Signs of the End
TRANSLATION
(1) And Jesus left the temple and was going on his way when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. (2) He answered them, “You see all these things, do you not? Truly I tell you that there will not be left one stone upon another. All will be thrown down.”
(3) And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately saying, “Tell us, when will these things take place, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (4) And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray, (5) for many will come in my name saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray. (6) And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for such things must take place, but the end is still to come. (7) For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. (8) These events are only the beginning of birth pains. (9) Then they will deliver you over to tribulation and seek to kill you, and you will be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. (10) And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. (11) And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. (12) And because lawlessness will multiply, the love of the many will grow cold. (13) But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (14) And the Gospel of the Kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.”
OBSERVATIONS
In this opening segment of Matthew’s “Olivet Discourse” where Jesus talked about his Second Coming, we encounter several important repetitions. In the first sentence we find “disciples” twice (vss. 1 & 3). The phrase, “lead you/many astray,” occurred three times (vss. 4, 5, & 11) as did “the end” (vss. 6, 13, & 14). Four other terms were also repeated: “wars” (twice in vs. 6), “nation(s)” (vss. 7 & 14), “kingdom” (twice in vs. 7 & once in vs. 14), and “hate(d)” (vss. 9 & 10).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus, in response to his disciples’ questions, foretold the temple’s utter destruction. (1 & 2)
II. Jesus warned them to guard against being led astray by what they would hear and see. (3-8)
III. Jesus described what the end of this age would be like. (9-14)
IDEA STATEMENT
In sharing with his disciples what the end would be like, Jesus did not give them specifics regarding when he would return but rather warned them to live as if he could come at any time.
APPLICATION
The disciples wanted to know “when” the end would come, but Jesus gave them only the “what,” a description of the events that would mark the approach of the final days. These included false messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, tribulation and persecution of believers, false prophets leading many astray, the increase of lawlessness, and the Gospel of the Kingdom being proclaimed to every corner of the earth. Believers in almost every generation of church history have identified their particular era with this description. I can remember attending “prophecy conferences” in the 1960’s and 1970’s in which Bible teachers would try to convince those gathered that the Lord’s return would certainly take place in just days or weeks. Now, some 50 years later, we are still waiting for his coming, and we may wait for a long time yet.
Every generation of believers has yearned for theirs to be the one when Christ might personally return according to the promises which he made so many years ago. There is nothing wrong in cherishing such a hope. In fact, the Scriptures indicate that this kind of hope should shape our lives and motivate our actions and is highly commendable: “Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 Jn. 3:2 & 3). However, we must be careful while expressing such hope not to set dates, not to claim that Jesus will surely return immediately, nor to assert that the present moment in history matches the events that Jesus so vividly described in Matthew 24. The doctrine of “imminence” rightly proclaims that there is no event that must take place between now and when the end times could begin and teaches us to be ready for the Lord’s coming whenever it happens. However, we must be careful never to claim with certainty that the moment in which we live is the time when he will return.