Signs of the End (Matthew 24.29-51)

Introduction

The Bible’s track record on future predictions is not just impressive; it is flawless. 

 

Every prophecy in the Bible about the rising and falling of nations for example - and there are many - Egypt, Assyria, Edom, Babylon, Persia, Tyre, Sidon, Israel, Judah… came true in every detail. As we saw last Sunday, the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 was precisely foretold by Jesus, and his words are corroborated in three independent sources; the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke.

 

There is only really one major prediction in the Bible that’s still unfulfilled, and it’s this: Jesus is coming back! Pretty much everything else foretold in this book has already happened.

 

There are at least 45 specific and distinct prophecies in the Old Testament about the coming Messiah. It says he will be born in Bethlehem, he will be a descendent of Abraham, from the line of David, he will speak in parables, he will be hated for no reason, he will be betrayed by a friend for 30 pieces of silver (not 29.99!), his hands and feet will be pierced, he will be buried with the rich and he will rise from the dead. These and many other predictions were all fulfilled in exact detail in Jesus of Nazareth. 

 

But for every prophecy in the Bible concerning his first coming, there are 8 references to his second. One in every 30 verses between Matthew and Revelation is about the return of Jesus Christ. That’s 318 verses in all.

 

Jesus came the first time as the Prince of Peace, riding a donkey and wearing a crown of thorns. When he returns, he will appear as King of kings, riding a horse, wearing a crown of glory. The first time Jesus came, his mission was to save the world. When he returns, his purpose will be to judge it. 

 

So God’s prophecy fulfilment record so far is 100%. This is why we take seriously his promise to return in power and glory. It’s why we have to take note of what he says about it, and expect it, and be ready for it, and live in the reverent fear of God because of it, which is what Matthew 24 and 25 are about.

 

We read the first 28 verses of chapter 24 last Sunday, and you can listen to the podcast to catch up if you missed it. Now, we’re going to read the rest of the chapter together, from v29 onwards. This is Jesus speaking…

 

Immediately after the distress of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.

Now learn this lesson from the fig-tree: as soon as its twigs become tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 

Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: if the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, “My master is staying away a long time,” and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

 

Prayer… 

When Are We Talking About?

Chapter 24 is, I would say, the most difficult chapter in Matthew’s Gospel to understand.

 

I have several commentaries on Matthew, all written by good, reliable specialists, committed to the authority of scripture, and they each have slightly different views on precisely when some of the verses in this chapter refer to. 

 

Notice the picture on the screen, right at the top of the image, there are hills that you might expect to appear palest of all because they are furthest away, but curiously they are quite dark, giving the impression of being closer than the hills immediately in front of them.

 

In just the same way, it’s not always obvious at every point in Matthew 24 when Jesus is talking about the first century AD and when he’s talking about the last century AD, or when he’s talking about all times. Scholars come to different conclusions as to when some of these verses refer to.

 

I’m not going to go all the different views; this is not a theology lecture. I’m just going to preach what I believe is right, but you do need to be aware that some verses in this chapter are debated as to the time of their fulfilment.

 

Earth-Shaking and Unmistakeable

 

In v29-31, Jesus starts to talk about the end of all things. Immediately after this lightning flash from east to west announcing his arrival, he talks in v29 about the sun and moon being darkened, about stars falling from the sky and planets being shaken. This is a bit like when we say things like, “the whole world is in meltdown” or when we talk about “earth-shattering events.” 

 

We don’t mean by the word “meltdown” that the earth is literally dripping like candle wax or by the expression “earth-shattering” that our planet is fragmenting into small bits. This is just the kind of vivid language we attribute to presidential assassinations, and sudden revolutions, and shocking terrorist atrocities and massive natural disasters, and deadly pandemics and global financial crashes.

 

Jesus is saying here that his return, following a time of immense distress, or great tribulation as Revelation 7 calls it, is going to mark a global upheaval the likes of which we have never seen before.

