📖 Injili ya Mathayo — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 11: Hotuba ya Mlima wa Mizeituni📖 Matthew Intensive — Unit 11: The Olivet Discourse

Andiko: Mathayo 24:42Text: Matthew 24:42

Hotuba ya Mlima wa Mizeituni na Maswali MatatuThe Olivet Discourse and Three Questions

Swali zito kuhusu mwisho wa dunia limejadiliwa kwa miaka elfu mbili. Sote tunataka kujua kitakachotokea baadaye, na wanafunzi walihisi vivyo hivyo. Yesu na wanafunzi wake walipokuwa wakitoka hekaluni, alisema kwamba hapatasalia jiwe juu ya jiwe. Juu ya Mlima wa Mizeituni walimjia na maswali matatu (Mathayo 24:3): hekalu litaharibiwa lini, ni nini dalili ya kuja kwako, na ni nini dalili ya mwisho wa dunia? Yesu aliyajibu yote matatu, lakini majibu yamefumwa pamoja kwa karibu mno hivi kwamba wafasiri bado wanabishana ni mstari upi unajibu swali lipi. Hii ndiyo hotuba kuu kuhusu mambo ya mwisho, nasi tunapaswa kuishika kwa unyenyekevu, kwa maana ilitolewa si sana ili kutosheleza udadisi wetu bali ili kutuweka tayari.The burning question about the end of the age has been argued for two thousand years. We all want to know what happens next, and the disciples felt the same. As Jesus and the disciples were leaving the temple, He said that not one stone would be left upon another. On the Mount of Olives they came with three questions (Matthew 24:3): when will the temple be destroyed, what will be the sign of Your coming, and what is the sign of the end of the age? Jesus answered all three, but the answers are woven together so tightly that interpreters still debate which verse belongs to which question. This is the great discourse on the last things, and we should hold it with humility, for it was given less to satisfy our curiosity than to make us ready.

Kuanguka kwa HekaluThe Temple's Fall

Hekalu lilianguka mwaka 70 B.K., takriban miaka arobaini baada ya utabiri wa Yesu, kwa hiyo sehemu hiyo ya jibu lake ilitimia ndani ya kizazi kimoja. Majeshi ya Kirumi chini ya Tito yaliuzunguka mji na kukata kila njia ya kuleta chakula na mahitaji. Ndani ya kuta watu waliangamizwa na njaa, na vita vya wenyewe kwa wenyewe kati ya makundi hasimu, na magonjwa. Mwanahistoria Yosefo (Josephus) anaandika juu ya njaa kali kiasi kwamba watu walikula ngozi ya viatu vyao, na hata, katika tukio moja la kusikitisha, wakala nyama ya mtu. Hekalu la Pili, kiini cha utambulisho wa Kiyahudi, liliteketezwa kwa moto hadi misingi yake; mapambo ya dhahabu yaliyeyuka, na askari walipanua na kuyang'oa mawe yenyewe ili kuipata dhahabu hiyo, wakilitimiza halisi neno kwamba hapatasalia jiwe juu ya jiwe. Mamia ya maelfu waliangamia, na makumi ya maelfu walichukuliwa mateka, wakapelekwa migodini, wakauzwa kama watumwa, au wakalazimishwa kupigana kama wapiganaji wa michezo ya kifo (gladiators). Kwa Myahudi wa karne ya kwanza huu ulikuwa mwisho kabisa wa ulimwengu aliouujua: ukuhani ulikoma, dhabihu zilikoma, na mahali pakuu pa ibada palitoweka. Leo imebaki sehemu tu ya ukuta wa magharibi unaoshikilia kilima cha hekalu, ambako Wayahudi bado huja kuomba na kuweka maombi yaliyoandikwa katika nyufa za mawe.The temple fell in A.D. 70, about forty years after Jesus' prediction, so that part of His answer was fulfilled within a single generation. The Roman legions under Titus surrounded the city and cut every supply line. Inside the walls the people were destroyed by famine, by civil war between rival factions, and by disease. The historian Josephus records starvation so severe that people ate the leather of their shoes and even, in one tragic case, turned to cannibalism. The Second Temple, the heart of Jewish identity, was burned to its foundations; the gold ornaments melted, and soldiers pried apart the very stones to recover it, literally fulfilling the word that not one stone would be left upon another. Hundreds of thousands perished, and tens of thousands were carried off as prisoners, sent to the mines, sold as slaves, or forced to fight as gladiators. For the first-century Jew this was the absolute end of the world as he knew it: the priesthood ceased, the sacrifices ended, and the central place of worship was gone. Today only a portion of the western retaining wall remains, where Jews still come to pray and to place written petitions in the cracks of the stone.

