The Olivet Discourse

Sermon on the Significance of Life and Death

(Jn 12:20-50)

²⁰Some that went up to worship at the festival were Greeks. ²¹They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, “Sir, we’d like to see Jesus.”

²²Philip went and spoke to Andrew, and the two of them spoke to Jesus.

²³Jesus answered them,

“It’s time to honor the Son of Man. ²⁴Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it’s all there is. But if it dies, it yields a lot of grain. ²⁵Whoever loves his life will lose it, and whoever looks on past his life in the world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶If anybody serves me, he needs to follow me, and he’ll be where I am. If anybody serves me, the Father will honor him.

27“I’m torn now: Will I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this

is why I came to this hour. ²⁸Father, honor your name.”

A voice came out of the sky, “I’ve honored it, and I’ll honor it again.”

²⁹The crowd standing there heard it and said it had thundered.

Others said, “An angel spoke to him.”

³⁰Jesus responded, “That voice didn’t come so much for my sake as yours. ³¹Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. ³²If I’m lifted up from the ground, I’ll draw everybody to me.” (33He said this to indicate how he would die.)

³⁴The crowd responded, “We’ve heard out of the law that Messiah is forever. How do you say the Son of Man has to be lifted up? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”

³⁵Jesus said, “The light’s still among you for a little while. Walk while you have it so darkness doesn’t overtake you. A person that’s walking in the dark can’t tell where he’s going. ³⁶While you have light, believe in it so it will enlighten you.” Jesus said all that, and went away and hid.

³⁷Despite doing so many signs in front of them, they were not believing in him—38as in the words of Isaiah the prophet,

“LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT, AND

WHO HAS THE ARM OF THE LORD BEEN REVEALED TO?” [Is 53:1]

³⁹Here’s the reason they couldn’t believe: Isaiah said again,

⁴⁰“HE BLINDED THEIR EYES, AND

HARDENED THEIR HEART,

SO THEY COULDN’T SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND

UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART, AND

BE CONVERTED, AND

I WOULD HEAL THEM” [Is 6:10].

⁴¹Isaiah said this because he saw Messiah’s glory and talked about him. ⁴²Nevertheless a number even of the rulers did believe in him, but because of the Pharisees they didn’t admit it, and get excommunicated from membership in the synagogue. ⁴³They loved honor from men more than honor from God.

⁴⁴Jesus shouted,

“Whoever believes in me doesn’t just believe in me, but in the One that sent me. ⁴⁵Whoever sees me sees the One that sent me. ⁴⁶I’ve come to the world as a light so nobody that believes in me will be in the dark. ⁴⁷I don’t condemn anybody for not keeping what he hears me say. I didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save it. ⁴⁸Whoever rejects me has something that does condemn him in the end: the message I’m delivering. ⁴⁹I haven’t spoken on my own. The Father has told me what to say. ⁵⁰I know what he says leads to eternal life; so I say what he told me to say.”

The Olivet Discourse

(Mt [10:17-22a] 24:1-51; Mk 13:1-36; Lk 21:5-36)

24:1Jesus was leaving the temple when his disciples came to show him the buildings of the temple complex. One disciple said, “Rabbi, look at the wonderful buildings that are decorated with beautiful stones and memorial gifts.”

He said, ²“See these things? The time’s coming when these great buildings will not be left here one stone on another.”

When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Rabbi, tell us when this will happen, and what will show that it’s about to happen? ³What will be the sign that you’re coming and the end of the age.”

Jesus told them,

⁴“Make sure nobody deceives you. ⁵Many will come, saying, ‘I’m the Messiah,’ and, ⁸‘The time has come,’ and they’ll deceive lots of people. Don’t follow them.

⁷“When you hear about wars and reports about wars and rebellions, don’t panic. They need to happen, but that’s not the end yet. ⁸Nation will attack nation and kingdom will attack kingdom. There’ll be famines and violent earthquakes in various places, ¹¹and plagues, dreadful events, and great signs from the sky.

⁹“Be on guard yourselves. They’re the beginning of labor pains. Before all this, they’ll persecute you and arrest you. They’ll make trouble for you; they’ll flog you in the synagogues, and deliver you up to the courts and prisons. ¹⁶Friends, relatives, and parents will betray you, and put some of you to death. Nations will hate you. You’ll stand in front of governors and kings to testify to them and the nations. ¹³Those times will provide opportunities for you to testify. ¹⁰The good news needs to reach all the countries first.