 

V27 says the Lord’s return will be as unmissable as a bolt of lightning that flashes across the sky. Here, we are told that what it is will be unmistakable. There’ll be no “is it a bird, is it a plane?” All the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, says v30. 

 

And they will grieve for themselves and weep bitterly because they will see that they were wrong about Jesus, all their scoffing will prove to have been misplaced, and it will be too late to change their mind.

 

Jesus says in v30 that his return will be “in power and great glory.” There have only been so far in history two recorded unveilings of Jesus’ glorious heavenly radiance - and only a few have ever had a glimpse of it. 

 

The first was when Jesus was transfigured before Peter, James and John. It says it was like direct sunlight coming through his clothes and those who saw it had to hide their faces, such was the intensity of its brightness. 

 

The second was when Saul was converted on the road to Damascus. Again, the brightness of the light was so dazzling, so overpowering that Saul was temporarily blinded in both eyes.

  

When Jesus returns, he will be arrayed in majesty so awesome, the Bible says, we won’t be able to look at him without falling to the ground or covering our eyes! 

 

When he comes back, his true, magnified, stunning glory will be revealed and the brilliance of it will be utterly overwhelming.

 

As we saw last Sunday, the siege and fall of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, the abolition of the sacrificial system and the end of the priesthood following the rejection of the Messiah, all prefigured the end of all things. 

 

There will be so many echoes of AD 70 when the Lord returns. Ominous warnings, global instability, widespread distress, progress and persecution in equal measure for the church… History will repeat itself in lots of ways. 

 

These Things and That Day

 

So before Jesus concludes this chapter by telling us to be ready at all times for his return, he turns one last time to his own generation. This is their final warning. 

 

How do we know when he is speaking about the end of the temple and when he is talking about the end of the world? One of the clues is that when Jesus speaks of “these things” he is talking about AD 70. And when he speaks of “that day” he means his return in glory.

 

When you see all these things; (false messiahs, deceivers, famines, earthquakes, wars and rumours of wars, an abomination in the holy place), you’ll know that the time is near, and it will be for “this generation,” it will be in the lifetime of the people Jesus is speaking to here. 

 

But about “that day or hour” (v36) no one knows. Jesus says here that even he himself didn’t know the day. So if the Father wasn’t even telling his own divine, beloved Son then, he’s not telling you or me now. 

 

It’s good that we don’t know the day. If we did, we might be tempted to be lazy in our service of Christ. “Oh, it’s all right, I’ll get right with God right at the last moment.” No! There are more lost souls to win, there’s a church to make more beautiful, there’s more demonic darkness to push back in the name of Jesus.

 

Jesus does know now, by the way, when he is coming back. His omniscience was laid aside only temporarily for the years he walked on the earth, which is why he was surprised by people’s great faith or amazed at their lack of faith, as we have seen in Matthew’s Gospel. 

 

But now, ascended on high, seated at the right hand of the Father, he has been greatly exalted and given all authority. Now, he is the Lamb who has authority to open the seals, he knows exactly when his second coming will be.

 

The day and the hour of the Lord’s return for us though are unknown, indeed unknowable. 

 

But that hasn’t stopped people from foolishly trying to name the date. A medieval mystic called Joachim of Fiore said it would be in 1260. The Munster Anabaptists said it would be in 1534. The Quaker James Milner (not the one who plays in midfield for Brighton and Hove Albion) said it would be in 1652. The Methodist George Bell said it would be in 1790.The Baptist preacher William Miller said it would be in 1844. The Jehovah’s Witnesses said it would be in 1914. When it didn’t happen, they revised the date to 1925, then 1938, then 1975, and then, more vaguely “before the end of the 20th Century.” And the evangelist Jerry Falwell, who should have known better, said in 1999 that it would definitely happen within ten years. *Sigh*

 

Acts 17.31 says that the Lord has fixed the day. It is written in his calendar. There will be no last-minute change of plan. The time is set. The clock is ticking. 

 

Ready or Not? 

 

Matthew 24 and 25 have one goal; it’s not to help us calculate dates, it’s to compel us to be ready for his return at any time. 

