Matthew 24 Pt 2 of the Olivet Discourse

The Olivet Discourse and the Study Method

Okay, so here we are, Matthew 24, going through what's called the Olivet Discourse, and it's called the Olivet Discourse because it happened on the Mount of Olives. Okay, we like olives, being Italian, right?

All right, so last week I told you how we're going to do this study. First, we're going to read the whole passage together, which Jerry thankfully did last week for us, and saved me, saved my voice, and he's got a much better voice than I do, so thank you, Jerry.

Then we'll summarize the entire passage broadly, which we did last week. This week, we're going to go through each verse individually and explain it in context, again, up until verse 14 of chapter 24.

Now, one of the things that I do want you to keep in mind is that our hermeneutic, which is our way to understand, the way we understand the Scriptures and study the Scriptures, is called your hermeneutic.

We're going to use a hermeneutic called Scripture Interprets Scripture. In other words, when the Scripture speaks about a specific topic in more than one place, we're going to look at both of those Scriptures together to understand the full and broader meaning of what the text means.

So we're going to be going through a lot of Scripture tonight, which I hope excites you. Number four, we're going to go next week or the weeks following, we're going to deeply address the larger key points of the text.

We'll then address opposing viewpoints to the text. And then some of the subjects we'll go through are the temple and its destruction in 70 AD. We're going to talk about wars and rumors of wars, the parorisa, which is the presence of the Lord, the abomination of desolation, the great tribulation, the coming of the Son of Man, the sun, moon, and the stars.

We're going to talk about Jesus using the phrase distant generation and the fig tree and why he curses it. So I'm mainly going to be drawing from the work of Gary DeMar, Ken Gentry, and R .C. Sproul, and some of the online resources.

Predominantly, it's going to be Gary DeMar. He's a wealth of information on this topic. So let's just do a real quick recap. In Matthew 23, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees, calling them a brood of vipers, the seeds of the serpent.

And he pronounced covenant curses upon them to happen when within their generation. He then weeps over Jerusalem, exits the temple, leaving their house to them desolate, and says that he won't see them again until they say, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Jesus then leaves the temple, tells his disciples that the temple he just left will be destroyed. There will not be one stone left here upon another. The disciples sit with Jesus on the Mount of Olives and ask, when will these things take place?

Jesus answers that there'll be false Christs, wars, famines, earthquakes before the end, but those are just birth pains. Then Jesus warns them that they'll be hated and put to death because of him. Families will betray each other, false prophets will arise, lawlessness will increase.

However, the kingdom will be proclaimed by the faithful to all the nations, and then the end will come. Jesus cites the prophecy of Daniel as a sign of the coming of the Son of Man. He warns them to flee from Jerusalem, which is also known as Judea, when that happens, and not to believe anyone who tries to tell them differently.

The coming of the Son of Man will be quick, and it will be destructive. In chapter 24, verses 20 and 29, immediately after that tribulation or the distress, the sun, moon, and the stars, the powers or nations will fall.

Then there will appear a sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and he will come on the clouds, judgment with great power, and the trumpet call, which is the gospel. It will go out to gather his elect from all of the earth.

Jesus then uses a fig tree as an illustration of when to know that he is near. He reminds his disciples that all of these things will happen to this generation, and his words will come true. Jesus assures them that no one knows when that day will be, but that it will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night.

He warns them to be ready at any time, so that they can continue to do the faithful work they were assigned to do by their master. The clear time references that govern the timing of the Olivet Discourse, which is really important, in Matthew 23, 36, and Matthew 24, 34, make it clear that Jesus was speaking of the events leading up to and including the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD.

Those who manipulate the clear meaning of the phrase this generation by trying to make it refer to events in the distant future are involved in prophetic speculation that contributes to last day's madness.

We want to know what the text actually says and what the original hearers of Jesus' words understood him to mean. In other words, if we abandon the clear time indicators of this passage, then these verses can be applied to any generation, and we wouldn't know exactly what generation that would be.

All eras of history have had and had, and will continue to have, wars, false prophets, famines, and the like. If people fail to recognize the timing of these events set by Scripture and the historical context of Jesus' words, then we will always be led astray to look for some future great tribulation.

