In 29 A.D., Jesus is departing from the temple. He triumphs in all questions thrown at Him and provokes the audience’s disbelief as to how it is he knows so much.
Peter, Andrew, James, and John ask questions as they exit the temple. You’re tempted to say they are questions of who, what, when and where. But they are quite different due to their seriousness and can only be answered by Jesus due to his all-knowing knowledge of past, present and future.
You will recall that after Jesus’ resurrection, He was walking to a village called Emmaus which was from Jerusalem. There were others walking along, too, and recalling the crucifixion events and other extraordinary activities, who were also returning from the sepulchre and remembering what Jesus had told them as they were walking and talking about the events, communing together. Jesus Himself drew near and walked with them. They did not know it was He. (Luke 24:7-46)
He joined the conversation and said, “O fools, and slow of heart…ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.”
He is all knowing and sovereign in all His ways. He opened their understanding for them to understand the scriptures. He visited with them after His resurrection. He is now our resurrected Savior.
Before His resurrection, He was teaching and preaching in the temple. These two occasions in Matthew, Mark and Luke open His knowledge of two great prophecies. Exiting the temple, He began to answer their three questions. Jesus had been teaching publicly in the temple, answering questions of the Pharisees, elders, priests and others and questioning them about things which they knew not.
Then, He goes to the Mount of Olives. As they (Peter, Andrew, James, and John) are enjoying their Master’s victorious wisdom in teaching, they wanted to hear more. And His teachings arouse more curiosity for answers.
Jesus departing from the temple is confronted with the disciples’ admiration of the temple, its stones and ornaments and its consuming beauty. Jesus brings them into a new reality, directing their attention from the material into the spiritual eschatological future from then to the destruction of the temple and speaking about the signs leading to the consummation of the age and beyond to the actual end which they could not imagine!
Whatever it may have been, the disciples ask these three probing questions: (Matthew 24:3) (1) When shall these things be? (2) What the sign of thy parousia? (3) What (is the sign) of the consummation of the age?
Jesus unveils the future. He does it in such a manner that we can understand by taking a peek into the future, but also being able to look around and keep looking around to see just what is going on.
He does not leave us clueless. He gives us something to go on and to watch for least we are caught off guard, which he does not want to happen to us. We are given clear warning signs. We may not know the time exactly, but we can watch. [to be continued]
Thanks for reading! Jeanette Grattan Parker is the founder-superintendent of Today’s Fresh Start Charter School, 4514 Crenshaw Boulevard, L.A. 90043, 323-293-9826, www.todaysfreshstart.org, (Ask Dr. Jeanette TM) “Inquiring Minds Want to Know.” All articles are copyright. All rights reserved © Errors? Or Questions? Please let me know. Join Sundays for music and message at 11:30 a.m. by calling (712) 775-8971, code 266751. References: The Holy Bible and Matthew Henry Commentary.
