Matthew 24 From 30,000 Feet.

Premise:

Jesus was warning the Apostles, and early church, of the judgement of God that would happen in their generation; it did happen just as Jesus said it would and now we ought to focus on the commission given to the entire church.

Opening:

Good morning again Connection Church. I am so glad that you have come out to worship Christ. This is why we gather. We gather together on the Lord’s Day to worship God. What a beautiful thing. We have a day set aside for worshipping God and resting. Today, we are able to rest from our striving and our endless business. We are blessed to be able to come together, with one another, and rest in the arms of our Lord. We get to sing praise to Him, we get to learn truths about Him, we get to hear His Word read and preached. We are blessed to be able to rest in Him. The Lord’s Day is a day that we can all look forward to in the hectic life we live.

Introduction of the text:

This morning we are going to jump back into our study of Matthew. This morning we are going to be looking at Matthew 24 from 30,000 feet. I want to open with the reason for this. Often when we look at Biblical prophesy, we can get so lost in the weeds that we miss the point. And there is a time and a place for deep dives and really getting into the details. However, there is also a time for looking at the overview of what is happening. When I started going through this chapter, I wanted to address all the various views of this chapter, and address why each view holds to what they hold. There is a time and place for that, but I’m afraid we got way too into the weeds. I apologize for that.

So rather than going into a deep dive on all the various views and reasoning for each view of each verse in this chapter, I want to take a step back and just view the chapter as a whole. I want to address what Jesus is saying. I want to address what I believe to be the most consistent view of interpreting this passage. And then I want to briefly focus on the mission of the church.

If you want my sermon in a sentence it is this: Jesus was warning the Apostles, and early church, of the judgement of God that would happen in their generation; it did happen just as Jesus said it would and now we ought to focus on the commission given to the entire church. With this in mind, would you stand with me for the reading of God’s Word. This is a long passage, but we can do it.

Reading of the Text:

Matthew 24:1-35.

And coming out from the temple, Jesus was going along, and His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him.2 And He answered and 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 Now 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?”4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one deceives you.5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.6 And you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, 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 pains.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 And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.11 Many false prophets will arise and will deceive many.12 And because lawlessness is multiplied, most people’s love will grow cold.13 But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

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 And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his garment.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 And 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 deceive, if possible, even the elect.25 Behold, I have told you in advance.26 Therefore, if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them.27 For just as the lightning comes from the east and appears even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

29 “But 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 the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.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 And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

32 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near;33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door.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.

Behold, the Word of God. Let’s Pray.

Prayer:

Our great God and Father, we come to you this morning and we ask that you would be with us. Lord, we are fallen creatures in need of your guidance. We ask that through Your Spirit, You would help us to understand this passage. Much speculation and debate has been had over this passage. Many have been lost into speculation and conspiracy over this passage. May we this morning see the truth of what you said. May we be encouraged that you are the true prophet. May we also see what you have commanded us all to do, and may we be quick to obey. We ask this in Jesus name, amen.

Opening Illustration: Saving the Phenomena.

In speaking on this passage, R.C. Sproul quotes from the great philosopher Plato. Sproul says that when we try to understand this passage and it’s parallel passages in Luke and Mark, we are attempting to “save the phenomena.” But what does this mean? What is the phenomena? The Phenomena is a term used to describe what we observe; the realm of observation. It is the observable world. The goal of any kind of understanding is to develop an understanding of things that explains what is. We must not develop a way of understanding that is incapable of explaining what is. In short, it means that we want to be accurate in our understanding. This is what we are doing with this passage. We approach passages like this and try to understand what Jesus is saying. This is a confusing passage. And the last thing we want to do is to have an understanding of this passage that turns Jesus into a false prophet. We are trying to develop an understanding of Jesus’ words that accurately explains what He is saying.

Obviously we wish to do this every passage, but this one is one we must be especially careful in doing this. This passage is one that atheists love to point to as evidence that Jesus is a false prophet. Bertrand Russel wrote a famous book called, “Why I Am Not a Christian.” In this book, he said one of the chief reasons he did not believe was because Jesus prophesied His return within one generation, and it did not happen. Since then, many atheists have jumped on this argument and view it as the lynch pin in the coffin of Christianity. Often, in a debate, when an atheist feels he is losing to the Christian, he will say something along the lines of, “Well, you can’t really trust Jesus as a reliable witness. Jesus thought He was returning within one generation.” Then the atheist drops his mic and views the matter as settled.

Because of this, in our generation, this has become a grand question. How do we understand Jesus’ words here? How do we “save the phenomena?” How do we correctly understand what Jesus said? Also, because of the rise of atheists using this argument, apologists have been forced to see the failure of some of our greatest minds regarding this passage. Even great men like C.S. Lewis blatantly failed on this passage. Lewis, believed that Jesus was genuinely saying that He would return in one generation, but Jesus was merely saying this according to His human nature. In essence, Lewis claims that Jesus accidentally made a false prediction. Clearly, this answer is wrong. Jesus made no mistakes. He was perfect. Lewis accidentally found himself in heresy. And there are many more examples of faithful Christians attempting to answer this passage and failing.

In our day, the most popular interpretation is to take any prophesy in the new testament and view it as some distant even to be fulfilled in our future. We spiritualize Jesus’ statement that this must all take place in one generation and then view the events as some distant event. We say, “Oh, Jesus was merely talking about a generation like the one in His day.” What complicates this even further is that in the ancient church, it was completely reversed. The pagans would make claims that Jesus was a false prophet and the early church fathers would point to this same passage and say, “Look how clear it is that all this was fulfilled! It is obvious Jesus is a true prophet!”

