Matthew 24:15-35 December 2008
THE END OF THE AGE
At the beginning of this chapter the disciples asked Jesus two questions: When would the temple be destroyed and what would be the sign of His return and the end of the age?
Last Sunday we looked at the indicators that would increase in frequency and in intensity labour birth pains as we get nearer to the return of Jesus.
In this next passage Jesus speaks about the events surrounding the destruction of the temple and then he moves immediately to the sign that will signal His return.
The beginning of the labour pains
The arrival of the Son.
THE BEGINNING OF THE LABOUR PAINS v15-28
Jesus here addressed the first question the disciples asked Him, “When will the temple be destroyed?”
And He told them that when they saw the godless power of destruction they were to get out of Jerusalem. In Lukes Gospel Jesus is a little more specific. He says “when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived.”
And he said that this was spoken of by the prophet Daniel.
In Daniel 11 we read of a foreign leader who would come to Jerusalem with his army and defile the temple.
This prophesy was filled in 170 years before Christ when the Syrian King Antiochus Epiphanes invaded Palestine and tried to stamp out the Jewish religion. He killed thousands of Jews, went into the temple and stopped all the Jewish sacrifices and then erected a statue of the Greek god Zeus in the holy place and sacrificed a pig upon the altar.
This was an abomination to God and the people recognised it as the fulfilment of Daniels prophecy
Jesus said in effect to his followers, “When you see the same thing happen, get out of Jerusalem because its destruction is near.”
In AD 66 the Roman governor Gessius Florus began interfering with Jewish temple. He tried to change the ceremonies, he controlled the priests and he helped himself to the temple funds. The Jews revolted against the Romans and the Roman general Titus, was ordered by the Emperor Nero to completely destroy Jerusalem. He gathered an army of 60, 000 and marched on Jerusalem preparing to besiege it.
Eusebius, one of the early Christian writers said that when the Christians living in Jerusalem saw the Roman army advancing they were reminded of the words of Jesus and they got out as quickly as they could. As they went they warned the Jews of what was going to happen to Jerusalem but the Jews poured into Jerusalem believing that God would protect them there.
In fact, during that time Jewish religious fanatics posing as prophets were telling the people to stay in Jerusalem because the Messiah was coming to rescue them. A comet.
The Xs got out of Jerusalem, crossed the Jordan and went to a place called Pella and they escaped the most dreadful massacre Jerusalem has ever known. 1,100,000 Jews were slaughtered and 97,000 were taken as slaves to Rome, and the city was completely dismantled including the temple just as Jesus had said. Nothing as catastrophic as that has happened in Jerusalem before or since.
Because of the words of Jesus, not one single believer was killed in the blood bath that took place. Jesus told them to pray that it wouldn’t happen in winter because of the unpleasant conditions, and it didn’t, it took place in the summer of A.D.70.
Jesus also warned the believers not to be deceived by people in those days who would say that Jesus was about to return.
Since the time of Daniel when he gave the prophecy about the desolating armies coming against Jerusalem, there are only two times this has happened while the Jews have been occupying Jerusalem. 170 BC, AD 70. But if you read Ezekiel, Daniel and Zechariah you will read that one more time in history foreign armies will surround Jerusalem while the Jews are occupying the city. Only this time the Messiah will come to their rescue – but He will be the One they had nailed to the cross almost 2000 years ago.
Now the destruction of the temple marked the beginning of the labour pains and in v29 Jesus then moves from talking about the beginnings of the labour pains to the actual birth – or the arrival of the Son.
From answering their question about the destruction of the temple Jesus now addresses their second question which was to do with the sign that will mark His arrival and the end of the age.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE SON 29-31
Jesus now does something that Daniel did in Dan.11. He moved from talking about prophecy that would be fulfilled in the near future to prophecy that would be fulfilled in the end of time.
Last week we talked about the indicators that point to Jesus return and these indicators like labour pains will increase in frequency and in intensity right up to the birth of the child.
But remember the disciples asked what would be the sign that would announce Jesus arrival.
Jesus said that after the distress caused by the increasing labour pains – Deception, Dissension, Devastation, Discrimination and Defection there would be tremendous upheaval in nature.
In Luke’s Gospel 21:25 Jesus says there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And here on earth the nations will be in turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and strange tides. People will be terrified at what they see in the sky and upon the earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken. [I think that is quite interesting because in Jesus day they didn’t know that the moon affected the tides.]
The same phenomena are described in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Joel and Revelation as we approach the day of the Lord.
The darkening of the sun – this could be the result of a total solar eclipse. The stars falling from the sky are also spoke of in Revelation where we have what appears to be a massive asteroid plunging to earth bring death and destruction.
Nasa has been monitoring the movement of asteroids for some time now and particularly the movement of one named Apophis which is 1 kilometre wide. They tell us that if this asteroid hit the earth it would release more than 100,000 times the energy released by the Hiroshima atom bomb. They are also telling us that it is not a matter of if the world is hit by an asteroid but when.
The stars falling from the sky could also be likened something that happened in 1833 right across America where there was a meteor storm. 60,000 meteors in one hour came crashing through the atmostphere. Most of them burned up, but witnesses said it was as though the stars were falling from the sky.
