The Three Questions
In Matthew 24:3, the disciples were asking three questions of Jesus:
1. When will these things be? ("These things" refer to the destruction of Jerusalem and Herod's Temple)
"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (Mat. 24:1,2).
When Jesus spoke of the Temple's destruction, this must have startled His disciples. How did the destruction of the Temple relate to the mission of Christ? Was this somehow related to the prophesied coming of Christ as a King over the nations and to the end of the world?
2. What will be the sign of your coming?
Jesus tells His disciples point blank (how is it that we miss it today?) that there will be an increase of sorrows in the world just before the destruction of Jerusalem. He calls these events "great tribulation." "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be" (Mat. 24:21).
3. And the end of the age?
"Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors" (Mat. 24:32,33).
The dispensationalists interpreted "the fig tree" to be the nation-state of Israel which reemerged in 1948. They linked the restoration of Israel to the following statement of Jesus:
"Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled" (Mat. 24:34).
Up until this point, Jesus is speaking of first century events, but then the focus of the Olivet Discourse shifts towards the literal end of the world:
"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only" (Mat. 24:35,36).
REAL MEN get ready it does not get better than this. Jesus is coming soon!
Rev Luis Morga
