This series of short lessons attempts to detail Jesus’ Roadmap for the Future. It starts with the last lessons Jesus gave the disciples on the Mount of Olives, and ends with teachings from the Apostle Paul about the Rapture.
As an introduction, the Olivet Discourse was aimed at the consequences of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah, and anticipated the destruction of the nation (70 A.D.) and the final Tribulation period. Remember that the Church Age is an intercalation—meaning an insertion, like a parenthesis, into the Age of Israel. This means that with the Rapture of the Church, the Tribulation picks up where 70 A.D. leaves off. This is why the Church Age is called a “mystery” (Rom. 11:25; 16:25; Eph. 3:1–13; Col. 1:26–27), which is a graduate course to “the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10).
The Olivet Discourse reveals the consequences of Israel’s rejection of her Messiah (compare Matt. 23:37–39 and Rom. 9:1–5; 10:1–4; 11:25). These consequences are defined by Paul as “wrath … to the uttermost” (1 Thess. 2:15–16).
The outline is actually given by Jesus Himself, by using certain key words as markers of the divisions. Perhaps the most obvious of these words is “Then,” a time-word indicating a sequence of events. We find this in Matt. 24:1, 9, 11, 16, 21, 23, 29, 40; 25:1, 7, 16, 24, 34, 37, 41, 44, 45. With the exception of its use in Matt. 24:1, where it connects Jesus’ departure from the Temple with the following discourse, in all the subsequent times, it is used specifically to refer to the Tribulation period followed by His Second Coming. It is worth quoting Mark, here, for the statement he includes:
“For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.” Mark 13:19
In Matthew 24, Jesus gives us an outline, speaking of “tribulation” (Matt. 24:9), followed by “the abomination of desolation” (Matt. 24:15, see Dan. 11:31; 12:11), which is then followed by “great tribulation” (Matt. 24:21) and, finally, “after the tribulation of those days” (Matt. 24:29) by the return of Christ to Earth (Matt. 24:30–31). Although both Mark 13 and Luke 21 include portions of this message, only Matthew gives us such a clear picture of the chain of events.
Gene Cunningham - June 15, 2022
I know, I know
In John 11:17, the focus changes from the disciples to Martha. "So when Jesus came,He found that he had already been in the tomb for four days." If Jesus was 20 miles from Bethany,if it would have taken one day moving rapidly to get there; He could have been here. You remember He delayed two; days He could have been there much earlier. He chose not to for something really wonderful that was about to happen. Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord if you had been here,my brother would not have died'.” I wonder how many times we said something like that. Martha blames the Lord for not coming. She knew where He was. She had to know to send someone to go get Him. She knew that it was a one-day journey for the messenger to go to Him, a one-day journey for Him to come back. In two days, He could have been there. Lazarus has been dead for four days. "Lord, if you had been here but you weren't." That's the implication. "My brother would not have died." Secondly, she is very impressed with what she knows. You notice twice? In verse 22, "Even now,I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." That's an amazing statement of faith. "I know." In verse 24, Martha said, "I know thathe will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Are both of those statements true? Absolutely. Martha has knowledge, but she lacks submission; that affects many of us. Don't let yourself get full of knowledge but lack surrender. One of the greatest statements of the Gospel of John, "Jesus said to her, I am." That should have sat it right there. You know that in the Gospel of John, there are eight signs of Jesus (the last one being the resurrection). In the Gospel of John, there are eight "I am" sayings as well. "I am" being the equivalent of the Old Testament Jehovah -- "I AM that I AM." "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." As living believers all of us know and have loved ones who are believers who have died. “Those who live and believe in Him will never die.” Did you know that you'll never die? You'll never die. Now, a child of God closes their eyes in this life, the body stops functioning, but their eyes openin the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. They never taste or experience death. You will never know what it means to die. That which we fear so much, dread so much, do everything that we can to escape and evade… if we understood what happens the moment after we close our eyes, every single one of us would be prayingfor the Lord to call us home today. How do I know that? I know that because the Apostle Paul had a revelation whether he was lifted in reality or just a vision. In Second Corinthians Chapter 12, Paul went into the third heaven. He saw and heard things he was not allowed to repeat. He came back and said, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." Remember when he wrote to the Philippians? And he said, "I'm between a rock and a hard place...." I'm using the Cunningham revised version. "...Having the desire rather to depart and be with the Lord, but to remain here is better for you." We say, "Oh, poor so-and-so could be my father,my mother, other relatives, you know, they've gone on." Would you bring them back if you could? Sometimes we would, wouldn't we? Jesus is about to bring somebody back. Get ready for that one! Knowing that our Lord is the resurrectionand the life is a marvelous thing. But do we really understand what it means in our day to day life? Jesus ends by asking Martha, who said, "I know,I know. Yeah, I know, I know, I know." "Do you believe this?" Could I ask you, do you believe this? Because if you really believe it and if you really understand it, the implications of it in the test the trials, the sorrows, the heartbreaks,the difficulties, even our failures, it changes everything! 00:24:45:02 - 00:24:49:10 The life that we have in Christ is not just eternal life. Someday it is resurrection life here and now. It's already begun. The moment we trusted Christ, we became a new creationand as a new creation, having received resurrection life knowing that we can never die,knowing that death is the door that leads home. Verse 27, "She said to him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that, you are the Christ,the Son of God who is to come into the world'." Do you believe that? Does it make a difference in your life?