But what Jesus describes here sounds like something much bigger than a meteor shower. It sounds a universe in which the laws of cohesion, precision and order are relaxed for a time. We have got abnormal occurrences among the planets and it is affecting earth.
Science has never been able to discover what holds the universe together. Why isn’t everything flying apart? Why aren’t the planets colliding all the time? Why do they remain within their set orbits? Why is everything so ordered, consistent, predictable and precise?
Colossians 1:17 tells us that in Christ all things hold together. He is the cohesive power of the universe. And just before He comes that cohesive power will be relaxed and there will be chaos among the planets and it will have a terrifying effect on the earth.
It almost sounds like what scientists call nuclear meltdown. Science has recently discovered that although the universe is expanding it is also oscillating. Expanding on the one hand but disintegrating on the other hand. Many leading physicists believe that the universe will eventually totally disintegrate and that just as it came into existence by a nuclear reaction so it will go out of existence by nuclear melt down. Doesn’t Peter say something like this when speaking of the end of the world – the elements will melt with fervent heat.
If the indicators are the growing labour pains this will be the final thrust that brings forth the child.
When this happens the sign of the Son of man will appear in the sky.
v30. The world will be engulfed in total darkness and suddenly the next light to burst forth will be the glorious arrival of Jesus Christ.
Look at the effect it will have on all the people of the world. They will mourn. Those who have rejected Jesus and His truth will mourn and despair. Too late.
v31. Those who have trusted, loved and followed Jesus will rejoice on that day and they will be gathered to be with the Lord forever.
v32 – 33 Jesus said that when we see these things happen we can sure that His return is about to take place.
And then in v 34 Jesus said something that has confused a number of believers over the years, in fact it is one of the most difficult verses to deal with in the NT. “I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.”
What did Jesus mean by, “This generation”?
1. He could have meant the people living at that time and if He did mean that, then He must have been talking about the events concerning the destruction of the temple that took place 37 years later. Remember that He was seeking to answer two questions put to Him by the disciples. “When would the destruction of the temple take place and what would be the sign of Christ’s return and the end of the age.”
2. He could have meant the generation that will be alive when the final sign of His return is given.
3. But there is another explanation and it has to do with the word generation. In the Greek, the word generation is not limited to a group of people living within a 40-50 year period. The word generation often has a much wider meaning. It can refer to a group of people defined by certain characteristics and we find this in various places in the Bible. In a good sense:
Psalm 14:5 “The generation of the righteous.”
Psalm 24:6 “The generation of those who seek God’s face.”
Psalm 73:15 “The generation of God’s children.”
1 Peter 2:9 “You are a chosen generation”
Acts 8:33 speaking of Jesus “Who can describe His generation.”
In a bad sense:
Acts 2:40 “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation”
Philippians 2:15 “children of God in a crooked and depraved generation”
Jesus used the term when describing sinful people in general. Matt 12:39, Mark 8:12, Matthew 16:4, Luke 11:29, Matthew 17:17 “A faithless and perverse generation.” “An evil and an adulterous generation”
When Jesus said this generation will not pass away, He may simply have meant “Those people who are believers or He may have meant those people who are faithless, corrupt, and sinful.”
If it refers to the latter then Jesus was saying that the faithless, corrupt, sinful people of this world will continue to occupy the earth until the Lord returns.
As we look across our world today it’s not a pretty sight. We see all the indicators Jesus spoke about increasing in frequency and in intensity – we are seeing what could be the collapse of western civilisation –spiritually, morally and socially and possibly economically as it has moved away from its Christian base. In fact, America could well be the Babylon spoke on in Revelation. We are seeing international instability – terrorism, violence, lawlessness, economic meltdown, escalating everywhere. We are seeing the erosion of those godly values that are vital to maintain a healthy, stable society. We are seeing a tremendous upsurge in natural disasters and human suffering. This poor old has been raped and pillaged, exploited and polluted to the point where scientists are now saying that life as we know it cannot be sustained at this rate much longer.
It’s almost as if the earth itself is writing and crying out for release from the curse it has been placed under because of human evil.
In fact I read that to you last week from Romans 8:19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse because of mans sin. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death, disaster, disease and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning with labour pains right up to the present time. And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. We were given this hope when we were saved.”
As you see all the suffering, sadness, evil and corruption going on in this world, do you find yourself crying out, “Come Lord Jesus and put an end to evil. Come and renew all things. Come and bring Your Kingdom and Your reign of righteousness, love and peace to this sick sad world. Maranatha – Come Lord Jesus.”
Ill. Billy Graham says that after John F. Kennedy had been made president he invited Billy to join him for a game of golf. As they were driving home he asked Billy, “ Do you really believe that Jesus Christ is coming back again to earth?” “Yes Sir, I do,” “All right then, explain it to me.” So for the next several minutes Billy spoke to the president about Christ’s return. Billy often wondered why He had asked that question. Two years later Kennedy was assassinated and at his funeral while millions around the world watched and listened, these words were read, “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up with them to meet the Lord in the air and so we shall ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:16-18
Was J F Kennedy ready to meet the Lord? Are you?