Signs and More Signs - Matthew 24:1-35

               

When you listen to the news, it seems as if persecution is growing in our world. People from many faith backgrounds are being killed for what they believe, but followers of Jesus are often the main targets. Christians are being killed in the Middle East and Africa, while persecution also happens in China and other parts of the world. The Western World is becoming more secular and the Christian faith has become a target in our culture. Since the pandemic, I hear more people talking about the end days, convinced Jesus’ return is close. But how can we know?

A good place to start is Matthew 24. Israel is proud of her temple. It's a sign of the presence of God among his people. As Jesus and his disciples are leaving the temple, the disciples call Jesus' attention to the magnificent building. But rather than marvelling at the wonder of the temple, Jesus tells them, "Do you see all these things? Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down." Then they all go to the Mount of Olives outside the city overlooking Jerusalem and Jesus continues his teaching as the disciples ask, "When will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

Jesus has mentioned a number of times that he has to die, but the disciples are still looking to the beginning of a new kingdom of Israel with Jesus on the throne as king. Jesus isn’t first of all teaching here about his second coming, he's talking about the more immediate future using images from the Old Testament prophets. Jesus warns them that there will be a number of signs so that they won't be deceived and led away from following Jesus. When Jesus leaves, there will be many who will claim they've been sent by Jesus with special messages.

Israel had a problem with false Messiahs, many coming from among the Zealots, which led to the destruction of Jerusalem. One historian writes, "The Jewish zealots, reacting in opposition to Caligula’s campaign began a revolt against Rome, a revolt which led to Roman legion soldiers from Syria destroying the food stocks of the Zealots and the local Jewish population. The inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem died in great numbers via starvation. Roman General Titus encircled the city, and began the siege of Jerusalem in April, A.D. 70…. On the 10th of August, in A.D. 70 ..., the very day when the King of Babylon burned the Temple in 586 B.C., the Temple was burned again. Titus took the city and put it to the torch, burning the Temple, leaving not one stone upon another.  Thus, Jerusalem was totally destroyed as Jesus had predicted, and not one stone was left upon another."

As for signs of Jesus' coming, Jesus tells them, "There will be wars and rumors of wars, famines, persecution, hatred against Jesus' followers, increase in wickedness, and more, and because of all these things, the love of many will grow cold." Jesus talks about "the abomination that causes desolation" that will stand in the holy place which the prophet Daniel predicted. Daniel 9:26 says, "After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death and will have nothing. The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood: War will continue until the end, and desolations have been decreed."

This first happened when Antiochus, emperor of the Seleucid Empire defeated Jerusalem. He devastated Jerusalem in 168 BC, defiled the temple, offered a pig on its altar, erected an altar to Jupiter, prohibited temple worship, made circumcision illegal on pain of death, sold thousands of Jewish families into slavery, destroyed all the copies of Scripture he could find, savagely torturing the Jewish people to force them to renounce their faith. This led to the Maccabean revolt.

Studying predictions and prophecies in the Bible is like coming up on a mountain range. When you drive through the prairies towards the Rocky Mountains, at first all you see are the majestic mountains rising up from the earth reaching up to the heavens. It all looks like massive range of mountains, but as you come close you see that there are a series of mountain ranges all standing in a row, beginning with the foothills, then comes another line of ranges that are higher and then another range that stands higher still. Prophecies are like that, they may be fulfilled once, like Daniel's prophecy of the abomination that causes desolation standing in the holy place first being Antiochus who sacrificed pigs on the altar in the temple, then it was Titus who raised the Roman Legion's standard in the temple and also offered sacrifices there, and some say that the mosque that stands on the original site of the temple is another fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy.

The Old Testament prophecies pointing to the coming of the Messiah aren’t completely fulfilled with Jesus' first coming. The prophecies of the Suffering Servant who comes as a lamb to save his people are fulfilled in Jesus' first time here, but the prophecies that talk about the Day of Judgment will only be completely fulfilled at his return. When the disciples talk about the end of the age, they’re talking about the Roman oppression, not about Jesus' return. We need to be careful not to read back into Jesus' teaching more than what he's talking about. Too often we’ve been influenced by theologies and people who’ve tried to figure out the time of Jesus' return. There are many preachers who’ve made a fortune off of Christians' desire to know the exact time of Jesus’ return. Jesus himself said that he doesn't know when his return is going to be, only his Father knows.

There are always going to be wars and rumours of wars, famines and drought, plagues and natural disasters. There will be false Messiahs rising up and calling on people to follow and trust in them for meaning, purpose and salvation. Satan’s loose in this world, and while the Holy Spirit limits the damage Satan can do, Satan still has a lot of power. When Jesus talks about cutting the days short or the abomination in the holy place, he's talking about the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. Jerusalem's defences had never been fully completed, allowing the Roman legions to defeat the Jews more quickly than expected.

The mountains were the only safe option left to the Jews after the city walls fell. When Jesus talks about being on the housetops and not going onto their houses to grab anything, it’s because rooftops were living spaces and the houses were built close enough together that you could go from rooftop to rooftop without having to go into the streets. They could reach the city walls this way and escape as long as they didn't go into their homes to grab things they thought were too special to leave behind. Jesus' reference to the Sabbath referred to those who would refuse to run away on the Sabbath because their religious rules forbid certain acts as being work and running was one of them.

When Jesus talks about his return, he emphasizes that everyone will know so if someone tells them to go out into the wilderness or an inner room, don't trust them. Jesus uses lightning as an example, you can see lightening for miles around, especially when you're on a mountaintop like Jerusalem. There's no hiding a lightning storm that's coming. Jesus quotes Daniel, "The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken." Jesus uses Daniel's Son of Man imagery. Part of this happens at Jesus' crucifixion; the darkness shows Jesus has conquered the forces of evil on the cross, and darkness during the second coming of the Son of Man is a sign of his power over all forces, especially Satan. It also points to political and spiritual upheavals. The Son of Man coming down on clouds is from Daniel; while trumpets called Israel to gather for announcements from the king, pointing to Jesus’ coming back as King.

Signs will always be here to remind us that even though evil is active in the world, Jesus is returning, and we need to be ready for his return at any moment. Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, but focus on today and the works God’s prepared for us to do. Be a presence of grace and extend grace so that the world can know there’s a God and a way that builds community and wholeness. Jesus is returning and until that time, we have the privilege of inviting others to follow him so that the world might look more and more like God's kingdom; a place of shalom; peace with God, each other, creation and ourselves. You’ll hear the trumpets when Jesus returns. Until that time, we’re called to live as disciples, following Jesus as he taught us to live; with love for God and others guiding us in everything we do as we work in his kingdom as we wait for Jesus’ return.