This evening, I want to take another week to step away from the book of Ezekiel. Instead, I want us to look at what Jesus was doing during the final week of Passover—the evening before the events began that would lead to His arrest, the false accusations against Him, the illegal trials, and ultimately His condemnation to death, His crucifixion, His burial, and His resurrection.
As we mentioned on Sunday, Jesus had been speaking with His disciples, telling them about the events that were to come. However, they did not grasp the magnitude of what He was saying. They still believed that He was about to establish His kingdom at that time.
If you turn to Matthew’s Gospel, we’ll briefly look at a portion of chapter 24 before focusing primarily on chapter 25 this evening. Jesus was on the Mount of Olives with His disciples. It was drawing near to evening, and they were looking out over the city of Jerusalem.
If you’ve ever seen pictures from the Mount of Olives, you know it lies east of Jerusalem, with the Kidron Valley between the mount and the eastern side of the city. From there, you can see the old city gate. In Jesus’ day, Herod’s Temple stood there, and from the Mount of Olives, it would have been clearly visible.
The disciples were amazed at the temple—its buildings and its beauty. We see this at the beginning of chapter 24, where they draw Jesus’ attention to it. The Scripture says:
And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
This would have been shocking to the disciples. The temple was magnificent. The stones were massive. Even today, the Western Wall—which is actually a retaining wall, not part of the temple itself—contains enormous stones designed to hold the structure in place. Some of the foundation stones, visible through tunnels, are unbelievably large.
These stones had been quarried and transported up to the Temple Mount. In addition, Herod had adorned the temple with gold, much like Solomon had done with his temple—using gold, silver, and bronze extensively.
So imagine the scene: the sun beginning to set, its light reflecting off the gold-covered temple. It would have been breathtaking. And yet Jesus tells them that not one stone will remain upon another. This must have been deeply unsettling, especially since they believed He had come to establish His kingdom.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
This brings us into the teaching of chapter 24. I want to briefly summarize it, since we’ve studied it before, and not go verse by verse. My goal is to move toward another portion of His teaching.
Jesus explains the signs of the times. One major sign is the rise of false Christs and a great departure from the faith—apostasy. These things signal that the end is approaching, though it has not yet arrived.
He also speaks of wars and rumors of wars—nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom. The Greek suggests not just political conflict, but ethnic and cultural conflict—people groups against people groups. We see this today across the world.
Jesus says these are only the beginning of sorrows—the birth pangs leading up to what is coming.
Then, in verse 29, He speaks of events following the tribulation, referring to His second coming, when He will establish His kingdom. This will occur at the end of the Great Tribulation—the final portion of Daniel’s 70th week.
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
However, Jesus then shifts into another discussion, including parables, where He appears to reference a different event—one that many believe points to the rapture.
In verse 32, He gives the parable of the fig tree, often understood to represent Israel. He says that when it begins to put forth leaves, we know that summer is near. In the same way, when we see these signs—including Israel coming back into prominence—we know the time is near.
32 Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
Then He says something important:
36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.
This cannot refer to His second coming, because that timeline can be calculated once the tribulation begins. Instead, this points to something else—something whose timing is unknown. This aligns with the rapture.
He compares it to the days of Noah. People were eating, drinking, marrying—going about life as usual—until the day Noah entered the ark. They did not believe judgment was coming, despite Noah preaching for many years.
When Noah entered the ark, it was the Lord who shut the door. At that moment, the opportunity for others ended.
In the same way, many today live without regard for God. But there will come a moment—unknown to us—when the Lord gathers His people, just as He preserved Noah.
Jesus then gives another example: the faithful householder. He says that if a man knew when a thief would come, he would be prepared. In the same way, we must always be ready, because we do not know when the Lord will come.
This brings us into chapter 25, where Jesus gives the parable of the ten virgins—a teaching centered around a Jewish wedding.
To understand this, we need to understand the structure of a Jewish wedding, which had three parts:
First, there was the agreement, where a dowry or purchase price for the bride was established.
Second, there was the betrothal period—a binding commitment, much more serious than modern engagement. Though not yet living together, the couple was considered committed as if married.
During this time, the bridegroom would return to his father’s house to prepare a place for his bride. He would not tell her exactly when he would return—she was to always be ready.
Finally, the bridegroom would come—often unexpectedly, even at night—to take his bride. They would then enter the wedding feast.
In the parable, ten women are waiting with torches to meet the bridegroom. Five are prepared, bringing extra oil. Five are unprepared.
When the bridegroom arrives at midnight, the prepared are ready and go in with him. The unprepared are not ready and miss the moment.
The lesson is clear: it is not about whether they slept—all of them slept—but whether they were prepared.
When the door went shut, no one else was coming in. What happened with Noah? When the door went shut, no one else was going in. Very similar thing.
The people on the outside, everybody else, all of a sudden it starts to rain during the time of Noah, and they’re going, what he said is true, let us in, let us in. And God’s going, you didn’t have time for me then. I don’t know who you are.
The bridegroom goes, I don’t know who you are out there. I can’t see who you are. There’s no torch showing me your face.
