Because Jesus Is Returning . . .
"Understanding Matthew 24"
You can’t read the article that appeared in the Atlanta Journal, June 5, 1997 without some remorse and sympathy for Clarence Jackson. "The clock struck midnight and Clarence Jackson didn’t turn into a millionaire." Jackson, who is 24, works in a small cleaning business in Hartford, Connecticut to help support his elderly parents. He won the Connecticut Lotto jackpot in October 1995. It was worth 5.8 million dollars. He submitted the ticket three days after the one year deadline.
He had given the ticket to his ailing father and didn’t realize it was a winner until fifteen minutes before the deadline. He didn’t know he could verify the ticket at his local lotto dealer. Instead, he waited until Monday to redeem the ticket at lotto headquarters. It was too late. The Connecticut House of Representatives voted 82-63 to award Jackson the money. Senator Alvin Penn refused to allow the bill to come to the floor of the Senate, and thus the bill died. Representative Michael Lawlor said, "Give the guy the money . . . You say we can’t change the rules. That’s all we do here is change the rules! We’re the Legislature." Jackson left the Connecticut State Capitol a dejected man.
What’s it like to be too late and lose 5.8 million dollars you could have had? I don’t know - but it would be devastating. I would be awfully hard to live with after that. Not that I’m easy to live with now. But it wouldn’t be nearly as devastating as being too late for the return of Jesus.
- Titus 2:11-13 says, "For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God, while we look forward to that wonderful event when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed."
That’s our theme for this series of messages - anticipating and being ready for the return of Christ.
When you think of the second coming of Jesus, what comes to mind? The rapture, the tribulation (7 years of intense persecution), the Beast, the Antichrist, the mark of the Beast? We tend to think of things that deal with WHEN we think He will come. We like to be informed, not surprised. That is human nature. We want to be in the know.
I want to propose to you this morning that God has intentionally prevented us from knowing WHEN Jesus will return, so that we will live like we are ready all the time. Human nature is such that we would likely get ready right before He came if we knew when it was. We do that all the time.
- school - write that paper or study for that test the night before.
- home - clean up the house right before guests are due to arrive.
The disciples of Jesus were like the rest of us. They wanted to know when Jesus would bring in the fulness of His kingdom. What would be the signs they could look for to tell them the time was near? We find a passage about this in Matthew 24,25.
What I want to do this morning is set the stage for this series. To do that, I want us to take a careful look at Matthew 24. Let’s be careful students of the Word this morning, carefully exposing this text. This will be different than my typical sermon. We will spend most of the time finding the meaning of the text rather than how it applies to your life. The following weeks will be mostly application.
- Read Matthew 24.
Bible passages that deal with prophecy and images of the end times are often difficult to understand for several reasons. For instance, much of the stuff could easily describe more than one event in history. Second, prophecy is often shrouded in figurative language - tempting some to look for these images to be literally fulfilled instead of symbolically fulfilled. That makes for good movies and books but poor exegesis or Bible study. The people of the ancient world were very familiar with what was called "apocalyptic" literature. We are not. Apocalyptic literature was filled with prophetic images that were not literal. It was not written so much to give a chronology of events to come as to encourage suffering saints to remain faithful even through tough times. With that in mind, let’s look at the questions the disciples ask and the answers Jesus gives.
It’s been a wonderful day in the temple for the disciples. Their Master has answered every question thrown at Him and has stumped the Jewish leaders with questions of His own. Jesus had just berated the Pharisees more harshly than ever before. The day was coming to an end now, so they were returning to Bethany for the evening.
The disciples are beside themselves. It has been a day of victory for Jesus and consequently for them. You have to imagine them strutting out of the Temple area and then towards the city gate. As they do so, they are noticing the grandeur of the Temple and surrounding buildings like never before. Why? Because now they are looking at it as their own personal office space. If Jesus keeps this up, it won’t be long before He ushers in the new kingdom He’s been talking about for three and a half years. And we are His right hand men. When He becomes king, we will be senior statesmen, chief executives.
Herod the Great had begun to renovate the Temple itself in 19 B.C. Although 55 years later it was not officially complete, it was mostly finished and elaborately decorated. It was an extraordinary place and an extraordinary thought that these twelve guys might rule over this city.
Then Jesus lays a bombshell on them. "Do you see these buildings? They will all be obliterated." Then, without any further word of explanation, Jesus walks out of the eastern gate, across the Kidron Valley and up the Mount of Olives, about 3/5 of a mile away where they can overlook the temple mount. There He sits down. A bewildered and frustrated group of disciples look at Him and they ask three questions:
1) When will the Temple be destroyed?
2) What will be the sign of Your coming?
3) What will be the sign of the end of the age?
Now in their minds, they have only asked one question. From their perspective, the destruction of this grand city and even the Temple would be so cataclysmic that it could only mean one thing. It would be the end of the world and the fulfillment of the kingdom of Jesus they had been learning about.
But from our vantage point, 2,000 years later, we can see at least two distinct events that Jesus refers to in His answer.