 

In the 2006 Football World Cup, Germany played Argentina in the quarter final. At full-time, it was a 1-1 draw. Extra time couldn’t separate the teams either, so it went to a penalty shoot-out. 

 

When the Argentines stepped up one by one to take their penalties, the German goalkeeper Jens Lehmann took a folded piece of paper from his sock, looked the penalty taker in the eye and studied his note. The commentators said, “What’s Lehmann doing? He’s playing mind games, he’s trying to unnerve the penalty taker.” But it wasn’t a bluff. Lehmann had studied Argentine penalty videos and noted their favoured technique. 

 

It read: “1. Riquelme left high. 2. Crespo long run/right, short run/left. 3. Heinze left low. 4. Ayala long wait, long run, right. 5. Messi left. 6. Aimar long wait, left. 7. Rodriguez left.” 

 

Needless to say, as always, the Germans won on penalties. They always do, don’t they! That hand-written note was eventually sold for 1.3 million euros in a charity auction. But the point is this; if you're well prepared, you win before you even start.

 

The rest of this chapter, and the whole of the next one, are about being ready at any time for that event; the Lord’s return in glory.

 

In v37-39, Jesus says it will be sudden. In Noah’s day, everything was just normal. For months and months, years and years, people just went about their business, completely oblivious to what was just around the corner. But suddenly, a cloud burst, and it started to hammer down with rain. In an instant, everything was different.

 

In v40-41, Jesus says it will be traumatic. “One will be taken and one will be left.” The Lord’s return to judge the living and the dead will bring about a sudden and permanent separation; some to eternal darkness, some to eternal life. 

 

The choice we will have already made about Jesus when he suddenly appears will determine our eternal destiny. As we’ll see over the next three weeks, the three parables in chapter 25 all confirm this in stark terms. 

 

There are very few taboo subjects left in our culture. But there is one thing still considered very bad form to mention in polite conversation: the fact that every single one of us is going to face God’s judgement. Most people spend more time planning where they will spend their two-week holiday than where they will spend eternity. 

 

The weeping and gnashing of teeth in v51 describes despair. Eternal, bitter despair.

 

This is the biggest issue each of us needs to resolve in our lifetime and we have just this one lifetime during which to do it. This is as serious a matter as anything can be. Have you settled the matter yet?

 

If you haven’t, why perish? Can your heart endure in the day of judgement that is approaching? Turn to Jesus and be saved. Come to him right now, and he will loose you from the tyranny of every sin, lift the weight of every sorrow, calm the churning of every fear, lighten the load of every burden, and settle your troubled soul. 

 

What if Jesus returns this week? Or before lunch today? Don’t waver even one more hour. Literally nothing is more important than this.

 

In v42-44 Jesus says it will be unexpected. His return will be a shock. Jesus says it in words of one syllable, v44; “the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Nobody will have anticipated it. Nobody will have predicted it. It will be a bolt from the blue.

 

No burglar puts a card through your letterbox to tell you he’ll be popping in next Wednesday. Usually, you first become aware your house has been burgled when you come home to find your kitchen door hanging off its hinges and the TV is gone.

 

In June 2009, the Guardian newspaper published an article about an Israeli woman simply called Anat (she didn’t want to reveal her full name). Anat had been busy cleaning her mother’s house all day while she was away and expected to be congratulated on a complete home makeover. She had even dragged her mother’s dirty old mattress outside for the bin men and generously replaced it with a brand-new mattress as a special surprise. 

 

Well, you should have seen her mother’s face when she came home. 

That’s when Anat’s mother told her she had hidden all her savings in that old mattress. About $1 million. They rushed outside to retrieve it, only to discover the dustman had already been.

 

Yitzhak Borba, manager of one Tel Aviv landfill site, said that his staff were helping them because they appeared “totally desperate”, but with 2,500 tons of new rubbish arriving every day, it was a lost cause. Anat’s mother had put all her faith in her mattress and lost everything.

