Are you ready?

Text: Matthew 24

Main Point/FCF: If it is true that Jesus’ prophecies in Mt. 24 were fulfilled by A.D. 70, then Jesus’ return is imminent. Jesus’ words in this passage are meant not to give us a detailed roadmap of the end times, but encourage peace in the midst of tribulation, confidence in God’s plan, and readiness on the part of his people.

Matthew 24 ESV

1 Jesus left the temple and was going away, when his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. 2 But he answered them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 3 As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. 11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. 12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. 15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather. 29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. 32 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Prayer

Intro:

Local man Chris Hampton remained terribly confused about the meaning of a Bible verse despite the Biblical author having written "Let the reader understand."

A forlorn Hampton simply could not comprehend a verse in the Gospel of Mark, despite the author's explicit instruction to do so.

"Man, I'm such an idiot," sighed Hampton. "'Let the reader understand,' he says. Well, I'm sorry Mark...I have no idea what 'abomination of desolation' means. Is it like, the New York Jets? Telling me to grasp it isn't helping, bro."

My guess is that a lot of us can relate to this satirical article from the Babylon Bee. If after reading passages like Matthew 24, you’re still a little puzzled, you’re in good company, because scholars and commentators are pretty divided on their interpretations of this passage and others like it.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to help shed a little light on this passage, but I’m going to confess to you that this is one of those passages I don’t have all figured out. So, you’re probably going to hear me say “I think” a bit more than usual in this sermon, not because I’m trying to give you my thoughts instead of Scripture, but simply as an admission that some passages are difficult to understand. I’m not going to stand up here and pretend to have 100% confidence in my interpretation of this passage, and much of our interpretation of Jesus’ words here—especially as we try to link them to specific events in time—has to be made tentatively and with a great deal of humility.

Where Scripture is clear, it doesn’t matter what I think—only what Scripture says. But, when we are not certain what Scripture means, and when God-fearing, Bible-believing scholars are heavily divided, then we need to display humility and patience with one another and be willing to agree to disagree without dividing over such things.

That being said, there are many things in this passage that are pretty clear, and the general points that Jesus makes here are crystal clear.

I heard it said recently that “Every road has two ditches. Satan doesn’t care which one you end up in, so long as he can get you in the ditch.” So, I’m going to try to steer between two ditches—one that says “we can’t know anything about the end times or prophecy so it’s not worth trying,” and the other which over-confidently assumes they understand it all.

I think that one of the keys to understanding this passage is understanding the historical context in which it was written, and the historical events of the first century A.D. As I studied this passage, read commentators, and dug into it, I have come to the following conclusions. I’m going to go ahead and give you a preview of the sermon so that you can follow where I’m going and understand what I’m saying.

It is likely that most of the events to which Jesus refers in Mt. 24 were fulfilled in the events leading up to and culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70.

The only event which we can definitively say is yet to be fulfilled is the bodily return of Christ. This means that Christ could conceivably return at any time.

The primary purpose of Jesus’ prophecies in this passage are not to give us a detailed roadmap of the end times, but encourage peace in the midst of tribulation, confidence in God’s plan, and readiness on the part of his people.

A Preface: I’m going to refer to a man named “Josephus” quite a bit throughout this sermon. Josephus was born about 37 A.D., roughly four years after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus and died about 100 A.D.—just a few years after the death of the Apostle John. So, he was a contemporary of most of the apostles and he was an eyewitness on the scene during the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

He was originally a Jewish rebel who fought against the Romans, but later he defected and joined the Romans as a historian and translator. He was extremely well educated, and his writings are uniquely insightful because of his knowledge of both Roman and Jewish history and culture.

His writings are NOT scripture, and most scholars don’t think that he was a believer in Jesus Christ. (There’s some debate.) But, his writings are one of the main sources outside of Scripture that we have for the historical events of the first century A.D., and in numerous places, Josephus confirms what the biblical authors say. So, I’m going to make use of his works quite a bit today, because the events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem are not recorded in Scripture.

1. All but Christ’s return was likely fulfilled by A.D. 70

It is likely that most of the events to which Jesus refers in Mt. 24 were fulfilled in the events leading up to and culminating in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. The only event which we can definitively say is yet to be fulfilled is the bodily return of Christ.

Why do I think this? Four reasons.

The question that prompts this discussion is about the destruction of the Temple, which we know for a fact happened in A.D. 70.

When Jesus’ disciples asked about signs for the “end of the age,” it’s likely that they meant the end of the age in which they were currently—which was the Old Testament age. That age decisively ended with the destruction of the Temple (and therefore the sacrificial system) in A.D. 70.

Matthew’s side comment “let the reader understand” in verse 15 indicates that he fully expected his readers to know of the event to which he was referring.

Historical events recorded by reliable sources point to a fulfillment of almost every prophecy in this passage by A.D. 70.

