The Temple and The End Times:

Who Was Jesus Really Talking To?

In a former post, “From Anxiety to Assurance,” I wrote about how verses that are morally and theologically difficult to understand ultimately led me to trust in the Bible's authenticity and infallibility. The principle is that the Bible is right no matter what, and my role is to seek God, study, and ask for wisdom when I encounter something hard to follow. God's word is above us; I need to align myself with it, not the other way around.

It is very easy for people to build false theologies from a single misinterpretation of a word. An opening example I used in the other post was the temptation of Jesus. If I say, "Jesus was tempted," I mean it in the sense that someone tempted Him externally. Being divine, He was not tempted inwardly the way we are; He was tempted outwardly by someone, but He was in no way drawn by the temptation. See how that works? Imagine how many pastors and churches build a theology about Jesus’ human side from this, forgetting that Scripture is clear: the fullness of Deity dwelt in Him in human form. He was the firstborn over all creation, and God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Christ. As it also states, “Sacrifices and offerings you did not require, but a body you prepared for me.”

A lot is happening in the world right now. People are questioning the authenticity of the Jewish state of Israel—something my post-World War II grandparents would never have dreamed of questioning. They saw what appeared to be the world almost ending, witnessed what appeared to be the persecution of Jews, and lived through the first great financial collapse of the US stock market. (Although today's economy is technically much worse, the US government has learned how to handle its PR better.) Seeing what appeared to be a physical religious state of Israel established after all that trauma made it certain to them that this was the fulfillment of prophecy and that they were living in the end times.

In previous centuries, before my grandparents, many theologians believed Christianity had replaced the Jews in God's plan (a view known as Replacement Theology). I don't personally believe this. Even though many Jews living today may not be direct physical descendants, and even with records being skewed and the companies that keep track of such things being bought—looking at the big picture of how God always saves a remnant, comparing it with other scriptures, and considering how so many have kept their cultural identity—I would argue that the Jewish people still very much exist.

With that being said, here is the scripture that was troubling me, which I found the answer to. It’s a scripture that ties into everything I stated above.

It’s Matthew 24. At first, it seemed confusing. Jesus tells his disciples the Temple will be completely destroyed. They ask when this will happen and what the sign of his return will be.

But Jesus isn't blending two things into one. He is having two separate conversations that are woven into one paragraph.

The key to untangling it is in the Book of Mark. In Mark 13:14, right after Jesus speaks of the “abomination that causes desolation,” the Gospel writer inserts a crucial phrase: (let the reader understand).

That comment is the hinge between the two conversations.

• The part that was just for them was the Temple's destruction. The prediction that not one stone would be left on another was a specific, historical prophecy fulfilled in AD 70. This was the direct answer to their first question: “When will this happen?”

• The warnings that followed were for us. The instruction to flee Judea, the mention of the “abomination,” and the descriptions of global preaching, cosmic signs, and the Son of Man’s return—these were not primarily for the disciples listening that day. The phrase “let the reader understand” is a direct signal from the Holy Spirit that this part of the prophecy is for future generations—for us. It answers their second question, “What will be the sign of your coming?” for the church throughout history.

The destruction of the Temple was the anchor—the event that proved Jesus’s authority and the certainty of His words. But the prophetic warnings that followed were sealed for the future, providing a pattern for believers in the end times.

The hard verses aren’t contradictions; they are a masterful design. Our role isn’t to question, but to seek wisdom, trusting that His word is always right, and that some prophecies are given both to one generation and for another.

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