Q: In Matthew 23:36, Jesus predicts that the world will end within the lifetime of his listeners. Obviously that did not happen. So isnt this verse an example of a false prophecy?
A: No, because Jesus is not predicting the end of the world here in Matthew 23:36. (Perhaps the SAB-objector was thinking about part of the discourse in chapter 24.) Jesus does not mention the end of the world in Matthew 23:34-39. He *does* say in v. 34 that He will send prophets, wise men, and scribes, and that the Jewish leaders will kill and crucify some of them, and scourge others, and persecute them from city to city, and in v. 35, He says that as a result, the Jewish leaders will make themselves accomplices, with their prophet-persecuting forefathers, in the crime of slaying the righteous, and will be judged by God as Cains and priest-murderers.
Then Jesus gets specific in 23:37-39, stating that although Jesus had frequently desired to gather the children of Jerusalem together to Himself, the unwillingness of the Jewish leaders to heed His call has resulted in the abandonment of their house -- i.e., the House of the Lord (the Temple) is now to be considered merely the house of men. The things which Jesus predicts in 23:34-36 came to pass when Jerusalem was destroyed, and this was within the lifetime of listeners. (Not that every single one would have lived to that point, but certainly some would be expected to.)
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
A: No, because Jesus is not predicting the end of the world here in Matthew 23:36. (Perhaps the SAB-objector was thinking about part of the discourse in chapter 24.) Jesus does not mention the end of the world in Matthew 23:34-39. He *does* say in v. 34 that He will send prophets, wise men, and scribes, and that the Jewish leaders will kill and crucify some of them, and scourge others, and persecute them from city to city, and in v. 35, He says that as a result, the Jewish leaders will make themselves accomplices, with their prophet-persecuting forefathers, in the crime of slaying the righteous, and will be judged by God as Cains and priest-murderers.
Then Jesus gets specific in 23:37-39, stating that although Jesus had frequently desired to gather the children of Jerusalem together to Himself, the unwillingness of the Jewish leaders to heed His call has resulted in the abandonment of their house -- i.e., the House of the Lord (the Temple) is now to be considered merely the house of men. The things which Jesus predicts in 23:34-36 came to pass when Jerusalem was destroyed, and this was within the lifetime of listeners. (Not that every single one would have lived to that point, but certainly some would be expected to.)
Yours in Christ,
Waterrock
