An Introduction to The Olivet Discourse
This prophecy, commonly known as the Olivet Discourse, was imparted by the Messiah to His disciples were walking toward the Mount of Olives. The disciples were discussing the grandeur of the Temple
An Introduction to The Olivet Discourse
This prophecy, commonly known as the Olivet Discourse, was imparted by the Messiah to His disciples were walking toward the Mount of Olives. The disciples were discussing the grandeur of the Temple. However, the context surrounding the question actually begins in chapter 21. It was the week of Passover, and Jesus was riding on the colt of an ass into Jerusalem known as “the Triumphal Entry.” The scene was fit for a King, and the crowds were recognizing Him as their king.
Messiah went into the Temple and taught for three days. His subject, as always, was The Kingdom of Heaven. He began this series of teachings in the Temple ending with the final lesson on the Mount of Olives. This is how it is recorded in Matthew and is perhaps the author’s view of shortening the events to highlight the teaching. Luke, however, records the teachings at two different times. So Messiah must have given the teachings more than once.
This discourse, or conversation, occurred in the context of 1st century Temple worship in Judea, under the rule of the Roman Empire. In Jewish literature, of the 1st century before Jesus’ birth, there is evidence of a great expectation for the coming Messiah and His kingdom. These teachings presented a grand view of the universal acceptance of His rule and the political power of the people of Judea. That all mankind, could become the children of the Heavenly Father was lost to them. The Law being written on our hearts, a new spirit of forgiveness and righteousness, were not perceived by these same Jewish expositors. They had misunderstood the figurative language of the prophets, instead their interpretations where woodenly literal. The Messiah’s reign was seen as subjugation of the nations, with the Jewish people receiving all the wealth and power. It was nationalism injecting itself into theology. They saw nothing of the repentance, spiritual growth, and universal mercy that Messiah actually came to teach. They did not understand Isaiah’s teaching that His house would become a house of prayer for ALL peoples/nations. [Is 56:6-7] They missed the “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”[Luke 2:10]
The lesson to be learned from these ancient Jewish expositors, is to not fall into the same mistake of egocentric hermeneutics; a common mistake of interpreting any passage of Scripture. Egocentric hermeneutics has at its’ core a certain amount of disregard for the historical grammatical context of a passage. This comes from the idea that the Bible was written to us. However, this is a simplified way of thinking that is not quite right. It was not in fact written to us, but rather it has been preserved for our benefit and use by those to whom the books were written. There is wisdom to be learned in all of Scripture, but not every passage is directed to us.
The Olivet Discourse was written in a time and place not our own and much of it is addressed to actual people in the 1st century, not to us. We are reading the writings, as it were, of someone else’s mail. The Olivet Discourse was also delivered most likely in Aramaic, or possible Hebrew, but certainly not in 21st century American English. That makes it incumbent upon us to understand how they understood what was written down. Their phrases and idioms were quite different from ours. Think of it, if someone were to tell you that we had a new toy that was hotter than a little red wagon and going to sell like hot cakes? Would you think we were taking about wagons or pancakes? All languages works like this. They are full of odd expressions and unfamiliar terminology. The Bible is no different. It does no good to say one interprets the Bible literally, if one does not account for these language, culture and historical oddities. The disciples understood the geography and immediate history intimately, as they walked the land and witnessed events around them. The questions the disciples asked at that time, are not what we would ask 2000 years after the event.
Correct understanding of the prophecy depends on correct Hermeneutics, or what rules of interpretation one uses. We are Historicist, a.k.a. the Historical Protestant Interpretation. Most