Tuesday Contradictions: Matthew 24:14 — What Did Jesus Mean by "The End"? (Part 3 of 3)

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Hello again, everybody, and welcome back to the Bible Difficulties and Answers podcast.
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I'm your host, Lance Smith, and this is episode 290.
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Over the last two Tuesday Contradictions episodes, we've been tackling one of
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the most common skeptical arguments against Jesus.
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The objection is straightforward enough. Jesus predicted the end of the age
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during the lifetime of his disciples.
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The end didn't come. Therefore, Jesus was wrong.
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In Part One, we let the skeptics make their case. In Part Two,
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we slowed down and examined Matthew 10:23 in its immediate context,
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asking whether "the coming of the Son of Man" must refer to Christ's final return,
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or whether Jesus was using prophetic language similar to the Old Testament's
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descriptions of divine judgment.
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Today, we finally arrive at Matthew 24, the chapter driving this entire discussion.
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And if we misunderstand Matthew 24, it's easy to misunderstand everything else
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Jesus says about his coming.
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And in my opinion, this chapter explains why the entire discussion has generated so much disagreement.
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I'd like to begin with an observation from New Testament scholar D.A. Carson.
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Carson observed: "Few chapters of the Bible have called forth more disagreement
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among interpreters than Matthew 24."
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And again, I appreciate that honesty. If scholars who have devoted their lives
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to studying Scripture acknowledge the complexity of this chapter,
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then perhaps we should resist simplistic answers, whether they come from skeptics or Christians.
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That thought becomes even more important when we look at how Matthew 24 actually begins.
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Jesus has just predicted the destruction of the temple.
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The disciples are stunned. As they sit on the Mount of Olives, they ask him a question.
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Actually, they may ask three questions.
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Matthew 24:3 says this, "Tell us, when will all this happen?
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What sign will signal your return
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and the end of the world?"
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The Grace Communion International article, "Bible Prophecy: What Matthew 24 Tells
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Us About 'The End'" points out that the disciples appear to be asking about the
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destruction of the temple,
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Christ's coming, and the end of the age.
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Those are closely related questions, but not necessarily identical ones.
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That's a crucial observation, because if Jesus is answering multiple questions,
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we shouldn't assume every verse in the chapter refers to exactly the same event.
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Thomas Schreiner, writing in Themelios, in his article, "Can We Hasten the Parousia?"
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also emphasizes the importance of carefully distinguishing the issues raised in Matthew 24,
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rather than collapsing every reference to "the end" into one timeline.
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Now, let's come to today's verse, Matthew 24:14.
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Jesus says: "And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout
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the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come."
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Notice something. Jesus doesn't say: "Then I will return." He says: "Then the end will come."
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That raises an obvious question. The end of what?
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The end of Jerusalem? The end of the temple? The end of the age?
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Or does Jesus intentionally weave together events that are separated in time?
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Those are exactly the kinds of questions scholars have debated for generations.
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And sadly, those are the questions the Skeptic's Annotated Bible doesn't stop to explore.
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Another phrase deserves careful attention, "Throughout the whole world."
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The Greek word translated world here is oikoumene.
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In many first century contexts, that word referred to the inhabited world,
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the Roman Empire, rather than every square mile of the globe.
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Does that settle the question? No. But it reminds us that words must be understood
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the way their original audience would have understood them.
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The same is true of the phrase "all nations." Some scholars understand it as every people group on earth.
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Others emphasize the inclusion of the Gentile nations in contrast to Israel.
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Still others see both ideas developing as redemptive history unfolds.
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Again, notice what we're seeing. Not contradictions, but interpretive questions.
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There's an enormous difference. Now, let's talk about one verse every skeptic expects us to address.
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Matthew 24:34.
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Jesus says: "I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass from
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the scene until all these things take place."
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Critics often argue this settles the matter.
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If "this generation" means people standing there, and if "all these things" include
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Christ's visible Second Coming, then Jesus appears to have been mistaken.
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But that conclusion depends on two assumptions. First, that "all these things"
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refers exclusively to the Second Coming.