When Christians are left to wonder whether the great tribulation might occur in their generation, this kind of speculation often leads to a pessimistic view of society, Christian activism, and the future.

However, once we realize that the great tribulation has already come and that the church has been promised a progressively victorious future, we will be encouraged to work diligently for the sake of Christ and his kingdom.

Let's not forget that we serve the victorious king who has been given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. And we remember that verse, the Christmas verse, Isaiah 9, 6, of the increase of his government, there will be no end.

Now, right doctrine is going to lead to right living. It's very important. Right doctrine leads to right living. If you misunderstand this passage, then you think that the end is coming in the future and it's going to be a great persecution and you're going to be raptured out of the earth.

Well, to work as a Christian on the earth and build his kingdom might be like polishing brass on the Titanic. You know, you're going to be pulled out and the Titanic's going to be left. But if you understand things a little differently and understand that the kingdom comes gradually over time, that's going to make a big difference in how you live.

Jesus' Audience, Covenant Judgment, and the Destruction of the Temple

Okay, so now we're going to start going through the text with a little bit more detail, starting at Matthew 23, 31, and 32. And I'll read it for you. So you testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Fill up then the measure of the guilt of your fathers. Now, again, Jesus is talking to that generation and the audience relevance is very important. Jesus is not indicating to them a future generation.

He's pronouncing judgment on that living generation and that's in chapter 23, verse 36 and 34. Stephen raises the same points in Acts 7, 51 and 52. The audience, which included a pre-converted Saul, would not have been incensed if Stephen was describing a future generation.

In Matthew 23, 34, note the audience reference. How would you escape the sentence of hell? Matthew 5, 22 says, you means them, those who he was addressing. So if Jesus was talking to, let's say you were in the audience and he says, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

You would automatically infer that he was talking to you. He wasn't talking to a future generation with regards to the destruction of the temple. So even prior to this, when the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus's parables, they perceived what?

That he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds because he held them to be a prophet. You know, the Pharisees, when Jesus addressed them, knew that he was speaking directly to them and about them.

They didn't assume, oh, this is a future generation he's speaking about. If they did, they wouldn't have killed him. In Acts 7, 51, this is important. Stephen says, addressing the Jews who were about to stone him, you stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.

As your fathers did, so do you. Now, the people standing there would immediately understood that he was talking about them. He goes on to say, which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one, whom you have now betrayed and murdered.

So when he addressed the crowd, saying that they have betrayed and murdered him, he was talking to the people there who put Jesus on the cross. Remember, this is Acts 7. This is after the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord.

And this is even after his ascension into heaven. So we know from the book of Acts, in all of those verses and Paul's letters, that those Christians carrying the message of the gospel were persecuted by the Jews.

So when Jesus is telling them, this is going to happen to you and your generation, we see biblical testimony to the fact that Christians were persecuted during that period of time. Now, Matthew, continuing in Matthew 23, 33, and 34, Jesus could also have meant that Jews would approve of Romans crucifying Christians, like some of them did in Jesus' own crucifixion.

Even worse was the fact that persecuting Christians pleased the Jews. In John 19, he, meaning Pilate, said to the Jews, Behold your king. And they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him.

Pilate said to them, Shall I crucify your king? The chief priest answers, We have no king but Caesar. So he delivered him over to them to be crucified. Now this is what Stephen was talking about. You were the ones who persecuted and murdered Jesus.

In Acts chapter 12, about that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

And this was during the days of unleavened bread. That was the feast of Passover, right? So what Luke is telling us in the book of Acts is that it pleased the Jews to kill Christians and kill Jesus, which is exactly what Jesus told the Pharisees.

You murdered the prophets. You're going to continue murdering the people who I send to you. In fact, you're going to murder the Lord of glory. So the Jews looked at their Messiah, their long-anticipated king, and said this, We have no king but Caesar.

Then it pleased the Jews to kill his disciples. Is it any wonder that Jesus destroyed the temple and left it desolate? When the Jews said, we have no king but Caesar, they renounced their Messiah at that moment.

In fact, when they were standing in front of Pilate, they said, let his blood be on our hands and our children's hands. And unfortunately, that rang true when the Romans came in and destroyed the temple and killed the Jews.

