Jesus Traces The Characteristics Of This Age Series

-Tuesday-

Mount of Olives

Jesus Tells of the Future

Matthew 24:4-8 (Focal Passage), Mark 13:5-8, Luke 21:8-11

PART 4: Jesus Traces The Characteristics Of This Age

Matthew 24:4-8 (Focal Passage)

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.

5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Mark 13:5-8

5 And Jesus, answering them, began to say: “Take heed that no one deceives you.

6 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many.

7 But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.

8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles. These are the beginnings of sorrows.

Luke 21:8-11

8 And He said: “Take heed that you not be deceived. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time has drawn near.’ Therefore, do not go after them.

9 But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.”

10 Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

11 And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.

Introduction

These verses are part of the great prophetic discourse we call The Olivet Discourse. It is found in the three synoptic gospels, but the three reports are not identical. Once again, we should remind ourselves that the differences in the Gospels have a deep significance.

In this discourse, we find the Lord speaking alternately of the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, and then, of the conditions that will precede his Second Coming. His predictions were soon to have a partial fulfillment in the siege of Titus, but they will have a further and complete fulfillment at the end of the Tribulation Period. These verses must be placed in the first three and one had years of the Tribulation, after the church has been raptured. That period is called the Seventieth Week of Daniel.

4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.

5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.

Alternate Translation (CEV): Jesus answered: Don’t let anyone fool you. Many will come and claim to be me. They will say that they are the Messiah, and they will fool many people.

The disciples had asked a question concerning what signs would signal His return—When shall these things be? Christ does not tell them the number of days and years that will pass until his prediction is fulfilled, for it is not for us to know the times (Acts 1:7); but they had also asked—What shall be the sign? He does answer that question completely, because we all want to know what is going to happen in the future. However, what our Lord says to His disciples here appears to be more of a caution than something meant to satisfy their curiosity. He knew the future and He wanted to prepare them for the events that would happen. First, He tells them about the deceivers—“Take heed that no one deceives you.” Deceivers are more dangerous enemies to the church than persecutors. Their presence will divide the congregation into parties and factions. There is a great deceiver that sometimes appears to be an angel of light (Satan), but he only wants one thing—to lead God’s people away from Him. Note: those who appear to be doing the greatest good, may be hiding the greatest evil. They may pretend to have received messages from God, to be on a mission, and to have a spirit of prophecy, but it is all a lie.

The first serious claimant to be Messiah was Bar Choba (132-135).

At the time when the Gospels were written it was more important than at any other time that no one should lead Christians astray, for they eagerly desired to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and they might be easily led to follow a profit like Simon, who pretended to be Messiah or the great power of God ( Acts 8: 9-11).