Dalili za NyakatiThe Signs of the Age

Kabla ya kuanguka huko, na kuendelea hadi kuja kwake kwa mwisho, Yesu alieleza tabia ya nyakati zote hizi. Wangetokea makristo wa uongo wakiwadanganya wengi, vita na matetesi ya vita, njaa na matetemeko ya nchi — lakini hayo ni mwanzo wa utungu tu, si mwisho wenyewe. Watu wake wangechukiwa na kuteswa, lakini "Tena habari njema ya ufalme itahubiriwa katika ulimwengu wote, kuwa ushuhuda kwa mataifa yote; hapo ndipo ule mwisho utakapokuja" (Mathayo 24:14). Alinena juu ya chukizo la uharibifu na dhiki kuu, na mwishowe juu ya Mwana wa Adamu akija juu ya mawingu ya mbinguni pamoja na nguvu na utukufu mwingi, akiwakusanya wateule wake. Wafasiri hutofautiana kuhusu kiasi gani cha lugha hii kililenga mwaka 70 B.K. na kiasi gani kinafika mbele hadi kuja kwake kwa mwisho, na wasomaji waaminifu wana mitazamo tofauti. Kilicho hakika ni fundisho la mtini: mambo haya yanapoanza, mwisho u karibu, na "Mbingu na nchi zitapita; lakini maneno yangu hayatapita kamwe" (Mathayo 24:35).Before that fall and stretching on toward His final coming, Jesus described the character of the whole age. There would be false christs who deceive many, wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes — but these are only the beginning of sorrows, not the end itself. His people would be hated and persecuted, yet "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14). He spoke of the abomination of desolation and a great tribulation, and finally of the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, gathering His elect. Interpreters differ over how much of this language pointed to A.D. 70 and how much reaches forward to the final coming, and faithful readers hold different views. What is certain is the lesson of the fig tree: when these things begin, the end is near, and "heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away" (Matthew 24:35).

Mwisho Ni Lini? Hakuna AjuayeWhen Is the End? No One Knows

Kuhusu tarehe ya kurudi kwake, Yesu alisema waziwazi kwamba hata Yeye hakuijua, ila Baba peke yake (Mathayo 24:36). Jambo hilo halijawazuia watu kutoa utabiri kwa miaka elfu mbili, na kila mmoja wao amekosea — kila mmoja kabisa. Kwa kipimo cha Agano la Kale katika Kumbukumbu la Torati 18, nabii ambaye utabiri wake unashindwa ni nabii wa uongo, kwa hiyo kwa kipimo cha Maandiko yenyewe hawa wapangaji wa tarehe walijiondolea sifa. Utabiri wa Harold Camping wa mwaka 2011 ni onyo la kisasa: akitumia hesabu tata za namba alizobuni mwenyewe ili kukwepa tahadhari ya Biblia, aliwashawishi maelfu kwamba tarehe 21 Mei 2011 ingekuwa siku hiyo. Hakuna kilichotokea, naye akaisogeza tarehe hadi Oktoba. Madhara yalikuwa halisi na ya kudumu — watu walimaliza akiba zao za uzeeni, waliacha kazi zao, na walipata kukatishwa tamaa kiroho kwa kina siku iliyotabiriwa ilipofika na kupita. Kudai mamlaka ya Mungu kwa hesabu ya kibinadamu hakushindwi tu; kunawajeruhi watu walioiamini.About the date of His return Jesus said plainly that not even He knew it, but the Father only (Matthew 24:36). That has not stopped people from making predictions for two thousand years, and every one of them has been wrong — every single one. By the Old Testament standard of Deuteronomy 18, a prophet whose prediction fails is a false prophet, so by Scripture's own test these date-setters disqualified themselves. The 2011 prediction of Harold Camping is a modern warning: using an elaborate, homemade numerology to get around the Bible's caution, he convinced thousands that May 21, 2011, would be the day. When nothing happened, he simply moved the date to October. The harm was real and lasting — people drained their retirement savings, abandoned their careers, and suffered deep spiritual disillusionment when the predicted day came and went. Claiming divine authority for a human calculation does not only fail; it wounds the people who trusted it.

