Signs of the Times
Signs of the Times
Matthew 24:1-35
We come to one of the most abused, most misused, and most misunderstood parts of Jesus’ teaching. This End-Times Discourse is the second longest of Jesus’ recorded sermons in Matthew, after the Sermon on the Mount. When we were in Matthew 5-7, I was telling you how that discourse has been misunderstood and misused. As bad as that was, this one is even worse. It forms the basis for more false teaching, apocalyptic fear, and end-times calendar building than any other Scripture, including, I think, The Revelation.
Parts of this discourse are so specific to actual events that happened within a generation of Jesus’ death, that there are theologians who think it could not actually be something Jesus said. They suggest that Matthew wrote his gospel after the events of AD 70, and put the actual history into Jesus’ mouth as a prophecy. I don’t believe that, at all, because by this time, Jesus has already revealed to the disciples that he is the Messiah. He has already, if we believe John’s timeline, referred to himself as one with the Father. He has already referred to himself as the Son of Man. And he has already spoken of the future. It is not a stretch, at all, to believe that Jesus actually prophesied the events that were to follow, and that he knew God’s plan for Jerusalem.
I might note that it’s not much of a stretch to have been able to foresee what was going to happen to Jerusalem. The tensions between Judea and Rome were barely contained during Jesus’ earthly life, just bubbling under the surface. A spark of revolt would be all it would take to bring the full force of Roman retribution down on them. The suffering and destruction, if you had known anything about either the Romans or the Jews of the day, was almost assured. As I have read through this, I’m not sure how much of it is really prophecy and how much of it is a natural consequence of events already in motion.
Now, we need to understand that much of prophecy has meaning on at least two levels. One, is the immediate future. The other is a more distant future. Jesus may be predicting both the immediate destruction of Jerusalem - the end of the age - and his own return - the Day of Judgment. Two different things, but encapsulated in one very interesting series of prophecies. And the discussion begins in the temple precinct.
The disciples are admiring the beautiful temple and it various elements. Jesus tells them to look closely because it might be their last chance. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” The ultimate calamity for the Jews would be the loss of their Temple. That spells the end of the system of sacrifice, for them the place of pilgrimage, the place of atonement, their focus of worship, the priesthood, and, in their minds, the end of the very Presence of God in their midst. It had happened once before, when the Babylonians invaded and plundered the treasury. Even the ark of God had disappeared. The priest Ezra had led the rebuilding of the temple in about 516 BC. And after Antiochus IV Epiphanes had desecrated the altar, the Maccabean revolt had reclaimed the temple precincts, performed a ritual cleansing, and re-lit the great menorah. Then Herod the Great, in an bid to cement his place in the affection of the Jews, leveled the site, built huge stone foundations, filled in the area to make a larger site, and started enhancing the structure built by Ezra. After forty years, the task was not complete. This Second Temple was larger and grander than the one Solomon had built a thousand years before. Even though it was incomplete, it was still a marvelous building, beautiful and beloved by the Jews.
When asked about signs and dates – “Tell us when all this will happen,” Jesus’ first response is a warning – “Watch out that no one deceives you.” False messiahs, false prophets, and deceivers of all stripes abound in our world. They look good. They sound good. They may have degrees and books and political power. They will tell you what you want to hear. Paul warned Timothy about those who tell us what our “itching ears” want to hear. They will comfort you and entertain you, sing you songs with catchy tunes and lyrics. But they are liars, deceivers, frauds.
Don’t believe everything you hear, and don’t be anxious about everything you hear. Wars, rumors of war, natural disasters, famines. I want you to note – these are not signs of the end. Notice what Jesus said, “All these are the beginning of birth pangs.” And, in fact, they are things that have been a part of human history from Jesus’ day onward.
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death.” Eleven of the men in that group would be persecuted and martyred for the name of Jesus. Persecution started within a couple of years of the resurrection. Several weeks ago, I detailed on a Sunday evening the Roman emperors who would direct persecutions and executions of Christians – Claudius, Nero, Vespasian, Domitian, and Trajan. And that’s just the first hundred years of Christianity. Christians are not immune from persecution and suffering. In just this past year, hundreds of Christians in Nigeria have been slaughtered, hundreds more in Syria. And the governments that once were friendly to the faith, Britain, France, Germany, Scotland, have turned to silencing and prosecuting Christians to speak or pray in public.
And, again, false prophets, increasing wickedness, and “the love of many will grow cold.” But the gospel must be preached to all nations before the end will come. That doesn’t excuse us from refusing to reach into all the world with the good news of Christ. It just tells us that the whole world needs to hear, and God is giving us the chance, giving us time, to fulfill the Great Commission.
