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This Generation? - Resolving The
Olivet Discourse
It is ironic that Jesus' opening imperative in His
"Olivet Discourse" is "Take heed that no
man deceive you." This is His command, but it begs
a question of means: "How do we avoid that?"
There seems to be more conjectures and misunderstandings
over this passage than almost any other in the New
Testament.
The tools to avoid deception derive from a study of
epistemology: the study of knowledge - its scope and
limits. Our exploration of this passage will challenge
more than simply our hermeneutics alone. It will
challenge our grasp of the whole eschatological plan in
its entirety.
For many students of eschatology - the study of last
things - the so-called Olivet Discourse has proven to be
a troublesome passage, with many finding it confusing
and ostensibly self-contradictory; a hermeneutical
battleground between the dispensationalists and the
preterists, etc. The preterists insist that this passage
- and the Book of Revelation - has been already
fulfilled, and much of it is dismissed by them as simply
allegorical. Yet even those who embrace a dispensational
view have difficulty reconciling many of the Olivet
Discourse passages.
In optics, the resolving power of a telescope
determines its ability to distinguish between two close,
but distinct, stars. An apparent single star viewed with
a cheap telescope turns out to be a pair of distinctly
separate stars when viewed with a telescope of better
optical quality. This quality is known as the
"resolving power" of its optics.
We seem to have an analogous situation here. In this
case, we may benefit by setting aside our presumptions
and presuppositions and let the several texts speak for
themselves.
The traditional "harmonization of the
Gospels" is part of the problem. Ever since
Augustine, scholars have attempted to meld the four
distinct Gospels into a combined narrative. While this
can be useful for a cursory review of the life of
Christ, it can also result in a myopia of sorts and the
"Olivet Discourse" (recorded in Matthew 24,
Mark 13, and Luke 21) is a salient example.
Since Matthew was skilled in shorthand, we tend to lean
on his detailed rendering. And yet there seems to be a
substantial disparity between his record and that of
Luke's. Numerous elements appear identical in both
accounts, so it has been fashionable - for 1700 years -
to assume that they both deal with the same event.
Attempts to "harmonize" them have continued to
yield a treacherous minefield of confusion.
It seems that setting aside all of our presuppositions,
and simply trusting the integrity of the texts may
improve our "resolving power" in addressing
these passages.
Jesus called us to respect the details, so let's take a
closer look at each of them. They each may be focusing
on different events from a different perspective and
maybe even addressing different audiences on different
occasions. The similarities of expression in the various
accounts may have caused us to jump to premature
conjectures, etc.
Issues addressed in this DVD series include:
- Did the Destruction of Jerusalem referred to in the
Olivet Discourse happen in 70 A.D.? Or is it yet future?
- What is the “Abomination of Desolation”? When
did it happen? Or has it yet?
- Other issues include the Great Tribulation, the
parable of the fig tree, and which is the “generation
that shall not pass away...”?
DVD - Running Time 2hrs
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