Matthew 24:36-44 is a collection of sayings of Jesus around the theme of what theologians call eschatology.
In the context of Matthew, the previous chapter ended with threats to Jerusalem and the Temple, and Jesus has also performed a prophetic action against the Temple in removing moneychangers from the area. These prophetic threats have their basis in how Jerusalem responds to prophets by stoning them to death. In verse 3, the disciples ask about the sign of for the coming of Jesus and the end of the world (συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος). He has referred to the end of the age (13:39, 40, 49 συντέλεια αἰῶνός), a term of Jewish apocalyptic. In verse 27, the coming of the Son of Man will be like lightning striking in the east and flashing far into the west. Verse 37 and 39 refers to what it will be like when the Son of Man comes. The presence of the parables in Chapter 25 also stresses the need for watchfulness that prepares for the return of Jesus and the final judgment. All this suggests that the destruction of the Temple and the city of Jerusalem prefigures the judgment upon the world. The judgment upon Jerusalem and its Temple clarifies the ending of the old covenant and the establishing of a new covenant centered in the presence of the risen Lord in the community and the work of the Spirit in the community and in the lives of individuals. Such a decisive intervention in the history of salvation that ends one covenant and inaugurates the new covenant will not occur again until the end of time, when God will judge humanity for its continued resistance to the message of Jesus.
The pattern and theme of this discourse is the language of contemporary Jewish apocalyptic, which has fearful preliminary signs announcing the end, the earthquakes, fire, and famine. The arrangement into a chronological sequence is not typical of Jesus, but it is typical of Jewish apocalyptic that influenced the Jewish-Christian church. Such programmatic verses, concerned with cosmic portents, are replete with Old Testament phrases and allusions. Such images are typical of apocalyptic literature, the best New Testament example being the Book of Revelation.[1] It makes use of images not typical of other sayings of Jesus. 35 words, or 20%, do not occur elsewhere, and 15 of these recur in the Book of Revelation. However, traditional apocalyptic themes are absent, such as holy war, the annihilation of Rome, feelings of hate and vengeance, the gathering of the Diaspora, an earthy portrayal of salvation, the renewal of Jerusalem as the capital of a mighty realm, rule over the Gentiles, and the luxury of life in the new age. Rather, the catastrophe will affect Israel in the Temple (v. 14), whereas Jewish apocalyptic expected the Temple to flourish. Thus, a core of this chapter may derive from Jesus, while the early church supplemented these sayings to update the prophecy. The mission of Jesus was the prelude to the coming of the eschatological time of distress. Jesus expected that the end would be soon. Yet, the theme of the of this imminent end is that the hour of fulfillment has dawned, the reign of God is already being manifested in this time and this place. Jesus believed the Son of Man would be the agent of that manifestation, but he never connected himself to the Son of Man. The catastrophe introducing its definitive coming will arrive. Therefore, make use of the time before it is too late. It is a matter of life or death. This eschatology keeps alive knowledge that this is a period of grace. Further, Jesus held that while the measure of sin is full, that judgment is due, the will of God is not unalterable. This view is consistent with the theme of the little book of Jonah. The Father of Jesus is gracious and hears prayers and intercessions. Grace predominates over the demands of holiness, so the Father can shorten the days of distress (24:22, Mark 13:20)) and lengthen the opportunity for unbelievers to repent. All human existence, threatened by the catastrophe, lives in the interval of grace.[2]
If we find in the coming of the risen Lord, in the Holy Spirit, and at the end of the age three forms of this one new coming, we do not need any artificiality in explaining that the solemn conclusion to this discourse refers to the first and immediate form in which the coming of the risen Lord occurred in the Easter event. At this level, the resurrection is the parousia. At this level, the parousia has already taken place. Yet, to limit the Parousia to this one event is a mistake. The Parousia needs the amplification provided by the rest of the story, which includes the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which is also the Parousia, and the Parousia is ahead of us, the eschatological blessing of the end of the age, this age concluding with the revelation of Jesus Christ.[3]Jesus fully participated in human limits. If Jesus of Nazareth grew up knowing what was going to happen tomorrow, he would no longer have fully participated in human nature. Jesus did expect a soon end, due to who he was and due to the critical period of history in which he lived.