Mitazamo Kuhusu MileniaThe Millennial Positions

Wakristo wanaoipenda Biblia ile ile wameshikilia kwa muda mrefu mitazamo tofauti kuhusu miaka elfu ya Ufunuo 20 na mpangilio wa matukio ya siku za mwisho. Mtazamo wa kabla ya milenia (premilenia) unashikilia kwamba Kristo atarudi kabla ya utawala ujao duniani; mtazamo wa amilenia unaielewa miaka elfu kama picha ya utawala wa sasa wa Kristo kati ya kuja kwake mara mbili; na mtazamo wa baada ya milenia (postmilenia) unatarajia Kristo kurudi baada ya kipindi kirefu ambamo ushawishi wa Injili unakua. Waumini wa kweli wanaoipenda Biblia wameshikilia kila mmoja wa mitazamo hii kwa karne nyingi, na hakuna hata mmoja wao uliowahi kuwa kipimo cha ushirika wa Kikristo. Katika mambo makuu kila mtazamo unakubaliana: Yesu Kristo atarudi kwa mwili na kwa kuonekana, wafu watafufuliwa, na kutakuwa na hukumu ya mwisho. Badala ya kugawanyika kuhusu mpangilio wa matukio, ni bora tusimame pamoja juu ya yaliyo hakika na kuwa tayari.Christians who love the very same Bible have long held different views about the thousand years of Revelation 20 and the sequence of end-time events. The premillennial view holds that Christ returns before a coming reign on the earth; the amillennial view understands the thousand years as a picture of Christ's present reign between His two comings; and the postmillennial view expects Christ to return after a long age in which the gospel's influence grows. Sincere, Bible-loving believers have held each of these for centuries, and none of these positions has ever been a test of Christian fellowship. On the central things every view agrees: Jesus Christ will return bodily and visibly, the dead will be raised, and there will be a final judgment. Rather than dividing over the order of events, we do better to stand together on what is certain and to be ready.

