We’re continuing in our look at Matthew 24, where Jesus is answering his disciples’ question about (a) when the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, and (b) when Christ would come, and the signs of the end of the age. (If you’re just joining us, see the previous four posts for the full story.)

If you were wondering whether we’d ever get to the personal return of Christ, today’s the day. I mean, that we get to it in the text of Matthew 24. Because we won’t know the day. Or the hour. Which, if we’re being honest, is the but I’m not looking forward to about the return of Christ – the whole “being startled” thing. I’m not good with it.

That’s why I don’t like watching horror movies. It’s not the violence or gore that bothers me – I can sit through a good dismemberment as well as the next person – but it’s the jump-scares that freak me out. I can’t handle being startled. Yet that, says Jesus, is how it will be with his return. Whereas the destruction of Jerusalem would have warning signs accompanying it, not so with ninja Jesus:

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We’re continuing in our look at Matthew 24, where Jesus is answering his disciples’ question about (a) when the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, and (b) when Christ would come, and the signs of the end of the age. (If you’re just joining us, see the previous three posts for the full story.)

So far we’ve seen Jesus give an answer that seems to deal with the first part of the disciples’ question: there will be some bad stuff, but they’re just the beginning of the birth pangs, so take a chill pill. (The gospel has to go to all nations before the end happens!) Jerusalem and its temple will be destroyed when you see the “abomination of desolation” set up – some kind of defiling of the temple, like in the days of Antiochus Epiphanes a couple of centuries prior. So when you see that, get out and leave Jerusalem to its destruction! (And don’t be fooled by other messiah figures claiming to be from God; the next thing God does won’t be some hipster preacher in the desert, it’ll be big and unmissable. Kind of like a big army of eagles swirling around…)

Today’s passage is a tricky one, as it’s harder to tell whether it’s still referring to the destruction of Jerusalem, or has moved on to the second question. Read it now, then we’ll discuss.

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We’re continuing in our look at Matthew 24, where Jesus is answering his disciples’ question about (a) when the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed, and (b) when Christ would come, and the signs of the end of the age. (If you’re just joining us, see the previous two posts for the full story.)

At the bible college I teach at, the staff kitchenette is essentially an altar to fine coffee. (Our Old Testament and Christian Thought lecturer is its high priest, who alone is worthy to plunge.) So you can imagine the horror when one day we discovered that someone had put some sachets of International Roast brand instant (alleged) coffee. It quickly became known as the “abomination of desolation set up where it ought not to be” and necessitated a cleansing ceremony before the kitchenette could again be used for its holy purpose.

Ah, the shenanigans.

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Yesterday, we saw Jesus predict the destruction of the temple. His disciples asked what they thought was a simple question (24:3 “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”) and Jesus gives anything but a simple answer. He seems to make a distinction between the first part of the question (when will the temple be destroyed?) and the second part (when will he return?). But in true prophetic fashion, those two horizons tend to merge. If you’re just joining us, it would be better to start with yesterday’s post to get the full explanation.

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Over the past five days we’ve looked at Matthew chapter 23, in which Jesus took the Pharisees to task for their hypocrisy – and their failure to recognise the kingdom of God when it turned up in their midst. It ended with a mic drop moment in which Jesus spoke of their “house” being left desolate (23:38) and hinted at the fact that the cornerstone they’d rejected was heading off to build a whole new house (23:39, echoing Psalm 118). So how and when was this going to happen?

That’s what chapter 24 is all about. Starting off when Jesus – the glory of God – leaves the temple and heads to the Mount of Olives. Just like as it did back in 587BC (see Ezek 11:23), when God abandoned it to destruction by the Babylonian army.

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In our final installment of Matthew 23, Jesus tells of the judgement that was to come on the Pharisees – and, indeed, all of Jerusalem – because they rejected the offer of God’s kingdom, and they rejected Jesus, God’s Messiah.

Matthew 23:34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

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So far in Matthew 23 we’ve seen Jesus take aim at the Pharisees for their hypocrisy:

• Adding their own extra regulations to God’s law, making them the focus – and imposing them on others.
• Using this to enhance their own status as lawmakers and interpreters for others.
• Stopping others from entering the kingdom by (1) their focus on outward behaviour rather than inward transformation; and (2) rejecting Jesus, the Messiah.
• Getting hung up on the small stuff – like tithing their spices – while ignoring the main themes of the law, like justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

Today, Jesus continues with the last three of his seven woes: announcements of judgement against the Pharisees:

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This week we’ve seen Jesus take aim at the Pharisees for being hypocrites: they added their own rules and regulations to God’s law, which had become for them a source of status and power. What’s more, they made the symbols of their obedience (like phylacteries and tassels) stand out so that the rest of the people would treat them with honour. They were using religious observance to enhance their status.

Now this was bad enough, but the real hypocrisy hasn’t yet been exposed. In this next section, Jesus pronounces seven “woes” on the Pharisees – for becoming so focused on their own system of rules and behaviours that they were misleading the rest of the people, and neglecting the essence of the law itself!

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Yesterday (Matt 23:1-4), we saw how the Pharisees added their own extra rules and regulations to the law. It started off with good intentions, building a hedge around the law to stop people getting anywhere near breaking one of God’s laws. But then they started to impose them on others. To judge themselves and others on how well they observed their man-made regulations. This made them the self-appointed gatekeepers of righteous behaviour, and made others dependent on them for “rulings” on what was right behaviour. In short, it gained them status. Which is what Jesus takes them to task over in the next verse:

Matthew 23:5-8 Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; ⁶ they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; ⁷ they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.

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Today, we begin a short series in Matthew chapter 23. It’s the start of Jesus’ fifth and final block of teaching in Matthew’s Gospel. (Is that significant? Probably. Throughout the Gospel, Jesus is portrayed as “Moses 2.0” – you might remember his first block of teaching was up on a mountain, just like Moses – and Moses was traditionally held to be the author of the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.) And in this chapter, the whole “gentle Jesus, meek and mild” stereotype gets blown up, as Jesus straps on an ammo belt full of home truths and trains his guns on the Pharisees, as he becomes… The Sermonator.

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