Matthew 24
The Olivet Discourse — Signs of the End
Matthew 24 (parallel: Mark 13, Luke 21) records Jesus's most extensive prophetic teaching, delivered on the Mount of Olives two days before his crucifixion. His disciples asked two questions: 'When will these things be?' (the destruction of the Temple) and 'What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?' Whether Jesus is answering one question or two — and where the dividing line falls — is the central interpretive dispute. The passage contains some of the most quoted prophetic language in the New Testament: wars and rumors of wars, the Abomination of Desolation, the Great Tribulation, and the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds.
Key Verses
"Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"
— Matthew 24:3
"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
— Matthew 24:14
"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (whoever reads, let him understand)..."
— Matthew 24:15
"For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be."
— Matthew 24:21
"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place."
— Matthew 24:34
"But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."
— Matthew 24:36
Birth Pangs (vv. 4-8): General Signs
Jesus describes false messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, famines, and earthquakes as "the beginning of birth pangs" (v. 8). These are not signs of the immediate end but of the entire age. All four views agree these signs have been present throughout history. The key question is whether they intensify dramatically in the final period before the end.
The Abomination of Desolation (v. 15)
Jesus quotes Daniel 11:31 and 12:11 — "the abomination of desolation, standing in the holy place." In AD 70, Roman general Titus allowed his soldiers to set up their eagle standards (idolatrous symbols) in the Temple courts and offer sacrifices to them — a desolating abomination. Futurists see this as a type pointing to a greater future fulfillment when the Antichrist will enter a rebuilt Temple and declare himself God (2 Thessalonians 2:4). The parenthetical "whoever reads, let him understand" suggests this is a key interpretive crux.
"This Generation" (v. 34) — The Key Interpretive Crux
"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place" (v. 34). This is the most debated verse in the passage. Preterists: "this generation" = the generation of Jesus's contemporaries (fulfilled AD 70). Futurists: "this generation" = the generation alive when the signs of vv. 15-28 begin (a future generation). Some futurists: "this generation" = the Jewish race, which will not pass away before all is fulfilled. The Greek word "genea" most naturally means a contemporary generation, which is the strongest argument for the preterist reading of at least part of the passage.