Kitakachotokea Siku IleWhat Will Happen on That Day

Mara ya kwanza Yesu alipokuja, alikuja kama Mtumishi anayeteseka wa Isaya — akazaliwa horini, akakataliwa na watu wake mwenyewe, akasulibiwa kati ya wanyang'anyi wawili. Atakapokuja tena, atakuja kama Mfalme mshindi. Tofauti haiwezi kuwa kamili zaidi. Wathesalonike wa Kwanza 4 inatoa picha iliyo wazi zaidi ya siku ile: waliokufa katika Kristo watafufuliwa kwanza, kisha walio hai watanyakuliwa kuungana nao, yote kwa sauti ya parapanda. Waumini wa Thesalonike walikuwa na wasiwasi juu ya wapendwa wao waliokufa wakingojea kurudi huko, naye Paulo aliwahakikishia kwamba kifo si kizuizi — wale waliokufa katika Kristo hawataachwa nyuma bali watakuwa wa kwanza kufufuka. Maandiko pia yanakataa wazo la "usingizi wa roho": Bwana alimwambia yule mnyang'anyi kwamba angekuwa pamoja naye Peponi siku ile ile, naye Paulo anasema kwamba kutokuwa katika mwili ni kuwa pamoja na Bwana. "Usingizi" ambao Biblia inaunena ni pumziko la mwili kaburini, si la roho, ambayo hubaki macho na pamoja na Mungu. Nakumbuka nikisafiri kwenda makaburini pamoja na mkurugenzi wa mazishi huko South Dakota aliyesema kwa fahari, "Unajua, makaburi ya saruji tunayoweka ardhini hudumu miaka mia mbili" — nami nikamwuliza swali lililo wazi: baada ya hapo itakuwaje? Mwili ni sanduku la barua tu. Barua ikishatumwa tayari iko mikononi mwa mtumaji, na ingawa sanduku la barua laweza kushika kutu na kubadilishwa, barua — yaani mtu halisi — inalindwa salama hadi siku itakapofikishwa. Parapanda inayotangaza siku ile ilikuwa na maana tele kwa masikio ya Kiyahudi, kwa maana shofari ililia Sinai Mungu aliposhuka, katika Yubile watumwa walipowekwa huru, na katika kutawazwa kwa wafalme — uwepo wa Mungu, ukombozi, na kutawazwa vyote kwa pamoja. C.S. Lewis aliona kwamba kuja kwa pili kunaigawa historia katika kila kitu kilichokuwa kabla yake na kila kitu kitakachokuwa baada yake, hivi kwamba nyakati hizi za sasa ni kama utangulizi tu wa kitabu; bado hatujaingia katika hadithi kuu.The first time Jesus came, He came as the suffering Servant of Isaiah — born in a stable, rejected by His own, crucified between two thieves. When He comes again, He will come as a conquering King. The contrast could not be more complete. First Thessalonians 4 gives the clearest picture of that day: the dead in Christ will rise first, then those who are alive will be caught up to join them, all at the sound of the trumpet. The believers in Thessalonica were anxious about loved ones who had died while waiting for that return, and Paul assured them that death is no barrier — those who have died in Christ will not be left behind but will be the first to rise. Scripture also rejects the idea of "soul sleep": the Lord told the thief he would be with Him in Paradise that very day, and Paul says that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The "sleep" the Bible speaks of is the rest of the body in the grave, not the soul, which remains awake and with God. I remember riding to a cemetery with a funeral director in South Dakota who said proudly, "You know, the crypts we put in the ground last two hundred years" — and I asked him the obvious question: what happens after that? The body is only the mailbox. Once the letter is posted it is already in the sender's hands, and though the mailbox may rust and be replaced, the letter — the real person — is kept safe until the day it is delivered. The trumpet that announces that day carried rich meaning for Jewish ears, for the shofar sounded at Sinai when God came down, at the Jubilee when slaves went free, and at the crowning of kings — presence, liberation, and coronation all at once. C.S. Lewis observed that the second coming splits history into everything before it and everything after, so that this present age is only a kind of preface; we are not yet in the main story.

TutakavyokuwaWhat We Will Become

Kutakuwa na mabadiliko ya kushangaza tutakapokutana na Bwana. Tutapokea miili iliyotukuzwa kama mwili wake wa ufufuo. Yeye alipita katika milango iliyofungwa; alitambuliwa na rafiki zake wa karibu, na nyakati nyingine hakutambuliwa, kama katika njia ya kwenda Emau ambapo wawili wao walitembea na kuzungumza naye kwa maili nyingi kabla macho yao hayajafumbuliwa; alikula samaki wa kuokwa mbele ya macho yao (Luka 24:42–43), si kwa sababu alilazimika bali kwa sababu aliweza; na katika mwili huo huo uliotukuzwa alichukuliwa juu hadi wingu likampokea wasimwone. Lakini kuna jambo kubwa zaidi kuliko mwili uliotukuzwa linalotungoja. 1 Yohana 3:2 inasema kwamba atakapodhihirishwa tutamwona kama alivyo, nasi tutafanana naye. Katika Agano la Kale hakuna aliyeweza kumtazama Mungu moja kwa moja; Musa aliona mgongo wake tu, kwa maana utukufu ungewaangamiza wanadamu wenye dhambi. Lakini siku ile tutamwona uso kwa uso, nami naamini tutaweza kustahimili kwa sababu tutakuwa tumefanywa kufanana naye. Kwa namna fulani — na hii ni mojawapo ya siri kuu za Maandiko — Mungu atatufanya watakatifu bila kufuta sisi ni nani. Atatutakasa bila kutufuta. Utambulisho wetu, kumbukumbu zetu, uhuru wetu: vyote vitavushwa ndani ya utakatifu ambao bado hatuwezi kuufikiria. Jinsi atakavyofanya hivyo ni siri kuu.There will be astonishing changes when we meet the Lord. We will receive glorified bodies like His resurrection body. He passed through locked doors; He was recognized by His closest friends, and sometimes not, as on the road to Emmaus where two of them walked and talked with Him for miles before their eyes were opened; He ate broiled fish before their eyes (Luke 24:42–43), not because He had to but because He could; and in that same glorified body He was taken up until a cloud received Him out of sight. But something even greater than a glorified body awaits us. First John 3:2 says that when He appears we shall see Him as He is, and we shall be like Him. In the Old Testament no one could look directly upon God; Moses saw only His back, for the glory would have destroyed sinful men. But on that day we will see Him face to face, and I believe we will be able to bear it because we will have been made like Him. Somehow — and this is one of the great mysteries of Scripture — God will make us holy without erasing who we are. He will purify us without deleting us. Our identity, our memory, our freedom: all of it carried through a holiness we cannot yet imagine. How He will do this is a great mystery.