“And when you see standing in the holy place the abomination that causes desolation ...” Jesus refers to a prophecy of Daniel, sometimes thought to be an after-the-fact account, but fulfilled in 167 BC when Antiochus IV Epiphanes set up an altar to Zeus in the temple and sacrifice a pig on it. Jesus refers then to a similar future event and warns that when it happens, the people should flee to the mountains, and pray that it wasn’t in the winter. As it happened, In AD 66, a Greek man sacrificed a bird at the door of the synagogue in Caesarea. Then the Roman governor Gessius Florus looted the temple treasury. That sparked a revolt, and the heavy hand of Rome came down hard on Jerusalem. The Roman army laid siege to Jerusalem under the general Vespasian. When Nero died, Vespasian returned to Rome and left his son, Titus, in charge. In AD 70 Jerusalem was sacked, burned, and the temple torn down. Masada, Herod’s summer palace in the south, became a fortress for those who escaped Jerusalem. In AD 73, the Roman’s finished ending the revolt when they breached Masada and massacred all who had not committed suicide.
“If those days had not been cut short ...” Jesus tells them that the darkness will not last long, “for the sake of the elect.” It is a fact that good people, God’s people, get caught up and suffer along with the rest when there is war. Throughout Scripture, God has always kept safe a remnant of his people. We saw that in the story of Elijah, where Obadiah had hidden a hundred prophets, and where God had kept safe seven thousand who had not succumbed to idol worship. The reference to “the elect” here is a reference to all true believers in Christ. At the time of the Roman conquest, there were believers in Jerusalem. But that is true of many places and times when God’s people seemed to be in harm’s way. Even though persecution comes, it does not last long enough to erase the witness of Christ.
But along with this, again, Jesus warns of false prophets. They even perform signs and wonders. Here is an important caution: Do not chase miracles. Do not follow signs and wonders. Follow Christ. Test the spirits. Be discerning. When someone tells you, “You ought to go hear Preacher So and So,” ask if he preaches Jesus. I’ve watched videos of so-called “church” services where the preacher waved his coat or his arm, blew on the congregation, and people fall over. I’ve watched the wild dancing and babbling, and hear people proclaim how the Holy Spirit washed over them. It’s nonsense and it’s dangerous nonsense. Canadian theologian Donald Carson wrote, “Empty-headed credulity is as great an enemy of true faith as chronic skepticism. Christian faith involves the sober responsibility of neither believing lies nor trusting imposters.”1
When Jesus returns it will be a sudden event. He will not be hiding in some secret place nor will he be wandering in the wilderness gathering followers. We are to be informed and wise. Jesus says that “where there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather” meaning that foolish people chase excitement, just as hungry people chase food. And where there are “signs and wonders,” even if they are the work of a false prophet, a crowd will gather. The warning here is that we not follow the crowd. Again, test the spirits.
But then, after all of that, “after the distress of those days,” then there are signs. Then the Son of Man will come on the clouds. Just to refresh our memories: Jesus referred to himself as the Son of God only once - John 5:25, and that is a rather oblique reference. Demons and Pharisees, and a Roman centurion, called Jesus the Son of God, and at his trial accused him of calling himself that. But Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man. That was the real claim to deity, because it was a clear reference to Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7:13-14.
In Daniel’s vision, the Ancient of Days takes his throne (v. 9), and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. The Son of Man is endowed with sovereign power and is worshiped. To the Jews, worship belongs only to God, which means that the Son of Man is God. Jesus, claiming to be the Son of Man, is a direct claim to be God, to be worthy of worship.
People will mourn when he comes for two reasons: They will mourn who have not believed and so are condemned (Jn 3:18); and they will mourn because someone they love has not believed and so is condemned. They will mourn because all chance of repentance is past. The choices they have made are now eternal, and they by their faith or lack of faith have decided their own destiny. That’s why we call people to repentance and faith. That’s why we must share Jesus wherever we go and whenever we can. Peter reminds us that the reason for God seeming slowness is that God is rather patient because he does not want any to perish (2 Pet 3:9).
But then comes the trumpet call and the angels gather Gods chosen, those who believe, those who love Jesus and follow him. Let me be very clear here. There are two errors we could make here. One is to focus on the “elect,” and suggest that God has already chosen who is to be saved. Jesus isn’t saying that here. The other is to suggest that this is a reference to some sort of Rapture, and that Christians are to be taken out of the world to spare them from persecution and tribulation. Jesus isn’t saying that here either. When Jesus returns, he will gather all who believe to him. This is not a step in the calendar, but the culmination of the calendar - when time is no more.
One more issue: “this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.” The people Jesus was talking to lived to see the first level of the prophecy fulfilled - the destruction of Jerusalem. But the Greek word translated generation doesn’t necessarily mean what we think it means. A generation is a family, clan, tribe, or nation – a group of people who have the same origin, the same heritage, the same beginning. Jesus could be referring to the Jews, to Israel. Or he could be referring to his followers. We must not make the mistake of thinking that the second level of prophecy, the Second Coming, can be measured as a period of time from some signal starting point.
Rather, we are to learn from the fig tree. When the leaves appear, it means that summer is near. When the signs begin, we know the time is coming. But, just because the leaves appear doesn’t mean summer is upon us. Just because we see the signs doesn’t mean everything is ready. We are to be aware, but not afraid. We are to be prepared, but not anxious. We are to anticipate, but not stop what we’re doing. All we really know at this point is that Jesus is coming back. We must be ready when he comes. So the question for us this morning is this: are you ready? Are you prepared? Are your eyes fixed on Jesus?
1 D. A. Carson, “Matthew”, Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984), Ed. Frank Gaebelein, VIII:503