Matthew 24:29-31; Mark 13:24-27;
Luke 21:25-27
Two things were drummed into my
head during hermeneutics classes at seminary: “context is king” and “Scripture
must interpret Scripture”. What my professors meant was that the Bible is one
Word that remains consistent in its message from the opening chapters to the
closing chapters and if we are to be faithful in being messengers of the
message, we must be diligent in ensuring that what we convey is what it
actually says…and not what we or others think it says or ought to say, for that
matter!
These two principles are vital in
the understanding of our present texts. If we fail to see the larger
context…the origin of the prophetic language used by Jesus in these verses…and
if we fail to understand the meaning of these statements in the light of their
use in other parts of Scripture, we will fail to interpret correctly what Jesus
actually said and meant at the time.
The first thing to notice is the
time-designate that governs this passage. In Matthew 23:36 Jesus said that the
judgment He described would fall on the generation alive at the time. A few
verses later, He repeated this: “I tell you the truth, this generation will not
pass from the scene until all these things take place.” (Matthew 24:34) What
things? The things we are about to consider in this study. May we not be guilty
of twisting the clear meaning of Scripture to suit ourselves!
In the previous study we saw that,
in Scriptural and historical context, the “great tribulation” referred to the
destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. Jesus now stated that immediately
following this cataclysmic end of the old order something earth-shatteringly
dramatic would happen. Let’s look at what Jesus said exactly as He said it as
recorded by Matthew:
Immediately after the affliction of those
days, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give her light, and the
stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And
then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then will wail all
the tribes of the land, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds
of heaven with power and much glory; and He will send His messengers with a
great trumpet sound, and they will gather His elect out of the four winds from
(the) ends of (the) heavens to (the) ends of them.[1]
Was Jesus referring to a literal
cosmic event or was He using prophetic or proverbial language that would have
been understood and correctly interpreted by those hearing Him at the time?
Personally, I believe the latter and I hope I will be able to demonstrate why as
we look at the rest of Scripture. At this point, may I remind the reader that
the Jews at the time were well versed in the Scriptures…most of them knew a
large part of the Old Testament by heart. Unlike most modern followers of
Jesus, they would have been able to recall an entire passage or book or
biblical motif or teaching simply by hearing one or more sentences of
Scripture. So, we need to ask ourselves, where in the Old Testament is the sun,
moon, stars, and general cosmic upheaval mentioned?
My first point of reference is
the dream of Joseph in Genesis 37:9-11. “Soon Joseph had another dream, and
again he told his brothers about it. ‘Listen, I have had another dream’ he
said. ‘The sun, moon, and eleven stars
bowed low before me!’” (Italics mine) Note that his father immediately
understood what this dream meant as he said in verse 10, “Will your mother (the
moon) and I (the sun) and your brothers (the eleven stars) actually come and
bow to the ground before you?” This dream is later fulfilled when they all actually
bow down before Joseph, by that time seated at the right hand of Pharaoh in
Egypt.[2]
This seems to indicate that the sun and moon and stars could be used to
symbolically portray those in authority in a family setting at least.
However, it seems that this
figurative understand also applied to other authority figures. Isaiah applied
this imagery to Babylon and Edom when predicting their destruction (Isaiah
13:10, 13; 34:3-5). Ezekiel used the same figures of speech when describing the
fall of Egypt (Ezekiel 32:2, 7-8). Joel also applied this to Israel (Joel 2:1,
10). So, we need not resort to strange literal interpretations of Jesus’s words
in this case…He was simply using prophetic imagery to indicate the overthrow of
an authority.
It is important to note at this
point that, grammatically, what appears (or what becomes apparent) is the
“sign” and not the “Son of Man”. “Then Christ defines what the sign signifies:
it is the sign that the Son of Man is now in heaven. That is, this sign
(whatever it is) will signify that Jesus is in heaven above – despite the
Jewish authorities and rulers of the temple killing Him (Matthew 16:21; 20:18;
26:3-4, 59, 65-66; 27:20), sealing His tomb (Matthew 27:62-66), and denying His
resurrection (28:11-15).”[3]
Jesus spoke about this reality being visible to those who condemned Him to
death in Matthew 26:64, “And in the future you
will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and
coming on the clouds of heaven.”