 

One day, Jesus will suddenly come back – and for some it will be the most unexpected and the most traumatic experience imaginable. For others, it will be not entirely unexpected, and anything but traumatic. We will see the Lord face to face, and he will bring his reward.

 

And Jesus tells us what we need to do in order to ensure his return is sweet and not bitter. Verse 42; “Keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Verse 44; “Be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

 

The little story at the end of the chapter about the servant in charge of the house hints that the Lord’s return would not be soon after Jesus said these words. “My master is away a long time.” 2 Peter 3 echoes that; “In the last days,” it says, “scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, ‘Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?’”

 

The main reason why smoke alarms don’t work when there’s a fire is that people take the batteries out because of the annoying beeping. And they never get round to putting a new one in. 

 

Keep watch over your spiritual health. Keep your heart pure. Don’t let yourself slide into spiritual apathy.

 

Ending

 

In 1845, Captain John Franklin led an expedition to the north pole. He and his crew took more provisions with them on board their two ships than any other Arctic explorers either before or since. But they all perished. When the frozen remains of his party were discovered, it became evident why. Franklin had taken silver cutlery, crystal glasses, China plates and a library of over 1000 books. He had taken all the trappings of an English gentleman. But no Arctic clothing. 

 

When Jesus returns, self-reliance will as useless as crystal glasses in the north pole. When Jesus appears in glory, self-indulgence will be like a gentleman’s library in the arctic. When Jesus comes back to reign, self-serving will be like a chandelier in a freezing blizzard. 

 

Are you ready? “You must be ready”, says Jesus, (v44), “because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

 

Signs of the Times (Matthew 24.1-28)

Introduction

 

I’ve been short-sighted since I was about 12. I had to get glasses, and I got bullied at school about it, but to be honest, I was just relieved that I could read the numbers on buses again. I could watch and enjoy TV. I could see what my teacher was writing on the board without squinting. My whole world, which had been a frustrating blur, was now in focus. 

 

About thirty-five years later, I noticed I needed to hold a book further away from my face to be able to read the print comfortably. I went to the optician and the moment had come… I was officially both short-sighted and long-sighted. So I now have to wear bifocals.

 

Today and next Sunday, we’re going to cover Matthew 24, and to understand what God is saying to us in this chapter, you sort of need bifocals. You need, first of all, to see close up, because Jesus talks about things that were very close to his time, in particular the devastation of Jerusalem which reduced it to rubble in AD 70. That was God’s final word on the temple; it’s never been rebuilt, and with the Al Aqsa mosque now standing on that site, I dare say it never will be. That is mostly what the first half of the chapter is about, so that is mostly what I’ll focus on today.

 

But you need to be able to see far off as well, because Jesus also talks here about the distant future, still future for us in fact; the climax of world history, when he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. That is mostly what the second half of the chapter is about, and I’ll focus on that next Sunday.

 

On the screen, you see a landscape. Notice that some of it (at the bottom of the screen) is nearby and some of it is further away. What would you say the distance is between the hills in the foreground and those in the background? It’s hard to say, isn’t it. It could be half a mile. Perhaps much further. 

 

This is exactly what Matthew 24 is like; it’s one panoramic view of the future, but actually, it speaks about different times; the near future, at the time Jesus said these words, and the distant future. 

 

Why has God chosen to reveal truth to us about the last days in this way? Two reasons.

 

Firstly, he doesn’t want us to get fixated about the date of his second coming. Throughout the New Testament, it’s never about when. It’s always about how; how prepared are we for the day the Lord returns? 

 

Secondly, God combines prophecies about AD 70 and the second coming of Christ because the conditions leading up to the destruction of the temple, about 10 years after Matthew wrote this Gospel, are very similar to what they will be right before Jesus comes again someday in the future. 

 

In other words, when Jesus comes back, history will repeat itself in striking ways. So you can learn a lot about what the end of the world will be like by studying the time leading up to the demolition of Jerusalem and its temple.

 

So, if you have a Bible, let’s read Matthew 24 as far as v28. 

 

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

“So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now - and never to be equalled again.

