Signs of Christ's Return

The Imminence of Christ's Return
by
John MacArthur
All Rights Reserved

(A copy of this message on cassette tape may be obtained by calling 1-800-55-GRACE)
Matthew 24:32-35    Tape GC 2372

Introduction

The great hope of every Christian is the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says we are those who love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8). We are those who are "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ" (Titus 2:13). Paul said we eagerly await "the glory which shall be revealed in us" (Rom. 8:18). We await "the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8:19, 21), "the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:23), and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 1:7). Every believer looks forward to the day when the saints will judge the world (1 Cor. 6:2). We will all be changed (1 Cor. 15:51), and death will be forever defeated along with sin (1 Cor. 15:54). Someday we will be presented as a chaste virgin to Christ, who is our bridegroom (2 Cor. 11:2). We long for the day when we shall be absent from the body and present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). When He appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is (1 John 3:2).

The theme of the second coming permeates the New Testament. Our souls were redeemed at the cross, and we look forward to the second coming, when our bodies will be redeemed and we enter into the fullness of our salvation. When Christ returns, Satan will be defeated. The curse will be lifted. All the saints will be glorified, Christ will be worshiped, and creation will be liberated. Sin and death will be conquered. The Lord's second coming is a real event that will take place in history just as His first coming did.

There are many passages of Scripture that discuss the Lord's second coming, but Matthew 24--25 is without equal because it's Jesus' own sermon on His return. So far we have learned about the signs that will precede the second coming and about the abomination of desolation. Jesus knew that the disciples were wondering about how much time would pass between the beginning of the birth pains to when He establishes His kingdom on earth. So to summarize what He had just said and make a transition to answering the disciples' next question, He gives the parable of the fig tree in verses 32-35 of Matthew 24.

The Purpose of Parables

In Matthew 13:10 the disciples ask Jesus, "Why speakest thou unto them in parables?" He answers in verse 11, "Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them [the Jewish religious leaders and the multitudes] it is not given." Thus parables have a twofold purpose: when they are not explained they veil certain truths, and when they are explained, they made those truths clear. As Jesus Himself said, parables hide things from the wise and prudent of this world and reveal them to babes (Luke 10:21).

Once you recognize that Jesus spoke in parables to enhance the disciples' understanding and not to confuse them, then you also realize that they aren't difficult to understand. Jesus used them to teach simple truths. You don't need to have a special study Bible or go to seminary to decipher parables. The disciples didn't have much to go on when they heard the parables, and you can understand them just as they did. That's especially important to know for the parable of the fig tree because it's frequently interpreted as an obscure allegory as opposed to a straightforward analogy. Our Lord didn't intend to complicate the disciples' understanding of the truths about His return.

Lesson

I. AN UNCOMPLICATED ANALOGY (v. 32)

"Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When its branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near."

An analogy about a fig tree was easy for the disciples to understand. Fig trees were around them everywhere; they were familiar with them. In fact, earlier that morning Jesus had taught the disciples a lesson by using a fig tree (Matt. 21:18-22). The Lord saw a fig tree with leaves but no fruit, and taught the disciples about fruitlessness and prayer.

Christ wasn't the first teacher to use a fig tree in His teaching. Jotham the son of Gideon used a fig tree to illustrate a point in Judges 9:10-11. In Hosea 9:10, figs were used to speak of the patriarchs. Jeremiah used baskets of figs to speak of good and bad people (Jer. 24:2). Joel 1:7 uses a fig tree to teach a spiritual lesson. In the book of Revelation we read that during the tribulation, the heavens will collapse just as figs fall from a fig tree when a strong wind blows (Rev. 6:13). So the Israelites' familiarity with the fig tree made it ideal for illustrative purposes.

A. The Exhortation

Notice that when Jesus taught the parable of the fig tree, He began by saying, "Now learn a parable" (emphasis added). He wanted the disciples to get the point of His analogy. The Greek word translated "learn" (manthano) speaks of learning something thoroughly--of acquiring a habit. Paul used a form of that word in Philippians 4:11, where he said, "I have learned, in whatever state I am, in this to be content." He didn't learn about contentment on a superficial level; it became ingrained in his life. Likewise, Jesus wanted the disciples to fully grasp the lesson He was teaching in the parable of the fig tree.

B. The Examination

In Matthew 24:32 Jesus says, "Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When its branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near." When the tree first buds, you know it's spring. That means its almost time to harvest the fruit.