They said to him, Jesus said, I send you prophets and wise men and scribes. Some of whom you will kill and crucify so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth. Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

So we see them killing the scribes and the wise men and the prophets. So why would we not think that this right judgment would come upon those people who were standing right there in front of Jesus who actually killed the scribes and the prophets and the wise men?

This generation was their generation that came under judgment, not a future generation that didn't collude with the Romans to crucify the Lord of glory. This generation is always used by Jesus to refer to the generation of his day.

Every other use of this generation in Matthew 11, 12 and 23 refers to Christ's contemporary. Continuing on in Matthew 23, 35, the generation of Jesus' day is more culpable than any generation since he appeared in the flesh and performed miracles and other signs that testified to who he was.

And he made that point earlier. So think about it. Jesus was the Messiah. He was God in the flesh. He dwelt among them. He did miracles. He forgave sins. He basically told them who he was. He says, if you do not believe that I am, which is the old covenant name for God, you will die in your sins.

And yet they still rejected him. Some didn't, but most did. By killing him, they would fill up or complete the iniquity of their forefathers, which is Matthew 23, 31 through 35. On you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth.

Now the Greek word, ges, should be translated land and not earth, as in land of Israel, since the line of murderers begins with Abel and ends with Zechariah, son of Barakai. So this is on you shall come all the righteous blood shed on the land because the entire earth didn't receive this bloodshed.

This was localized in Jerusalem and Judea. Matthew 23, thus the house that Jesus says will be left to them desolate refers to the temple. However, because of the new covenant and Jesus bringing the new covenant with him, there is now a new house.

But Christ was faithful over God's house as a son, and we are his house. That's an incredible statement. Completely abandoning the Old Testament temple and replacing it with the New Testament temple of God's people.

We, as believers in Jesus, who trust in him as the payment for our sins and have been born of God's spirit, are the house of God. God actually dwells in each one of us, which, again, is just amazing. And it's a better covenant built on better promises.

We don't have to go to a house to meet with God. We become the house of God as he dwells within us. In fact, 1 Corinthians 3, 16 says, do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's spirit dwells in you?

If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy and you are that temple. What an incredible statement by Jesus. And that was by Paul, but what an incredible statement that we now are the temple of the living God.

So did Jesus really have to destroy the temple? And here again, I'm gonna encourage you, if you have your Bibles, to turn to Leviticus chapter 14, verse 33. And I'll just wait a couple of seconds. And I'll tell you, yes, Jesus really did have to destroy the temple because it was the duty and obligation of the priesthood in Leviticus.

So turning to Leviticus chapter 14, verse 33, we're gonna read, the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron saying, when you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, then he who owns the house shall come and tell the priest.

There seems to be, to me, to be some cases of disease in my house. Then the priest shall command they empty the house before the priest goes to examine the disease, lest all that is in the house be declared unclean.

And afterward, the priest shall go in to see the house. And he shall examine the disease. And if the disease is in the walls of the house with greenish or reddish spots, and if it appears to be deeper than the surface, then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house and shut up the house seven days.

And the priest shall come again on the seventh day and look, if the disease has spread in the walls of the house, then the priest shall command that they take out the stones in which is the disease and throw them into an unclean place outside the city.

And he shall have the inside of the house scraped all around and the plaster that they scrape off shall pour out in an unclean place outside the city. Then they shall take other stones and put them in the place of those stones.

And he shall take other plaster and plaster the house. Verse 43, if the disease breaks out again in the house, after he has taken out the stones and scraped the house and plastered it, then the priest shall go and look.

And if the disease has spread in the house, it is a persistent leprous disease in the house. It is unclean. And he shall break down the house, its stones and timber and all the plaster of the house. And he shall carry them out of the city to an unclean place.

Hence, Jesus, the great high priest saying, see, your house is left to you desolate. There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down. Jesus, again, fulfilling the priesthood and the requirements of a priest going into the temple, chasing out the money changers, then coming back to the temple, recognizing that still the Pharisees are in a front to him and want to kill him, says, OK, I've checked your house.

There is a persistent leprous disease here. This house must be destroyed. It is unclean. Jesus makes the prophecy that not one stone upon another will be left. They will all be thrown down. And that's exactly what comes to pass.

The Temple Left Desolate and the Fall of Jerusalem in AD 70

So now we get to the actual Olivet discourse, beginning at verse one, chapter 24. And again, I'm going to read it for you. Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when his disciples came to the point of the temple, came up to point out the temple buildings to him.