1) The destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 70 A.D.
2) The second coming of Jesus.
The question then becomes, which verses fit which category? Historically, Christians have tried to make as many verses as possible fit the second coming. Why? Because they are looking for signs. Even translators (NIV, NASB, New Living Translation) took great liberties to use and add words that do not appear in the original language - all because of prejudice. But as we look at Jesus’ answer, lets be a little more critical and careful. If a verse can be applied to the events surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., they probably ought to be.
I. Verses 4-26 - Signs of The Coming Destruction of Jerusalem. (Jesus called them "birth pains." in vs. 8)
A. False Messiahs (vs. 5) - Josephus, the Jewish historian, testifies that this period was full of those claiming to be the messiah. Even the book of Acts speaks of a few of them.
- 5:36,37 - Theudas and Judas
- 21:38 - the Egyptian
In the climate of political unrest that filled Israel in those days, there were many opportunistic men who deceived many.
B. Wars and rumors of wars (vs. 6,7) - Three different emperors threatened war against Jerusalem during this time - Caligula, Claudius and Nero. There were also several internal Jewish civil wars during this time.
C. Famines and Earthquakes (vs. 7) - There were a number of documented famines and earthquakes during this period, including the one predicted by Agabus in Acts 11:28 (about 44 A.D.). Others include the years 46,51,60,62.
D. Persecution (vs. 9,10)- The book of Acts catalogues plenty of these on its own. Persecutions against the Jews and Christians were both civil organized ones by the government and local sporadic ones limited to a city or region. Nero enacted the first official empire wide persecution of Christians, but many followed in his footsteps.
E. False Prophets - Heresies (vs. 11) - The church had to constantly fight false teaching, from the Judaizers of Acts 15 to the Gnostics of 1 John. Galatians, Colossians, 2 Corinthians, 2 Timothy, 2 Peter, 1 John, Jude, were all written in part to counter the false doctrines so prevalent in the early church.
F. Gospel preached to the whole world (vs. 14) - This verse is often used to "prove" that this section must refer to Jesus’ second coming instead of the destruction of Jerusalem. The phrase "the whole world," is the word "oikoumene" and means the "inhabited known world." This was quite different than what we think of. Remember, we have to put ourselves back into the New Testament world to know what this meant. We would include places like Russia, Japan, Hawaii, South America, in our definition of the inhabited known world. They would not. To them, the inhabited known world was essentially the Roman Empire (which was vast but far from the whole world).
In other words, Jesus was not saying that the Gospel would be preached to every person on the earth, but that the Gospel would reach all known nations. The bottom line is this. Paul claimed that the Gospel had reached the oikoumene before 70 A.D. (Romans 1:8, 10:18, 16:26, Colossians 1:6,23).
G. Those who endure to the end will be saved (vs. 13) - They were. "Saved," in this context, means delivered from the persecution. The Christians were warned in verse 16- 20, prophetically, to flee Judea when they saw these things happen. They did! By God’s providence, when Rome surrounded Jerusalem in 68 A.D., led by Cestius Gallus, they mad a mysterious retreat a short time later. It is documented in the works of Josephus. Listen to what he wrote (not a Christian man),
"But the people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded buy a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea named Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, then, as if their royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men . . ." (and he goes on to describe the deprivation and destruction that resumed).
H. Abomination of Desecration (vs. 15-21) - first spoken of in Daniel - The Jews had pronounced its fulfillment in 167 B.C. when Antiochus Epiphanes, commanding the invading Syrian army entered the Temple. He murdered worshipers, allowed his troops to have sex with women in the Temple and slaughtered a pig upon the holy altar. Yet Jesus looks to a future greater fulfillment. The destruction of Jerusalem certainly fit that bill. Again, Josephus describes some of the horrors that took place.
- people’s cries were louder than the fighting
- Jewish soldiers tormented their own people for food.
- thousands of crucifixions
- horrid famine and piles of dead bodies
- the burning of Jerusalem
- fire quenched by blood
- 1,100,00 Jews died and 97,000 taken captive
- The armies took the city, entered the Temple, tore every stone down to the ground.
These predictions assuredly refer to the destruction of Jerusalem. If they referred to the second coming, why were people commanded to flee to the Judean hills? Could they escape from the Second Coming? Would they want to fun from Jesus? No. The Christians in Jerusalem and the surrounding area in 68 A.D. (Just about 35 years - or a generation later) took heed to this warning, and they did in fact flee.
I.- a remnant saved (vs. 22)- Jesus said this tribulation would be cut short so that the elect would survive. By cutting short the time of this tragic event, God did save for Himself a remnant of Jews. That is God’s consistent promise for His people (Romans 9:27-29, 11:5, 29).