1. The picture

"When its branch is yet tender" refers to when the sap in the tree begins to flow through the branches at springtime, causing them to become tender and swollen. The new life pulsating through the branches produces buds that will become fruit. And because the branches are tender, the tree needs to be cared for. So Jesus was saying that when spring comes, that means summer is near, and summer is harvest time.

2. The principle

Whenever Christ spoke about harvests in the New Testament, He referred to the time when He will return to separate the good from the bad--when He returns to the earth in judgment. John the Baptist said, "I, indeed, baptize you with water unto repentance, but he who cometh after me [Christ] is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire" (Matt. 3:11). The fire refers to judgment. In the previous verse we read that any tree that doesn't bring forth good fruit will be cast into the fire. Verse 12 adds that Christ will sift the good from the bad--just as wheat is sifted from chaff--and the chaff will be burned with unquenchable fire.

In Matthew 9:36, we read that the Lord was moved with compassion when He looked upon the multitude, seeing they "were faint, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd." He said, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest" (vv. 37-38). Jesus saw the world as a harvest, knowing that one day God would bring judgment upon men. And He desired that some people would be sent into the world to warn men of God's impending judgment.

In the parable of the wheat and the tares, Jesus taught that the tares (false believers) are to be allowed to grow with the wheat (true believers) until the harvest--the time of judgment. He said, "In the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.... As, therefore, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this age. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them who do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 13:30, 40-42).

So in the analogy of the fig tree, when Jesus said harvest was near, the disciples knew what He was talking about.

II. AN UNMISTAKABLE APPLICATION (vv. 33-34)

A. The Parallel (v. 33)

"So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors."

The phrase "so likewise ye" links the parable to the application Christ is about to present. Just as summer is imminent when a fig tree shoots forth leaves, so is the second coming imminent when the disciples "see all these things."

1. How will we know when Christ's return is imminent?

"All these things" refers to everything Christ just talked about: the birth pains in verses 4-14, the abomination of desolation in verse 15, the need to flee because of the Great Tribulation in verses 16-28, and the stellar events of verses 29-31. All those things will signal the nearness of Christ's return, just as a tree with new shoots signifies that summer is coming.

2. What will be near when Christ's return is imminent?

Jesus was referring specifically to God's kingdom when He said, "When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near" (emphasis added; c.f. Luke 21:31). When man's age comes to an end, the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be established on this earth. The millennial kingdom of Revelation 20:4-5 will become a reality. Christ will reign with His redeemed saints for a thousand years on the earth. Satan will be bound during that time. Israel will be preserved from her enemies and become servant to the most high God. Zechariah 8:23 says, "In those days ... ten men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you." Gentiles will seek the true God in the millennial kingdom.

Jesus ended verse 33 by saying, "Know that it is near, even at the doors." That's how close His return will be--so near that it's as if He were knocking on a door about to be opened.

B. The Promise (v. 34)

"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled."

What generation was Jesus talking about? Which generation will not die off before all the events of Matthew 24 come to pass? Various theologians throughout the ages have offered many different answers.

1. The composition

a) Who the generation isn't

(1) The disciples

(a) The "Jesus was wrong" theory

Some people think Jesus was saying, "You disciples will not die before the second coming." But that couldn't be what the Lord was saying because all the disciples have been long dead and Jesus has not yet returned. Those who still say "this generation" refers to the disciples think Jesus was wrong. They say Jesus obviously didn't know everything because He said, "That day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels who are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" (Mark 13:32).

What Jesus was really saying in Mark 13:32 is that in His incarnation--in becoming God in human flesh-- He chose not to know when the second coming would be. It's one thing to chose not to know something and another to say something that's not true. In His incarnation, Jesus may have restricted His knowledge, but He certainly didn't start propagating lies. Those who say Jesus simply made a false statement in Matthew 24:34 encounter another problem: If Jesus was wrong there, how can they believe anything else He said? At no time did Jesus ever say anything that wasn't true (Heb. 4:15). Thus it is unreasonable to believe that the phrase "this generation" refers to the disciples.

(b) The  A.D. 70 theory

There are some people who say that "this generation" refers to the disciples, and that the events of Matthew 24 were fulfilled at the destruction of Jerusalem in  A.D. 70. Many commentaries teach that view.

However, one must beware of confusing the destruction of Jerusalem in  A.D. 70 with the second coming of Jesus Christ. At the beginning of Matthew 24, the disciples clearly asked Jesus what would be the sign of His coming. They didn't ask about when the Romans would come. And when Christ answered the disciples, He told them about the signs preceding His return.