“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you ahead of time.

“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather."

 

Background

 

As we saw back in November, Jerusalem’s temple was an exceptionally grand building for the ancient world, ten stories high, second only to the pyramids in scale, and certainly bigger and finer than any pagan temple anywhere else on earth. 

 

Built when the Jews returned home from exile in Babylon, King Herod began to expand and enhance it about 15 years before Jesus was born, massively increasing its footprint. That redevelopment took about 80 years to complete.

 

The gates and column decorations in the temple were covered with hammered gold which sparkled in the sun and its walls were made of immensely huge white stone blocks. 

 

As Jesus said in v2, literally not one stone is now left on another; it’s all gone. The largest stone they’ve found in the tiny section of the retaining wall that still survives, what we call the Wailing Wall, not part of the temple proper, is 13 meters long, over 4 meters thick and over 3 meters high. One stone…

 

To give you an idea, the slabs at Stonehenge weigh about 25 tons each. This single temple stone has an estimated weight of 300 tons. Archaeologists have no idea how they moved it!

 

And it’s this overwhelmingly impressive architecture that the disciples marvel at in v1. This great complex, where people would flock from miles away just to approach the presence of God, with its Most Holy Place at the heart of it, where God himself dwelt in inapproachable majesty, where sacrifices took place round the clock in the hope that God would cleanse and forgive sin, was awesome to behold. 

 

“Do you see all these things?” says Jesus in v2. “Every stone you see today will soon be rubble.”

 

In just a few days, Jesus will die as a flawless sacrifice, sins will be atoned for, sinners will be cleansed, the separating curtain will be ripped from top to bottom, the presence of God will be open to all, and this temple will become obsolete and irrelevant. 

 

In other words, all that ritual, the sacrifices, the blood, the religion, the priests, the separating curtain… God is about to do away with it.

 

Well, Jesus leaves the temple for the last time, with his disciples who are absolutely stunned. Imagine looking up at Durham Cathedral or the Vatican and being told that in your lifetime, the whole lot will be gone, pounded to dust. It’s scarcely believable. 

 

As far as the disciples are concerned, this sounds like an earth-shattering cataclysm and Jesus must surely be talking about the end of the world!

 

So when they get to the Mount of Olives, which looks across the Kidron Valley at the city, dominated by this temple, they ask Jesus two questions. “Tell us, (v3) when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age?” For them, those two questions should get the same answer. But Jesus explains in Matthew 24 that the end of the temple and the end of the world are two different events. 

 

General Warnings of Near and Far (v4-14) 

 

He starts by telling them what not to get alarmed about. V4-8 are about what Christians can expect at all times and do not mean the end must be nigh. In fact, Jesus specifically says in v6 that this is not it.

 

First of all, in every age, you’ll get false prophets and bogus messiahs with their wacky ideas leading people astray. Jesus mentions them in v4-5. 

 

A Jewish historian called Flavius Josephus wrote an eye-witness account of the times leading up to the destruction of the temple. 

 

He recorded that, as the Romans began to encircle Jerusalem, many would-be heroes sprang up saying, “I am from God, I will save you, follow me.” And many people did. 

 

But significantly Christians didn’t, because they remembered that Jesus had quite specifically said to pay no attention to these kinds of scams.

 

You get false teachers in every generation. They confuse people with their false gospels that cosy up to the world. They tell people what they want to hear; they’re always soft on sin, they side-step the call to repentance, and often they make a lot of money. 

 

There is plenty of that about today, but it doesn’t mean the end is just round the corner. Watch out for self-proclaimed spiritual leaders, advertising their prophetic powers, who advocate a way of life no different from the liberal and secular culture we’re in. Don’t fall for flashy preachers who tell you that what God mostly wants for you is to be excessively wealthy and comfortable. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

 

In v7-8 Jesus warns of perils that cause great anxiety. In particular, he mentions wars, rumours of wars, famines and earthquakes. 

