Matt. 24:01-06 “Don’t get Distracted”

Translation & Sermon by Nate Wilson for Christ The Redeemer Church, Manhattan, KS, 14 July 2013

Translation

24:1 Then Jesus exited, proceeding away from the temple,
and His disciples approached to show off to Him the construction of the temple.

24:2 But Jesus said to them, “Y’all are looking at all these things, aren’t you? Really, I’m telling y’all,
there shall absolutely not be left here a stone upon a stone which will not be undone.

 

24:3 Then, as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately saying,

“Tell us when these things will be

and what is the sign that you are coming into your own,

and of the close of the age.”

24:4 And in answer, Jesus said to them, “See to it that nobody shall cause y’all to wander astray,

24:5 for many will come using my name, saying, “I am the Christ,”

and they will cause many to wander astray.

24:6 And y’all are about to hear of wars and hearsay about wars.

Keep seeing to it that y’all don’t keep being startled,

for it is necessary for all things to happen,

but the end is not yet.

Introduction

Exegesis

24:1 Then Jesus exited, proceeding away from the temple, and His disciples approached to show off [point outNAS,ESV/call attentionNIV] to Him the construction of the temple.

Και εξελθων ‘ο Ιησους επορευετο απο του ‘ιερου[1] και προσηλθον ‘οι μαθηται αυτου επιδειξαι αυτω τας οικοδομας του ‘ιερου.

 

24:2 But Jesus said to them, “Y’all are looking at all these things, aren’t you? Really, I’m telling y’all, there shall absolutely not be left here a stone upon a stone which will not be undone.

‘Ο δε Ιησους[2] ειπεν αυτοις Ου[3] βλεπετε παντα ταυτα; Αμην λεγω ‘υμιν ου μη αφεθῃ[4] ‘ωδε λιθος επι λιθον ‘ος ου καταλυθησεται.

 

24:3 Then, as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him privately saying, “Tell us when these things will be and what is the sign that you are coming into your own, and of the close of the age.”

Καθημενου δε αυτου επι του ορους των ελαιων προσηλθον αυτω ‘οι μαθηται κατ’ ιδιαν λεγοντες Ειπε ‘ημιν πότε ταυτα εσται και τí το σημειον της σης παρουσιας και της[9] συντελειας του αιωνος;

 

24:4 And in answer, Jesus said to them, “See to it that nobody shall cause y’all to wander astray,

Και αποκριθεις ‘ο Ιησους ειπεν αυτοις Βλεπετε μη τις ‘υμας πλανησῃ

 

24:5 for many will come using my name, saying, “I am the Christ,” and they will cause many to wander astray.

πολλοι γαρ ελευσονται επι τω ονοματι μου λεγοντες Εγω ειμι ‘ο χριστος, και πολλους πλανησουσιν.

 

24:6 And y’all are about[18] to hear of wars and hearsay about wars. Keep seeing to it that y’all don’t keep being startled, for it is necessary for all things to happen, but the end is not yet.

Μελλησετε δε ακουειν πολεμους και ακοας πολεμων. Ορατε μη θροεισθε, δει γαρ παντα[19] γενεσθαι αλλ’ ουπω εστιν το τελος.

Conclusion: What’s the main thing to remember about the end times?

Don’t take your eyes off Christ! Let us be careful not to be too impressed with earthly projects, whether it be:

Remember that the end is coming and that it’s all going to burn (2 Peter 3)

“The most beautiful body will be shortly worms' meat, and the most beautiful building a ruinous heap.” ~Matthew Henry

 

Instead, let us keep our eyes fixed on Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, by reading His word, praying to Him, doing His will, and turning our thoughts to where He is, seated at God’s right hand, preparing to return and take us with Him to heaven!



[1] In distinction from naos – the inner sanctuary where the special presence of God was supposed to be but now was not, the hieron was the entirety of the temple grounds. ~Marvin Vincent

[2] Instead of the word “Jesus,” Critical editions substitute the participle αποκριθεις “answering,” and this is reflected in the reading of the NAS, NIV, and ESV. This substitution would fit the common Greek pattern of repeated verbs related to speech, neither adding or taking away information (seeing as the subject, Jesus, is understood whether or not explicitly stated), but I have kept the reading of the majority of Greek manuscripts passed down through the Byzantine and Textus Receptus editions of the Greek New Testament, in part because neither the UBS nor the Nestle-Aland critical apparati give a manuscript basis for changing the majority reading.

[3] The negative here is puzzling. It could be interpreted as Jesus chiding His disciples for not focusing on the things He wants them to focus on. (Mt. 16:9a “Do y’all still not understand?” Mt. 16:23b “you’re not thinking about the things of God but rather about the things of men”).  However, It’s not in the parallel accounts: Cf. Mk. 13:2 βλεπεις ταυτας τας μεγαλας οικοδομας… “Y’all are looking at the gigantic building…” and Lk. 21:6  ταυτα α θεωρειτε ελευσονται ημεραι εν αις… “These things which y’all are staring at, days will come in which… (text which follows is identical to Mt. 24:2) Using it to form an interrogative seems to be the best way to deal with it.

