The Disciples Question Jesus on The Mount Of Olives (24:1-3).
Having learned from Jesus as they were leaving the Temple that the wonderful buildings that they had just been looking at and admiring were to be totally demolished, as Daniel had clearly prophesied (Daniel 9:26) the party walked back through Jerusalem towards Bethany and came to the Mount of Olives, and once they had ascended the Mount, from which they could look out over the Temple mount and the city, they asked Him when this would take place. Furthermore as in their minds such an event was seen as probably connecting with the end of the age they also asked what would be the sign of His return and of the end of the age. To them the two ideas sounded as though they were connected. And they are in fact very much connected, for the destruction of the Temple was a necessary preparation for the second coming. The interval between them of around two thousand years, which might seem long to us, is but as the blink of an eyelid to God - 2 Peter 3:8. As occurred so often in Old Testament prophecies, Jesus found no difficulty in leaping over hundreds of years in order to present the whole picture. The whole point here is that the Temple is being replaced by Jesus Himself, and by the living Temple of those who will become members of His body (John 2:19-21, and compare Matthew 26:61; 2 Corinthians 6:16; 1 Corinthians 3:16-17).
Such questions, when connected with the Mount of Olives, would undoubtedly have taken their minds back to Zechariah 14. There Zechariah had declared that one day Jerusalem would be surrounded by invading armies composed of many nations, with many of the people then being taken into exile, and the whole city being plundered. And he then declared that around that time ‘YHWH will go forth against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle, and His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives --', as Jesus' feet were standing now As a result living waters would go out from Jerusalem (John 7:37-39) and YHWH would become King over all the earth. It will be noted that these words in Zechariah can be seen as a brief summary of Jesus' words here in Matthew 24 /Luke 21. Here too He prophesies tumult among the nations, the destruction of the Temple, the future permanent exile of the Jews, the going forth of the Good News of His Kingly Rule (and of eternal life) to the nations, and Jesus' final coming in glory to establish God's everlasting rule.
Compare also how in Daniel 9:25-27 once the Messiah is cut off, the city and Sanctuary are to be destroyed, and after the covenant has been confirmed, an attempt is to be made to subvert the people of God, and war and desolation is to come to the nations.
Introductory Words (24:1-3).
As they were leaving the Temple following Jesus expose of the Scribes and Pharisees, the disciples, filled with admiration at the vastness and beauty of the Temple, drew Jesus attention to it, but Jesus' response was immediate, and He pointed out that in coming days the Temple and all its glory will vanish, for ‘there will not be left one stone upon another that will not be thrown down'. This is not necessarily to be taken literally (‘not one single stone') but is a hyperbolic way (typical of Jesus) of stating that it would be utterly demolished. And anyone going to Jerusalem today will find that it is just as He said, for all that is left of the Temple are archaeological remains which have had to be dug up.
This reply shook the disciples, and turned their minds to what according to their own ideas lay ahead. In their eyes if the Temple was going to be destroyed it could only mean that the final events would be taking place prior to the establishment of the everlasting Kingdom. For they could not at this stage conceive of life without the Temple. So they asked when ‘these things' would happen, and followed it up by asking what the signs of His return would be, and what would be the signs of the end of the age, (or world). What is meant by the end of the age/world here is defined by Matthew 25:46 where we are told that then the righteous will go into life under His eternal Rule, while the unrighteous will depart into everlasting punishment. No clearer description of the end all things physical could be given. It will be the end of the world as we know it. Then all will be complete, and Jesus, as the representative of the Godhead charged with the function of becoming man in order to bring about Salvation, although in association with the Father and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), will hand all things over to the full Godhead, ‘that God might be all in all' (1 Corinthians 15:23-28).
Analysis.
Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on His way, and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple (Matthew 24:1).
But He answered and said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, There will not be left here one stone upon another, that will not be thrown down” (Matthew 24:2).
And as He sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately (Matthew 24:3 a).
Saying, “Tell us, when will these things be?” (Matthew 24:3 b).
And what will be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world (age)?” (Matthew 24:3 c).
Note that in ‘a' He departs from the Temple to go on His way, and in the parallel the question is as to when He will return. In ‘b He prophesies the destruction of the Temple, and in the parallel He is asked when ‘these things' (what will accompany the destruction of the Temple) will be. Centrally in ‘c' Jesus sits on the Mount of Olives, the act of a Teacher and Judge.