 

Again, this is exactly what did happen between Jesus saying these words and the destruction of the temple. There were rumblings of unrest throughout the Roman Empire. There were four different famines during the reign of Emperor Claudius alone. The historian Tacitus wrote about Rome in AD 51: “This year witnessed many signs or omens... including repeated earthquakes.”  Flavius Josephus, who I mentioned earlier, wrote that earthquakes were "a common calamity” at that time. 

 

But Jesus says not to assume this must be Armageddon when we see such disasters today. “Such things must happen, but the end is still to come” (v6).

 

In v9-11 Jesus warns that Christians will always be unpopular. And of course the Acts of the Apostles explains how the very people Jesus was talking to here found themselves arrested, imprisoned and hauled before the courts. Christians were made scapegoats for every imaginable problem in those turbulent times, as they took the gospel to every nation.

 

Jesus says to expect unfair discrimination; you might be targeted by members of other religions, imprisoned or killed by governing authorities and even ostracised by your own family; indeed he says, “you will be hated by all nations because of me.” We know this is what happened to the early church.

 

But it happens in every age. A report in the UK parliament this time last year noted that around 365 million Christians worldwide are subject to “high levels of persecution and discrimination.” That’s 25 million more than the year before. Other highlights from that report: 1 in 7 of all Christians suffers persecution. 5,600 Christians were killed for faith-related reasons in 2023. 14,700 churches and Christian properties were attacked or destroyed in that same year.

 

But Jesus means to encourage us in v13 when he says, “Those who stand firm to the end will be saved.” Will be. Remember that even if your whole Christian life is marked by suffering, the end will not be bitter, but sweet.

 

These things; deception, destruction, disaster and discrimination are true of all ages. But in v8, Jesus talks about the first of pains of childbirth. Labour begins with more moderate pain. But as the birth draws near, contractions come closer together, growing in intensity and they hurt more. 

 

Jesus says in v9-14 that two things at the same time are going to grow in intensity, like a woman in labour, as his return draws nearer. We’re going to notice increasing suffering for the church’s members and increasing success in the church’s mission. 

 

And even though hatred against Christians and martyrdom will rise, the church will grow. That’s because a church purified by persecution becomes a church empowered for mission. So as the Lord’s return draws near, v14, church growth will advance, and the gospel will accelerate to all nations.

 

So v4-14 are, I believe, general warnings about tough times that were certainly true of the decades before AD 70, are still true now, but will increasingly be true in the time from now till Christ returns in glory. 

 

Specific Warnings for the Near Future (v15-25) 

 

When we get to v15-25, there’s a shift of focus. Jesus starts to refer just to the particular time of the destruction of Jerusalem because, having referred to the whole world and all the nations in v14, he starts to talk about Judea in v16, which is the area immediately surrounding Jerusalem. So we’re now looking directly on the hill in the foreground so to speak.

 

“When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing in the holy place (that is, in the temple) spoken of through the prophet Daniel – let the reader understand – then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

 

Jesus is prophesying here a particular and recognizable event that, as soon as it happens, will be the signal to get out of Jerusalem immediately. And Jesus says, “Don’t even bother packing. Don’t go back inside to grab your valuables – run for the hills.”

And notice, Jesus doesn’t say in v20, “Pray that this won’t happen.” Because, in the purposeful sovereignty of God, it must happen. Instead, he says, “Pray that it won’t happen in winter.” And history records that it didn’t, thank God. The fact that Jerusalem fell in the spring and summer of AD 70 reduced greatly the suffering of those who fled, especially children and expectant mothers. 

 

What is this “abomination that causes desolation” that Jesus talks about in v15? It’s a phrase you find 3 times in the Book of Daniel, and it means something grotesquely sacrilegious that has been set up in a sacred place. 

 

Centuries earlier, it described the time when Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalem, and a man called Antiochus Epiphanes strutted into the temple, erected a statue of Zeus in it and slaughtered a pig on the altar. You can imagine how sickening and provocative that would be for Jews. 

 

Jesus says, when you see something as bad as that about to happen again, leave town.

