September 9, 2012
Matthew 24:1-51
Key Verse: 24:14 “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.”
Many books begin, “Once upon a time,” or “In the beginning,” and they finish, “The End.” As there is a beginning, so there is an end. There is a beginning to the semester, and there is an end to the semester. In the Bible, we find the ultimate beginning and end. God began all things (Gen 1:1). And God will end this present age. It will not end through rogue terrorists with black market nukes. It will not end through the environmental blunders of big business. It will end when God decides it will end. The gospel will be preached to all nations. Then the end will come. In light of this truth, Jesus tells us how to live. We must watch out for false Christs. We must stand firm in our faith and preach the gospel. We must flee the corruption of the world and live a holy, prayerful life.
Look at verse 1. “Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.” Jesus’ disciples were mostly Galilean fishermen. Whenever they traveled to Jerusalem, they were fascinated by the temple buildings. The Jerusalem temple had been built at the summit of Mount Zion. It was built of white marble stones, plated with gold, and it shone in the sun. No wonder the young disciples from Galilee were overwhelmed to see it. They were susceptible to the glittering things of the world. Their hearts were filled with the desire to grab and hold onto all that the world had to offer.
How did Jesus answer them? Look at verse 2. “’Do you see all these things?’ he asked. ‘I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.’” This was a prediction of the imminent doom of the temple in Jerusalem. In 70 A.D. Jerusalem fell to the besieging army of Titus, a Roman general. He desecrated the temple and demolished it completely until not one stone was left on another, in order to take out the plated gold in between the stones. Jesus’ prophecy concerning the temple building was also an allegory about the destiny of human civilization. The Jerusalem temple was the culmination of human wisdom and technology. It appeared that it would last forever. Like the Jerusalem temple, human civilization dazzles our minds. The internet, space travel, and genetic engineering such as human cloning seem to offer hope and security. People are excited about those things. But these things cannot save us at the time of God’s judgment. Everything will be destroyed by fire. At that time the only thing that matters is our belief in Jesus Christ. Jesus’ prophecy concerning the temple building sounds depressing. But it’s not. Jesus wanted to help his disciples have eyes to see beyond the temporal things of the world. Jesus wanted his disciples to have eyes to see the eternal kingdom of God.
What was the response of his disciples? They were greatly surprised at Jesus’ words. Look at verse 3. “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?’” The disciples asked two questions: (1) when will this happen? (2) what will be the sign of Jesus’ coming again and the end of the age?
In verses 4-7, Jesus tells his disciples the general overview of the end of the age and its signs. There will be many false prophets and false Christs (5). There will be many rumors of wars (6). Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines (7). Last year there was an earthquake in Japan with a magnitude 9.1. It caused 15,000 deaths and also Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdown. These disasters make us afraid. We feel helpless and lose our hearts. But Jesus said in verse 8, “All these are the beginning of birth pains.” Birth pains are not mere dreadful events, but meaningful sufferings that result in new life. There are two kinds of pains: meaningless pain and pain as the prerequisite to gain something better. Birth pains belong to the latter. Jesus said in John 16:21,22, “A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” Most women are willing to go through birth pains in order to give birth to new life. When their cute babies are born, they immediately forget the anguish. This is Jesus’ view of the sufferings and agonies of the world. Jesus views them not as meaningless pain but as birth pains: suffering to bring forth a better world.
On December 26, 2004, a tsunami struck southeast Asia. Hardest hit was Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Muslims had been trying to make this a Muslim state for five years, cutting it off from the outside world. According to some reports, they burned Christian churches and martyred pastors right after their Christmas service. Then the tsunami struck–170,000 died; villages disappeared. Many Christian relief agencies came to help. After a year, local people began to say, “Muslim leaders told us we were being punished, and did nothing. But Christians have shown us God’s love.” Many opened their hearts to the gospel. In God, catastrophic events are opportunities to reveal God’s love. They are also reminders that our real hope is in heaven (Isa 66:22; 2 Pe 3:13; Rev 21:1). As birth pains precede a new life, wars and troubles precede the new heavens and the new earth, which are wonderful beyond imagination. There are no tears, sorrows or pains, and there is no death. It is God’s dwelling place (Rev 21:3-4). Isaiah 65:17 says, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” All sorrows and miseries will be completely forgotten and will never come to mind again. There will be true joy and peace and love in the presence of Christ forever. Our momentary troubles are birth pains through which God brings a glorious new age.