False Messiahs (vv. 5, 23-26)

Matthew 24:5 ESV

5 For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.

We know from the gospels—and Josephus confirms it—that many Jews were expecting the Messiah to be a strong political ruler who would establish a great empire.

Josephus tells of Judas the Galillean, Simon of Perea, and a shepherd named Athrongeus, all of whom attempted to gather a following, or declare themselves king, or start an insurrection.

In fact, it was the actions of two men—John of Gischala and Simon of Giora—who brought about the siege and destruction of Jerusalem. These men assembled armies and effectively declared themselves kings, and it was their violence and revolts that brought down the wrath of Rome upon Jerusalem. Between the two of them, Josephus estimates that they had over 23,000 armed soldiers fighting against the Romans in Jerusalem and at one point had over 100,000 Jewish soldiers.

Suffice it to say that there were many false Messiahs.

Wars, Famines, Earthquakes (vv. 6-8)

Matthew 24:7 ESV

7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.

Famine in Palestine A.D. 44-48

Several major earthquakes, including A.D. 60 (Destroyed Heirapolis, Laodecia, and Colossae); A.D. 63 in Pompeii

The Jewish Revolt A.D. 66-73

Great Persecution of Christians and Betrayal (vv. 9-10, 21-22)

Matthew 24:9–10 ESV

9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. 10 And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another.

Matthew 24:21–22 ESV

21 For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

Of course, we know of the Jewish persecution of Christians recorded in Acts.

But more likely this refers to Nero’s persecution of Christians, which took place in A.D. 64-68, immediately before and in the early part of the war with the Jews.

In A.D. 64, there was a great fire that broke out in Rome and consumed a significant portion of the city. Nero, who was the Caesar at the time, took that opportunity to reconstruct that portion of the city and build himself some nicer, bigger buildings. So, many of the people accused him of setting the fire himself, which he well may have. Nero tried to assure the people that he had not done this, but they refused to believe him. Nero needed a scapegoat, and he found that in the Christians in Rome.

A Roman historian named Tacitus (who was definitely NOT a Christian) tells us what happened:

The New Testament Background: Selected Documents 11. Tacitus, Annals xv. 44

But all human efforts, all the lavish gifts of the emperor, and the propitiations of the gods did not banish the sinister belief that the [fire] was the result of an order [by Nero]. Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations,* called Christians by the populace.

Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition [Christianity] thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular.

Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty [to Christianity]; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.

Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination when daylight had expired. Nero offered his gardens for the spectacle, and was exhibiting a show in the circus, while he mingled with the people in the dress of a charioteer or stood aloft on a car.

Hence, even for criminals who deserve extreme and exemplary punishment, there arose a feeling of compassion; for it was not, as it seemed, for the public good, but to glut one man’s cruelty, that they were being destroyed.

Tacitus’ records here are important because they tell us a few things. First of all, that under Nero’s reign, Christians were hated by devout Romans and intensely persecuted, to a degree that even those who hated them felt sorry for them. Also, he tells us that under torture, some professing Christians did betray one another, which led to multitudes of Christians being captured, tortured, and killed.

Another historian tells us:

The New Testament Background: Selected Documents 13. Sulpicius Severus, Chronicle ii. 29

Afterwards, too, their religion was prohibited by laws which were enacted; and by edicts openly set forth it was proclaimed unlawful to be a Christian. At that time Paul and Peter were condemned to death, the former being beheaded with a sword, while Peter suffered crucifixion.

False Prophets (vv. 11, 24)

Matthew 24:11 ESV

11 And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray.

Josephus refers to many false prophets during the events leading up to the destruction of the temple. In one case, a false prophet persuaded 6,000 women and children to take shelter in the temple courtyard during the siege of Jerusalem.

The Jewish War, Vols. 1–3: Books 1–7 Book VI

And before Caesar had come to any decision or given any orders to the officers concerning these people, the soldiers, carried away by rage, set fire to the portico from below; with the result that some were killed plunging out of the flames, others perished amidst them, and out of all that multitude not a soul escaped.

They owed their destruction to a

And of course, we know of false teachers that Paul and the other apostles reference in their letters as well.

Lawlessness and Social Decline (v. 12)

Matthew 24:12 ESV

12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

Josephus describes this period in Jerusalem’s history as filled with debauchery of the sort that was so vile that even pagans found it loathsome.

The Works of Josephus: New Updated Edition Chapter 10: How a Great Many of the People Earnestly Endeavored to Desert to the Romans; As Also What Intolerable Things Those that Stayed behind Suffered by Famine, and the Sad Consequences Thereof

...neither did any other city ever suffer such miseries, nor did any age ever breed a generation more fruitful in wickedness than this was, from the beginning of the world.