 

In the two or three years just before AD 70, Roman legions came and encircled Jerusalem. They arrived with statues of their gods, their idols, and you didn’t need to be a Mastermind contestant to see that they were going to put them in God’s holy temple where they do not belong.

 

Here’s what the history books say... When the Romans arrived, they didn’t attack the city straight away. They waited. They gave the local population a chance to surrender without bloodshed, and for a limited time people could come and go.

 

Remembering Jesus’ specific warnings here, many thousands of Christians took to the hills at that time. Tragically, the Jews ignored Jesus’ words. Instead, they packed into Jerusalem, thinking there was strength in numbers and that their solid city walls would protect them. And, at this time, many false messiahs sprung up saying, “It will be OK, just follow me,” exactly as Jesus predicted in v23-24. 

 

When the Romans saw that Jerusalem wasn’t going to surrender, they laid siege. For months and months, they cut off food and water supplies. People started to suffer dehydration and starvation. Children died from malnutrition. Pregnant mothers miscarried. 

 

Finally, when those in the city were too weak to resist, the Romans attacked. Exactly as Jesus had said, they destroyed the city and pounded the temple to rubble, till no stone was left on another. “See, I have told you ahead of time” says Jesus in v25.

 

The scale of human suffering was appalling. Jesus, looking ahead to it, says in v21, “there will be great distress unequalled from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be equalled again.” It was a bloodbath. The fourth century historian Tacitus estimated that about half a million people were slain. Josephus, who actually lived through it, put the figure at over double that. 

 

If Jesus died and rose again in AD 30, as seems most likely, it means God gave Jerusalem 40 years to respond to the gospel and embrace Jesus as Messiah. Just as he gave them 40 years in the wilderness to test their response to his deliverance from slavery in Egypt, he gave them 40 years here to weigh their response to the cross, resurrection and preaching of the early church, confirmed as it was by signs and wonders. 

 

If they had heeded these words in v15-25, they would have been saved. But because Jesus said it, they wouldn’t believe it, and they didn’t listen. It is a most tragic and heart-rending chapter in human history. 

 

A Foretaste of Far-Off Upheaval (v26-28)

 

But then, just as you think you’re on top of all the chronology, v26-28 throw a curveball. Because, right after speaking about AD 70, Jesus abruptly shifts gear to talk instead about his return; the coming of the Son of Man which is obviously still future. This is what most of the rest of the chapter is about.

 

No one knows when the Lord’s return will be. Jesus said in Acts 1.7 that it’s not for us to know when it will be. So please don’t waste time and money on books about some mysterious code hidden in the Bible that claims to reveal the date. They’re a money-making scam. The date and time for the Lord’s return are not in here.

 

Jesus says it will be like lightning that strikes in the east, but is visible in the west. In other words, the Lord’s return will be visible everywhere. 

 

What happened in AD 70 was certainly a cataclysm on a grand scale, certainly for the Jewish nation who had mostly rejected Jesus as their Messiah. It was very decisively and pointedly the end of their world. But it was not at all the end of the world. 

 

But when the Lord returns, the upheaval will be orders of magnitude greater than that for the millions who deny Jesus as Saviour and refuse him as Lord.

 

Ending

 

There’s so much to say, and I’ll say more next Sunday. But I’ll finish with this; you might be thinking, how is this relevant for me? This is all about something that happened in the first century, thousands of miles away.

 

Here’s the point; everything Jesus said 40 years before AD 70, including the complete ruin of a building that seemed built to last forever, and all the events leading up to it, was fulfilled in every detail. 

 

That’s because God knows the end from the beginning. It that means you can absolutely count on his word, and you can entrust him with your future. And it means we have every reason to believe his predictions about the second coming will be just as accurate.

 

Let’s renew our trust in the Lord, and thank him for his good plan for our lives, as we come together around his table. And, as we eat and drink, remembering his love for us, shown so powerfully on the cross, let’s once again proclaim his death – until he comes again.

 

 

Sermon preached at King's Church Darlington, 26 January 2025