I don’t know you. And I won’t open the door. This is a very serious thing because really what it is, is do we really understand what it is to be prepared and walk with God and be prepared for His return at any time? Because he says, no man knows the hour of the day except the Father.
And he says that we are to be prepared just like a homeowner, if he knew that the thief was going to break in, he’d be prepared. So he’s saying you should be prepared because you don’t know when the thief is going to break in. And you don’t know when I’m going to come, so you should always be prepared.
But there’s a whole bunch of people today that say they’re Christians that really mock Jesus and don’t really want to be prepared. They say, well I’ll get to heaven, but they don’t want to be prepared to meet Him. And they don’t have any oil for their lamps.
And really a lot of Bible scholars, some Bible scholars believe that the oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit in our life. That the ones that had the oil are those believers that have the Holy Spirit because they’re true believers. The other ones are professing to be believers, but they have no oil.
The Spirit of God doesn’t dwell in them. And so they’re really not God’s children. And they’ll be left on the outside looking in.
And so this is a serious thing. And it’s something that the church needs to take more serious today as you look at this and look at what Jesus gave as a warning. He said in verse 13, Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.
Now I said I wanted to look at John chapter 14 in light of this just to show you that Jesus also talked to His disciples and relayed to them what the situation was between those who believed in Him, His disciples, and Him. So if you go to John chapter 14, in John chapter 14 the disciples, they’re getting ready to celebrate the Passover. And His disciples, He’s told His disciples again what’s going to happen.
And they’re concerned because what are they going to do? They’ve been with Him for three and a half years. And yet now He says, I’m going to leave you. And what are we going to do? Well, in chapter 14 He says, Let not your heart be troubled.
Ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would not have told you.
I go to prepare a place for you. He’s using the same visual example that He used with the ten versions of a wedding. He’s the bridegroom.
They’re the bride. He’s going and He says, Don’t be worried. The bridegroom would tell the bride, Don’t be worried.
I’m not going to leave you. I’m going to come back. But I’ve got to go and prepare a place for you.
And Jesus is saying, I’m going to my Father. And He’s prepared a place for you. And I shall return.
Just like the bridegroom told his bride, I shall return. And Jesus is telling His disciples. He’s telling us this same thing.
Then He goes and He says, And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. He’s paid the price for the bride. The bridegroom paid the dowry for the bride.
He’s not going to just leave her and abandon her. He’s going to come back for her. Jesus paid the price with His own blood, our dowry that we could be redeemed and be His bride.
And He’s saying, I’m not going to leave you. I’m going to come back for you. Just as the example of the wedding feast that He gave with the ten virgins.
And He goes on and He says, And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. And whither I go you know, and the way you know. Now, they weren’t certain.
Thomas saith unto Him, Lord, we know not whither Thou goest, and how can we know the way? If we don’t know where You’re going, how can we know the way when we don’t know and You’re going to leave us? How are you going to know the way? Jesus said unto him, Now listen, He says, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by Me. I am the bridegroom of this wedding.
I’m going to come and get My bride, and no one knows how to get to the Father unless I bring them. Just like the Father tells the bridegroom, Go get your bride. And the bridegroom brings his bride to the wedding feast with the Father.
That’s what Jesus is going to do with us. And He’s saying, If you don’t know the way, look to Me. Because I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father but by Me. And no one can get to Him but by Me. And He says, If ye had known Me, ye should have known My Father also.
From henceforth ye know Him and have seen Him. And Philip said unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. That’s what he’s saying.
Just show us God, the Father, and then we’ll be satisfied. What does Jesus answer to him? He says, Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long with you? And yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself, but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.
Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth upon Me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go to My Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
If ye shall ask anything in My name, I will do it. And he’s showing us here the intimate relationship that we have with God the Father through Him, and that He hasn’t abandoned us. He’s going to come back for us.
He’s got a place for us. But in the meantime, He will work through us. And the pictures that he’s given of a Jewish wedding feast are amazing because it helps us to understand and see from the impact of a human relationship, which is a much deeper relationship, with God the Father through the Son, and our relationship is through the Son, that He comes as our bridegroom.
We are His bride to take us home. I believe that this is showing us too that the rapture is real. The Apostle Paul talks about the rapture in 1 Corinthians 15, also in Thessalonians.
He talks about the rapture. And he talks in chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians how we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and be transformed, and that the Lord is going to come for His bride, the church. So, I trust that you will understand that as Jesus is meeting with His disciples this last week, they’re concerned.
They don’t know what’s going to happen. He keeps talking about the fact that He’s leaving us, and He’s talking about the fact that He’s going to be put to death. And there’s real concern there.
And so they’re asking Him, Well, we thought you were going to establish a kingdom. When’s it coming? And if you’re leaving, when are you going to come back for us? And He tells them these parables. He tells them the events.
And He reveals the fact that they have nothing to worry about because He’s with them, and His power will flow through them, and one day He shall return for them. Let’s just close in prayer. Lord, I pray that You just help us to understand these things.
Help us to be prepared. Lord, may we be wise. May we have oil for our lamps.
May our torches not go out. And Lord, may we show forth our love for You. This we ask in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
If you’ve never trusted in the risen Christ, today is the day. The empty tomb is not just history—it’s an invitation to eternal life.