Jesus and the Future: Understanding What He Taught about the End Times

by Andreas J. Köstenberger, Alexander Stewart, Apollo Makara

Jesus was a prophet who often spoke about future events. Some readers apply all of Jesus's teaching about the future to the distant future: his return, the future resurrection, and final judgment. Other readers contend that virtually everything Jesus taught about the future was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The authors conclude that the truth lies somewhere in the middle. As a prophet, Jesus spoke both about the near future events of AD 70 and the distant future events surrounding his second coming. The challenge lies in determining when he was speaking about near instead of distant future events.

In Jesus and the Future, the authors examine everything Jesus said about future events as recorded in the four canonical Gospels. This includes the famous Olivet Discourse along with many other parables and sayings. The authors situate Jesus's teaching in its original literary and 1st century Jewish and Greco-Roman context.

Jesus and the Future is designed to discuss Jesus' teaching about the end times in a way that is accessible, biblical-theological, exegetical, and devotional and spiritually-nurturing. Written with a scholar's mind but a pastor's heart, the book is geared to a popular audience interested in making sense of end-time phenomena and conflicting teachings on the end times.

Genres: Theology

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 2, 2017

Reviews

[Drake · Rating 4 out of 5]

First half: Easily the best exposition of the Olivet Discourse I've encountered to date. An excellent mix of contextual arguments, historical data, and interaction with other views (primarily dispensational and preterist interpretations, though such terms are rarely if ever used in the book). They cleared up several questions I have struggled with for many years now regarding that passage, including the much-debated "this generation" statement. This section by itself would easily earn five stars from me.

Second half: A brief overview of virtually every other statement Jesus made about the future during His earthly ministry. Good, but not nearly as interesting, lightly treating some passages that just beg for further examination (e.g. Matt. 19:28; John 14:1-3). Still, there are a number of helpful insights, such as the dual use of the "coming of the Son of Man," Jesus' preparation of His disciples for a long interval between His first and second comings, and the centrality of the final judgment in Jesus' eschatology.

I loved the fact that this book was written for the Christian layperson who is confused by all the end times debates and wants something solid to stand on in this area. What better way to start than by looking at the teachings of our Lord? Because of its clarity, simplicity, and tone (which is devotional and pastoral throughout), this will definitely be my go-to resource to recommend to someone who wants to begin studying what the Bible says about the end times.

[Jonathan Ginn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accessible, easy-to-follow, and fairly modest in scope, this is an excellent entryway to the topic of the end times in the gospels. As others have noted, the book's treatment of the Olivet Discourse in the first half is fantastic.

[Steve Stanley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Blog posts related to the book:
What Did Jesus Teach About the Future? | Biblical Foundations: https://www.biblicalfoundations.org/j...
Jesus and the Future: What He Taught about the End Times | Biblical Foundations: https://www.biblicalfoundations.org/j...

Jesus and the Future | Biblical Foundations:
Part 1: https://www.biblicalfoundations.org/j...
Part 2: https://www.biblicalfoundations.org/j...
Part 3: https://www.biblicalfoundations.org/j...
Part 4: https://www.biblicalfoundations.org/j...

Review:
https://www.booksataglance.com/book-r...

[Logan Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book earns its five stars in the first 4 chapters. The commentary on the Olivet discourse is what I found the most helpful. The other chapters were good too, but chapters 1-4 are remarkably clear, thorough, and concise.

If you are preaching through the Olivet discourse you should grab this little book.

[Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half is an excellent discussion of the Olivet Discourse. The second half deals with all the other eschatological passages in the Gospels, dealing first with the Synoptics and then with John. The first half is worth the price of the book. Good stuff!

[Jace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helpful resource. Very clear.