Another problem with this view is that many of the events described in Matthew 24 didn't happen in  A.D. 70. The sun and moon were not darkened; the stars didn't fall out of heaven (v. 29). Christ hasn't yet returned to gather the elect from the four corners of the earth (v. 31). There hasn't been mourning from all the tribes on the face of the earth (v. 30). The war in Jerusalem in  A.D. 70 was between the Romans and the Jews--there weren't nations rising against nations (v. 7). There weren't earthquakes and pestilences all over the world on a scale never before known (v. 7).

Those who want to say the events of Matthew 24 took place in  A.D. 70 say that Christ's teaching was only symbolic and that those events weren't supposed to happen literally. They say that Christ was only trying to emphasize the horrors of the destruction of Jerusalem. However, there is no good reason to believe that Jesus didn't mean exactly what He said.

(2) The Jewish race

Some people believe Jesus was referring to the Jewish race when He said "this generation." That's because the Greek word translated "generation" (genea) can be used to speak of a kind of people or a race. According to this view, Christ was saying, "The Jewish people will not die off until all these things come to pass." He would have been predicting the survival of the Jewish race until the second coming.

It's true that the Jewish people will survive until the second coming. But that's not a good interpretation of verse 34. If Jesus were talking about the Jewish race, it seems to me He would have said so. It would be off- handed for Him to refer to the covenant people as "this generation" when He could have said, "My people will not pass away until all these things be fulfilled." And, there was no question in the minds of the disciples that the Jewish people would survive until the second coming. They knew the Jewish people would survive because they trusted the lasting nature of God's covenants with them. That's not even an issue in the context.

(3) Those who reject Christ

Some people think Jesus was saying, "Those who reject and hate Me will be around until the second coming." The Greek word translated "generation" (genea) can be used in that way. In the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is sometimes used to mean "this evil generation" and "this righteous generation." However, that interpretation is not consistent with the context of the passage or with what was uppermost in the minds of the disciples. They weren't concerned about whether evil people would survive up to the second coming or not; they were asking when the second coming would be and what signs would precede it.

(4) The nation of Israel

Many people believe the fig tree in Matthew 24:32 is Israel. They say the bursting forth of leaves represents the beginning of Israel's statehood in 1948. However, there's no way the disciples would have perceived His teaching that way. Remember that Jesus was teaching the parable to make things clear to them. For the new growth on the tree to refer to what happened in 1948 would be too obscure.

It's not logically consistent to conclude that the life pulsing through the fig tree refers to the statehood of Israel. That would be to say that there is new life in Israel. The nation was already alive physically, so the new life would have to be spiritual. But Israel is a very secular nation today, so we can't say the new life represents a spiritual revival.

b) Who the generation is

The view most compatible with the context of the passage is that when a fig tree's branches are tender and it puts forth leaves, judgment is near. Those who see the signs in verses 4-28 should know that the Lord's return is near. The new leaves on the fig tree are analogous to the signs preceding the second coming. The phrase "this generation" clearly refers to the generation that is alive at the time those signs are fulfilled. Jesus was saying, "The generation that sees the signs of the second coming will not pass away until I return." That was Jesus' answer to the disciples' question of how much time would pass between the sign of His coming and His actual return. So once the birth pains begin (Matt. 24:8), everything else will happen in rapid succession. Elsewhere Scripture specifies that the tribulation will last for seven years (Dan. 9:27--each week in Daniel's seventy- week prophecy is seven years long). It's a time period known as Jacob's trouble (Jer. 30:7). In the book of Revelation we learn that the worst part of the tribulation will be during the last three and a half years (12:14), which is 1,260 days (11:3) or forty-two months (13:5). Jesus referred to that period as the Great Tribulation (Matt. 24:21). It's beginning will be marked by the abomination of desolation (Matt. 24:15-21).

2. The chronology

Who will be a part of the generation that is alive during the tribulation and the second coming?

a) The post-tribulation view

Some say the Christians alive before and during the tribulation will be present at the second coming. They think the rapture will occur after the tribulation--that we will meet the Lord in the air and then immediately return with Him to establish His kingdom.

b) The pre-tribulation view

Others believe the church will be raptured before the tribulation, spend those seven years with the Lord, and come back with Him when He returns to set up His kingdom. That's the view I hold to.

Will the Church Go Through the Tribulation?

Let me explain why I believe those who are Christians now will not be a part of the generation that will be on earth when Christ returns.