Many scholars point to the helpful material in Josephus Jewish War 6.285-87 (Chapter 1.1-4), 300-309, 5.21-26, written in in the 60's AD. The point here is that Mark, Matthew, and Luke would have plenty of reason to develop a prophecy based upon the insight of Jesus, Old Testament imagery, apocalyptic images, and the experience of the church in Jerusalem.
In 56 AD, a Jewish prophet from Egypt arrived in Jerusalem (Acts 21:38). The social and economic circumstances were those that might well have led to a movement seeking liberation from oppression and distress. The people had recently undergone a disastrous famine in the late 40s. the group numbered in the thousands. It was composed from the villages of Judea. The Egyptian appeared in the countryside, indicating that this movement involved the Judean peasantry. The movement of the Egyptian understood itself as as participating in a new conquest of the Promised Land. In the battle of Jericho, after the people had marched around the city walls and the priests had blown the trumpets, the people shouted, and the walls came down. The new Joshua, the prophet from Egypt, declared that at his command the walls of Jerusalem would fall and his followers would enter the city. The roundabout route to the Mount of Olives had a symbolic purpose. It was a either a ritual march around the city or a re-enactment of the way through the wilderness. The Mount of Olives had acquired a significant role in Jewish apocalyptic lore, making a comparison with the prophecies in Zech 14 likely. They anticipated a day of the Lord when the rule of God will be established over the earth. The Lord will finally engage in battle against the alien nations occupying Jerusalem. Thus, this movement was not armed rebellion. However, the failure of the new Joshua was evident as the slaughter by the Roman infantry was extensive of him and his followers.[4]
He tells of phony prophets who led many astray, and he depicts the famine that beset Jerusalem when the storehouses were burned. He narrates the burning of the Temple and provides other parallels to this text. He writes of the miseries of Jerusalem increasing each day. Everything got so bad, he said, “the multitude of carcasses that lay in heaps one upon another was a horrible sight, and produced a pestilential stench." The numbers of bodies were so many that the soldiers walked on top of the bodies. Yet, the Romans "they found the Jews' courageous souls to be superior to the multitude of the miseries they were under." He writes of a wall surprisingly coming down. Other walls started coming down easily. The "seditious" went in the Temple. He writes of people jumping from great heights and breaking limbs. He writes of a woman who laments the famine and sedition, kills her baby, and roasts the baby, offering part of what she roasted to others who questioned her. A false prophet told the people to gather on the top of the Temple to see signs of their deliverance. Yet, this deliverance would not come. He was trying to keep people from deserting and from losing hope to their fear. The comment of Josephus upon what the false prophet said:
"Now a man that is in adversity does easily comply with such promises; for when such a seducer makes him believe that he shall be delivered from those miseries which oppress him, then it is that the patient is full of hopes of such his deliverance."
Jesus son of Hannaniah prophesied in 60-65 AD. He was a simple peasant. He was from the lower classes. He stood in the Temple and cried out as a prophet, a voice from the east, from the west, from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem and the Temple, a voice against bridegrooms and brides, a voice against the whole people. The established classes were irritated. Some thought him mad, but others thought he might be guided by a prophetic spirit, which he clearly was. He was flogged, but released, and continued to shout his woe to Jerusalem. He patterned himself after Jeremiah. Judean peasant groups and their leaders, such as the Zealots, did not oppose him.[5]
The priests tried to carry out their Pentecost services, but the war disrupted them. The Temple proclaimed that no foreigner should enter the sanctuary. Of course, the foreigners did enter.
Thus, I offer the results of this study of the apocalyptic discourse in advance, hoping that the following reflections will verify the validity of this conclusion.
Continuing the message of Jesus, the Jewish-Christian church also expected a soon end.[6] Verses 4b-26, 29-31 are drawn from the views of this early community as they treasured what Jesus said about the soon arrival of the rule of God, his belief that the opposition he experienced from Jewish leaders and the potential for a violent end of his ministry, his belief that the Son of Man as the agent who will usher in the time of salvation, the suddenness of that arrival, and the need for watchfulness and preparedness for that end. They expanded upon his sayings with current apocalyptic thinking and the use of Old Testament images. Yet, Jesus was also clear that the end was in the hands of his Father, so we cannot know the chronology. The suggestion would be by some that Mark has edited this core apocalypse with material from other sources and with his own insights. It at least seems clear from Mark that he, and his community, anticipated the “end” to be soon. Mark has just shown the battle with institutional Judaism. He now wants to show how the judgment upon Jerusalem and the coming of the Son of Man have connection. The discourse concludes with a solemn admonition on watchfulness.