J. Time of false messiahs (vs. 23-26) - notice how this wraps both ends
II. Verses 27-31 -Transition Verses -
A. When Jesus returns, you won’t have to go looking for Him, He will find you (vs. 27)
B. Read the signs. - where the vultures are circling, there are dead bodies below. For this event, there will be signs, plenty of them. (vs. 28)
C. Cataclysmal events in the sky. (vs. 29) Apocalyptic language - double meaning?
- apocalyptic words were not usually "literal" to the Jewish mind of that time. Those were apocalyptic words. They had been used to describe the destruction of other great cities.
- Isaiah 13:10,19 - refers to Babylon
- Isaiah 34:4 - refers to Edom
- Ezekiel 32:7,8 - refers to Egypt
- Likewise, the destruction of Jerusalem would be so horrible, so complete, that it would be like the break up of the heavenly bodies in the sky.
- but there seems to be a double reference here. For when Jesus returns, the judgement and destruction for unbelievers will also be like this.
D. The second coming - Here then we have a resounding finish to the final days of the world, the judgement. (vs. 30,31)
III. Verses 32-35 - Jesus pauses to summarize verses 4-28. The Parable of The Fig Tree refers to the destruction of Jerusalem. There will be many obvious signs warning you of its impending time.
- vs. 33 - notice how "translations" can be prejudiced. In the Greek, the words are "know that it is near at the door." Most translations say, "He is near." That is not a translation. That is an interpretation. "It" is the word chosen because "it" refers to the event of the destruction of Jerusalem.
IV. Verses 36 ff - There Are No Signs For The Second Coming.
"But" emphasis ("peri de") - strong contrast coming - a distinct shift - like capitalizing the word BUT. What is the strong contrast coming? The rest of Jesus’ answer refers to the second coming.
- vs. 36 - it is known only to the Father - not even the angels or the Son.
- vs. 37-39 - like those in Noah’s time, everyone was going about regular business until it happened.
- vs. 40,41 - Even close relationships will be divided by it.
Then Jesus tells the first two parables about His return:
A. Like a thief in the night, Jesus will come unexpectedly. Vs. 42-44
- In youth group, we have had fun times where we read some stories of stupid criminals. Like the burglar caught on security video who tried to throw a concrete block through a storefront window. It wouldn’t break. It was made out of a strong plexiglass. He kept trying until one throw, the brick bounces back and hit him in the head and knocked him out.
- But generally speaking, thieves are smart enough to not announce that they are coming. The element of surprise is their greatest asset. If a thief told someone they were coming, they would probably be met by a pit bull, a shotgun or the police.
- Jesus will come at a time that surprises us in terms of the timing - but we are to be living in such a way that we expect that to happen, and so we have the second parable.
B. Like a faithful servant, be ready at all times. Vs. 45-51
As the weeks roll into months and into years, it is easy for a servant to slack off, feeling that it is less likely that the master will return the very next moment. But the opposite is in fact the case. The more that time passes before Jesus returns, the closer we are to that moment. One song that was in the movie Left Behind had these words, "My spirit tells me we are closer now than we’ve ever been before." Well Duh! Of course. With every passing moment, we are closer to His return. We need to live like a faithful servant - always ready for the master to come through the door and say, "I’m back."
- 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4 says, "For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night. When people are saying, ‘all is well; everything is peaceful and secure,’ then disaster will fall upon them as suddenly as a woman’s birth pains begin when her child is about to be born. And there will be no escape. But you aren’t in the dark about these things, dear brothers and sisters, and you won’t be surprised when the day of the Lord comes like a thief."
It’s will be the opposite of popular thought. There will be no predictions for it.
Conclusion:
I know that for some of you, I have turned your thinking of the second coming upside down. For years, perhaps, you have looked at the early verses of Mtt. 24 and thought they applied to the second coming. One thing I want you to know. This is an important issue, but not essential. Good Christians disagree over the interpretation of this passage.
The movie "Left Behind" presented a school of thought that says that Christians will be taken up to be with Christ and those Left Behind will have a second chance to get it right - to believe in Jesus. I do not think that is biblical. Our second chance is now. The grace of God has appeared now. When Jesus returns, second chances are over. There will be no body of legislatures that can vote to change the rules. Now is the time to get ready.
Perhaps there is a deeper problem to reflect on. That is, do we anticipate the second coming of Christ?
- Titus 2:11-13 says, "For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with self-control, right conduct, and devotion to God, while we look forward to that wonderful event when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed."
Human nature is such that we procrastinate getting ready for things we don’t look forward to. Homework, business presentations, cleaning the house for guests. On the other hand, we tend to prepare well in advance for things we really look forward to
- Ashley packing for camp.
- Plans for that honeymoon
- whatever it might be.
If you really anticipate the coming of Jesus, you will probably be preparing all the time. That’s where we are going the next four weeks.
But are you ready? God has given us everything we need to be ready. All we need is His grace extended in Jesus. We can’t be ready on our own. We aren’t good enough. But God loves you so much that He sent Jesus to live among us, to die for our sins, to raise from the dead, conquering the power of death. And He invites you to receive what He did for you. He wants to make you clean and ready for His return, for the end of the age as we know it. Do you believe?
