ISB ~ Matthew 24 v1 - 25

The Olivet Discourse is the final sermon of Jesus featured in Matthew (see outline for Matthew). Its purpose is to reveal events of the near and distant future. (1) Prophetically:Jesus foretells the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and the Temple that occurred in A.D. 70. His predictions about this catastrophe and the tribulations leading up to it are expressed in the apocalyptic language of the OT prophets, which is often cryptic and symbolic. The effect is to show that Jerusalem’s doom will be an event of world-shaking consequence in the divine plan of salvation. (2) Typologically: the devastation of the Temple, which stood as an architectural symbol of creation, anticipates the fiery dissolution of heaven and earth. This will occur at the end of time when Jesus comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead (2 Pet 3:10-13; Rev 20:11-15; CCC 585-86).