Preceptaustin;
Matthew 24:3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming,
and of the end of the age?": Kathemenou (PMPMSG) de autou epi tou Horous ton Elaion proselthon (3PAAI) auto oi mathetai kat idian legontes (PAPMPN) Eipe (2SAAM) hemin pote tauta estai (3SFMI) kai ti to semeion tes ses parousias kai sunteleias tou aionos:
1) When will these things happen?
(2a) What will be the sign of Your coming?
(2b) What will be the sign of the End of the Age?
Parallel passages -
Matthew 24:3;
Mark 13:3-4;
Luke 21:7 (Remember that to best understand Matthew 24-25, it is important to study the related passages in Mark and Luke).
When will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age? - This is two questions with the second question having two components (some interpret it three questions - Walvoord, Fruchtenbaum - see below).
Fruchtenbaum comments that "All together, three questions were asked which, at the same time, included requests for three signs." (
Ibid) He explains that in the Luke passage the disciples asked not only when (just as in Matthew) but what is the sign that will identify that these things are about to take place. Matthew asks only when but do not mention a sign.
Thomas Constable on the other hand comments that "The disciples asked Jesus two questions. The first was, "When will these things be?" The second question had two parts as is clear from the Greek construction of the sentence. It linked two nouns, "coming" (
parousia) and "end" (
sunteleia), with a single article, "the" (Gr. to), and the conjunction "and" (Gr. kai). What will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?" (
Matthew 24 Commentary)
Blomberg agrees that "By not repeating the definite article ("the") before "end of the age," Matthew's rendering of Jesus' words is most likely linking the coming of Christ and the end of the age together as one event (
Granville Sharp's rule)." (NAC - Matthew)
What is the significance of the fact that there is only one article governing the coming and the consummation (end)? This suggests that the disciples viewed the coming and the consummation as two events which were distinct, but closely connected. This will be discussed more fully below.
THE SIGN OF THE END
OF THE AGE
The end of the age - Notice that KJV translates it as "the end of the world" but that is not an accurate translation for Matthew uses aion (age) not kosmos (world).
Fruchtenbaum explains that the disciples "asked for a third sign, and that was: "
What will be the sign that the end of this age has begun?" In rabbinic theology of that day, the rabbis spoke of two ages:
this age, in which we now live; and
the age to come, the Messianic Age. The question is: "What is the sign that the last days of
this age have begun and that will lead to
the Messianic Age? All together, then, there were three questions in which the disciples asked for three signs to watch for (Ed:
See Table below). Jesus answered these questions, but not in the same order as they were asked. He answered the third question first, the first question second, and the second question third. Nor are all three answers found in all three accounts. While Matthew and Mark recorded the answers to the second and third questions, they ignored the answer to the first question. It is Luke who recorded the Messiah's answer to the first question." (
The Footsteps of the Messiah- A Study of the Sequence of Prophetic Events)
Thomas Constable agrees that "By asking the question this way clearly the disciples believed that Jesus' coming (prophesied in
Mt 23:39) would end the present age and introduce the Messianic Age." (
Matthew 24 Commentary)
In summary, by linking Jesus coming with the end the disciples probably believed that Jesus' coming would end the present age and bring in the Messianic Age.