Matthew 24 - Jesus is Coming Soon Look Busy!

42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

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Chapter 24 gives some Jesus' most explicit teaching on his return, after he is resurrected from the dead.  Since his resurrection happened in 33 A.D. and it is 2018 A.D., there have been a lot of false predictions of His return over the ages. Suffice it to say that every prediction has been dead wrong.  This does not mean that we shouldn't seek to understand His teaching, but it does say we shouldn't predict his coming.  Jesus says he doesn't even know, but only the Father in heaven knows when this will be.  

So as we interpret this passage, we need to be careful not to make assumptions. Especially we need to make sure we understand the context of this passage when it was written.  First, it is important to know that the disciples thought when the Messiah came he would restore all of Israel to its former glory.  When Jesus mentions in this chapter that not one of the stones in the temple would stand, he is most likely talking literally about the Second temple which was built about 300 years before Jesus came and was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D.  We can conclude that when Jesus talked about the end times with the disciples, they thought it was literally going to happen in their day.  

Given this teaching and the fact that Jesus has not returned yet, how do we interpret Jesus' teaching for our day. First, there is a danger in intepreting this passage literally.  Clearly Jesus' teaching had some application to the disciples in their day, but also for people of all time.  Jesus gave the general conditions for his return, but warned against making predictions. 

Here are what I believe are the most important things Christians should keep in mind as we wait for Jesus' promised return.

1. There will be many false Messiahs claiming to be Jesus.  If someone claims to be the Messiah, red flags should go up immediately.  All Jesus says is that when he returns everyone will know, and it will be obvious.

2. There will be persecution of Christians for believing in Jesus' name. We know throughout church history Christians have been persecuted and died for their testimony about Jesus.  Any Christian should not be surprised at being persecuted for their faith. We see persecution is happening all over the world right now. Studies show 1 and 12 Christians face extreme persecution.

3. There will be turbulent signs in the world in which we live such as: famines, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars.  We have certainly seen this throughout history and in our time as well. Just watch the news.  

4. There will be an abomination and descretation of the temple like never seen before.  This is complicated.  Some say it was when the temple was literally destroyed in 70 A.D.  Even today there is much political turmoil around the Jewish right to the land and area surrounding the temple. The temple mount was captured from Jordan by Israel in 1967 after the "Six Day war." Many think that if the third temple is built, it will be a sign Jesus' return is emminent. The abomination of temple will happen through an Anti-Christ type of figure who descrates the holy place.  

5. Because of the false teaching of a false messiah, many will be deceived and there love will grow cold.  Due to persecution and bad teaching many will fall away it will cause deep divisions in the church. 

6. The gospel will be preached to all nations. God desires all people to be saved and every one to have the opportunity to receive salvation through Jesus.  Since there are so many nations and so many who don't even have a bible translation in their own language, it makes wonder if this condition is met at the current time. 

7. God's elect will be saved.  Though believers in Christ may undergo persecution and trials during this time, whoever stands firm to the end will be saved.  These are those the bible calls the "elect", which not only includes believers living in that time but believers from all time.  

So you see the challenges of any kind of literal interpretation of Jesus' teaching on his return.  As believers I think rather than spending all of our time trying to figure this out, it is better for us to be about what Jesus has clearly called us to do.  He calls us to be ready! What does that mean?  To be doing the things he has called us to do.  To be working in the Vineyard (the church) for the spread of the gospel to all nations.  To feed the flock of God so they may grow to maturity in their faith and bear fruit in reaching more people for Christ.  

Someone quipped, "Look busy Jesus is coming back soon!"  Fortunately we are also given one more promise in Philippians 1:6, "He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it!"  God promises salvation in Christ by grace through faith based on His promises in Christ. Through these precious promises we can be assured one day to be with our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus forever.  And that my friends is Good News!!! Let's share it with as many people as we can before he does return!!