[4] The Aorist subjunctive is puzzling here too. To what uncertainty does the subjunctive point? It almost seems to be a concession that even at this late stage of apostasy, the doom could be averted if the people would repent and acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah. Short of that happening, the “shall” acts as a kind of Future tense for the inevitible.

[5] Josephus, who gives a minute account of the wonderful structure, speaks of stones forty cubits long [Wars of the Jews, 5.5.1.] and says the pillars supporting the porches were twenty-five cubits high, all of one stone, and that of the whitest marble [Wars of the Jews, 5.5.2]. Six days’ battering at the walls, during the siege, made no impression upon them [Wars of the Jews, 6.4.1]. ~JFB

[6] In some way like the Reconstruction temple Haggai 2:15.

[7] Ezra 5:12 But after that our fathers provoked the God of heaven, he gave them into the hands of Nabuchodonosor the Chaldean, king of Babylon, and he destroyed this house, and carried the people captive to Babylon. (Brenton’s English translation of the LXX) cf. Jer. 7:34

[8] http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=39610&ref=BPNews-RSSFeed0130 (Baptist Press, 2013)

[9] The majority of Greek manuscripts (including D, W, 0138, f13) have the word “the” here, but because 5 ancient Greek manuscripts (א, Β, C, L, Θ) don’t have the “the” here, Critical editions of the GNT don’t include it. The meaning doesn’t change either way; all the English versions which follow the Critical text have “the” in them anyway.

[10] I think that the Greek word parousia is very similar to the O.T. word פּקדּה “visitation” (noun form of pqd), which is translated into Greek in the Septuagint as episcope (oversee), episkepsis (hold accountable), or ekdikeseis (punish). (See instances in Numbers 16:29; Job 10:12; Isaiah 10:3; Jeremiah 8:12; 10:15; 11:23; 23:12; 46:21; 48:44; 50:27; 51:18; Hosea 9:7; Micah 7:4.) All three of these Greek words are used in the New Testament to refer to the coming of Christ: episcope (Luke 19:44-first coming; 1 Peter 2:12-second coming), episkepsis (Luke 1:78 – first coming), and ekdikeseis (Luke 18:7,8; 21:22; 2 Thess 1:8, Heb. 10:30 – second coming).

[11] Ezekiel 20:17, 2 Chron. 24:23, Jer. 4:27, 5:10, 5:18, Neh. 9:31

[12] Ezekiel 20:17  Yet mine eyes spared them, so as not to destroy them utterly, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.

2 Chronicles 24:23  And it came to pass after the end of the year, that the host of Syria went up against him, and came against Juda and Jerusalem: and they slew all the chiefs of the people among the people, and all their spoils they sent to the king of Damascus.

Nehemiah 9:31  But thou in thy many mercies didst not appoint them to destruction, and didst not forsake them; for thou art strong, and merciful, and pitiful.

Jeremiah 4:27  Thus saith the Lord, The whole land shall be desolate; but I will not make a full end.

Jeremiah 5:10  Go up upon her battlements, and break them down; but make not a full end: leave her buttresses: for they are the Lord's.

Jeremiah 5:18  And it shall come to pass in those days, saith the Lord thy God, that I will not utterly destroy you.

Daniel 9:27  And one week shall establish the covenant with many: and in the midst of the week my sacrifice and drink-offering shall be taken away: and on the temple shall be the abomination of desolations; and at the end of time an end shall be put to the desolation.

Zephaniah 1:18 … in the day of the Lord's wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealously; for he will bring a speedy destruction on all them that inhabit the land.

Ezra 9:14 …be not very angry with us to our utter destruction, so that there should be no remnant or escaping one.

[13] Or “end of the world,” as the KJV put it, recognizing that the word “world,” according to Webster’s 1828 dictionary, can mean a “Present state of existence” (meaning #5) and it can mean “The Roman empire” (meaning #16).

[14] Matthew 28:20 …and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Hebrews 9:26  Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (cf. 1 Cor. 10:11)

[15] John 9:32, Act_3:21, 15:18, Eph. 3:9

[16] Mark 13:3 names the disciples as Peter, James, John and Andrew.

[17] A.T. Robertson mentioned we’ve had a Mr. Schlatter, a Mr. Schweinfurth in Illinois prior to the Twentieth century.

[18] The mellw verb reminds me of Mat.12:32  “this age or the age about to come,” “The Son of man is about to come in the glory of the father,” and 3:7 “Who warned you to flee from the wrath that’s about to come?” But these are by no means the only context for the use of the word.

[19] Critical texts omit this word due to it’s nonpresence in five of the most ancient Greek manuscripts (א, Β, D, L, Θ – perhaps following the reading of the parallel passage in Mark 13:7), but the majority of Greek manuscripts (including many of the most ancient ones: C, K, W, Δ, Π, O, Σ, 0138), contain panta “all.” Early African translations and church fathers tend to favor the omission, while early Latin translations tend to read as though the word tauta “these things” were there instead of panta (perhaps following the reading of Luke 21:9), but early translations made for languages inbetween the regions of Rome and Africa, tend to favor panta, as do church fathers also from that middle zone. The Byzantine and Textus Receptus (T.R.) editions of the Greek New Testament (GNT) also include panta.