1. The location of the church in the book of Revelation

The church is the theme of Revelation chapters 2--3. Our Lord expressed concern for the purity of the church and wrote to seven churches in Asia Minor. He ended chapter 3 by saying that He stands at the door and knocks. His second coming is inevitable, and He wants people to be ready for it.

In Revelation chapters 4--5, we read that the church is in heaven. Then in chapter 6, the tribulation breaks out. Chapters 6--18 details the whole story of the tribulation, but not once do we read about the church being on earth or what it should do during the tribulation. The absence of the church in Revelation 6--18 is significant, especially when you consider it was on earth in chapters 2--3 and then was in heaven in chapters 4--5.

2. The lack of instruction regarding the tribulation

Nowhere in the New Testament are there any instructions about how the church is to endure the tribulation. Nor is it mentioned when Christ taught about the tribulation in Matthew 24. When I refer to the church, I mean those who are Christians from the time of Pentecost to the rapture. There will be Christians alive during the tribulation, but they will be people who are saved after the tribulation begins. Anyone who is a Christian prior to the tribulation will be raptured with the rest of the church. The only church that appears on earth during the tribulation is the false church, the religious system known as Babylon, which will be destroyed by God (17--18).

3. The futility of a posttribulational rapture

First Thessalonians 4:17 describes the rapture: "We who are alive and remain shall be caught up ... to meet the Lord in the air." It would be pointless for the rapture to happen at the end of the tribulation. Why would Christ have us meet Him in the air if He's already on His way down?

4. The dilemma of who will populate the kingdom

When the Lord comes, the Bible says He will destroy all the wicked (Rev. 19:20-21). If the posttribulation view is correct, the only people left will be those who are already glorified because all the believers will have just been raptured. But the Bible tells us children will be born during the tribulation (Isa. 11:6-8; 65:20). Since those who are glorified won't have children, where will those children come from if the wicked are gone and everyone raptured at the end of the tribulation is glorified? Those children have to come from somewhere. In fact, they will produce a group of people who will rebel against Christ at the end of the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:7-9). This is not a problem if the church is raptured at the beginning of the tribulation, only those saints will be glorified, and those who become saved during the tribulation won't be glorified beings in Christ's kingdom. They will be able to bear children and populate the kingdom.

5. The promise to spare Christians from future wrath

God addresses believers in Revelation 3:10, saying, "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." The phrase "keep from" (Gk., tereo ek) can be translated "outside." God was saying that He will keep the saints outside of "the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world." I believe that's a promise to all Christians that they will be rescued from the tribulation. The phrase tereo ek literally means, "a state of continued existence outside." Thus the church won't be raptured in the middle of the tribulation, as some say. Nor will it be kept within the tribulation. Tereo en means to exist within, but Revelation 3:10 uses tereo ek, meaning we will exist outside the hour of temptation.

6. Jesus' plan to take believers to His Father's place

In John 14:3 Jesus says, "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." Christ is preparing a place for us in glory, and He will come to take us there with Him. But if the rapture takes place at the end of the tribulation, we won't be able to go to that place to be with Christ. We would meet the Lord in the air, and return to the earth with Him immediately. However, Christ said He wants for us to be where He is, and that's where we will go when we are raptured before the tribulation. We will stay there until we return with Him to set up the glorious kingdom on earth.

7. The distinction in the purpose of the church and Israel

In Jeremiah 30:7 the tribulation is known as "the time of Jacob's trouble." That's when God will go back to dealing with Israel. In Romans 11:17-24 we read that Israel is like a branch broken off from a tree, and that God grafted the church in its place. But there will come a time when the church is cut off and Israel is grafted back in (vv. 23-24). God isn't working through the nation of Israel today, but there is coming a time when He will deal with her again. In the seventy-week prophecy of Daniel 9, the church doesn't appear in the first sixty-nine weeks, and there is no reason for it to be around in the seventieth week (the tribulation).

8. The concern of the Thessalonians

The Thessalonian church was sad because they thought those who had died would miss the rapture. Paul corrected that mistaken notion by saying, "I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them who are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope.... For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them who are asleep.... the dead in Christ shall rise first" (vv. 13, 15-16). That the Thessalonians were sad shows they expected to be raptured before the tribulation. Had they thought the rapture was after the tribulation, they would have been happy for their dead brethren, thinking, "Those who are dead are lucky. We have to go through the tribulation." The Thessalonians were expecting to be with Christ in glory. They weren't expecting to have to endure the tribulation and the Antichrist. That's consistent with the hope we all have as Christians--we await the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (Tit. 2:13).