In this statement, it seems that
what Jesus was saying was that those condemning Him to death would “see” Him
seated at the right hand of God by His coming on the clouds of heaven. It is
interesting to note that at this point the High Priest declared Jesus guilty of
blasphemy. Why? Because he knew Jesus was quoting from Daniel 7:13 (see also
the response of the Jews in Acts 7:56-57 when Stephen used this verse in
reference to Jesus). “Coming on the clouds” was an image used only of God
coming in judgment (cf. Psalm 104:3; Isaiah 19:1). It is an image, I believe,
that has its origin in the Exodus. In Israel’s redemption from slavery in
Egypt, God guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud. When the
Egyptians pursued them and seemed to have trapped them on the shores of the Red
Sea, this pillar of cloud moved between the two opposing forces. Just before
dawn, the Lord looked down from the cloud and judged the Egyptians while
protecting and liberating the Israelites (cf. Exodus 14:19-25).
What does this have to do with
Jesus’ statement in our passages? The Jerusalem leaders and Temple authorities
had condemned Him to death and were actively persecuting His followers. A
careful reading of the letter to the Hebrews indicates that many Jewish
believers at the time were tempted to abandon their faith in Jesus as it seemed
that the Old Testament system was still firmly in place and, as such, there was
nothing to suggest that Jesus was, in fact, reigning as King. But it is the
destruction of the vestiges of the old order that vindicates all of our Lord’s
claims about Himself and it effectively removes any obstacle in the way of
spreading the Word in the minds of those who were in doubt.
It is in the judgment of
Jerusalem, the fulfilment of Jesus’ words, that He is shown to be King reigning
at the right hand of God with authority over both heaven and earth. In this
sense, those who had rejected Him, the Cornerstone of the New Temple (Matthew
21:42; Acts 4:11; Ephesians 2:20; 1 Peter 2:6-7), would ‘see’ that they had
been wrong. This would fulfil what was written by the prophet Zechariah 12:10,
“They (the family of David and the people of Jerusalem) will look on Me whom
they have pierced and mourn for Him as for an only Son.”, and predicted by
Jesus in Matthew 26:64, “…you (the leaders of Jerusalem and Temple authorities)
will see the Son of Man…”, and in Matthew 24:30, “…there will be deep mourning
among all the tribes of the land.”[4]
In Luke 4:17-21, Jesus indicated
that in Him the Messianic prophecy found in Isaiah 61:1-2 was fulfilled. This
imagery was drawn from the Year of Jubilee legislation found in Leviticus 25.
At the onset of this Sabbath year, a trumpet would be sounded according to
Leviticus 25:9. All those who had lost property could return to their land at
this time. With the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, both enemy and
follower would finally see the reality of the Jubilee fulfilled in Christ. Now
the messengers of the reigning King of kings could continue to go announce the
greater liberation from slavery to sin and to gather (note the use of the same
word in Matthew 23:37) His elect or chosen ones from the ends of the earth (cf.
Matthew 21:43; 22:9; 28:19; Acts 1:8).
There was a reason why Jesus
prefaced the “Great Commission” with the words, “I have been given all
authority in heaven and on earth.” It is
only because Jesus is presently reigning at the right hand of God that we have
a message to proclaim at all.
[2] Just as an
aside: Most scholars will agree that
Joseph is a ‘type’ of Christ…that his life and ministry foretells that of the
coming Messiah.
[4] The Greek
word ge is consistently used
by Matthew to mean Israel, Matthew 2:6, 20, 21; 27:45. Also, the word fulai is only used twice
in Matthew, here and in Matthew 19:28, where it specifically refers to the
tribes of Israel.
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