The End Will Come
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What a timely passage for us to chew on together this morning.
If you’ve been in church for long, you’ve likely heard this question, “Are we in the end times?”
And that question is usually in response to something tumultuous happening in the world and the question is are we close to when Jesus will return and the world as we know it will end and bring about the new heavens and new earth?
Is now the time?
For those of us who are older at Gateway you’ve been hearing this question for a long time across many wars and conflicts and world events.
And certainly right now is one of those times with what is happening in Israel.
Maybe you consume way more news than I do but maybe some of you aren’t as tuned in to world events but recently the terrorist organization Hamas launched a gruesome and deadly attack against Israel. Tensions in the Middle East are rising, our own President visited Israel this week, and our own Kathi Lewis was just 200 miles from the epicenter of events on her medical missions trip - Kathi we’re so glad you’re home.
Are we in the end times? we wonder.
We read passages like Matthew 24:1-14 and we hear
Wars and rumors of wars…nation against nation...
We see something happening on the news in Jerusalem and we wonder, is now the time?
Jesus told us he will return, when will that be? What signs might show us when he’ll return?
Today we are going to be touching on some highly controversial issues.
People who love Jesus and loves their Bibles debate Matthew 24 & 25 a lot. But let’s remind ourselves that end-time predictions are not die-for issues. They’re not top tier debates. But we want to consider, what is Jesus talking about in this passage?
What I will argue today is largely informed by Dr. Gerry Breshears my theology professor at Western Seminary and RT France in his article on Matthew in the New Bible Commentary. You may disagree with me but know that you’re also disagreeing with them so email them not me.
In short, in Matthew 24:1-14, I believe Jesus is talking about something that already happened and not something that is going to happen.
In Mattthew 24:1-14 Jesus is primarily discussing the impending destruction of the temple and not discussing his return. This passage and these verses are about what will happen in 70 AD at the hands of the Roman empire, and not primarily about events that are happening in our world today.
Even so, we will learn about Jesus AND He will teach us, as he taught his disciples how to respond when it looks like the world is ending.
Because, as we’ll see, the end will come. That’s essentially our main point today: The end will come.
In our passage we’ll see in verses 1-2 the end of the temple, and in verse 3-14, the signs of the end.
The end of the temple, and the signs of the end.
Let’s remember where we are in the story.
Matthew is all about Jesus, the King, who brings the Kingdom.
And the Kingdom is not a place but is a state of reality where God calls the shots. It’s living with God. It’s the best possible life.
And Jesus brings about the kingdom through giving up his life as a ransom for many, as Fletcher taught us last week.
Matthew 21-23 take place largely in the temple in Jerusalem.
And there, Jesus has these battles of words with the religious leaders who try to trap Jesus.
In Matthew 23, Jesus pronounces judgment against these religious leaders. Woe to you, he says. Then, he says this...
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.
38 “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!
39 “For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
Jesus laments by saying, “You’ve rejected me and so now the end will come.”
1 Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.
2 And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”
Jesus prophesies the end of the temple.
And dark music plays. Bum bum bum...
We ought to read this and shudder. This is the “end of the world” as the disciples know it.
Jesus leaves the temple.
And we get chills.
Why? Matthew is saying that God - the one who dwells in the temple - God, in the flesh as Jesus, is leaving the temple.
As he’s leaving, the disciples are confused.
They seem to try and stop him.
Jesus - why’re you leaving? Look at all these beautiful buildings!
Herod’s temple was the greatest construction project in the ancient world. These disciples - who believed Jesus to be the king - thought surely the king must reign here. Don’t leave!
Why is it significant that Jesus leaves the temple?
The temple is where God is. It was a symbol of his victory of his enemies. It was a microcosm of all creation. It was a symbol of the uniting of heaven and earth. It symbolized God’s people. It pictured the longing of God’s people for peace, justice, and blessing.
In the book of Ezekiel,
God tells his people that they have rejected him and Ezekiel sees the glory of God leaving the temple and going to a mountain east of the city.
And Matthew says it’s happening again. God’s people have rejected him and now Jesus - the glory of God - is going to leave the temple as a sign of his judgment and will go to the mountain east of the city - the mount of olives.
And so when Jesus says - “You see all this? It’s going to be rubble.”
It’s quite literally like he’s saying the world is going to end.
These words are so powerful that they will be used against him later in Matthew.
61 and said, “This man stated, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and to rebuild it in three days.’ ”
The disciples are rightfully confused. The temple…gone? How?
For you and I, these verses remind us of the real consequences of rejecting Jesus.
God himself came to show his love for the world that rejected him, and if we do not receive this good news by turning from our sin and trusting that we need Jesus to save us and make us new, then we can expect the same destruction.
I’m not saying if you don’t pray the prayer then your house is going to burn down. I’m not saying God enjoys judgment - Jesus wept over Jerusalem!
I’m not the guy at Mariners games yelling at people they’re going to hell! But I’m also reading the Bible.
I’m saying God made his intentions for you and I very clear - I love you and I am willing to lay down my life for you. And if we reject him - like many of Matthew’s contemporaries did, there are serious consequences.
