When Shall These Things Be?

Jesus/Yeshua makes a bold prophetic prediction during his ministry concerning the pride and joy of Jerusalem: the buildings of the second temple standing in the first century.

In Matthew 24 we read:

24 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. ² And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Clearly, Jesus/Yeshua is speaking to his disciples, who are physically in his presence, about structures that are physically standing at that time: the buildings of the second temple.

Parallel passages can be found in Mark 13:

13 And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here! 2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

And Luke 21:

⁵ And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, ⁶ As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Matthew goes on to say:

³ And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming¹, and of the end of the world²?

Mark reports it in this way:

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled³?

Luke says it this way:

⁷ And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass⁴?

These passages reveal his disciples, specifically Peter, James, John and Andrew, question him privately as to the timing of when the destruction of that site would come to pass. They also ask for a sign.

What Shall Be the Sign?

Notice, Matthew’s version of events says specifically, “what shall be the sign of thy coming presence (see note 1 below) and of the end of the world age (see note 2 below)”, whereas the other two accounts simply record them saying, what shall be the sign (or what sign will there be) when these things shall come to pass (or be fulfilled finished (see note 3 below))?”

Clearly the “these things” mentioned in the disciples’ first question, referring to the destruction of the second Temple buildings, identified in all three gospel accounts, are the same “these things” in the disciples’ second question asking for a sign recorded in Mark & Luke.

But what about Matthew’s account? He doesn’t ask for the same sign. He asks for “the sign of thy coming presence and of the end of the world age.” Is this different than the coming to pass of “these things”?

There are many within Christianity who have been led to believe that these particular signs that are being asked for are referring to a separate event that hasn’t happened yet, commonly referred to as “the second coming of Christ” and the passing away of heaven and earth.

However, at the conclusion of Jesus’/Yeshua’s reply to his disciples’ questions, according to all three gospel accounts, he vows “this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled (or done).”

In Matthew:

³⁴ Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled⁵. ³⁵ Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

In Mark:

³⁰ Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done⁶. ³¹ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

And in Luke:

³² Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled⁷. ³³ Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

And the gist of the text that falls between the disciples’ initial questions and these concluding words from Yeshua in all three of these gospel accounts is the same.

Therefore, I contend that “these things” and “thy coming presence” coupled with “the end of the world age” are indicative of the same thing: the destruction of the 2nd temple buildings, which was the final component of the Fall of Jerusalem, bringing to an end the Temple Era.

Here’s a video portraying what is thought to have happened to Jerusalem and the buildings of the second temple within her in 70 AD:

NOTES:
1 The Greek word translated here as “coming” is parousia (G3952), which means “presence”, and is translated as such elsewhere (see 2 Corinthians 10:10 and Philippians 2:12).
2 The Greek word translated here as “world” is aion (G165), which means “age”, coming from an obsolete primary noun, which apparently meant continued duration. Aion is where we get our English word “eon”.
3 The Greek word translated here as “fulfilled” is synteleō (G4931), which means “to end together or at the same time” or “to finish”.
4 The Greek word translated here as “come to pass” is ginomai (G1096), which means “to become”.
5 The Greek word translated here as “be fulfilled” is ginomai (G1096), which means “to become”.
6 The Greek word translated here as “be done” is ginomai (G1096), which means “to become”.
7 The Greek word translated here as “be fulfilled” is ginomai (G1096), which means “to become”.