¹¹“When they arrest you and deliver you up, be determined not to prepare your defense ahead of time. Don’t worry about how or what you’ll say. I’ll give you what to say at the time and wisdom that none of your opponents can argue with. You’ll not be the ones speaking; it’ll be the Holy Spirit of your Father speaking in you. Not a hair of your head will perish.

¹⁰“Many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. ¹²Brother will betray brother to death, and father will betray child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹¹“Many false prophets will arise and deceive people. ¹²Since lawlessness will increase, many people’s love will grow cold. ¹³But, the one that endures to the end will be saved. ¹⁹You’ll gain your life by enduring.

²⁰“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies and ¹⁵‘the abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place, positioned where it shouldn’t be [reader, understand], ¹⁶people in Judaea need to flee to the hill country. ²¹People in the city need to leave; the ones in the countryside must not go in the city. ²²This is a time of revenge to fulfill the scriptures. ²⁴This people will fall by the sword and be taken captive into the nations. Gentiles will trample Jerusalem underfoot until the times of the Gentiles are over.

¹⁷“Whoever’s on the housetop must not go down to pick up things from his house. ¹⁸Whoever’s in the field must not go back to get his cloak. ¹⁹Woe to the ones that are pregnant and nursing babies then! ²⁰Pray that your flight won’t happen in winter or on the Sabbath. Great distress will come on the land and wrath on this people. ²¹That time will be the worst ever—from the beginning of God’s creation till now or will ever be. ²⁹If the Lord hadn’t shortened it, nobody would have survived. But, because of the chosen ones, he has shortened it.

²³“Be on guard. I’ve told you all this ahead of time.

“As I said before, ²³then if anybody says, ‘Here’s the Messiah,’ or, ‘There’s the Messiah,’ don’t believe it. ²⁴False messiahs and false prophets will arise and give great signs and wonders that could deceive, if possible, even the chosen ones. [²⁵] ²⁶If people tell you, ‘He’s in the desert,’ don’t go out. ‘He’s in private quarters,’ don’t believe it. ²⁷As lightning flashes from the east to the west, that’s the way the actual coming of the Son of Man will be. ²⁸Where the carcass is, the buzzards will gather.

²⁹“Immediately after that tribulation, ²⁵there’ll be signs in the sun, moon, and stars:

the sun will grow dark,

the moon won’t shine,

stars will fall, and

the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

³⁰Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. ²⁵There’ll be distress among the nations, in despair at the roaring of the sea. ³⁰All the tribes on earth will mourn. ²⁶People will faint from fear and foreboding over what’s coming on the world. ²⁷People will see ‘THE SON OF MAN COMING ON A CLOUD [Dan 7:13] with great power and glory.

²⁸“When these things start to happen, look up; your deliverance is on its way. ²⁷He’ll send out his angels to gather the chosen ones from every direction, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

28“Take a lesson from a fig tree or any tree. As soon as its branches become tender and sprout leaves, you see it for yourselves and know summer’s coming. ²⁹The same way, when you see these things happening, you know God’s kingdom is near—at the door. ³⁰They’ll take place in this generation. Earth and sky will pass away, but what I say won’t pass away.

³⁶“But nobody knows about that day and hour, not the angels in heaven, not the Son of Man, only the Father. ³⁷As it was in Noah’s day, it will be when the Son of Man comes. ³⁸In the time before the flood, people were eating and getting married till Noah went in the ark. ³⁹They didn’t realize what was going to happen till the flood came and carried them all away.

“That’s the way the coming of the Son of Man will be. ⁴⁰Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. ⁴¹Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and the other left.

³⁴“Be on guard so pleasures, drunkenness, and the cares of life don’t make you insensitive, and that day comes on you unexpectedly ³⁵like a trap. It’ll come on everybody on earth. ³⁶Stay alert all the time. Pray so you’ll be strong enough to get away from everything that’s coming, and to stand in front of the Son of Man.

³⁴“Be like a man that’s leaving on a trip, and gives each servant the authority to do his job, and commands the doorkeeper to be alert. ³⁵Watch, because you don’t know when the lord of the house will come back—in the evening, at midnight, at rooster crowing, or in the morning; ³⁶so if he comes suddenly, he won’t catch you sleeping.

⁴³“Do know this: if the homeowner had known in what watch the thief would come, he would’ve been on the alert and wouldn’t have let him ransack his house. ⁴⁴So you be ready too; the Son of Man will come when you least expect it.

