A Few Thoughts on Matthew 24-25

There’s been a lot of noise lately by people who are terribly concerned about the state of the world. Perhaps rightfully so. It does so seem that much about the world is out of whack. A couple of articles demonstrate this point. Please read them entirely as I am only quoting portions. One preacher said it this way:

AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE – EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.

For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut. Major cities all across America will experience riots and blazing fires-such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago.

There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting-including Times Square, New York City. What we are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath. [Dave Wilkerson his emphasis]

Another well respected blogger said it this way:

Oneida, Ky. – We are on the verge – within 10 years – of a major collapse of evangelical Christianity. This breakdown will follow the deterioration of the mainline Protestant world and it will fundamentally alter the religious and cultural environment in the West.

Within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants. (Between 25 and 35 percent of Americans today are Evangelicals.) In the “Protestant” 20th century, Evangelicals flourished. But they will soon be living in a very secular and religiously antagonistic 21st century.

This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good.

Millions of Evangelicals will quit. Thousands of ministries will end. Christian media will be reduced, if not eliminated. Many Christian schools will go into rapid decline. I’m convinced the grace and mission of God will reach to the ends of the earth. But the end of evangelicalism as we know it is close. [Michael Spencer]

I’m not terribly concerned about the nature of either prediction. Either could happen. Either might not happen. Both could happen. Both could be happening right now. It doesn’t really matter if these things happen or when they happen. What matters is the manner in which we, Christian people, respond to them either way. Every so often things like this happen and people make predictions

These two stories, along with a couple of others I read this week, got me to thinking about Matthew 24-25. I just happened to be reading these two chapters as part of my Lenten discipline. I’ll quote just a bit from Matthew 24 (while encouraging you to read both chapters in their entirety):

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,[a]‘ and will deceive many. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8All these are the beginning of birth pains.

“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24-25

The disciples had specifically asked: What will be the signs of the end of the age? I assume it is fair to suggest that they were referring, first and foremost, to the age in which they lived. Thus Jesus’ words would make a lot more sense to them then they would say to us. But this does not mean that these words have no meaning to us or value to us or message to us. Part of what makes Scripture scripture is that it has meaning and is revelatory to every generation that reads it and accepts it as God’s Word to humanity. That’s not all that makes it Scripture, but that is part. So these words must mean something to us too: “Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass away” (24:35) said Jesus. At minimum this must mean something like, “Things will never change and my prophecy about man will always be true regardless of which generation hears it.”

We will always, always, always, be people of war, violence, hatred, and deceit. Jesus’ words will never fail in this regard. His assessment of us and our ways will always be right.

On the other hand, we will also, always, be people who are looking for hope, that glimmer of light, or ray of sunshine. Hence Jesus’ warning that we should be on our guard against all the false prophets and messiah’s who will make their appearance as soon as things start getting rough on earth. We must beware because there will come along people who will have ‘all the answers,’ who will provide that glimmer of hope.

I’d like to take a broad sweep at these two chapters and note briefly four pieces of ‘advice’ that Jesus has for every generation of believers who happens to exist during particularly difficult times on earth. Again, these are broad sweeps and not in any way meant to be comprehensive exegetical masterpieces.

First, covering 24:1-29: Don’t be deceived. This leads me to thing that people will be deceived or at least susceptible to being deceived. He uses words like ‘watch out’, ‘do not be deceived’, ‘do not believe it’, and others. His warning is stern: Don’t fall for it. Believe it or not, there are people who actually might be trying to deceive the elect during such difficult times as these. But it is not just deceit by false prophets and false messiahs that causes us problems. Look, we are liable to deceive one another too. “At that time many will turn from the faith and will betray and hate each other and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold” (24:10-12). Love? Our love of God? Yes. And our love for one another. That’s what happens when deceit worms its way in and we start growing paranoid about the wickedness in the world and the wars and the famines and the earthquakes. We start to lack faith and we give up loving God and loving one another. We have to guard against the deceit of thinking that we can get by without one another. We have to guard against the deceit of thinking that wickedness will abate if only we despise one another. We have to guard against the deceit of thinking we will be safe or safer just because we turn on one another. Seems to me Paul warned the Corinthian church about this same thing in 1 Corinthians 1. We have to guard against being deceived in a hundred different ways. Why? “For as lightning that comes from th east is visible in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (24:27). In other words, we guard against being deceived because he is coming back.

