Jesus uses an illustration from nature: just as when a fig tree starts to put out leaves indicates the coming of summer, so these signs Jesus has just predicted will indicate His imminent return. “This generation” Jesus is talking about is the generation that needs to endure through the tribulation, not the generation of Israel that Jesus is speaking to (they have already been told that they have been disqualified from the kingdom). That means from the signs of evidence to Jesus actual return will be swift. When the end comes, it will come quickly.

Even though the end will come quickly, no one knows exactly when it will happen except the Father. Even Jesus, in his veiled humanity, didn’t know. When Jesus does return, it will be unexpected by many. Just as in the day of Noah, many didn’t really think judgement would happen, unfortunately, many in the last days will behave the same way and be caught off guard.
Jesus adds two parables to illustrate his point. First, a homeowner who would stay awake to protect his house if he knew when a thief was coming. The other is about servants who were left in charge of their master’s house. Those who anticipate Jesus’ return will continue to serve Him faithfully, but those who lose sight of his return will begin to waiver in service and become irresponsible.

While this passage is clearly talking about end times, our time here on earth is also limited and the end of our lives could come at any moment. We must live in anticipation of Jesus’ return, or for us to be called home at any moment. Let us be found living faithful lives when that happens.

The abomination of desolation is going to be a major insult to the Jews. The Antichrist will set up an image of the beast in their future temple and then expect them to worship it. To worship an idol is an abomination to the Jews. How much more so in their own temple. The Jews are instructed to refuse to worship this image and instead to flee to the hills as fast as they can. There will be no time to turn back for anything. It will be especially difficult for mothers who are pregnant or nursing. They should also pray that it is not at a time that is even more difficult like during winter, or on a Sabbath (they would have to break the law to travel a great distance).

This will be the beginning of the Great Tribulation, the second half of the time of tribulation. This will be the most dangerous time in history the Jews will have ever faced (even worse than the Holocaust where six million Jews died). It will be so severe a time that the entire nation would be wiped out if by God’s grace He didn’t keep the time short, and He will keep it short for His elect, His chosen people, Israel. Many will attempt to deceive them by claiming to be the returning Christ. Jesus gave a warning beforehand that they are not to believe these false Christs. When Jesus returns, there will be no mistaking His arrival. The sign of His arrival will be across the heavens. The sun will darken, the moon will no longer give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven. When the sign is seen, all will mourn because their judgement has arrived. Then Jesus will come in the clouds and gather His people to Himself. Israel will be rescued.

When Jesus first arrived as a baby, people didn’t recognise Him because they hadn’t paid enough attention to what the Scriptures had prophesied. These are prophecies of events yet to happen, but they will happen. When Jesus returns, it won’t be as a baby or a suffering servant. When Jesus returns, He will return as King to rule as the Jews have anticipated all along. When that happens it will be too late. We need to tell people, the time is now, today is the opportunity to believe before it’s too late!

Jesus walks away from the temple having just abandoned it to judgement. The temple was the centre of Judaism, the symbol of Israel as a nation and an object of national pride. The disciples even point out it’s magnificence. But Jesus tells them that soon not one stone will remain on top of another—it will be completely destroyed. That was not just the destruction of a building but the destruction of the Jewish national way of life. Israel was left with no hope for the bright future the prophets had prophesied.

When the disciples asked Jesus about how and when this would happen, they were likely imagining the future when the current temple would be destroyed and Ezekiel’s Millennial temple would be erected in its place (Ezek 40-44). They imagined that this would all happen soon and in quick succession. The disciples are concerned about when the Kingdom age would begin and Messiah would deliver Israel.

Jesus addresses the disciples as representatives of the Kingdom age, not the church age. This is a message primarily for the Jews, not for us.

Jesus lays out the broad timeline of the tribulation, the return of Christ, and the regathering of Israel. Many of the events seem to be taking place today, two thousand years after Jesus spoke. But during the tribulation these things will magnify significantly. The tribulation will be a time of great difficulty for the believers at the time and only those who persevere through this trial and difficulty will be delivered, not from hell, but from physical death. Their endurance would not save them from hell, as that would be works-based salvation and salvation is always only by faith. Our salvation is assured because of the promise of God to save us and not on any effort on our part. Those who endure through the tribulation will be gloriously saved by Jesus as He returns. During the tribulation, this gospel “good news” that Jesus will rescue those believers who persevere and will usher in a kingdom of peace will be proclaimed throughout the earth, and then the end will come.