“⁴⁵Who then is the smart and faithful servant that his master has put in charge of feeding his household on time? ⁴⁶Blessed is the servant whose master finds him doing that when he comes. ⁴⁷He’ll put him in charge of everything he owns. ⁴⁸But if an evil servant says to himself, ‘My master won’t be coming for a long time’; ⁴⁹and he starts abusing his fellow servants and eating and getting drunk with drunkards, ⁵⁰his master will come on a day he doesn’t expect, at a time he doesn’t know, ⁵¹and he’ll severely punish him and assign him a place with hypocrites. There’ll be bitter crying and gnashing of teeth there.

³⁷“What I’m saying I’m saying to all of you. Watch!

The Parable of the Ten Virgins

(Mt 25:1-13)

25:1“The kingdom of heaven at that time will be like ten virgins that took their lamps to meet the groom. ²Five were foolish, and five were wise. ³When the foolish took their lamps, they didn’t take any oil along. ⁴The wise took along some oil in flasks with their lamps. ⁵The groom was slow coming, and they all got drowsy and went to sleep. ⁶At midnight the shout came, ‘The groom! Come out to meet him!’ ⁷Then those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps.

⁸“The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

⁹“The wise said, ‘No, there won’t be enough for us all. Go to the dealers and get your own.’ ¹⁰While they were gone, the groom arrived. The ones that were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was locked. ¹¹Later, the rest of the virgins came, ‘Lord, lord, open the door.’ ¹²But he answered, ‘I don’t know you.’ ¹³So, be alert, because you don’t know the day or the hour.”

The Parable of the Talents

(Mt 25:14-30)

¹⁴“The kingdom of heaven is like a man about to leave on a trip. He called his servants and entrusted them with things he owned. ¹⁵He gave five talents to one, two talents to another, and one talent to another—according to their abilities. ¹⁶At once the one that received five talents traded with them and earned five more. ¹⁷The one that received two talents did the same thing and earned two more. ¹⁸But the servant that received one talent dug a hole in the ground and hid his lord’s talent.

¹⁹“After a long time the lord came back and settled accounts with them. ²⁰The one that had received five talents came with five more, “Lord, you entrusted me with five talents; I’ve earned five more.’

²¹“‘Well done, good, dependable servant. You were dependable in a few things; I’ll put you in charge of many. Enter your master’s joy.’

²²“The one that had received two talents came up, ‘Lord, you entrusted me with two talents; I’ve earned two more.’

²³“‘Well done, good, reliable servant. You were reliable in a few things; I’ll put you in charge of many. Enter your master’s joy.’

²⁴“But the servant that had received one talent came up, ‘Lord, I knew you were a hard man. You reap where you didn’t sow and gather where you didn’t scatter. ²⁵I was afraid and hid your talent in the ground. You have what’s yours.’

²⁶“‘You wicked, lazy servant. You knew, did you, that I reap where I don’t sow and gather where I don’t scatter? ²⁷You should’ve taken my money to the bankers. When I came back, I would’ve received back what was mine plus interest. ²⁸Take the talent away from him and give it to the one with ten. ²⁹Everybody that has will receive more; but the one that doesn’t have will lose even what he does have. ³⁰Throw the worthless servant out in the dark. There’ll be bitter weeping and gnashing of teeth out there.

Discussion of the Final Judgment

(Mt 25:31-46)

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory with the angels, he’ll sit on his glorious throne. ³²The nations will be in front of him, and he’ll separate them like a shepherd separates sheep from goats. ³³He’ll put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. ³⁴The king will say to the sheep on his right, ‘Come, you blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you since the founding of the world. ³⁵I was hungry, and you gave something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a foreigner, and you gave me a place to stay. 36 I needed clothes, and you gave me some. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’

³⁷“Then good people will say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a foreigner and give you a place to stay, or needing clothes and give you some? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and take care of you?’

⁴⁰“The king will answer, ‘When you did it for one of these least brothers of mine, you did it for me.’

⁴¹“Then he’ll say to the ones on the left, ‘Go, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²I was hungry, and you didn’t give me anything to eat. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me anything to drink. ⁴³I was a foreigner, and you didn’t give me any place to stay. I needed clothes, and you didn’t give me any. I was sick and in prison and you didn’t take care of me.’

⁴⁴Then they’ll say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty, a stranger, needing clothes, sick, or in prison, and not help you?’

⁴⁵“He’ll answer, ‘Since you didn’t do it for one of these least brothers, you didn’t do it for me either.’ ⁴⁶Those will go away into eternal punishment, but the good people into eternal life.”