Second, covering 24:30-25:13: Pay close attention to yourself, not to the signs that you see around you. If you read carefully through this section of verses, you will note a refrain. It’s not always in the exact same language, but the gist of it is this: “At that time, the Son of Man will appear in the sky.” Then Jesus keeps on harping on this over and over again: “But about that day or hour no one knows…” He keeps stressing this ‘unknown’ factor in his return. He also keeps stressing that those who are waiting for his return had better be paying attention ‘…because you do not know the day your Lord will return.’ And this is how he ends this section in 25:13: “Therefore, keep watch because you do not know the day or the hour.” Over and over. The parable of the ten maids is about this very point. We have enough to worrry about trying to keep ourselves prepared and ready without having to worry about others’ preparedness. The wise servant pays attention. He works diligently because he knows his master will return and he doesn’t want to be caught unawares. The point? We are to be paying attention to ourselves because He will be returning. That is, we are to be looking forward to his return and thus making preparations for that return.

Third, covering 25:14-30: Use whatever opportunities you have been entrusted with to bring honor to the Master who entrusted them. Why? Because, as with the previous two points, he is coming back and will hold us accountable for what we have been entrusted with. We cannot escape this conclusion. The foolish servant who hid his treasure under his tent, in the dirt, did the wrong thing. It appears, at least on a surface reading, that the Master would rather us use what he has given us and fail than to sit on it and preserve it. The person who takes no risks, who ventures nothing, does so why? In order only to preserve himself. This is the person who refuses to live by faith. Jesus here is saying this: Be more concerned with the Master than you are with yourself. The one who merely hides the treasure is a person who loves himself more than his Master. But Jesus is saying that if the times are as perilous as they might appear, this is no time to be sitting on a bag of gold. Use it! Risk it! Put it to work! We shouldn’t be so terrified that the Master will scold us if we lose what he has given us in our efforts to bring glory to His name. It seems, at least on the surface, that there is no patience for those who value their own life more than they value the Master’s honor. You see, the servant’s failure was a direct and clear indication to every one else what he thought of his Master. His opinion was not high. In Kingdom economy, we might say that risk matters far more than preservation. Far too few are willing to sell out all their life for Christ: He who loses his life for my sake will find it; he who saves it will lost it. Worse, this servant blames the Master for his failure. It will be no ones fault but our own when we are rejected for possessing the treasure and not giving it away to the Master’s glory. The servant’s own words were used to condemn him! Scary. So, we must make wise use of what he has entrusted to us because he will return and ask for an accounting.

Fourth, covering 25:31-46: Understand that the manner in which we treat God’s servants is the manner in which we treat God himself. “Truly, I tell you, whatever you did for the one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mind, you did for me” (25:40). This might be hard to grasp, or to accept, but that is what Jesus is saying: If you treat God’s servants poorly, it is unlikely you will treat the Lord any differently. In fact, that is how you are treating the Lord even though you don’t know it: “When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?” If we have rejected those who minister Christ to us in Word and deed, then we have rejected Christ himself: “Truly, I tell you whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me” (25:45). What is more powerful than even this, however, is this: “All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” And this separation is based in large part on the manner in which we received those brothers and sisters of Christ. There is an obligation, on our part, and on the part of the world in general, to recognize Christ coming to us. And why? Because he is coming back to call us to account for the way we received Him. The manner in which we received him the first time, in the form of his servants, is the manner in which he will receive us when he returns.

Concluding Thoughts There are a lot of emerging and converging themes in these two chapters. Admittedly, I haven’t taken much time to dissect details or even explore the historical context. The historical context matters, but frankly, I think it is far more important to translate this into our own day. So, a couple of concluding thoughts.

Look for His Return. It is impossible to read these chapters and conclude that there will not be some dramatic return of the Son of Man. Call it the Second Coming, call it the Kingdom Come, call it the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. This thought comes up over and over again, but there’s also a hook. Many think we won’t notice his return or that it will be secret. Not at all. Jesus says: You will not mistake any one else’s return for His. That is, when Jesus returns, we will know it. We will see. It won’t be mistaken for a parlor trick or dog and pony show. He will come back, and it will not be pleasant: “At that time the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the peoples of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.” No, there will be no mistaking his return and we are right to pay attention and look for it and watch for it.

Live by Faith. It is too easy, far too easy, to get worried and distracted by all the bad news we see every day in the news. This requires little thought, though. How else are the elect called to live but by faith? We will be tempted to take the easy way out and run after false messiahs and listen to false prophets. It will be far too easy to think that others have the answer to what ails the world. But Jesus is quite clear: Don’t look for the answers in false hopes. Look for me. I am all you need. I am your answer. Put your hope and faith in the only real Messiah there is. And to do this, you must live by faith.

