Luke’s account reads, “And when he drew nigh, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known in this day, even thou, the things which belong unto peace! but now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, when your enemies shall cast up a bank about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, and shall dash thee to the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy visitation” (Luke 19:41-44).
This chapter examines one of the most misapplied passages of the Bible. Many errors concerning the final return of Christ and the kingdom of Christ are based on the misinterpretation of Matthew 24. Examples of these misinterpretations are Hal Lindsey’s popular The Late Great Planet Earth, the official views of the Worldwide Church of God, founded by Herbert W. Armstrong, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses, to name a few.
Many doctrines have been formed around the false impression that Jesus promises a return that he has not yet fulfilled. Rudolph Bultmann and other liberal scholars have used this fact against the Sciptures. If the son of man did not appear in the clouds of heaven, then we cannot put any trust in his promises. Modern scholars have been mocking this fact for years.
Background of Matthew 24
Matthew 24 is a record of Jesus’ teaching in the last couple of days of his life. He had returned to Jerusalem for the last time before his death and, had given the Jewish leaders a strong condemnation in Chapter 23. In verses 13-16, 23, 25, 27, 29, Jesus called them fools, blind guides, and offspring of vipers. In verses 38-39, Jesus stood in the temple in Jerusalem and made the statement, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate, For 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.”
A Review of Views of Matthew 24
Before we study the chapter itself, consider various views taken by peolpe in the religious world. First, many think that the chapter must be divided into two parts, the destruction of Jerusalem and a return of Christ at the end of time. The most popular position is the “verse 36 position,” which applies verses 1-35 to the destruction of Jerusalem. Then, verses 36 through 44 apply to the final return of Christ.
The second most popular view is the “verse 29 position.” Many read verse 29 and 30 (where Jesus spoke of the sun darkened, the moon with no light, and the stars fallen from heaven), and cannot imagine that those verses have been fulfilled, yet. So, according to them, the break between the two subjects takes place at that point. Another popular position is the “oscillating position.” This view thinks that Jesus switched back and forth between the subjects of the destruction of Jerusalem and his final return.
The view I take is that the text deals with only one subject, not two and that that subject is the destruction of Jerusalem. There is no reference to “the end of time” or a final return of Christ and the end of time.