Differences Between the Rapture and the Second Coming

At the rapture, the church will meet Christ in the air (1 Thess. 4:17). At the second coming, Christ will return to the earth with the church (Rev. 19:1). At the rapture, the Mount of Olives will remain intact; at the second coming, it will be split open (Zech. 14:4). At the rapture, believers will be transformed (1 Cor. 15:52), and at the second coming, no one will be transformed. At the rapture, the world will not be judged. Instead, sin will become worse as the tribulation progresses. At the second coming, sin will be judged and the world will become better (Rev. 19:17-21). The rapture could happen at any moment; the second coming will be preceded by some very definite signs. The rapture concerns only the saved; the second coming concerns the saved and the unsaved. Thus the two events are distinct and are separated by a definite time period.

The phrase "this generation" in Matthew 24:34 refers to those who are left on the earth after the rapture because they weren't Christians. During the tribulation 144,000 Jewish evangelists will witness for God all over the world (Rev. 7:4). They will bring many Jews and Gentiles to Christ. In fact Revelation 7:9 says that so many Gentiles will be saved, they can't be counted (Rev. 7:9). Those who become saved after the rapture and those who remain unsaved throughout the tribulation will witness the signs of Christ's coming. They will be the generation that does not die off until all the events of Matthew 24 come to pass.

III. AN UNCHANGING AUTHORITY (v. 35)

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away."

In Luke 16:17 Jesus says, "It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail." In Matthew 5:18 He says, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no way pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." John 10:35 says, "The scripture cannot be broken." All that the Word of God says will happen will indeed come to pass.

Are you ready for the events of the future? Will you be raptured with the Lord's people and go into His presence, or will you be left to endure the holocaust that follows? If you aren't a believer, you aren't ready for Christ's return. If you are a Christian, Peter has these important words for you: "Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness" (2 Pet. 3:11). We are to be looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and growing in grace.

Focusing on the Facts

1. What is the hope of every Christian? Support your answer with Scripture (see p. 1).

2.Explain the purpose of Jesus' parables (see p. 2).

3.When fig trees start sprouting new leaves, that's a sign the harvest is near. What did Christ use harvests to illustrate in the New Testament (see p. 3)?

4.What was Jesus talking about when He said, "When ye shall see all these things" (Matt. 24:33; see p. 4)?

5.In the phrase "know that it is near," what does it refer to (Matt. 24:33; see p. 4)?

6.How do we know the disciples aren't the ones Jesus was referring to in Matthew 24:34 (see pp. 5-6)?

7.What are the problems with saying that "this generation" refers to the Jewish race or to those who reject Christ (see p. 7)?

8.To whom does the phrase "this generation" refer (see p. 8)?

9.Define the post-tribulation and pre-tribulation views of the rapture (see pp. 8-9).

10.What evidence in the book of Revelation gives support to the pre- tribulation view of the rapture (see p. 9)?

11.Scripture says there will be children in the millennial kingdom. What view of the rapture makes that possible, and why (see p. 10)?

12.How might the Thessalonians have reacted to the death of their brothers and sisters in Christ if they thought the rapture was after the tribulation (see p. 11)?

13.In what ways are the rapture and the second coming distinct from one another (see pp. 11-12)?

14.What was Christ communicating in Matthew 24:35 (see p. 13)?

Pondering the Principles

1. Read Matthew 9:36-38. How did Jesus respond when He saw the multitudes? Why did He respond that way (v. 36)? What command did He give to the disciples in verse 38? Do you express the same feeling toward the lost that Jesus did? It's easy for some Christians to keep their distance from unsaved people because they're unsure of how much interaction they should have with unbelievers. Read Matthew 9:10-13. Why did Jesus interact with sinners? His words in Matthew 9:37, "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few" should motivate us to have compassion toward the lost. Seek every opportunity to bring unbelievers to Christ. Start by opening lines of communication with them.

2.In Matthew 24:35 Jesus says, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." God's Word will outlive the universe. Read Psalm 19:7-11, and meditate on the great truths about God's Word in that passage. How do those truths affect you?

3.Read 2 Peter 3:10-12. Those verses remind us that only things of a spiritual nature are lasting. The world as we know it will someday be destroyed. Memorize 2 Peter 3:11, and let it be a reminder to you of the priorities and focus you should have in all that you do: "Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness" (NASB).

Added to the John MacArthur "Study Guide" Collection by:

Tony Capoccia
Bible Bulletin Board
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Email: tony@biblebb.com
Online since 1986