The even greater news is that us believers in the church age, which the disciples didn’t even realise was coming next, will be saved from even having to endure the tribulation at all. Who do you need to tell of the good news of Jesus before it’s too late?

Jesus continues to call woes on the Pharisees. He calls them whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but full of dead people’s bones and uncleanness on the inside. The Pharisees were focussed on an outward appearance of holiness through religious practice with hearts that were far from God.

Jesus’ final woe was that the Pharisees and scribes honoured the prophets through building monuments to them and saying that if they had lived in the times of the prophets, they would not have killed them. But Jesus tells them that in reality, they are not sons of the prophets but sons of the people who murdered the prophets. They outwardly show distress at how their ancestors treated the prophets but they are about to murder the One whom the prophets proclaimed. Jesus also predicts that the murder will not end with Him but also with those He will send, the NT prophets and apostles. The judgement laid on that generation was the accumulated guilt of the nation who had killed all the prophets from Abel (Gen 4:8) to Zechariah (2 Chr 24:20-22). Chronicles, as one book, was the last book of the Hebrew Scriptures, so these were the first and last recorded martyrs. Here Jesus was also affirming that the Old Testament Scriptures were correct. Israel was going to be held accountable for the murders of all the righteous from start to finish.

Then Jesus softens and laments, feeling sorry for Israel and how they have rejected all the prophets. He would have loved to have gathered the nation under His wing as a hen gathers her brood but they were not willing. It’s not that they were not able, they were not willing. Their sin was willful and rebellious. Now the temple “your house” was left empty as God removed Himself from the nation. Perhaps Jesus refers to the temple as “your house” (no longer “my Father’s house”) because it was a house of Christ-rejecters. But there is still hope because one day Israel will repent and a day will come when they stop seeing Jesus as the cursed one and see Him as the blessed one. Then He will return and set up His kingdom.

Does the inner condition of your heart match your outward actions? Are you living under the protection of God’s wing or are you out on your own in sin and rebellion. God’s grace is infinite and He stands ready to forgive and return you to the comfort and safety of His wing any time you are willing to repent.

Having warned the people about the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus now turns and addresses them directly with a number of woes.

The first woe is because they prevent people from entering the kingdom of heaven. As the spiritual guides of the nation, they were supposed to lead people to the kingdom. Instead in their own unbelief, they block others from the knowledge of the truth that would allow them to believe and enter.

The next woe was because they were passionate to create proselytes (converts to Judaism) but they just brought those converts under the influence of their corrupt doctrines. In their unbelief, they are destined for hell and then they raised up passionate followers who, trained in error, were also destined for hell.

Another woe was bestowed on them because of how they twisted their teaching about oaths. They taught that some oaths needed to be kept but others could be broken if worded carefully. If you swear by the altar, then that is not as serious as if you swear by the sacrifice on the altar. But Jesus pointed out that it was the altar that made the sacrifice sacred. It’s like a promise with my fingers crossed behind my back isn’t really a promise—no it’s not, it’s a lie, but it doesn’t magically make the promise invalid. Jesus said, “let your yes be yes and your no be no” (Mat 5:37). Mean what you say and say what you mean. Anything else is just manipulation and deserves a woe from Jesus.

The next woe was because their priorities were backwards. They focussed on the minutiae of tithing even the tiniest herbs from their gardens (Lev 27:30) but completely ignored the significant issues of the law like justice and mercy and faithfulness. They should have done both. If you decide you’re going to tithe 10%, then tithe 10%, not 99.9%. But don’t think that by giving exactly the right amount is going to magically cover over other areas of sinfulness. The Pharisees were so focussed on straining out the tiniest of unclean animals (the gnat) but then completely missed the fact that they swallowed a camel. Jesus uses exaggeration to show how they obsessed over avoiding the tiny sins while completely ignoring the large, obvious errors in their lives.

The Pharisees focussed on the external, doing whatever they could to show how spiritual they were. They took great care to follow all the external cleansing acts of religion while ignoring the cleansing of their hearts. Instead, their hearts were full of greed and selfishness. Are you concerned with outward conformity and looking like you’re doing all the right things while your heart remains hard and selfish? Or are you letting God really work on your inner character, to transform you into someone more like Christ, that will naturally flow to better outward behaviour?

