DAY #40: February 9, 2009 - Matthew 23:34 - 24:3

Jesus continues His message to the Pharisees and religious leaders by giving two examples of Old Testament martyrdom. Abel was the first martyr (Genesis 4); Zechariah is a classic example of a man of God who was killed by those who claimed to be God’s people (2 Chronicles 24:20-21).

In both cases, the call for vengeance is explicit. Now all the accumulated judgment of the centuries would come upon the heads of this very generation. The current religious establishment would be guilty of all of their deaths, for they would be guilty of murdering the Messiah and would face judgment for that act.

We then see Jesus bridge the gap between His denunciation of the corrupt religious leaders and his explicit prediction of the destruction of the Temple in chapter 24. Jerusalem was the capital city of God’s chosen people, the ancestral home of David, Israel’s greatest king, and the location of the Temple, the earthly dwelling place of God. It was intended to be the center of worship of the true God and a symbol of justice to all people. But Jerusalem had become blind to God and insensitive to human need. Jerusalem here stands for all the Jewish people, but this prophecy specifically looks to the city’s destruction.

The Jewish leaders had stoned and killed the prophets and others whom God had sent to the nation to bring them back to him. By their constant rejection of God’s messengers, they had sealed their fate. Jesus wanted to gather the nation and bring it to repentance, but the people wouldn’t let him. Here we see the depth of Jesus’ feelings for lost people and for his beloved city that would soon be destroyed. Jesus took no pleasure in denouncing the religious establishment or in prophesying the coming destruction of the city and the people that rejected him. He had come to save, but they would not let him.

Jesus may have been alluding to Jeremiah 12:7, where Jeremiah had prophesied the coming destruction of the Temple by the Babylonians. The nation’s sin sealed their punishment, and God’s presence left the Temple. When Jesus Christ came, God himself again stood in the Temple. But the people’s refusal to accept him would have severe consequences, for He would again leave the Temple. The Temple stood for the people’s relationship with God; an empty and desolate Temple meant separation from God.

Chapter 24 contains a conversation between Jesus and his disciples as they left the Temple and began their walk back to Bethany where they were spending their nights. This may have been either Tuesday or Wednesday evening of the week before the Crucifixion. This was Jesus’ last visit to the Temple area. He would do no more preaching or public teaching. A casual remark by a disciple led Jesus to make a startling prophetic statement about the fate of the magnificent Temple.

One of the disciples pointed out to Jesus the various Temple buildings, remarking on their incredible beauty (Mark 13:1). Although no one knows exactly what the Temple looked like, it must have been magnificent, for in its time it was considered one of the architectural wonders of the world. The Jews were convinced of the permanence of this magnificent structure, not only because of the stability of construction, but also because it represented God’s presence among them.

Jesus acknowledged the great buildings but then made a startling statement: This wonder of the world would be completely demolished. As in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, the destruction of the Jews’ beloved Temple would be God’s punishment for turning away from him. This would happen only a few years later when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in a.d. 70. The sovereign judgment of God was to fall upon his unbelieving people; and just as Jesus as Lord of the Temple had proclaimed its purification, here he predicted its destruction.

The Mount of Olives rises above Jerusalem to the east. As Jesus was leaving the city to return to Bethany for the night, he would have crossed the Kidron Valley, and then he would have headed up the slope of the Mount of Olives. From this slope, he and the disciples could look down into the city and see the Temple. The prophet Zechariah predicted that the Messiah would stand on that very mountain when he would return to set up his eternal Kingdom (Zechariah 14:1-4).

This place evoked questions about the future, so it was natural for the disciples to ask Jesus when he would come in power and what they could expect at that time. The disciples’ question had two parts. They wanted to know when this would happen and what would be the sign that would signal Jesus’ return and the end of the world. In the disciples’ minds, one event would occur immediately after the other. They expected the Messiah to inaugurate his Kingdom soon, and they wanted to know the sign that it was about to arrive.

As many of the Old Testament prophets had done, Jesus predicted both near and distant events without putting them in chronological order. The coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple only foreshadowed a future destruction that would precede Christ’s return. Some of the disciples lived to see the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, while some of the events Jesus spoke of have not yet—to this day—occurred. But the truth of Jesus’ prediction regarding Jerusalem assured the disciples (and assures us) that everything else he predicted will also happen.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

As I read todays passage, a verse comes to mind. Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV) - "Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is."

Today, I want to be more aware of how short time is. I want to have a sense of urgency. I don;t want to waste opportunities. I don't want to miss people and their needs. Lord, help me to live with urgency.
"Teach us to number our days and recognize how few they are;
help us to spend them as we should." Psalm 90:12 (LB)

Lord, help me invest in people. Help me invest in families and marriages. Help me capture very moment today and this week for you. Give me a heart for the ones forgotten.

"Jesus made a circuit of all the towns and villages. He taught in their meeting places, reported kingdom news, and healed their diseased bodies, healed their bruised and hurt lives. When he looked out over the crowds, his heart broke. So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd." Matthew 9:35-36 (MB)

PRAYER

Lord, build an urgency into the fabric of my soul and weave this truth into the souls of every person at COV. Use Sundays message to bring about repentance and revival. Lord, raise up a church of folks who want to see healing take place in our country and a people who will do something about it. Start with me Lord. Heal my soul. Heal my hurts and heal every relationship in my life that is broken. And Lord, I want to be Your servant that will bind up the brokenhearted and extend love, mercy and grace to those who have been wounded. Give me Your eyes to see everything and everybody that I seem to keep missing. Give me a heart for people.

"The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners." Isaiah 61:1 (NIV)