The Olivet Discourse Series

37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him. (Luke 21:5-38)

Introduction

New Testament scholar Earle Ellis said that the Olivet Discourse “has been the subject of more scholarly debate than perhaps any other passage in the Gospels.” That is because Jesus spoke in prophetic terms and also because future prophetic language sometimes had multiple fulfillments. That is what is going on in the Olivet Discourse. Some of Jesus’ statements had a near prophetic fulfillment, and some of his statements had a distant prophetic fulfillment.

Because of the complexity of Jesus’ teaching on the Mount of Olives, which we call the Olivet Discourse, I am simply going to highlight a few aspects of the passage. Perhaps one day I shall return to the Olivet Discourse and do a detailed and in-depth study of it.

Lesson

The analysis of the Olivet Discourse in Luke 21:5-38 teaches us that Jesus is coming again and has given us signs that ought to make us pray and get ready for his coming to establish his kingdom.

Let’s use the following outline:

1. The Disciples’ Observation (21:5)

2. Jesus’ Response (21:6)

3. The Disciples’ Questions (21:7)

4. Jesus’ Teaching (21:8-38)

I. The Disciples’ Observation (21:5)

First, notice the disciples’ observation.

As I mentioned previously, Jesus and his disciples were leaving the temple in order to go to the Mount of Olives. They were walking together, and some of the disciples were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings (21:5). Mark records the conversation as follows, “And as [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’” (Mark 13:1).

The temple about which the disciples were speaking was not the original temple. It was a temple that Herod the Great (37–4 BC) decided to refurbish as part of a national reconstruction program. Commentator Darrell Bock said, “The refurbishing started in 19 BC and continued for over eighty years, not being completed until 63–64 AD, just a few years before the city [of Jerusalem] and the temple fell.”

Herod’s temple was stunning in its beauty. It was one of the most beautiful buildings in the ancient world. The ancient historian Josephus described the temple as follows:

The whole of the outer works of the temple was in the highest degree worthy of admiration; for it was completely covered with gold plates, which, when the sun was shining on them, glittered so dazzlingly that they blinded the eyes of the beholders not less than when one gazed at the sun’s rays themselves. And on the other sides, where there was no gold, the blocks of marble were of such a pure white that to strangers who had never previously seen them (from a distance) they looked like a mountain of snow.