Olivet Discourse


The Olivet Discourse or Olivet prophecy is a biblical passage found in the Synoptic Gospels in Matthew 24 and 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21. It is also known as the Little Apocalypse because it includes the use of apocalyptic language, and it includes Jesus' warning to his followers that they will suffer tribulation and persecution before the ultimate triumph of the Kingdom of God. The Olivet discourse is the last of the Five Discourses of Matthew and occurs just before the narrative of Jesus' passion beginning with the anointing of Jesus.
In all three synoptic Gospels this episode includes the Parable of the Budding Fig Tree.
It is unclear whether the tribulation Jesus describes is a past, present or future event. Some believe the passage largely refers to events surrounding the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem and as such is used to date the Gospel of Mark around the year 70.

Biblical narrative

Setting

In the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, Jesus spoke this discourse to his disciples privately on the Mount of Olives, opposite the Temple. In Luke's Gospel, Jesus taught over a period of time in the Temple and stayed at night on the Mount of Olives. The discourse is widely believed by scholars to contain material delivered on a variety of occasions.
The setting on the Mount of Olives echoes a passage in the Book of Zechariah which refers to the location as the place where a final battle would occur between the Jewish Messiah and his opponents.

Destruction of the Temple

According to the narrative of the synoptic Gospels, an anonymous disciple remarks on the greatness of Herod's Temple. Jesus responds that not one of those stones would remain intact in the building, and the whole thing would be reduced to rubble.
The disciples asked Jesus, "When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Jesus first warns them about things that would happen:
Then Jesus identifies "the beginnings of birth pangs":
Next he described more birth pangs which would lead to the coming Kingdom:
Jesus then warned the disciples about the Abomination of desolation "standing where it does not belong".

Great Tribulation

After Jesus described the "abomination that causes desolation", he warns that the people of Judea should flee to the mountains as a matter of such urgency that they shouldn't even return to get things from their homes. Jesus also warned that if it happened in winter or on the Sabbath fleeing would be even more difficult. Jesus described this as a time of "Great Tribulation" worse than anything that had gone before.
Jesus then states that immediately after the time of tribulation people would see a sign, "the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken".
The statements about the sun and moon turning dark sound quite apocalyptic, as it appears to be a quote from the Book of Isaiah. The description of the sun, moon and stars going dark is also used elsewhere in the Old Testament. Joel wrote that this would be a sign before the great and dreadful Day of the Lord. The Book of Revelation also mentions the sun and moon turning dark during the sixth seal of the seven seals, but the passage adds more detail than the previous verses mentioned.

Two opposing interpretations

Within conservative, evangelical Christian thought, two opposite viewpoints have been expressed in a debate between theologians Kenneth L. Gentry and Thomas Ice.
;Tribulation as a past event
;Tribulation as a future event
In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus states that after the time of tribulation and the sign of the Sun, Moon, and stars going dark the Son of Man would be seen arriving in the clouds with power and great glory. The Son of Man would be accompanied by the angels and at the trumpet call the angels would "gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other".
Although most scholars, and almost all Christians, read this as meaning that the gathering would include people not only from Earth but also from heaven, a few Christians, mostly modern American Protestant Premillennialists, have interpreted it to mean that people would be gathered from Earth and taken to heaven—a concept known in their circles as the rapture. Most scholars see this as a quotation of a passage from the Book of Zechariah in which God are predicted to come to Earth and live among the elect, who by necessity are gathered together for this purpose.

Imminence

In the Olivet Discourse, Jesus stated that when all these signs are seen, the coming of the Son of Man would be imminent. He went on to say "this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place."
Historically, this has been one of the most difficult passages to resolve with a literal interpretation of the text. At face value it would seem to imply that the disciples would still be alive today. Awkward legends arose suggesting that the disciples to whom Jesus was speaking did not die but remain alive, eventually developing into legends like those of the Wandering Jew and Prester John. C. S. Lewis called this "the most embarrassing verse in the Bible".
The fourth-century church father John Chrysostom held this interpretation:
In the earliest known Christian document, the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, Paul seems to envisage that he and the Christians to whom he was writing would see the resurrection of the dead within their own lifetimes: "For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. " Some argue that the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians was forged, essentially for the sole purpose of contradicting the first epistle.
In modern times, a popular opinion is that Jesus in the Olivet Discourse is using the apocalyptic language of his time symbolically, as did many Jewish prophets. Nevertheless, throughout history there have been many groups who read the discourse literally. Christian thought continues to include groups who say that the end of the world is near, some even giving exact dates which have since come and gone without an intervening end of the world.

Interpretations

There are four quite different interpretations of. By far the more prominent are futurism and preterism. Futurism dominates the more conservative theological viewpoints at present, though preterism is seen in a resurgence.
One view is that the future Jesus predicted is the unfolding of events from trends that are already at work in contemporary human society. Another prophetic view is that all of these predictions were fulfilled by the time Jerusalem fell in 70 AD.

Idealism

The Idealist sees no evidence of timing of prophetic events in the Bible. Thus they conclude that their timing cannot be determined in advance. Idealists see prophetic passages as being of great value in teaching truths about God to be applied to present life.
Idealism is primarily associated with liberal scholarship, and is not a major factor in current evangelical Christian deliberation over when prophecy will be fulfilled.

Preterism

Preterism considers that most, if not all, prophecy has been fulfilled already, usually in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in 70CE.
Historicism considers that most prophecy has been or will be fulfilled during the present church age. It was the chief view of Protestants from the Reformation until the mid-19th century. Only among Seventh-day Adventists is historicism applied to current conservative Christian interpretation of Tribulation understanding.

Futurism

Futurism typically holds that all major unfulfilled prophecies will be fulfilled during a global time of catastrophe and war known as the Great Tribulation, in which many other prophecies will be fulfilled during or after the Millennium Reign of Jesus Christ. According to many futurists, many predictions are currently being fulfilled during the Church Age, in which lawlessness and apostasy are currently plaguing secular society. This is seen as a major sign of the approaching fulfillment of all other prophecies during the Tribulation. Within evangelical Christianity over the past 150 years, futurism has come to be the dominant view of prophecy. However, around the 1970s evangelical preterism—the polar opposite of futurism—was seen as a new challenge to the dominance of futurism, particularly within the Reformed tradition. Yet, futurism continues as the prevalent view for the time being.
Futurists anticipate many coming events that will fulfill all eschatological prophecy: the seven-year period of tribulation, the Antichrist's global government the Battle of Armageddon, the Second Coming of Jesus, the millennial reign of Christ, the eternal state, and the two resurrections.