Stay Busy. Those who live in expectant hope are not called to a life of laziness and irresponsibility. No. We are called to action. We are called to duty. We are called to be busy doing what he sets before us each minute of each day. Again, here, we see the life of faith lived out in the power of the Faith. He gives treasures and gifts and says use them. Use them to feed the poor. Use them to visit the sick. Use them to bring hope to others. Use them to the Master’s glory. You don’t have a right to sit around being lazy. We are not to be like they were in Noah’s day merely reveling and partying and dancing and whooping it up all day. No. Those in the parable were ‘in the field’ and ‘at the mill.’ In other words, they were working, getting on with life’s business. Thus it is must be.

Consequences for Failure. For some this means being deceived. For some it means growing in hatred and opposition to brothers in faith. For some it means love that grows cold. For some it means a place with the hypocrites, and weeping, and gnashing of teeth. For some it means he doesn’t know them; the door is shut. For some it means being thrown out into the darkness. For some it means eternal punishment. I suppose there are many ways to interpret these things Jesus said. Maybe they are all different ways of describing the same thing. Maybe they are degrees of punishment. I don’t know and I’m not sure it matters. What could be worse than ‘I don’t know you’ coming from God’s mouth to our ear? What could be worse than, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, in the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels”? Whatever that means, I don’t want to hear it, not even an echo. I don’t want to hear anyone hear it. At least, we might say there are consequences for our failure to heed these warnings. (Also note who it is each case who delivers the consequences for failure. It is the Master, the Lord, the King, the Bridegroom. It is He we have failed. It is He who is Judge.)

Jesus Cares. Why does he tell us all this stuff? Why does he warn us that the only way we can live is by faith? Why does he warn us of false prophets? Why tell us about false prophets? Why tell us not to get worked up about war, famine, and conflict? Why does he tell us he will be back? Why tell us that we too, like every other generation, can expect life to be tough? Why tell us of rewards and consequences? Why warn against love that grows cold? Could it be that he knew it would be a long time? Could it be that he knew we would grow weary? Could it be that he expects us to encourage one another with these words? Could it be that he cares? And could it be that his goal is to save us from disaster?

We are weak and frail and so easily duped. But we have been warned. We have been told that we are far to prone to failure in the life of faith. Could it be that he is trying to calm us down by telling us in advance what to expect? We cannot change it, he will not stop it. And yet…and yet…we will not only survive, we will be blessed. “But whoever stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (24:13-14). Oh, yes. We can expect an end. But we can also expect to live in hope that Christ has not abandoned us to hopelessness.

These chapters make no sense apart from a resurrection point of view.

Prayer Thoughts What can we pray about after reading these passages? There are a few thoughts we can consider.

Christ Minds. We are warned by Peter to be sober. Pray for clear minds and thoughts. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus warned the author of Hebrews. Pray that our minds will be clear so that we will not be deceived.

Christ Preachers. Pray for those who preach. Pray that their words will be Christ honoring and Gospel filled. Pray the Word of Christ which will not fail will be on their lips.

Christ’s Return. I should certainly think we would want to pray for his soon return. We pray that he will hasten the day and cut short the days of suffering. Also that we have eyes to see and ears to hear. We won’t miss it, but we don’t want to grow weary while we wait.

Christ Wisdom. He has given us gifts and treasures and he expects us to use them. They are still his treasures, but he has given them to us to use for his glory and his reward. Pray for wisdom to know when such opportunities are before us. Pray for wisdom to discern appropriate courses of action.

Christ Perseverance. Again, it will be easy to fail and fall behind. It will be easy to be sidetracked. We need the perseverance of Christ if we are to be standing at the end. Pray for the courage to press on even in the midst of all sorts of world turmoil. Press on toward the mark to which he has called us in Christ.

Christ Strength. He has called us to work and serve. The temptation will be to do things in our own strength and in our own wisdom and in our own power. We pray for his strength to empower us to work and serve and love. We are weak, He is strong. We pray it will be His strength that is exerted through our obedience. Persecution will come when ‘all nations hate us because of Him.’ We need his strength to stand. Pray for his strength, His resurrection power (Ephesians 2), to empower and embolden us.

There’s probably a lot more in these two chapters. This is what struck me tonight as I shared in fellowship with my congregation. I hope this blesses you and encourages your prayer life and your service in Christ’s Kingdom.

God Bless in His grace and Peace.

Maranatha!