Thank you for the exegetical question on Matt. 24:3, “Who has researched the original reading of the Bible book of Mt 24:3? What did you find out?”
The original autograph of the Gospel of Matthew is no longer available, but there are parchments and scrolls of the Gospel of Matthew. All the Old and New Testament writings are copies since through time the original copy would be worn out or that a group of believers would ask for a copy of it.
The letters were carried from place to place and read to groups of believers. For example the letter to Theophilus was written to him by Dr. Luke and most likely carried to Theophilus by him or an entrusted carrier (Luke 1:1–4. Paul wrote letters to the churches and they carried his reply to them (Col. 4:16–18).
According to the NASB-NIV PARALLEL NEW TESTAMENT IN GREEK AND ENGLISH, Matt. 24:3 is literally translated from the Greek into English in the following words: “Sitting and of him on the mount of the Olives approached to him the disciples privately saying, tell us, when these things will be and what the sign of your presence and of completion of the age?”
The NASB-NIV translation of the Greek text is a good one. As far as I know there are no critical dispute on the Greek text. I may be wrong. I am not a Greek scholar nor a New Testament scholar, but I was required to have three years of Greek in seminary.
Since followers of Jesus are called to study the Scriptures to show oneself approved to God being a good student of the Word, Christians throughout the ages have studied the Scriptures and has developed a hermeneutical study of the Biblical text. That is what is commonly called, Bible study.
Scholars do debate word choices, grammatical structures, and textual criticism including a word or passage should be in the Bible as they compare available Greek or even Latin texts.
For one’s consideration, the disciples asked one question with two parts to it. The first part is WHEN will these things be is referring back to Jesus’ statement that not one stone of the Temple will be standing on top of each other. The second part of the question has two parts to it. The first part is WHAT is the sign (singular) of your presence. Since Jesus is already present with them, there is the implication of a future coming/returning of Jesus. The second part of the question on WHAT is linked by the conjunction, and, with the question of completion of the age. The phrase, completion of the age, has an eschatological meaning to it for the disciples didn’t ask what is the next age but the completion or fulfillment of the age.
The Greek word, sunteleo for completion has the idea to end together, bring to an an end as the completion of a period of days or of completing something/finish. Thus the disciples were asking about a future sign/ event of his return and the completion of the transition of this kingdom to the kingdom of God. That is how I understand Matthew 24:3.
The answer given by Jesus in the remaining verses are a subject of great debate among Bible scholars on the fulfillment of those events. As an opinion, Jesus does not state when the Temple will be destroy at the beginning of his statements. Is the fulfillment seen when Titus destroyed the Temple in 70 CE or is Jesus referring or implying that the stones of a future Temple will be thrown down. Scholars debate this issue. It is important to note that Jesus does not say when the Temple will be destroyed and scholars presume or assume that Jesus is referring to 70 CE. That is a possible interpretation as well as a foreshadowing of a future Temple that will be destroyed.
As one reads in Matthew 24, one must ask what is the sign of his coming that will lead to the completion of the age. In other words, the completion of the age can’t precede the coming of Jesus.
If Jesus was referring to the disciples seeing the coming of Jesus, the words of Jesus had not been fulfilled by 70 CE. There isn’t the hearing of wars and rumors of war, the upheaval of the nations, being hated all the nations, and especially the lack of fulfillment that the Gospel be preached to all nations (Matt. 24:14). When this happens, then the end will come with the Abomination of Desolation, followed by days of affliction that will lead to the sign of Jesus’ returnIng (vs. 30). Jesus declares the completion of the age with these words, “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matt. 25:46).
The difficult passage is Mat. 24:34–35 as how is one to interpret the words of Jesus. However one must also include Matt. 25:1 for if Jesus meant that the generation that he was speaking to will see the fulfillment of all that he has just spoken, then his words that no one knows the day or time is not true for it will happen within “this” generation. Thus scholars debate on the meaning of this generation in its various interpretation. I leave it to the reader to do his/her own due diligence in studying the Scriptures to their own personal conviction.
SUMMARY: The WHEN and WHAT of the disciple’s question requires further study by Christians.
For more perspectives: