Until
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Introduction
Introduction
As we turn our Bibles today morning to Matthew 10:23, I want us to be reminded of a reality that escapes so many of us as we live out our lives on this planet. That it is very much better to die and be with Christ.
23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;
If we don’t understand this, then we can’t understand what Paul truly meant in the following verses,
24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith,
Much of Paul’s strength for the ministry of the Gospel resonated in the ambience of his eschatology. Now, here is a term we’ve alluded to many times on the pulpit of this church. Eschatology, the study of the last things, or the end times. More precisely, eschatology is the study of the end, the death, the judgment and the final resting of the human soul.
Now, theologians around the world, from every denomination, throughout history have debated and disagreed on many of the particulars of biblical eschatology, and surely since there are many parts of it that the Bible is not clear about intentionally. But there’s also so much that the Bible is clear about, and Paul’s certainty that the final resting place of his soul after death with Christ Jesus is so very much better.
My dear brothers and sisters, is this how we live our lives? I look at my own intentions in this past week and I want to go and stand in that corner over there with my head hanging in shame. For I know how I’ve lived for things that are much lesser not once raising my eyes to that which is much better.
Why is this important, and why now? I thought we were studying about Christian missions, about how we are to live here on earth. Why are you bringing up eschatology in the middle of all this?
Well, because of Matthew 10:23,
23 “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
Here we have the begining of many verses to come in Matthew’s gospel accounts which speak of the end times. Out of all the four Gospel accounts, Matthew is the most eschatalogical. In fact, Matthew does make a statement in
17 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18 “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
What is rendered here as the Law that shall not pass, in Matthew 24:35 in rendered as,
35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
So, all of God’s word in the Law and the prophets, things pertaining to order of life and service to God, accomplished, not the smallest letter or stroke left unfulfilled. Yet the new words of Christ continued in the New Testament are permanent, never passing away. The permanence of His word, His promises are greater than even heaven and earth.
Until
Until
And this word, ‘until’ is one of my favourite words in the Bible. I do not find a word more hopeful of the future than this - until.
A word that means up until, or up to that point, or as far as; a word that points to something right beyond the curve, the sight beyond the edge of that hill; a word that suggests that though things pass, there’s more to come, new things, things we’ve not seen, things that can only be once the things today have gone.
It is a word that gives hope in all circumstances. In you deepest sorrows, what does this word ‘until’ hold for you. In you greatest victories, wait for ‘until’ to bring you new challenges, and yet those are ‘until’.
You see this cycle of highs of lows that we all experience in life, all culminate ultimately to Paul’s hope of that which is very much better. Yes beloved, this word ‘until’ will not hold any hope if it were not for the promises of Christ.
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4 “And you know the way where I am going.”
So beloved, if anybody asks you where you’re going, say to them that you’re going to where Jesus has gone.
This, my beloved is why eschatology is important. Not because you can debate about it over dinner tables to spoil the family supper, but in order to anchor all that you do on the hope of that which is far better.
Your hope for the end will be your strength to begin many things for the glory of God and the building of His Kingdom.
28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.
13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus,
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Are you getting the eschatological tone of the Bible? Do we eagerly await his appearing? Is that our blessed hope? Are we drudging in our work protected by the power of God for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time?
If I go on like this, and I could, it would appear that my introduction would become the sermon. But this is what I want to do, brothers and sisters. I want to lay the first stone of what I hope will be a healthy and joyous eschatological learning for us as a church in the months to come as we study this Gospel according to Matthew.
So in a way this is kind of like an introductory sermon of sorts.
Now, having spoken slightly about the reasons to know our eschatology, let me come out and say that there’s more to this than what you’ve probably heard and maybe even what many of you think is certainly biblical. There are more arguably good, and excellent positions on the end times than what is predominantly taught in our church circles.
I remember what I was taught as a small boy growing up. Whether catholic or portestant, sermons or fellowship gatherings, or camps or retreats, I’d only heard one view of the end times, particularly about the second coming of Christ.
I was taught that the world was going to get progressively worse. Persecution will rise, Christianity will struggle, and then one day (sooner than later, possibly in our lifetime), the Anti-Christ would enter the political scene of this world, as soon as the holy temple in Jerusalem is rebuilt.
A figure empowered by Satan who functions as an enemy of Jesus Christ and the Church. In the context of apocalyptic literature, this figure performs false miracles, deceives many in order to discourage people from worshiping the true God, and persecutes God’s people.
In cohort with the beasts in Revelation, he will bring three and a half years of peace on earth, after which he will raise an abomination in the holy temple in Jerusalem, which would begin a further three and a half year time, but this time of tribulation where Christians are persecuted like never before.
Now before this tribulation starts, somewhere in this rule of the antichrist, Jesus is said to come and rapture His church, that with the blink of an eye, God’s people would vanish from the face of the earth and would be caught up with Him as they’re taken to a dwelling place with Christ to wait till the end of the tribulation.
Then Jesus would return in glory with the church and bind satan and defeat the antichrist, and He would rule for a millenium (a thousand year period) after which Satan is let loose again, at which time he tempts and leads many astray.
After that, we have the final judgment, also known as the Great White Throne Judgment, when all are judged, and the wicked are cast into the eternal flames of hell with satan, and the righteous in Christ are renewed to eternal life.
Now, like most people, I swallowed this whole narrative without studying it myself. Over time, I saw believers disagree on the timing and pattern of the specifics of this eschatological view, but this was by far what I mostly heard and spoke about.
This view is known as the dispensational premillenial view of the end times. I know that’s a mouthful, but we’ll learn these things slowly. But for now, what I want you to understand is that this is only one plausible view among others. There are other views, and they are just as much, or might I saw (in my current opinion) much more plausible.
For example, there are views that believe that the world is not getting progressively worse, but progressively better. There are view that believe that Christ won’t be coming to the world when it is most broken, but rather when it is most Christianised. There are views that believe the great tribulation is over and that the antichrist has come and was already defeated as far back as AD 70, in the defeat of the Emperor Nero who by the way persecuted the church for exactly 42 months (three and half years).
So all this to say that this subject is not easy and it is not meant to be naively digested by heresay and common cultural narrative. Beloved, these are things pertaining to our hope, and though there are areas of ambiguity, there are also areas of much clarity. This must be our approach to studying the end times, as a means to anchor our hope in the things we do daily.
I have not myself come to a clear affirmation on where I stand regarding these positions but I hope to in the coming weeks as I pray, read and study for myself. But as of where I stand today, I stand to be a father in five months. And everything in me believes that my child is not going to be born into a world that will end tomorrow. (Now, remember I could be wrong). But you see, my eschatology affects even how I approach my fatherhood, how I lead my family, and how I prioritise my life.
But whatever be the case, the final anchor is certain, my heart can rest in the certainty of the word until. Hear the words of the Father to the Son in Psalm 110:1,
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
Exegesis
Exegesis
23 “But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
As the apostles carry the Gospel message, they were to expect persecution. They were being sent out as sheep amongst wolves.
Now, v23 begins with the reading, But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next.
When such persecution mounts as severe as what Jesus was portraying, they were to flee. The pattern of facing persecution is not always to stand your ground but to flee if it was appropriate to do so. We do not desire to be persecuted, we desire to be rescued.
I know Christians who pray for persecution because they believe that only through such difficulty can the church be united again. That is not a prayer that I believe one should pray. It is a reality that one must expect in a broken world. Our prayer is alway for peace. Persecution is not the primary means of Christians unity, the preaching of the word is. Therefore, choose preaching over persecution.
for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes.
Now this verse in particular is not one that causes great eschatological divide among theologians. You can belong to different end time positions and still hold to different possible readings to this verse.
The phrase ‘the Son of Man comes’ is used in other places in Matthew and they all refer to the return of Jesus in power and for the judgment of the world.
30 “And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory.
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.
64 Jesus said to him, “You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
Therefore, many believers believe that this is referring to the second coming of Christ in judgment at the end of the age. This position would most fit the other occurences of the phrase ‘the son of man comes’. And so they believe that this verse is a call to reaching out to Israel as it is to reaching out to the world with the Gospel. Thereore, they take this to mean that the return of Christ is positioned closer to the time when the Gospel is taken to all the nations of the world, and a revival of national Israel .
Yet, the problem here in v23 is that the coming of the son of man has a sense of urgency to it, because they would not have finished going through the cities of Israel before this coming.
28 “Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
And so, other views that believe this coming is referring to the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. But in this view, we have no evideence that the disciples were persecuted in such a way until the ascension of Christ.
Given these difficulties, I personally lean more toward the understanding that this ‘son of man coming’ does not refer to the second coming of Jesus in final judgment, but rather to a specific judgment that occurred in AD 70, the year of the destruction of Jerusalem, an act of God’s judgment against the nation of Israel.
This explanation, for me, fits all of the contextual conditions. In the war of AD 70, God used Rome to destroy the temple at Jerusalem. The temple was the symbol of God’s presence among the Israelites. This was the final blow to the temple symbolism, for now Jesus had errected a new temple. One that He raised in three days. For now the temple of God is the human soul that is saved by the redeeming work of Jesus on the cross.
