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CHAPTER 3
THE PROPHECY ON THE MOUNTAIN
The sunteleia. The times of refreshing
The presence of the Lord
Matthew 24 and 25
We have considered the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5 to 7) and the Parables given at the Seaside (Matt. 13).
There now remains the Great Prophecy of Matthew 24 and 25 to be considered before bringing this survey of the
Gospel to a close.
It will be understood that this examination of the Gospel of Matthew is not to be considered as a complete
exposition of that Gospel, but as an exhibition of its salient features, so that the Parables of the Kingdom may be
seen in the light of the Gospel as a whole. The Prophecy is introduced by the closing verses of Matthew 23:
`O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often
would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would
not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see Me henceforth, till ye
shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord' (37-39).
We have here a quotation from Psalm 118:25,26:
`Save now (Hosanna), I beseech thee, O LORD ...
Blessed be He that cometh in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD'.
The Hosanna quotation is found in Matthew 21:9. It is important to notice that the cry, `Blessed be He that cometh'
is closely associated with `the house of the Lord'. This adds point to the Lord's words, `Your house is left unto you
desolate', and also provides a reason for the disciples' remarks concerning the buildings of the temple. When the
Lord told them that there should not be left one stone upon another; it is evident by their threefold question that this
desolation was connected in their minds with the coming of the Lord.
The threefold question
This threefold question and its answer occupies the whole of Matthew 24 from verse 3:
`And as He sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying, Tell us,
(1) When shall these things be?
(2) And what shall be the sign of Thy coming,
(3) And of the end of the world (age)'?
In answering the disciples' questions, the Lord deals with them in the reverse order:
(1)
The end of the age (4-24).
(2)
The sign of the coming (25-31).
(3)
When these things shall be (32-42).
The answer of the Lord as to the end of the age is two-fold. First, negative - `The end is not yet'; `all these are
the beginning of sorrows'. Second, positive - `Then shall the end come'. Before going further we must notice that
there are two words here translated `end'. In verse 3 it is sunteleia, in verses 6, 13 and 14 it is telos. The phrase
`the sunteleia of the age' occurs only in the Gospel of Matthew, whilst `the sunteleia of the ages' occurs but once,
viz., in Hebrews:
`The harvest is the end of the age' (Matt. 13:39).