This birth pain applies to students as well. Some students enjoy studying in college. But most of them think that studying is pure torture or a necessary evil. But studying in college helps us to grow intellectually and spiritually. It is to learn hard-working spirit, discipline and faith. It is to lay the foundation for the future. No pain, no gain; no study, no degree; no degree, no professional job. This birth pain applies to shepherds. A shepherd’s mission is to go through birth pains to bring forth spiritual children and raise them up as spiritual leaders. Instead of trying to avoid sufferings, we must be willing to suffer for God to raise spiritual children.
Another birth pain we must endure as Christians is persecution from ungodly people. But God will use their persecution on Christians to advance the gospel of his kingdom to the whole world. Look at verse 9. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” The early Christians in Jerusalem enjoyed a wonderful fellowship with one another. Every day they met together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46,47) Then the Jews began to persecute them. Stephen became the first martyr. Soon Roman Emperors began to persecute Christians, for they refused to worship the emperors as gods. As Jesus predicted in verses 10-12, many turned away from the faith. They betrayed each other. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most grew cold. They became too busy to take care of themselves that they had no room to take care of others.
What should we do at the time of persecution? We must stand firm to the end. Look at verse 13. “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” At the time of persecution, Satan plants fear in our hearts: fear of losing everything and fear of death. Those who give in to Satan’s fear lose the battle even before the fighting begins. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 16:13, “Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong.” Persecution will test our faith whether it is genuine or not. Those who stand firm in Jesus to the end are true victors. Furthermore we should not think of persecution as something strange. Peter said in 1 Peter 4:12,13, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” We should accept persecution as the honorable badge of living as genuine Christians in this ungodly generation.
Look at verse 14. “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.” In fact, the Jewish persecution on the early Christians in Jerusalem could not extinguish the fire of their glowing love for Jesus and his gospel in their hearts. The persecution rather fanned the fire into a burning flame. The more the Jews tried to extinguish the fire, the wider the fire spread. Acts 8:4 says, “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.” Soon the gospel spread from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and later to Rome. It is interesting to note that verse 14 has a passive form. It says that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, but does not say “by whom” it will be done. It was, is and will be done by all nameless Christians–those who stand firm to the end at the time of persecution, who love Jesus more than their own lives and whose prayer topic is “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”(Mt 6:10)
Verse 14b says, “then the end will come.” In verses 15-22, Jesus tells his disciples how the destruction of the Jerusalem temple would occur in detail. Look at verse 15. “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.” The abomination that causes desolation refers to Daniel’s prophecy in Daniel 9:27. A king of Syria who was disgusted by Judaism determined to stamp out Judaism and introduce the Greek religion in Judea. He captured Jerusalem and destroyed the temple and placed the head of a pig on the altar. The temple in Jerusalem was the place where God was present. Where God should be present, the head of a pig was placed! Figuratively speaking, this is the inversion of the order of the universe. This was a disaster to the Judeans. Jesus warned his disciples that the same thing would happen again. The ordination of homosexual priests may be a modern example. When we see these things happening, we must flee North American culture. In truth, to flee has a spiritual meaning. We must flee to a quiet place to pray and listen to God’s word. God’s word of promise gives us true freedom from the corruption of the world. 2 Peter 1:4 says, “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” In order to flee, we may have to leave behind our plasma TVs, Ipods, or designer jackets (17-18). In addition, we must pray (20). God hears and answers our prayers. God intervenes for us in the midst of terrible difficulty to deliver us from evil. God even has mercy on unbelieving people for the sake of his elect, and shortens the time of terrible distress (22).
In this passage Jesus teaches us that there is an end to this present age. Jesus promises that when we stand firm to the end, we will be saved. Jesus wants to use us to preach the gospel to the whole world and to save people of all nations. This gives us direction, vision and hope. God gave us a new academic year with many new students. May God help us to serve them with the gospel of Jesus Christ.