Introduction: Our study of the prophecies of Daniel show that God is
interested in sharing the future with His people. God’s interest in
this continued when He came to earth to live with us. This week we
turn our attention to the prophecies that Jesus shared with His
disciples. Let’s explore these predictions that come directly from
the lips of our Lord!
- The Temple
- Read Matthew 24:1-2. What building is Jesus discussing?
(The temple in Jerusalem.) - What do you understand Jesus to be saying to His
disciples? (He was telling them that the most
important center of worship for Jews was going to be
totally destroyed.) - Where have we recently discussed this in our study of
the visions of Daniel? (Read Daniel 8:11-12. Remember
that Daniel was sick for several days ( Daniel 8:27)
when he heard about the destruction (again!)of the
temple. Jesus’ disciples were now hearing that same
message.) - How could Jesus know the future of the temple? (This
is one of the faith-building aspects of prophecy.
Jesus was not only familiar with the prophecies of
Daniel ( Matthew 24:15), God knows the future. He
shares that future with us when He thinks it will be
helpful. See Amos 3:7) - **Read Matthew 24:3. Does Jesus have the attention of the
disciples? - What do they want to know? (They want to know “when”
in the future. They want to know dates, and they want
to know what “signs” they will get as further
warning.) - What assumptions are the disciples making about the
prophecy that are warranted? (They show that they
understand that Jesus is coming back a second time.
We have often discussed how their pre-conceived ideas
mislead them as to the future. However, this makes
clear they did understand that Jesus was coming
again.) - What assumptions are the disciples making about the
prophecy that are not warranted? (They assume that if
the temple in Jerusalem is destroyed, this will be
the end of the world.) - What lesson about interpreting prophecy do we
learn from this unwarranted assumption? (Do not
go beyond the prophecy. Do not “supplement”
prophecy with our own assumptions.) - Read Acts 1:6. What picture of the future did the
disciples have in mind? (They were looking forward to
political power on earth.) - How could they “fit” the idea that the temple would
be destroyed into their ideas of earthly power? (It
boggles my mind that they could hold both of these
opinions at the same time. They thought Jesus would
overthrow the Romans and they would be princes of
that kingdom. At the same time Jesus is telling them
Jerusalem will be destroyed.) - The Antidote to Deception and Fear
- Read Matthew 24:4. What is Jesus’ goal for his disciples?
- The lesson suggests (Sunday, bottom) that Jesus was
deliberately being unclear to His disciples because
they would have been unable to stand the truth. What
do you think of this suggestion? How does it sound in
the light of Matthew 24:4? (I feel very uncomfortable
with the notion that Jesus was either intentionally
or by default confusing His disciples (for their own
benefit, of course). This seems difficult to accept
when Jesus stresses the importance in v. 4 of not
being deceived. Frankly, they seemed plenty confused
on their own without any “help” from Jesus.) - Why did Jesus share this vision of the future with His
disciples? If the future was too painful for them to be
given a clear vision of it, why get into this topic at
all? (Read Matthew 24:5-6. Jesus gives us at least two of
His reasons to pull back the curtain on the future. First
(v.4), He wanted to guard His disciples against being
deceived. Second (v.6), He wanted to insulate them against
fear.) - How can a revelation of the future guard us against
deception and fear? - Notice that verse 5 warns the disciples about persons who
impersonate Jesus. How could Jesus own disciples be
deceived (v.5) by someone who said they were “the Christ?”
(I am not sure how this could happen to the disciples, but
the warning to us – who have not seen Jesus – is very
clear. We must be extremely cautious about anyone who
claims to be the returned Jesus.) - Read Matthew 24:7-8. Jesus attaches a time frame to His
prophecy. What is your understanding of the timing of
these events when Jesus calls them (v.8) the “beginning of
birth pains.” - Why is birth a good example? (“Birth pains” end
up with new life. Jesus is simply saying that
these kinds of disasters are just the beginning
of the end. The good news is that Satan is
active, but limited in those days, but Jesus is
coming to make things new. Something good will
come out of all of this bad stuff.) - The Good and the Bad
- Read Matthew 24:9-12. Let’s list those bad things that
Jesus told His disciple would occur in the future. Has
this happened? Will it happen in the future? - I have heard Christians say that if we truly lived the way
we should, the world would hate us. What do you think
about the truth of that kind of statement? - How does such a statement “fit” into verse 9? (Jesus
made a number of statements about the world hating
light and hating Him because He spoke against evil.
( John 3:20, 7:7, 15:18-19, 1 John 3:13) However,
Matthew 24:9 suggests this is not the normal rule of
our life. It suggests that at certain times in
history this will be true and Christians will not be
at fault for it. However, if you find that this is
the “norm” for your life, and you are “hated” at
work, perhaps you need to examine these texts and
your Christian life more closely.) - Read Matthew 24:13. What is Jesus prophesying about now in
this verse? What comfort do you find here?(Jesus is
speaking of the end of time – His Second Coming. We are
comforted by His promise that if we hold on, He will save
us.) - Read Matthew 24:14. What is required before Jesus can come
again? - Read Matthew 24:15-18. Whose prophecy is Jesus quoting?
( Daniel 9:27) - Is this something in the future or something in the
past? (Clearly Jesus is speaking of the future
destruction of the temple.) - Why does Jesus give us explicit instructions about
how to flee? (Eusebius reports that because
Christians followed Jesus’ advice, there is no
evidence that a single Christian was killed in the
destruction of the temple. Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. lib.
3 Chapter 6.) - Was the temple in Jerusalem destroyed as Jesus had
predicted? (Yes, it was destroyed by Rome in the year 70
A.D. If we accept that Matthew, one of the twelve
apostles, was the author of the gospel of Matthew (and the
early church fathers all agreed he was), then this record
of Jesus’ prophecy would have been written before
Jerusalem was destroyed.) - Read Matthew 24:20. Why was Jesus concerned about Sabbath-keeping years after His death and resurrection? (This is
additional proof of the continued (post-resurrection)
importance of the Sabbath.) - Preparation
- Read Matthew 24:43-44. What important principle of
apocalyptic (end-time) prophecy do we learn here? (Jesus
tells us the bottom line on prophecy is to always be
ready. “Prophetic arrogance,” if it causes you to delay
being ready, can get you killed eternally.) - Read Matthew 24:32-33. What, then, is the point of Jesus’
prophecy if we still have to be ready at all times? Is
there any point to studying it? (As we see things happen,
we can have confidence that God is with us. God knows the
future and what is happening to us at any particular time
is within His understanding, if not ours. Jesus’ picture
of seasons lets us know that we can have a general
understanding of the end-time.) - How do you think the people felt to actually see Jesus’
prophecy fulfilled? (It no doubt gave them greater
confidence that He was the Messiah.) - The Return
- Read Matthew 24:30-31. What is the most important part of
Jesus’ prophecies in Matthew 24? (That He is coming again
to take us home with Him!) - Friend, Jesus predicts the road may be rough for those who
follow Him, but the end reward is worth it all. Will you
“sign on” – today – to be one of the elect? - Next week: The Child, the Church, and the Dragon: Revelation 12.