The Mishna—a Jewish religious text—also describes this period of time as a time of increasing violence, murder, adultery, bribery, corruption, and greed.

Gospel proclaimed to “all nations” (v. 14)

Matthew 24:14 ESV

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Surely, we can’t say that this was fulfilled by A.D. 70, right?

Well, in fact, Scripture indicates that, at least in part, it was fulfilled at Pentecost:

Acts 2:5–11 ESV

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.”

So, in a manner of speaking, the gospel was proclaimed to all nations at Pentecost. Obviously, this doesn’t mean our work is done, but we can say that if Christ chose to return right now, he would not have violated his own prophecy.

Abomination of Desolation in the Holy Place (v. 15)

Matthew 24:15 ESV

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)...

Abomination means something sacrilegious, something really terrible that makes a mockery of your religion. Desolation just means “destruction, wasteland.” So, the Abomination of Desolation is a sacrilegious action that defiles something religious and brings about complete destruction.

Matthew’s words “let the reader understand” aren’t meant to be a frustrating taunt to us. Jesus is referring to something that every Jew would have known about, a prophecy that was made by Daniel the prophet in the 500’s B.C. and was fulfilled 168 years before Jesus.

Daniel 11:31 ESV

31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.

This prophecy was fulfilled in 168 B.C. when the Greek King Antiochus Ephiphanes IV (whose name literally means “God made manifest”) rode into Jerusalem, declared Judaism to be illegal, executed and persecuted anyone who refused to obey, and then set up an idol in the temple and sacrificed a pig on the Jewish altar. It was an abomination that defiled the temple and made it desolate.

This is the OT background that Jesus is referring to—an event which every Jew in his day would have known about.

In fact, you know about it, even if you don’t think you do. A few years later, some Jews overthrew the Greeks and cleansed the temple, and the Jewish holiday of Hannukah celebrates the cleansing of the Temple after Antiochus Ephiphanes committed his abomination of desolation.

So, Jesus refers to this historical event and says “It’s going to happen again.”

Some scholars think that the abomination Jesus referred to was the emperor Titus standing in the temple’s holy place and erecting Roman flags after they broke through the walls and slaughtered the resistors, which is certainly possible.

But, many scholars—and Josephus would seem to agree—think that it was actually the Jewish Zealots and their armies that committed the abomination that Jesus is prophesying, which brought about the desolation by the Romans.

When the Jewish rebel leaders, Zealots named John of Gischala and Simon of Giora, siezed control of Jerusalem, they disbanded the priests who were over the temple and appointed their own priests, corrupt, evil, violent men that made a complete mockery of the whole institution.

Some of the former priests and many of the people wanted nothing to do with these corrupt Zealots, and they took up arms against them. But, this led to the Zealots taking up in the temple as their own fortress, and ultimately led to a bloody battle in the temple courtyard.

But, the Zealots and their armies overpowered the priests and the people and slaughtered them in the temple courtyard.

The Works of Josephus: New Updated Edition Chapter 5: The Cruelty of the Idumeans, When They Were Gotten into the Temple, during the Storm; and of the Zealots. Concerning the Slaughter of Ananus, and Jesus, and Zacharias; and How the Idumeans Retired Home

And now the outer temple was all of it overflowed with blood; and that day, at is came on, saw eight thousand five hundred dead bodies there.

In the Old Testament, God’s people and the priests had rejected him and defiled the temple, so God gave them over into the hands of evil men like Nebuchadnezzar and Antiochus Epiphanes, who defiled and destroyed their temple. When Jesus refers to the Abomination of Desolation, he’s referencing these events and saying, “It’s going to happen again, because Jerusalem has rejected me.”

And that is exactly what happened during the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Christian evacuation from Judea (vv. 16-20)

Matthew 24:15–16 ESV

15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

These instructions and prophecy were fulfilled in a well-known historical event known as the “Flight to Pella,” which happened in the years leading up to the siege of Jerusalem.

The Flight to Pella

Eusebius, another famous ancient historian who wrote an extensive history of the early church around A.D. 325, tells us in his Church Histories that this, in fact, is exactly what the Christians living in Jerusalem did:

Ecclesiastical History, Books 1–5 Chapter 5

But the people of the Church at Jerusalem were commanded by an oracle given out by revelation before the war to esteemed men there to depart from the city and to inhabit a city of Peraea which they called Pella.

Those who believed in Christ migrated to this city from Jerusalem, that, when holy men had entirely abandoned the royal capital of the Jews and the entire land of Judaea, the judgment of God might soon overtake them for their many crimes against Christ and His Apostles and utterly destroy that generation of the wicked from among men.

Signs in the heavens (v. 29)

Matthew 24:29 ESV

29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

This is commonly used apocalyptic language to refer generally to heavenly signs—natural and supernatural phenomena—that would signal the impending judgment of God.