Jesus turns to teach the crowd and His disciples. They have no doubt heard the questions and interrogation Jesus just went through. Jesus tells them that the Pharisees and scribes have the authority to teach the law of Moses and so their teaching should be followed. But He warned them not to act the way they did. They preached but then didn’t practice what they preached. They made life hard for people by making up religious requirements that far exceeded the requirements of the law but then didn’t follow it all themselves. The didn’t help others find the grace and mercy needed to make their burdens lighter. They lacked humility and did everything they could to be noticed by others. They had bigger phylacteries (little boxes that contained scriptures) and longer tassels on their prayer robes (to remind them of the 613 laws). They loved to sit in places of honour at feasts and sit in the best seats in the synagogues (probably on the platform facing the congregation). They loved being recognised and having the honourable title of rabbi when they were greeted in the marketplace. Instead, Jesus, said that we should be humble and remember that no one of us is above another. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ for we all have one Father in heaven. Jesus warned that we shouldn’t seek titles that elevate us but rather humble ourselves. Jesus concluded this section with a warning that whoever exalts themselves will be humbled but whoever humbles himself will be exalted (by God).

Bad, hypocritical teachers are no excuse not to obey God. God sometimes allows people like the Pharisees to lead the church and we are still to follow their teaching (provided it conforms to the Bible). Ultimately we are responsible for ourselves. We must choose to read and obey God’s Word. We must be humble. We must do what is right even if our leaders do not. Most importantly, if you ever have the opportunity to lead, you should not follow the negative example of the Pharisees.

When the Pharisees heard that the Sadducees had been silenced by Jesus, they get together and then send a lawyer with a question to test Jesus. He asks Jesus which is the greatest commandment of the Law. The Pharisees had counted 613 commandments in the Mosaic law divided into 248 positive and 365 negative and they debated which ones were necessary for salvation. Jesus answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” this is the great and first commandment and then He offers the second greatest, “you shall love your neighbour as yourself.” He points out that all the other laws are derived from these two. We can see this in the Ten Commandments where the first four deal with our relationship with God and the second six deal with our relationship with others. If you focus on your relationship with God, putting Him first, and then from that focus on your relationship with others, putting them all next (and yourself last) then everything else falls into place. Note that that is the complete opposite of how we naturally order our lives.

Now Jesus turns things around and questions the Pharisees. He first asks them whose son the Messiah will be. They answer that Messiah will be the son of David. The Old Testament prophesied that Messiah would be a descendent of David. Then Jesus quotes Psalm 110:1 and asks how it is that if Messiah is David’s son, then how is it that David addresses his son (his descendent) as Lord? How can He be Lord if He is his son? The Pharisees should acknowledge at this point that Messiah is divine and they have failed to recognise how great He, as Messiah, really is. As the ultimate son of David, Jesus is fully human, and as David’s Lord, Jesus is fully God.

We know in our heads that Jesus is Lord and that God is almighty. But in our attitudes and actions we sometimes let that slip and don’t put God first. Perhaps today you need to refocus on putting God first, others next, and yourself last?

The Pharisees were intentional in trying to trick Jesus so that He would be discredited as the Messiah. They begin with flattery in an attempt to get Jesus to let down His guard by calling him a teacher who teaches God’s way truthfully without regard to others’ opinions. Then they ask their carefully crafted question, “is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” The question is tricky because if He says it is lawful, then how can He be the Messiah who is to free Israel. If He says it is not lawful, then they can hand Him over to Caesar for treason. But Jesus is aware of their scheme and answers skilfully. He asks for a coin and then asks them who’s inscription and image was on the coin. They answer that it was Caesar’s and so Jesus tells them it is right to give back to Caesar what he owns. It is also right to give back to God what He owns (which is our life and all our possessions). A key part of our obedience to God is through obedience to our parents and our government even when it doesn’t suit us because God put them in authority over us (Eph 6:1; Rom 13:1).

