The Olivet Discourse is found in chapter 24 of Matthew, chapter 13 of Mark, and chapters 17 and 21 of Luke. Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, there are subtle differences between the answers given by Jesus to the disciples’ questions in each of the gospels. The Matthew and Mark accounts are the most similar.
I have long been of the opinion that Jesus was speaking of the Jews in His Discourse. Jesus warns of false messiahs. As Christians we know who the Messiah is. Will we be deceived by someone who claims to be the Christ? We should not be fooled. For this reason, and others, it seems that Jesus was addressing the non-believing Jews, certainly in the Matthew and Mark accounts of the Discourse which warn of false messiahs. The Luke account does not give this warning. I believe this is because the Luke account is addressed to the Church. There is a strong possibility that Luke was a gentile, and as a result he wrote from a gentile perspective.
In Matthew’s and Mark’s account of the Discourse, Jesus gives the warning, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains.” (Matthew 24:15-16) One of the interesting differences between these three gospels is the fact that the “abomination of desolation” is not mentioned in the Luke account. In Luke Jesus warned, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed (surrounded) with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains;” (Luke 21:20-21)
In my opinion, Jesus did not mention the Abomination of Desolation in Luke, because the Luke account is addressed to the Church, and when the Abomination of Desolation takes place we will not be here! Because I am of pre-Millennialist belief and interpret the Word literally, I feel this is yet another indicator of the Lord’s wonderful plan to remove the Church before the time of His wrath. Praise the Lord!
Luke gives us more reasons to believe a pre-Millennial Rapture. In Luke chapter seventeen Jesus discusses the day of Noah and the day of Lot. He then says that it will be the same “in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Matthew also discusses Noah, but does not use the phrase “when the Son of Man is revealed.” The Greek root word for “revealed” is apokalypto, the same root word for the Revelation given to John on the Isle of Patmos.
Why did Matthew not use the word “revealed”? My thought is that this “revealing” refers to the mystical event when Jesus comes for, and is revealed to, His Church and does not refer to His later appearance when all mankind will see His magnificent Return. Of course, the mystical event is when the Church is snatched up, in Greek harpazo, also known as the Rapture. Matthew did not use “revealing” because the Jews who have not accepted Jesus as Messiah will not participate in the Rapture. (First Thessalonians 4:16-18)
We know from history that the Church in Jerusalem was spared the terrible events of the siege and destruction of Jerusalem, because they heeded the words of Jesus. The Church was warned by Jesus ahead of time. This will be discussed in the next lesson. Until then, praise the Lord always!