(Summarized from The Jewish War, Vols. 1-3: Books 1-7) A star shaped like a sword appeared over the city, along with a comet that lasted for a whole year.

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the 8th day of the month, in the middle of the night, a bright light surrounded the altar and sanctuary, making it look like daytime for about half an hour. Some thought it was a good sign, but the temple scholars saw it as a warning of coming disaster.

At the same festival, a cow brought for sacrifice gave birth to a lamb inside the temple courts.

The eastern gate of the inner temple courtyard, a massive bronze gate that usually required 20 men to shut and was secured with strong bars and bolts into solid stone, mysteriously opened by itself at midnight. While many believed this was a sign of the gates of God’s blessings being opened, but the scholars among them saw it as a sign that God was opening the gates of the temple to their enemies, that the defenses were failing and that destruction was coming.

A few days later, on the 21st of the month, many people witnessed something that Josephus says he would not have believed had it not been witnessed by so many. Before sunset, people saw soldiers and chariots appear in the sky, moving through the clouds around the cities.

Then, during the festival of Pentecost, temple priests doing their nightly duties heard strange noises—first a loud commotion, then the voice of a multitude saying, “We are leaving this place.”

So, the point in all of this is that...

2. The only event which we can definitively say is yet to be fulfilled is the bodily return of Christ. This means that Christ could conceivably return at any time.

2. Christ’s return is imminent. (vv. 42-44)

Jesus’ prophecies may have a future, more complete fulfillment.

Many scholars believe that there will be a future “Abomination of Desolation,” a future “Great Tribulation,” and a repeat of all the events in this passage to a greater degree.

I will not attempt to speculate what exactly that will look like if and when these histories repeat themselves.

Scripture has a pattern where oftentimes prophecies have an immediate, lesser fulfillment followed by a more complete, future fulfillment.

So, these signs may well repeat themselves in the immediate years leading up to Christ’s return.

But, the minimum requirements for fulfillment of the prophecies of Matthew 24 have been met.

Some people interpret these prophecies in such a way that they conclude, “Christ can’t return yet because ______ hasn’t happened yet.” I think that fails to take seriously Jesus’ warnings here:

Matthew 24:44 ESV

44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

What that means for us, then, is that Christ could return at any moment. There’s not necessarily some prophecy that is yet-to-be-fulfilled that is holding him back.

3. The primary purpose of Jesus’ prophecies in this passage are not to give us a detailed roadmap of the end times, but encourage peace in the midst of tribulation, confidence in God’s plan, and readiness on the part of his people.

3. The purpose of end-times prophecy is to prepare (not scare) God’s people. (vv. 6, 34-35, 42-43)

We don’t need to be alarmed.

Matthew 24:6 ESV

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed...

Just as God cared for his people

We don’t need to sit around trying to analyze every little political intrigue and conspiracy theory. All that does is breed fear and anxiety.

When Christ returns, you’ll know! And you won’t know until he does.

Matthew 24:27 ESV

27 For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.

We can trust in God’s sovereignty over the chaos.

Matthew 24:6 ESV

6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place...

Matthew 24:34–35 ESV

34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

One of the things that really amazed me as I studied this passage was the level of historical documentation of all that Jesus prophesied would happen in this passage. I didn’t have to hunt that much, and it wasn’t difficult to connect the dots.

God did exactly what he said he would do. He was in control of history then, and he’s in control of history now. You can take him at his word.

We need to be ready.

Matthew 24:42–43 ESV

42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.

There will be many people who will be caught off-guard, unaware that Christ is returning.

But readiness for Christ’s return doesn’t mean “having it all figured out” and having a neat and tidy chart connecting every passage with its fulfillment.

Being ready means following Christ’s instructions and living for him. It means serving the King faithfully even when everyone around you is rebelling. It means fulfilling the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations. It means telling others that Christ’s return is imminent and helping them get ready. It means knowing him and making him known.

Matthew 24:50–51 ESV

50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

When Jesus returns, there will be no more time to bargain or get yourself right.

Matthew 24:30–31 ESV

30 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

There will be two types of people on the day that Christ’s return. Some will mourn because they suddenly realize that judgment is coming upon them, and there’s nothing they can do about it.

But, those who have placed their faith in Christ and bowed to the King—his elect—will say, “Come, Lord Jesus!”

Revelation 22:20 ESV

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Reflection Questions:

If most of Jesus’ prophecies in Matthew 24 were fulfilled by A.D. 70, what does that imply about Jesus’ return?

What does it mean to be ready for Jesus' return, and how can we show that readiness in our daily lives?

Why do you think Jesus wasn’t more specific in his end-times prophecies?

How can we find peace in our lives during times of tribulation?

Benediction:

Revelation 22:16–17 ESV

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” 17 The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Revelation 22:20–21 ESV

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.