OK, in his previous discourse, Jesus had mentioned that their house would be left to them desolate. Matthew 23. The disciples understood that what Jesus was saying, since they immediately point out the temple building to him, their house was the temple from which Jesus departed.

In verse two, anticipating their thoughts, Jesus said that the existing temple, not one stone here, again, this is a term of location, not one stone here, not a rebuilt future temple would be completely torn down.

Jesus was talking about that specific temple, not a temple that would be rebuilt thousands of years in the future, but the temple that stood right before them. And here's a little bit of history for us.

When the Roman commander Titus attacked Jerusalem in AD 70, the temple eventually was dismantled as Jesus had predicted. He says, we do not have any remains of the Herodian temple itself because of the devastating Roman destruction in AD 70.

Then Terentius Rufus, an officer under Titus, plowed up the foundation stones with the result that the prophecy Zion will be plowed as a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of ruins, was fulfilled. That comes right out of Micah 3, 12.

Therefore, because of you, Zion shall be plowed as a field, Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins and the mountain of the house, a wooded height. Now, it's real important that we do go back to the Old Testament and we look at the verses that point to the destruction of the temple, and this would be one of them.

So we have scriptural evidence, we have Jesus's prophecy, and we even have evidence outside of scripture, historical evidence, that points to the destruction of the temple being a fulfillment of the prophecy.

Even unbelievers and Jews recognize that. Okay, Matthew 24, 3. As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, tell us, when will these things happen and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

So after hearing Jesus's prediction, the disciples asked three related questions. First, when will these things happen? Second, what will be the sign of his coming? And third, what will be the end of the age?

Now, these three questions basically revolve around the one event of the destruction of the temple, okay? The destruction of the temple, his coming and the end of the age are all related in these three questions.

They're all pointing to one thing. They do not ask about the end of the world as the King James Version translates the word aeonos. The more accurate translation is age, a period of time, not the physical world.

Kosmos is the Greek word for world, which is not used. A lot of people will look at this and the King James translates it and what will be the end of the world? Now, if Jesus was talking about the end of the world, that would be the end time.

However, the word here is aeon, which is translated as age, okay? It's aeon, not kosmos. That's a very, very important thing that we need to keep in mind. Jesus is not talking about the destruction of the entire world or the universe.

He's talking about the end of the Old Testament covenant, the Old Testament age. The age that was coming to an end was the old covenant represented by the temple, the priesthood and animal sacrifices.

With the temple destroyed, all of the elements of the old covenant would pass away with it. With Jesus, the new covenant age of the Messiah has dawned. We now have one sacrifice for all time. Jesus went through to the Holy of Holies in the heavens, not the temple.

We don't need that anymore because we have a better covenant with better promises. Paul says, now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction upon whom?

Upon whom the end of the ages has come. Now, was Paul talking about the end of the world? No, he was talking about the end of the old covenant age, upon which the hearers that he was writing to understood.

In Hebrews 9, 26, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Okay, so we need to see that this is, when we're talking about the end of the ages, the end of the age, this is the period of the Old Testament, of the old covenant from the old, through the Old Testament, okay?

So this is not the end of the world. This is the end of the age. And it's a very, very important point that we need to just drive into our heads.

And remember.

The Meaning of Christ's Coming and the Parousia in Judgment

Okay, moving on. Verse three, his coming. As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, when will these things happen? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?

All right, so let's talk about what it means to see Jesus come. The disciples equated the destruction of the temple with Jesus's coming in judgment. The word for coming is parousia, which nearly all lexicons translate as presence, as the presence of a dignitary or a king.

Now, the debate over the meaning of parousia is whether it demands a physical presence or a symbolic spiritual presence, similar to when Jesus said, for where two or three have gathered in my name, there I am in their midst.

So if every time Jesus came and it had to be physical, where two or three believers would gather, well, Jesus would have to show up there physically, correct? But that's obviously not what Jesus meant, and that's not what actually happens.

Where two or three or more believers are gathered in his name, there he is in their midst spiritually, okay? Jesus is there, but he's not there physically. This is a spiritual reality. And this is what Matthew 24, 3 is also talking about with the disciples' question.