In Matthew 24:36 (Mark 13:32) is a prophetic saying that limits human knowledge of the end-time, for only the Father knows. Had Jesus made any pronouncement about the end of history, it would be something like this. Some manuscripts omit "nor the Son" out of theological scruples. However, the man Jesus had no clear knowledge of the future. Jesus refused to give a definite date for the dawning of the last things. The saying conflicts with the program laid out in the context of the apocalyptic discourse, although that theme is commonplace in Jewish apocalyptic. 36 “But about that day and hour no one knows (οἶδεν). Such a saying reaffirms the eschatological nature of the reign of God as an act of God in the future. Yet, the saying has an odd character in the context of Mark, since the point of the entire discourse is to tell the disciples when the end will happen. The passage reminds us that Jesus and his followers lived with the expectation of the end. Yet, it also reminds us that they the timing of the end was never as significant as it was in some circles. They lived with the hope contained in the notion of the end of all things, but reflection on the time of its occurrence was not central. The saying flies in the face of all those who, throughout Christian history, have declared they have deciphered exactly when the Messiah will return. The saying indicates that the end does have a specific day and hour. The saying is eschatological in referring to the last judgment and Parousia. The Parousia is near while the precise timing remains unknown. Such an attitude is not typical of Jewish apocalyptic. The New Testament expectation is always an imminent one. The expectation in which Jesus lived and died is what he saw as the goal of his life and death. No one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. These are distinctive uses of the Father and the Son. In this case, the question of when it shall be that the Son of Man comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels cannot be answered more precisely than the context in in verses 4-35 suggests because the answer is not known to any of the participants other than the Father.[7] The verse reminds us that “the Son” has limits to his knowledge. With the rise of the Docetic controversy, which denied that Jesus was completely human, this verse was important in showing that he was fully human. Such lack of knowledge by the Son shows that we are not to see in the Incarnation a mere transfer of the divine attributes to the human nature of Jesus as possible.[8] In it, we can see the distinction between the rule of God and the church as well. Johannes Weiss brought all of this to the attention of biblical and theological circles.[9] Obviously, the church and individual Christians would show some wisdom in not claiming to possess more knowledge than does the Son or the angels![10] Jesus shares the human uncertainty of not knowing the moment. Yet, the revelation of the rule of God has a close link with the consummation of the life Jesus in his death and resurrection.[11] In fact, an analogy would be our experience of the importance of purpose or goal to determine meaning. The meaning of individual words or sentences has their meaning in the context of the novel that has a beginning and end. In the same way, historical beings have a purpose and goal only if the fulfillment of their history is an historical event.[12]
Matthew 24:37-44 is a collection of prophetic sayings on the end being imminent. Matthew's counsel to Christians in between the time of the coming of Jesus and the coming of the end is that they are to focus upon acts of faithfulness, remaining obedient to all of Jesus' commands so that when that end-time finally arrives, the Christian will have no fear. One might boil down the theme of this passage to the relationship between eschatology and ethics, or the question of how to live in the present considering the uncertainties of the future. The imperative that the passage promotes regarding this relationship is the need for persistent watchfulness. The motifs of watching and knowing figure prominently in this passage such that a lack of knowledge provides even more reason for remaining attentive. The motif of knowledge is one that we can see throughout the passage.
