MATTHEW 24:32-3632Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: 33So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 34Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. 35Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away. 36But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. (Matthew 24:32‑36).
“Now, learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet [already becometh] tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye: When ye shall see all those things, know that it is [or He is] near, even at the doors. Verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass [in nowise pass away] till all these things shall be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My word shall not [in no wise] pass away. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man [no one], no, not the angels of heaven [the heavens] but My Father only.”
Preliminary Remarks
IN the beginning of this chapter, the Lord Jesus, having spoken of the destruction of the Temple, when not one stone should be left upon another, the disciples ask Him when this should take place.
The Lord's answer to this question is not given in Matthew 23, nor in Mark 13, but in Luke 21.
In Matthew and in Mark the Holy Ghost records the Lord's prediction of the setting up of "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet," in the latter day, which is yet future.
But in Luke 21 is recorded the Lord's answer to the inquiry: What sign would be given when the temple and city should be destroyed?
The answer is: "When ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh." "And they shall fall by the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." A prediction fully accomplished in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and in the present condition of Israel.
The seven parables which follow these predictions present truths connected both with the LORD'S return for the Church, and also His manifestation as SON OF MAN to the world, in their variety and perfection. Before considering these parables, it may be well to apprehend the position in which the disciples of the Lord then stood.
They formed part of the remnant of Israel then, who received Jesus as their promised Messiah, when the rest of the nation rejected Him. As such they represent the remnant of Israel in the latter day, who, after the removal of the Church, and previous to the manifestation of the Lord in glory, will confess Him.
But the Lord was about to build His Church (Matt. 16:1818And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:18)), and these disciples were to be among the first living stones built therein, and as such they represented the Church. Thus, personally, they receive instruction both for the remnant and for the Church.
We now proceed to the consideration of the first of these parables, that of
The Fig Tree.
When, in early spring, the rising of the sap in the fig tree causes the branch to become tender, and the leaf to appear, this is an indication of the approach of summer.
In like manner, when the things predicted by the Lord appear, either in preparation or accomplishment, the evidence is given, either that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh to receive His Church (Luke 21:2828And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)), or, as in the case of the remnant, that the kingdom is about to be established.
The increasing spirit of inquiry in the Jewish mind, and the softening down of their ancient prejudices, together with "the signs of the times" among the Gentile nations, manifesting the ripening of principles, which will be fully developed in the last days, all these admonish the disciples of Christ to stand on their watch with lamps lit and loins girt, as men that wait for their Lord, because they "see the day approaching.”
The word "generation" here, as in other places, may be taken in a two-fold sense; that is, either literally or morally. The things predicted by the Lord, in Luke 21., concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, and the dispersion of Israel, took place about thirty-seven years after, namely, anno domini 70. This was literal fulfillment.
Also, it is here intimated that Israel, nationally, will continue the same unbelieving, Christ-rejecting generation, until they look on Him whom they have pierced, and mourn for Him. Thus, morally, the generation will not have passed away until ALL these things be fulfilled.
The words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ on earth bear upon them the stamp of Divine authority and eternal truth. He spake in the world those things which He had heard from His Father, who Himself had given Him commandment what He should say and what He should speak.
The heavens and the earth came into being through Him, the eternal Word; by Him all things consist, and He upholdeth all things by the word of His power; the heavens and the earth shall pass away, but His words endure forever. They are words of infallible certainty, more stable than the pillars of heaven, and more enduring than the material universe, To the natural mind they are often mysterious, deep, and perplexing; the divine, eternal Spirit can alone infallibly interpret them to the understanding and make them spirit and life in the experience of the soul.
One of the last utterances of the Lord Jesus to His disciples, ere He was taken from them and carried up into heaven, was: "It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power;" and the language of the Holy Spirit, by Paul, to the Thessalonians, was: "Yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord [that is of Jehovah] so cometh as a thief in the night." Whether it be the time when the Bridegroom will come to receive His Church, or when the Son of Man will come to establish His kingdom, both are alike secrets kept in the Divine mind, neither known to angels nor among the truths communicated to the Son of Man to make known on earth (Mark 13:3232But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. (Mark 13:32)). Can it be right, then, to take certain prophetic predictions, first to turn days into years, thus changing the words of Scripture, and then fixing on certain starting-points to calculate years and days and hours As often as this has been done in the past, have not facts falsified the calculations?
The attitude in which the Lord left His Church was that of expectancy, with the command to watch, not for events and dates, but for Himself. To the Church, as His body and His bride, the one object of the heart's expectation and desire is the coming of the Bridegroom; and to the disciple, the coming of the Lord and Master, to estimate and reward his work. Hence the language of the Lord, speaking of His return, is ALWAYS in the present tense. He puts no interval between His going and His coming again. "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I come again"—not I will come again—"and will receive you unto Myself" (John 14:2, 32In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2‑3)). "He that testifieth these things saith: Surely I come quickly. Even so, come, Lord Jesus" (Rev. 22:2020He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22:20)).