Are you following Jesus? If so, the end will come and you will be saved. You are safe.
Don’t reject Jesus. Don’t keep him at arms length. The temple was destroyed even though he warned them not to reject him. Let’s not do the same.
The disciples are wondering, when will this happen?
In verses 1-2, Jesus predicts the end of the temple, and then he gives signs of the end.
Jesus says the temple will be destroyed and then we read in verse 3...
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Jesus leaves the temple as symbol of God’s judgment on Israel and then goes up on the Mt of Olives, directly east of the city.
Again, go read Ezekiel 11 when you get home this exact scenario has already played out Jesus is living out prophecy.
As you can see on this map the Mt of Olives is directly east of the city across the Kidron Valley.
And this would have been Jesus’ view.
Why does Jesus go to the Mt of Olives?
One he’s fulfilling prophecy in Ezekiel 11...
Two - he’s going to give his final teaching in Matthew 24 & 25, and Jesus loves a good mountain sermon.
Matthew 24&25 are often called the Olivet Discourse. Which sounds way too formal to me.
The disciples ask him two questions -
They may think it’s one question but really it’s two...
When will these things happen - the destruction of the temple
AND
what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?
Again, this is controversial but I want to argue that in Matt 24-25 Jesus talks about these questions one at a time.
What about Matt 24:29-31? Buy me coffee and let’s talk about it.
In our passage, Jesus gives 8 signs of the coming destruction of the temple...
False Messiahs
False Messiahs
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.
5 “For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.
Jesus’ first concern is deception. Don’t be fooled by people who claim to be the Christ. Matthew is writing this for the early church that they would not be deceived by other leaders who claim to be who only Jesus could be.
We see this to be true in Acts 5 when it the leaders of Jerusalem say, “You know there was this guy Theudas who claimed to be somebody and some people followed him but it turned out to be nothing.” Jesus says this will happen.
Wars
Wars
6 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
Jesus says there will be conflicts and talk about wars, but don’t be afraid.
These things MUST happen but it’s not the end yet.
Nation against nation
Nation against nation
Matthew 24:7 (NASB95)
7 “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom....
There will be growing hostility between nations...
Natural disasters
Natural disasters
Matthew 24:7–8 (NASB95)
7 and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
8 “But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
I remember when Morgan and I went to a birthing class being so surprised that when a woman’s water breaks they don’t have the baby in the next 60 seconds.
But wait, in the movies you gotta get in the cab and go NOW?!
From my limited vantage point, birth is really painful and then it’s awesome. Tons of suffering and then rejoicing because you have a baby.
Jesus says that’s what this is like. There will be suffering that’s a 10 on the pain scale, and then there will be joy. But like a woman’s water breaking there will be signs that it’s coming.
Delivered over
Delivered over
9 “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
Jesus tells his disciples they will be intensely persecuted. And we see this happen as many of his disciples are martyred for their faith.
Falling away from the faith
Falling away from the faith
10 “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
The persecution will be so intense that some who appear to be following Jesus will fall away and there will be conflict within the disciples.
Verse 11 talks about false messiahs again...
11 “Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
Love will grow cold
Love will grow cold
12 “Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.
13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
The disciples are supposed to be the light of the world - radiating heat like the sun, but Jesus says before the temple is destroyed most people will actually not show this kind of love.
But Jesus promises salvation from destruction for those who remain faithful to him.
Gospel preached to all nations
Gospel preached to all nations
14 “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.
In the past, I’ve read this as saying “Jesus will return when the gospel is preached to not only Jerusalem, but Rome, and Africa, and Asia, and Sumner, WA.” The whole world is the whole world, what else could it mean!
Actually my Bible has a little note on “the whole world” and it says this means ‘the inhabited earth.’
The disciples had no idea North America existed. They could hardly imagine the destruction of the temple let alone what the Grand Canyon looks like.
But this gospel of the kingdom - the good news that God has come and is near to all people - did go to the whole world before AD 70.
3 We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you,
4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;
5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel
6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;
23 if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.
The gospel was preached to the known world and then the end came, the temple was destroyed by Rome in AD 70 just as Jesus predicted. He gave his disciples these signs and more in later verses to tell them what was to come.
Chris, wait a second.
Couldn’t Matthew have just written this prophecy by Jesus at a later date to make it look like he correctly predicted this event?
Sure, but the problem is, Matthew died for his faith. Why would he die for a lie? And a lie that gave him no money, no power, no women, nothing!
Plus, if Jesus correctly predicted the fall of the temple AND his own death and resurrection which was witnessed by hundreds of people, then we need to take him very seriously.
Jesus predicted the end of the temple and then he gave the signs of the end, and these things did come to pass.
How’re we doing?
Matthew 24:1-14, I believe, is not about future events but about events that took place in the generation of the disciples.
And yet, what do we learn about Jesus from this passage, and how does it inform how we think about the events we are living in today?
Jesus is the king of all nations, not just our nation.
Jesus is the king of all nations, not just our nation.