Next, the Sadducees came to Jesus. They didn’t believe in the resurrection and so they too ask a question loaded to trick Jesus. They present a hypothetical question that is intended to show that the doctrine of the resurrection is illogical (and therefore false). They say that Moses taught that if a man dies without children [to inherit his land] that his brother should marry his wife and produce an heir for him. Their situation involves seven brothers who all die having married one woman in an attempt to produce heirs for their dead brothers. Now, if there is a resurrection, whose wife will she be? Jesus tells them they are wrong because they don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God. Their question was based on an aspect of Scripture but they didn’t know it well enough. Jesus points out that those who are resurrected will be like angels (spiritual) and will not marry or be married. Then He addressed their underlying problem by pointing to how the Scriptures (in their case, the Pentateuch, or first 5 books of the Bible) alluded to the resurrection when God said, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” (Ex 3:6) God said this after they had died using the present tense to show that He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living—the resurrected. It is important that you know the Bible well if you are going to avoid being led into error. Today people still use the same tactic to lead people astray. They point to some aspect of the Bible and then use logic to show that it can’t be true. Their supposed logic can often be refuted with a broader understanding of the Bible.

Jesus tells a third parable to the religious leaders. This is one compares the Kingdom of Heaven to a feast given by a king for his son. He sent his servants out to those who were invited but they did not come. This is likely the prophets of the Old Testament who were sent to Israel but they were ignored. Then the wedding feast was ready and he again sent out his servants with urgency to call those who had been invited. This probably refers to John the Baptist, Jesus, and the disciples who preached that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. Again the Jews had better things to do and the religious leaders reacted aggressively. The king was angry and sent his army to destroy the murderers and burn their city. The Romans invaded Jerusalem in A.D 70 and did just that. Then the king said that the wedding feast was ready but those invited were not worthy and so he sent them out to find as many as he could find. The Kingdom of Heaven was opened to the Gentiles and to all who would believe. This collecting of all they could find is the time we find ourselves in now—the church age. Those who are welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven are those “good and bad.” When the king came into the banquet and met his guests, he saw one man not wearing a wedding garment. He asked the man, “Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” The man was addressed as “friend” so we must assume he was a believer (he was at the wedding banquet). But he was not prepared with an appropriate garment, which means he had not done what was expected to enjoy the fullness of the kingdom. Instead he was thrown out into the darkness where he will mourn the fact that he is not able to enjoy the fullness of the banquet. Many are called to the blessings of ruling with Christ, but few are chosen. We must not only believe in Jesus for salvation, but also heed the call to obedience to Christ in order to receive the fullness that is on offer in heaven.

Jesus tells a second parable intended to reveal the spiritual condition of the religious leaders. The story was of a master who prepared a vineyard and then leased it out while he moved to another country. When the time came for the vineyard to bear fruit, he sent servants to collect his share of the fruit (rental). The tenants beat, killed and stoned his servants. He sent a second group and they did the same to them. Finally, he sent his son thinking they would respect his son. But when they saw the son they thought that if they killed the son, then they could take ownership of the vineyard (Jewish law stated that if an owner of property died with no heirs, then the occupants of the property could take possession of the property), so they killed him too. Jesus asked the religious leaders what they thought the owner of the vineyard would do to those tenants? The religious leaders know that the story is of grave injustice and that the owner of the vineyard would be right to avenge his son’s death and then lease his vineyard out to those who would rightly give him the fruit he is owed.

The vineyard was Israel (Ps 80:8-16). The Jewish leaders over the years were the tenants who were supposed to give God the fruit of repentance. Over the years God had sent His servants, the prophets, to call for the fruit but these servants were abused or killed (Matt 23:37). Finally, God had sent his Son, Jesus, and they are going to kill Him because they refused to repent. The result is that God was justified in executing judgement against the leaders and the nation and handing it over to a future generation of leaders.

Jesus then continues by referring to Himself as the cornerstone. The Jewish leaders rejected Him but He became the cornerstone of a new building, the church. The kingdom of God was opened to both Jews and Gentiles of which each believer becomes a living stone in the new temple of God.

The Jewish leaders were religious but unfruitful. God doesn’t want people making and following rules that have no affect on their hearts. God want’s people who have a heart change that begins with belief in Jesus and then continues through faith in Him every day to work in them and through them to produce the fruit of righteousness of lives lived for His glory. Which describes you, “religious” or “fruitful”?