Matthew 24:37-40 are from a discourse on the Day of the Son of Man that contains apocalyptic sayings on the Son of Man, clearly a title here. They emphasize the unexpected nature of the Son of Man's coming. People will be carrying on their normal occupations, unaware that the decisive messianic moment had arrived. Typical of apocalyptic literature, it warns of the surprising suddenness of the Parousia. There are four examples that describe the surprise of people as the action of God invade everyday life.[13]
Verse 37-39 (Luke 17:26-27), contain a saying on like Noah, emphasizing the surprising suddenness of the end. 37 For as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man (παρουσία τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου[14]), which means suddenly, surprising people who were going about their everyday tasks were surprised by the flood in the days of Noah, the judgment of humanity coming with the appearing of this figure who will execute the office of judge.[15] 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark, 39 and they knew (ἔγνωσαν) nothing until the flood came and swept them all away, so too will be the coming of the Son of Man (παρουσία τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου). The emphasis on destruction is typical of apocalypses.[16] Such a saying compares the coming of the Son of Man to biblical stories of great destruction. People engaged in everyday life are oblivious to the purposes of God in judgment and salvation. Jesus reminds his listeners of another predicted, but not precisely timed, event - the cataclysmic flood. The flood, sent by God to wipe out the wicked, caught an entire generation unawares, unprepared for judgment. The text makes a comparison between the coming of the Son of Man and the biblical stories of great destruction. "Eating, drinking, and marrying" without a thought to God's judgment was typical of Noah's day according to rabbis. What Jesus expected was that while catastrophe was coming, people will live on heedless, right up to the day itself. The urgency of the appeal by Jesus for his listeners to repent is that a danger immediately threatens those standing before him, for the flood is at hand.[17] Their unreflecting absorption in their carefree activities is the problem. They forgot to watch for the signs. The present generation, though living before the end, does not watch the signs of the time in the way Noah did. The responsible behavior of Noah is important here, being the pattern the present generation should follow. The point is the sudden inrush of the destructive flood that was not expected by the heedless population, conceiving of the coming of the Son of Man as something correspondingly sudden. [18] Jesus admonishes his listeners to watch and be ready for the unexpected and unpredictable return of the Son of Man, to prepare for the tumultuous events about to unfold in Jerusalem.
Verse 40-41 (Luke 17:31, 34), taken or left, focusing on the division that will be left when the end comes.[19] The last thing of all transcends history, as the angels accomplish the division. Two people indistinguishable from each other, one being saved and the other rejected.[20] It belongs to common lore in that we cannot know when death will strike.[21] Neither warning refers to the person of Jesus. However, Luke has provided the apocalyptic context. They are like a comment by Paul. 40 Then two will be in the field before daybreak, one grinding and the other throwing on the corn, each like the other, but one is a child of peace and the other a child of death[22]; one will be taken and one will be left. Each like the other and indistinguishable to human eyes, but one will be saved and the other rejected.[23] 41 Two women will be grinding meal togetherbefore daybreak, one grinding and the other throwing on the corn, each like the other, but one is a child of peace and the other a child of death[24]; one will be taken and one will be left. The saying is about people separated during routine activity, such as while they are eating and drinking or at work. The version in Thomas makes death the agent of separation, while in Matthew and Luke the agent is the Son of Man. It warns of the division that will ensue at the Parousia. The saying stresses the unexpected and sudden character of this end. The outcome of those caught unprepared is that they are going about their everyday tasks when one is taken and the other is left behind. For one, the dream of a redeemed life finds fulfillment. For another, separation from the divine and the nightmare is just beginning. Jesus is making the case a perpetual state of readiness for those who follow him.