So we must ask, can God coming to his people be a real coming without it being physical? I say, yes. Isaiah 19, 1, an oracle concerning Egypt. Behold, the Lord is riding on a swift cloud and comes to Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will tremble at his presence, and the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.

Now, this was a judgment upon the Egyptians. The Lord came on clouds. Now, this doesn't mean that he was riding on a cloud. Cloud in the Old Testament meant judgment. So anytime you saw clouds, you knew this was like the day of the Lord, it's a day of clouds, okay?

So when God came in judgment upon Egypt, did he really come to Egypt and judge them? Absolutely. Was it physical? Absolutely not. So he came to them in judgment upon them, which was a spiritual judgment, okay?

And he destroyed the Egyptians. So every time we see the word his coming, we don't necessarily have to equate that with his physical coming. There will be a time when Jesus comes back physically, but that was not what he was talking about in Matthew 24.

In Jude 14, he's talking about Enoch. It was also about these that Enoch, who prophesied saying, behold, the Lord comes with 10 ,000 of his holy ones to execute judgment on all. Now, Enoch was an Old Testament prophet, okay?

And again, the Lord comes with 10 ,000 of his holy ones. Now, if the Lord came physically, he would also have to come with 10 ,000 other people physically, if that's what this verse meant. But again, it doesn't.

It's spiritual. It's symbolic. When the Lord comes in judgment upon people, he comes with his angels who are invisible. They're not physically present. Sometimes they are. In this case, they're not. And John 14 three, if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself that where I am, you may be also.

Now, I would have to ask you, if you're a Christian, have you come in contact with Jesus? Are you in union with Jesus? And if the answer is yes, if you're born again and you're a Christian, you must be in union with Jesus.

Jesus has come to you. He's birthed the Holy Spirit inside of you. So was that a physical coming? Did you see Jesus walk through the front door and sit down with you and say, OK, it's time for you to be born again?

Or was this a spiritual reality? OK, and as Jesus speaking of spiritual realities in our lives, speaking to the disciples saying, I'm going to go to prepare a place for you and I will come again and take you to myself.

He wasn't talking to them about a physical coming. He was talking to them about the spiritual reality of him bringing them back to where he was, which was heaven, still is heaven. OK, James writes that the coming, the parousia was near, right at the door.

Now, if I told you that payday is near, right at the door, what would you expect? You would expect to get paid in the near future, a couple of days, maybe a week or two. But if I said that the coming of Jesus was near, right at the door, and it's been 2000 years and it still hasn't happened yet, you would say, Jesus must have been a false prophet because if he said it was near, right at the door and he hasn't come back physically, well, then he spoke out of turn.

And again, that's why Russell Bertrand and I forget the other guy's name, they called Jesus a false prophet. Now, the only way you can understand this is Jesus was speaking in a spiritual sense, OK? James 5, 8 through 9 says, be patient, establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged. Behold, the judge is standing at the door. Now, this all makes sense if you understand that the coming Jesus was talking about in Matthew 24 is a coming in judgment upon the Pharisees and the Jews that put him on the cross.

And not just the Jews, but Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Jews and the Gentiles all put Jesus on the cross and they all deserve to be judged for what they did. Jesus coming in judgment upon the Old Testament age, the end of the age and destroying the temple would perfectly fill this.

Now, there's additional comings of Jesus. So there are four warnings to the churches in Revelation that still stand today. The first one is Revelation 2 ,1 to the angel of the church at Ephesus, right?

I have this against you that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the work you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.

Now, again, if this is a physical coming, there would be churches that have been visited by Jesus whose lampstand has been removed. Now, again, if it's a physical coming, we'd also have to be a physical lampstand.

And I don't know about you guys, we don't have a lampstand at our church. So I don't think that's what it's talking about. Again, this is a spiritual reality that if you abandon your love for Jesus as a church, Jesus is going to remove you as a church, okay?

He will take you out of the kingdom and not allow you to operate anymore. And this has happened to several churches, not just now, but in the past. Revelation 2 .18, to the angel of the church of Thyatira, but to the rest of you in Thyatira who do not hold to this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, do not lay on you any other burden, only hold fast to what you have until I come.

