of its behavioral motivations. Constantly expecting it improves our conduct.
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