Verse 42 is a reminder to keep awake precisely because you do not know when the end will come. 42 Keep awake (Γρηγορεῖτε) therefore, for you do not know (οἴδατε) on what day your Lord (ὁ κύριος) is coming. Note that “your Lord” is directly associated with the coming of the Son of Man in verse 44, their meanings converging when designating the coming judge of the world.[25]
Matthew 24:43-44 (Luke 12:39-40) is a parable of the thief.[26] The emphasis is not the joyful nature of the coming of the Son of Man, but his coming in judgment. Its emphasis upon watching has an apparent conflict with the imminence of the approaching catastrophe, for it envisages a delay of the end.[27] Paul also knew an eschatological setting for the saying. Here is a warning to be ready for something, here the Son of Man, with Paul the Day of the Lord, that has not yet happened. Jesus perceives catastrophe coming upon himself, Jerusalem, and the Temple, and therefore upon his followers. They need to watch, pray, and not be caught unaware, but the Passion Narrative will show that events swept them off their feet. The crisis Jews provoked was hastening towards uncertain and unexpected developments, which called for alertness on the part of those who follow him. Jesus is preparing his followers for the time of stress.[28] 43 But understand (γινώσκετε) this: if the owner of the house had known (ᾔδει) in what part of the night the thief was coming, comparing the arrival of the Son of Man to a thief, he would have stayed awake (ἐγρηγόρησεν) and would not have let his house be broken into. A prudent homeowner would be prepared for the possibility of the burglar. The comparison is an understandable one as Jesus suggests to the crowds the nearness of the approaching catastrophe.[29] Jesus draws the parable from an actual happening, some recently effected burglary, about which the village is talking. He uses the alarming occurrence as a warning of the imminent calamity that he sees approaching. He wants his listeners to guard themselves that they may not be caught unawares like this householder who has just had his house burglarized. The parable provides a metaphor in house-breaking of the imminence of the catastrophe. Yet, beyond that catastrophe is the blessing of the time of salvation.[30]Rather than the owner assigning slaves to guard their master’s house, which one might expect, the owner of the house must remain on duty. If he fails to stay awake and watch, a thief will come and break into his house. Jesus says that the promised day of the Lord, that cataclysmic ending of the old world, and beginning of the new, will take place like "a thief in the night." He does not say that God is a thief, or that he is a thief. Yet he uses an evocative, even offensive, metaphor for describing how the reign of God steals in among us. It is like a thief. The nature of a burglar is not to prepare those whom he is planning to burglarize. Surprise, unexpectedness, and shock typify burglaries. Jesus returning like a thief became a common theme in the New Testament.
I Thessalonians 5:2
For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
I Thessalonians 5:4
But you, beloved, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief;
II Peter 3:10
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed.
Revelation 3:3
Remember then what you received and heard; obey it, and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you.
Revelation 16:15
("See, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and is clothed, not going about naked and exposed to shame."
Verse 44 is an admonition to watch, like Mark 13:35, who concludes the parable of the returning master by saying that you do not know when the master will come home. 44 Therefore you also must be ready (ἕτοιμοι), for the Son of Man is coming (ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἔρχεται) at an unexpected hour. Therefore, you are to be ready, for the Son of Man will come just as unexpectedly as a thief will. Jesus directs attention to the behavior that will be suitable in view of that well-known fact. The hour of the arrival of the Son of Man is unpredictable, so the admonition is to watch.[31] At this point, the eschatological expectation is that there is no difference between Jesus and the Jewish-Christian community. Both expected that the first stage of the eschatological crisis would be marked by the sudden irruption of the time of tribulation and the revelation of demonic power over the earth. Both were certain that this last tribulation would end with the triumph of God.[32]
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[6] Some scholars would suggest that an early core of apocalyptic teaching in Mark 13 is in verses 7-8, 14-20, 24-27. Core apocalyptic 7-8, 12, 15-22, 29-31, 37-44. Bultmann thinks verses 10-12, 37-41, 43-44, , 45-51 are of Jewish origin. In v. 5-8, 24-27 are signs preceding the Parousia, which could be a Jewish-Christian prophecy, a liturgical poem, or an early Christian sermon. Verses 14-20, 21-23 refer to the abomination of desolation. These verses are a Palestinian group of sayings connected with Jerusalem.
7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs. 14 "But when you see the desolating sacrilege set up where it ought not to be (let the reader understand), then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; 15 the one on the housetop must not go down or enter the house to take anything away; 16 the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. 17 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not be in winter. 19 For in those days there will be suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, no, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he has cut short those days. 24 "But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 Then they will see "the Son of Man coming in clouds' with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
21 And if anyone says to you at that time, "Look! Here is the Messiah!' or "Look! There he is!'—do not believe it. 22False messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23But be alert; I have already told you everything.
Verses 9, 11-13 were sayings on persecution, compiled by the church at Rome to strengthen Christians.
9 "As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them….11 When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; 13 and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
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[15] Colpe, TDNT, VIII, 434.
[16] For the Jesus Seminar, such references to coming judgment are not typical of Jesus.
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[21] Jesus Seminar
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[29] Colpe, TDNT, VIII, 451-2, but suggests that only when the early Chirstian community applied it to the situation of the delayed appearing or coming become a figure of speech for the Son of Man.
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