This passage is a complete repudiation of nationalism.
Israel was the greatest nation on earth because they were God’s chosen people. And yet they missed their calling. They were blessed to be a blessing. God said to their father Abraham, I’m going to bless you so that through your family, ALL Nations will be blessed!
But instead, their blessings made them proud and rather than blessing other nations they hated other nations.
The destruction of the temple was God’s way of making it very clear that he’s not just the God of one nation, but all nations.
Jesus came to be what Israel failed to be - a man of one nation who came to bless all nations.
Similarly for us, it’s easy for us to be pro-America and pro-Israel and anti-everyone else.
Let’s be clear, Hamas is a terrorist organization that will endure the wrath of God and hopefully justice in this lifetime, as well.
But as Christians, we are to be like Christ who is Pro-Palestinian. And he is Pro-Jewish.
We are against injustice from any nation. We are to be against anti-semitism and against the hatred of Muslims.
In our fallen humanity we default to me vs you, us vs them but Christians we put on Christ and see all people as made in the image of God and love even our own enemies just like Christ loved us.
Any Jew would wonder, “Wait, if there is no temple, where is God now?”
If he’s not with us in the temple, where is he?
16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
This is the gospel of the kingdom. God is not the king of one nation but of all nations.
Gateway Chapel we are the temple of God. God is near to all who love him. He makes his home with us. Jesus abides with us in a way that is far better than the temple. And that’s true for a widow in Palestine, a little boy in Brazil, or a Messianic Jewish community worshiping in Jerusalem right now.
Jesus is the king of all nations, not just our nation.
We learn that Jesus is the king of all nations, not just our nation. What does this passage teach us about how to respond to world events today?
Stay calm
Stay calm
6 “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
Don’t be frightened.
The internet and cable news are designed to elicit anxiety. To keep us tuned in with trepidation.
But Jesus says, stay calm. These things must happen. This is what it’s going to be like in the world because the temple is destroyed and all the way until he returns.
Are we saying that people affected by violence and injustice should stop being upset?
No! We are angry over injustice, but we can still remain aware of the reality that God is in control.
1 God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change
And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea;
3 Though its waters roar and foam,
Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride.
Selah.
We are to be a non-anxious presence in a frantic and panicked world.
So as you read the news this week, let’s pray for God’s kingdom and take deep breaths remembering Jesus said this would happen, he is present and active, and one day the end will come.
Stay faithful
Stay faithful
13 “But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.
Just as there were false Christs then, there are false leaders today who vie for our allegiance.
Politicians, pundits, influencers, all want to shape the way we think about the world.
But as Christians we follow Jesus.
What does that mean for us?
It means that even as the world is crumbling, we make it our number one priority to seek the kingdom just like Jesus said. To love our spouses as God loves us, to love our kids and support them like God the Father loves us, to be friendly and kind neighbors who show the warmth of God’s love in our city, to be faithful employees who work hard and do a good job not just for money but the knowledge that we’re working for God and not for a paycheck.
And staying faithful to Jesus means we do not dare speak evil of others, even if they deserve it. We don’t dare write FB posts that are unkind or slanderous because that’s not what followers of Jesus do.
Those who are in Christ will be saved from destruction. We can have hope as we stay faithful.
Preach on
Preach on
The disciples knew the world as they knew it would end. The temple was going to be destroyed.
They would lose their very lives. And yet the call from Jesus was to preach on.
Preach the gospel of the kingdom.
What is the gospel of the kingdom?
The good news that God is near. Not just to Jews. Not just to Americans. Not just to good people, pretty people, rich people, but bad people, ugly people,
We preach this gospel to ourselves
To our families
To our neighbors
At our gatherings
And maybe God sends us or we support those who go to the ends of the earth
We pray that God would spread this good news even to those who don’t have a Bible in their language.
Are we in the end times?
Absolutely. In the same way the disciples were.
And Jesus reminds us in these times not to cling to nationalism but to cling to him - the king of all nations. And to trust him, to stay faithful to him by loving others and to preach the good news that God is near.’
And I think the illustration of birth pains is helpful.
Pain precedes redemption. Difficulty comes before joy.
What is going on in our world today, much like what Jesus described 2,000 years ago is painful, difficult, there is fear involved, but the end will come. And when it does, something new and more amazing will be born.
22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.
23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.
As Christians we live in the tension of grieving with those who grieve the injustices of this life, but also the hope of knowing that the end will come and it will be a rebirth into something brand new.
This week may God be your refuge and strength. May you not be driven by fear, but stay faithful to Jesus and preach the good news that God is near to all.
This is important because I think a fair question to Jesus’ prophesy about the temple would be,
“How do we know Jesus actually said this? Couldn’t Matthew have witnessed the destruction of the temple in 70 AD and then wrote about it later on to make it look like Jesus predicted it?”
I really don’t think so, because the disciples died in allegiance to Jesus. They didn’t get any money for this! Some people may die for a lie, but not one that doesn’t give them anything in this life. Matthew didn’t get money, power, sex, or anything for writing this.