Flashback Episode — The Time of the End: Matthew 24:1-25

One evening during the week leading up to His crucifixion, Matthew’s gospel describes Jesus sitting and answering the disciples’ questions about the time of the end. In Jesus’ response, which we will break into several episodes, we discover not only some warnings and challenges for God’s people to pay attention to, but also some parables that are worth us learning from so we can stay connected with God when we face challenges in our own lives.

Leading up to this conversation, Matthew includes a couple of verses to set the stage. Our passage for this episode is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 24, and we will read it from the New American Standard Bible. Starting in verse 1, Matthew tells us that:

¹ Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. ² And He said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

³ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Let’s pause briefly here because the disciples’ question is interesting. In what seems like a single question, the disciples actually ask three different questions. These three questions are: When will the temple be destroyed; What will be the sign of Jesus’ return; and What marks the end of the age.

It is quite likely that the disciples believed all three of these events to be one and the same, but when looking back on history, we can see that at the very least, the temple being destroyed was an event that happened earlier than the other two events. Looking forward, while we can picture the other two events covering the same point in time, it is possible that these remaining two events are both unique as well.

After receiving this set of questions, let’s look at Jesus’ response. While Jesus responds, let’s also pay attention to which question He is responding to.

Continuing in verse 4:

⁴ [And] Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁵ For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many. ⁶ You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. ⁸ But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹ “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. ¹⁰ At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. ¹¹ Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold. ¹³ But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. ¹⁴ This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Pausing briefly, this first portion of Jesus’ response is almost like a summary of what Jesus will then share in greater detail. This summary isn’t as exclusively focused on the destruction of Jerusalem, but on history leading up to Jesus’ return.

Then Jesus shifts focus and gets more specific. Continuing in verse 15, Jesus continues saying:

¹⁵ “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶ then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁷ Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. ¹⁸ Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁹ But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ²⁰ But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. ²¹ For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. ²² Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. ²³ Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. ²⁴ For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵ Behold, I have told you in advance.

While Jesus continues sharing, we’ll stop reading here because we are about out of time, and I want to point out some things that stand out in my mind in what Jesus has just shared.

When Jesus shifts focus and then zeros in on specifics, He first focuses on warning His followers about the coming destruction of Jerusalem. In this warning, Jesus gives them a sign they should look for, and it is a sign that mirrors what Daniel spoke about.

While there is speculation that what Daniel spoke about had already been fulfilled, if this is the case, Jesus simply recycles Daniel’s prophecy and tells His followers to pay attention for it to happen again. Other people believe that since Jesus draws our attention onto this prophecy of Daniel, it had not been fulfilled earlier but was waiting until Jesus repeated it and focused us onto the first-century temple destruction.

However, the warnings for God’s people about the temple being destroyed are the least relevant parts of this passage for us to focus on in my mind. This is simply because this has already happened. Instead, I think that the other part of this passage is much more significant.

After talking about the destruction of the temple beginning a great persecution of God’s people, Jesus tells us that for the sake of God’s people, this great persecution would be cut short. After this happens, we must be on our guard. Jesus warns us in verse 23 and 24: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.”

In this warning, which is valid for all of Jesus’ followers at every point in history, we should not believe anyone who comes claiming to be the Jesus of the gospels who has returned to earth. Let’s simply say that if any doubt is present in our minds, that is God telling us this was not Jesus’ return. Jesus’ return will mark the end of the world as we know it, and any “return” that is less than this is the return of a false messiah.

This passage doesn’t tell us that God won’t send messengers or prophets to bring us back to God or to remind us to focus on Jesus’ return. Instead, this is a warning to beware of people coming who claim to be Jesus Christ and a warning to avoid and reject people who claim to be a middleman for God. Jesus came the first time to open the way for us to come directly to God, and through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross while He was here on this earth the first time, we are able to stand before God with Jesus’ righteousness covering our sins.

When Jesus returns, there will be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Jesus has returned, and His return will mark the end of this world as we know it. In this warning, Jesus tells us that any secret return or return that is any less grand is a false second coming from a false messiah.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life and take Jesus’ warning seriously. If someone comes to you claiming to have found Jesus, don’t believe them. When Jesus returns, His return will be visible to everyone, and His return marks the end of this world as it has been. Any return that is less than this is not Jesus returning.

However, don’t take my word for this. Instead, pray and study this truth out for yourself in Jesus’ teaching in the Bible. While I wish we had more time to cover this in our podcasts together, I would rather you take and learn this truth for yourself than have you simply hear it from me. When you study the Bible for yourself, you grow personally and you have a much stronger relationship and foundation with God than you could ever have if you simply heard it from me or someone else.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or be tricked into leaving where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!