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Second, that Jesus has not shifted between near and distant events during his discourse.
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Those assumptions are precisely what's under debate.
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Many evangelical scholars, including D.A. Carson, Thomas Schreiner,
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Craig Blomberg, and R.T. France, argue that Jesus' discourse moves between the
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near-term destruction of Jerusalem and His ultimate return.
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Like many Old Testament prophecies, the discourse may telescope near and far
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events without always announcing the transition.
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Think of standing in the mountains. From a distance, two mountain peaks can appear side by side.
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Only when you begin walking toward them do you discover that miles separate
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them. Biblical prophecy often works the same way.
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The prophets see multiple events on the horizon. From the prophets' vantage
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point, the chronological distance between them isn't always obvious.
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And that analogy has helped me tremendously over the years. It reminds us that
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prophecy isn't primarily about satisfying our curiosity regarding timelines.
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It's about revealing God's purposes.
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So, where does all this leave the skeptic's argument?
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Here's where I land. I don't think the Skeptic's Annotated Bible has demonstrated
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a contradiction because it assumes every reference to Christ's coming in these
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passages refers to one identical event.
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That's precisely the assumption the biblical evidence and evangelical scholarship call into question.
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Wayne Jackson, Sean McGowan, Thomas Schreiner, D.A. Carson, While differing
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on some details, all urge readers to begin with context before drawing conclusions.
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And context changes everything. It changes how we understand "coming."
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It changes how we understand "the end."
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It changes how we understand "all nations." And it changes how we read "this generation."
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Does that mean that every evangelical scholar agrees? No, not at all.
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Some see more fulfillment in A.D. 70.
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Others emphasize future fulfillment.
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Some combine both.
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But here's the point. None of those orthodox views requires Jesus to have made a failed prediction.
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That's the real issue. Not whether Christians agree on every prophetic detail,
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but whether Jesus proved himself to be a false prophet.
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After studying the arguments from both skeptics and believers,
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I don't believe the evidence supports that conclusion. Quite the opposite.
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I think these passages reward careful, patient reading.
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They remind us that context matters, historical background matters,
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Genre matters, and perhaps most importantly, humility matters.
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And that's true whether we're reading a passage that seem easy or passages
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that have challenged Christians for nearly 2,000 years.
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Sometimes the hardest passages in Scripture don't simply test what we believe. They test how we read.
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So, let me answer the question we asked at the very beginning of this series.
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Did Jesus promise that the end of the world would occur during his disciples' lifetimes?
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My answer is no. I don't believe he did. I think the evidence shows that Jesus
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was speaking about more than one event in the Olivet Discourse.
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Some of his predictions concerning the coming judgment on Jerusalem,
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which did occur within that generation.
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Other statements point beyond A.D. 70 to his future visible return.
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Christians may disagree about exactly where those transitions occur,
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but that isn't the same thing as saying Jesus made a failed prediction.
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After studying both skeptical and evangelical scholarship, I don't believe the
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alleged contradiction holds.
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If you've listened to all three episodes in this series, I hope you've seen
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that Christianity doesn't ask us to ignore difficult questions.
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It invites us to investigate them honestly. And when we do, we often discover
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that what first looked like a contradiction turns out to be a much deeper invitation,
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to understand God's Word.
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If today's episode helped answer a question you've wrestled with or gave you
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something you can share with a skeptical friend, I hope you'll pass it along.
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Conversations like these are one of the reasons I started this podcast,
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and I'm grateful for every listener who shares an episode with someone else.
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If you'd like to support the podcast, you can do so at buymeacoffee.com/
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LanceSmith. As always, it's appreciated but never expected.
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You'll find every episode at BibleDifficultiesAndAnswers.Podbean.com.
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You can also find us on Facebook or email me anytime at BibleDifficultiesAndAnswers@gmail.com.
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I read every message and I genuinely enjoy hearing from you.
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This is Lance Smith wishing you good health, good study, and God's richest blessings.
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We'll see you next time. So long, everybody.