Again, if this was written to the churches in Thyatira at that time, him coming would be a spiritual coming, not a physical coming. Continuing with this theme, Revelation 3 .4, and to the angel of the church of Laodicea, right behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me. Now, lots and lots of people quote this verse, and I think they quote it out of context because this is Jesus knocking on the door of the church, not knocking on the heart of an unbeliever.

But if it is physical, we would expect to hear and Jesus be on the other side of the door. But I do not think that Jesus is talking about a physical reality, I think he's talking about a spiritual reality.

And this is actually one of the things we think about when we do communion. If we're walking in humility and walking in righteousness as a church, we celebrate communion, where we take the bread and the wine, symbolic of the covenant meal, which is a foreshadowing of the supper of the lamb that we're gonna eat at.

If we're walking in righteousness, we're walking in humility, and we've repented of our sins, we can take part in that meal. But we're also warned not to take part of that meal in an unworthy manner. If we do, we could heap condemnation on ourselves and we could get sick and die.

I mean, that's a real warning in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. So we need to heed that warning. Jesus is saying, I will come and I will eat with you, but you need to walk in righteousness, you need to walk in holiness, you need to have clean hands and clean hearts before you come to me and partake of that meal.

And it's as simple as confessing your sins because we know we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of our unrighteousness. We have a good and gracious God, but we have to be mindful of our sin and repentant of it.

Okay, be that as it may, this is not a physical coming of the Lord. Again, this is a spiritual reality that Jesus is talking about. Revelation 3 again, and to the angel of the church of Sardis I write, I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

Remember then what you have received and heard, keep it and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Again, I believe this is talking about a spiritual reality of the coming of Jesus in judgment, not the physical reality of him appearing bodily before people.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and heed the things which are written in it for the time is near. Again, these things, the book of Revelation was written chapter one to the churches in Sardis and Thyatira and seven other churches, seven total churches I should say, because the time is near.

It was at hand. John was preparing them for the coming of Jesus in judgment upon the Old Testament system. He wanted them to be prepared and ready. Now, if I was there and I heard that Jesus was coming in judgment and all these things were gonna come upon this generation, I would have very much appreciated John's writings because they're very encouraging.

Basically, the message of the book of Revelation is Jesus is the white horse and is gonna win. So even though we may suffer temporary persecution, Jesus ultimately gets the victory. So I think that should put it to bed at this point.

When Jesus talks about his coming, I'm going to come to this generation. He's not talking about a physical coming. He's talking about a spiritual coming. If these are real warnings and invitations, then the parrhesia does not need to be physical.

If we say that it has to be physical, we're imposing something on the text that is not being told to us. It's not exegeting the passage, it's eisegeting the passage. And I also want you to realize how many scriptures we're going through to go scripture upon scripture.

We interpret scripture according to other scriptures. So this is not something that we're taking from outside of the scriptures and imposing on the text. This is something that we're looking to internally within the scriptures to give us an understanding of what Jesus is talking.

Okay, James writes,.

Oh, I think I did this one already. Okay, now for a little mystery. This you're gonna like, because I thought this was very interesting. Okay, there's a verse in John chapter 20, verses 20 to 23. You could turn there.

And I'm gonna read it for you. It says, Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved, which is John, the apostle John, who wrote the book of John. He saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them.

The one who also leaned back against him during the supper and said, Lord, who is it that is gonna betray you? When Peter saw him, meaning John, he said to Jesus, Lord, what about this man? Jesus said to him, if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?

You follow me. So the same spread abroad among the brothers that the disciples was not to die, meaning John. Yet Jesus did not say that he was not going to die. But if it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?

So here we see Jesus saying that he's going to come. It's my will that John remain. That means stay alive until I come. So if Jesus didn't, if what Jesus meant was he had to come back physically until I come, if every coming of Jesus must be a physical coming and he hasn't actually come back yet physically, then John is still alive somewhere and very, very old.

The only way this verse makes any sense is if what Jesus meant was is a spiritual reality of him coming back in judgment upon the temple. Now, we do believe that John was alive on the island of Patmos when the temple was destroyed.

In fact, we even believe that the book of Revelation was written before 70 AD because in it, the angel tells John to go measure the temple. Now, if John wrote the book of Revelation after the destruction of the temple, the angel telling John to go measure the temple wouldn't make sense.