Kutoka Unyenyekevu Hadi MshangaoFrom Humility to Wonder

Huu ndio umbo la hotuba nzima. Inasonga kutoka yale tusiyoweza kujua, yaani tarehe, kupitia yale tuliyoahidiwa, yaani matukio ya siku ile, hadi yale tunayoweza kuyawazia kwa shida, yaani tutakavyokuwa. Inaanza katika unyenyekevu, inapita katika tumaini, na inafunga katika mshangao. Badala ya tarehe, Yesu alitoa picha za kuwa tayari: wanaume wawili wakifanya kazi shambani na wanawake wawili wakisaga katika jiwe la kusagia katika siku ya kawaida, na katika kila jozi "mmoja atwaliwa, mmoja aachwa" (Mathayo 24:40–41); hawataliona likija, kwa hiyo hajibu swali waliloliuliza bali lile walilopaswa kuuliza: Je, uko tayari? Na sura ya 25 inayageuza yote kuwa mwito mmoja wa haraka. Wanawali kumi wanatufundisha kuwa tayari, kwa maana bwana arusi alikawia, watano walikuwa na mafuta na watano hawakuwa nayo, na mlango ukafungwa. Talanta zinatufundisha kuwa waaminifu kwa chochote tulichopewa, ili tusikie, "Vema, mtumwa mwema na mwaminifu." Na kondoo na mbuzi wanamwonyesha Mfalme akiyahukumu mataifa na kusema kwamba lolote lililotendewa mmojawapo wa ndugu zake walio wadogo zaidi lilitendewa Yeye. Kesheni, kuweni waaminifu, na pendeni — kwa maana Mfalme hakika atakuja. Kama Augustino alivyoomba, "Umetuumba kwa ajili yako, na moyo wetu hauna utulivu mpaka utulie ndani yako." Kumwona Mungu uso kwa uso ndilo pumziko ambalo kila shauku ya kibinadamu imelifikia bila kujua, na siri ya mwisho — kwamba Mungu atatufanya watakatifu bila kutuharibu — ndio mshangao tunaoubeba nyumbani.This is the shape of the whole discourse. It moves from what we cannot know, the date, through what we are promised, the events of that day, to what we can barely imagine, what we shall become. It begins in humility, moves through hope, and closes in wonder. Instead of a date, Jesus gave images of readiness: two men working in the field and two women grinding at the mill on an ordinary day, and in each pair "one will be taken and the other left" (Matthew 24:40–41); they will not see it coming, so He answers not the question they asked but the one they should have asked: Are you ready? And chapter 25 turns it all into one urgent call. The ten virgins teach us to be ready, for the bridegroom was delayed, five had oil and five did not, and the door was shut. The talents teach us to be faithful with whatever we have been given, that we may hear, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And the sheep and the goats show the King judging the nations and saying that whatever was done to the least of His brethren was done to Him. Watch, be faithful, and love — for the King will surely come. As Augustine prayed, "You have made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in You." The face-to-face sight of God is the rest toward which every human longing has unknowingly reached, and the final mystery — that God will make us holy without undoing us — is the wonder we carry home.

Tuma Mtihani & Angalia KufauluSubmit Exam & Check Pass Anza Upya Sehemu HiiReset Unit