Matthew 24

Matthew 24 is the twenty-fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. It opens as Jesus leaves the Temple, having rebuked the scribes and Pharisees and lamented over Jerusalem in Matthew 23. Together with Matthew 25, this chapter is known as the "Olivet Discourse," so called because Jesus delivered this teaching on the Mount of Olives.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 As he leaves the Temple, Jesus declares that not one stone will be left upon another.
• Verse 3 On the Mount of Olives, the disciples ask when these things will happen and what will be the sign of his coming and of the end of the world.
• Verses 4–8 Jesus warns against being deceived by those who claim to be the Christ and says that wars, famines, and earthquakes are only the beginning of sorrows.
• Verses 9–14 He foretells persecution and the rise of false prophets, says that whoever endures to the end will be saved, and declares that the end will come after the gospel has been preached in all the world.
• Verses 15–22 He tells his hearers to flee to the mountains when the abomination of desolation stands in the holy place, and says that there will then be great tribulation.
• Verses 23–28 He warns against believing false christs and says that the Son of Man will come like lightning.
• Verses 29–31 After disturbances in the heavens, the Son of Man comes on the clouds, and the angels gather the elect.
• Verses 32–35 He gives the parable of the fig tree and says that this generation will not pass away until all these things are fulfilled.
• Verses 36–44 He says that only the Father knows the day and hour, and urges watchfulness, drawing on the days of Noah, the one taken and the other left, and the illustration of the thief.
• Verses 45–51 He contrasts the faithful servant with the evil servant.

Key Verses

• Matthew 24:14 "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world" — frequently cited as a verse linking mission and the end times.
• Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour knoweth no man" — cited as grounds for refuting claims that set a date for the Second Coming.

People and Places

• Jesus and the disciples
• Temple in Jerusalem — the Temple whose destruction Jesus foretold.
• Mount of Olives — a mountain east of Jerusalem.
• Daniel — mentioned as the prophet who spoke of "the abomination of desolation."
• Noah — appears in the illustration of the people before the Flood who did not realize what was coming.
• Judea — the southern region in which Jerusalem lies.

Interpretive Considerations

• Because Jesus' answers concerning the destruction of the Temple and concerning the end of the world are intertwined, interpretations differ. Some regard verses 15–22 and verse 34 as already fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, while others take them as referring to a future great tribulation. Still others read the two events as overlapping.
• Dispensationalism connects verses 40–41 with the Rapture. Others, pointing to the context of the Flood sweeping people away (verse 39), read these verses as a scene of judgment.
• The parallel passages to this chapter are Mark 13 and Luke 21.

In the Korean Church

• Since the 1992 rapture controversy surrounding the Dami Mission, verse 36 has been one of the texts most commonly cited in criticism of date-setting eschatology.
• Because certain groups are known to interpret verse 15 as a basis for their own doctrines, this chapter is frequently addressed in counseling resources on heretical groups.
• Churches that follow the Revised Common Lectionary read verses 36–44 on the First Sunday of Advent in Year A.