So how do we understand this? How do we save the phenomena? How do we develop an understanding of this passage that makes sense of what Jesus is saying? Well, I believe the ancient church was right. I believe Eusebius was right when he defended Christ’s words by pointing to the clear fulfilment of them in the generation Jesus was speaking to at the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. I believe the clearest way to read Matthew 24 is in that it was fulfilled when Jesus said it would be. This passage was fulfilled in the destruction of the Jewish temple in A.D. 70. So this morning, we are going to have a 30,000 foot view of this prophesy, and then we will continue on in our study of Matthew. We won’t get caught up in the weeds. We will address it, and then focus on what God has commanded the whole church to do.

Verse By Verse Walk-through:

To do this, we will walk through the statements Jesus made. Let’s start with the setting.

The Setting: Verse 1-4:

This passage opens with Jesus and the disciples leaving the temple. They had just been in the temple, and Jesus had pronounced very harsh woes upon the Pharisees. Jesus said that God’s wrath and judgement for the death of the prophets would fall on that generation. Jesus had also just pronounced a final woe upon Jerusalem. You see, God had been very patient with Israel. As a whole, Israel had rejected the prophets. They had murdered the sacred messengers God had sent them. And now, they had even rejected the messiah. Because of this, the fulness of God’s wrath was going to fall upon them. God does not tolerate the shedding of innocent blood. He is slow to anger, but eventually, God pours out judgement. And Jesus has warned that this was the generation that the wrath of God would fall on. The rejecting of the Messiah was the final drop that filled the cup of God’s anger for the death of His messengers.

So Jesus has just proclaimed this grand prophetic warning and now He and the disciples are leaving the temple. At this time the Disciples point to the temple and remark upon the beauty of the Temple. Jesus then tells them that the temple will be destroyed and not one stone will remain standing upon another. They then ask the most obvious question. When will this happen and what will be the signs of His coming? Now, when they say “His coming” they are not referring to Jesus’ second coming. They had no clue that Jesus was going to leave. No, they are making reference to the very common language used in the Old Testament about the “coming of the Lord.” This was language that the prophets used in regards to God’s judgement. When Isaiah prophesied the destruction Babylon and the judgement of Egypt, he speaks of it as the “Coming of Yahweh. The disciples thought Jesus would stay and would visit wrath on the wicked while He was still there. And this makes sense. Jesus had just prophesied the judgement of God against these people. They are asking when this judgement “coming” would be.

And Jesus begins to answer them.

Verse 5. Explanation: Many will come in my name:

Verse five says, “5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”

Argumentation:

There will be many false Christs. Well, this happened. 1 John 2:18-19 says, “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared. From this we know that it is the last hour.19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be manifested that they all are not of us.” The Apostle John is speaking of these in the past tense. By the time John wrote this Epistle, probably in the 60’s, this had been fulfilled. Likewise, 2 John 7. says this, “For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.” Again, this is past tense.

Verse 6. Explanation: Wars and Rumors of Wars.

Verse 6 says, “And you are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.”

Argumentation: History records many wars escalating from A.D. 14-70.

We see snippets of this in Scripture. We hear of a party known as the zealots. In fact, one of the Apostles is listed as “Simon the zealot.” The Zealots were a militant party who fought against Rome for Jewish freedom. And they grew in activity from A.D. 14-70 until they were crushed during the Roman siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In fact, they were the party responsible for Rome finally destroying Jerusalem. They captured Jerusalem from Rome around A.D. 68. This is what prompted the Roman army to march and crush them. Beyond this, there were increasing battles and wars throughout the Roman empire. They got more and more frequent until the destruction of Jerusalem. Then there was relative peace through fear.

Verse 7. Explanation: There will be famines and earthquakes.

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

Argumentation:

The Jewish historian Josephus records several drastic famines leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. In fact, Acts 11:27-29 speaks of one of these. It says, “Now in those days, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and indicated by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the reign of Claudius.29 And as any of the disciples had means, each of them determined to send a contribution for the service of the brothers living in Judea.”

There were also increasing earthquakes that appeared to be supernatural in origin. Acts 16:26 records one of these accounts when Paul and Silas were freed by one such earthquake. Again, Josephus records an earthquake so strong “that the constitution of the universe was confounded for the destruction of man.” That sounds like one I would take note of.

Transition:

Verse 9. Explanation: They will deliver YOU up.

Verse 9 says, “Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.” Notice, that Jesus says that they will diver YOU up. Jesus uses the personal pronoun to refer to the disciples.

Argumentation: Point to the handout. Obviously the early church and apostles clearly saw this fulfilled.

If you look in the handout you have, there is a list of verses detailing the New Testament persecution. This one seems obvious to me that Jesus is referring to the Disciples. They saw this clearly fulfilled.

Verse 10. Many will fall away. Explanation:

Verse 10 says, 10 And at that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.

Argumentation:

There are numerous accounts of people falling away in the New Testament. Just in Paul’s second letter to Timothy, he lists several. 2 Tim 1:15. You are aware of this: that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 2 Tim 4:10 for Demas, having loved this present age, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. 2 Tim 4:16. At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me. May it not be counted against them.

Verse 11. Explanation: Many false prophets.

Verse 11 says, 11 Many false prophets will arise and will deceive many.

Argumentation:

I have said repeatedly that nearly every book of the Bible warns against false teachers and false prophets. Here are a few specific examples of some that were being dealt with during that time. 2 Peter 2:1-3. But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned.3 And in their greed they will exploit you with false words, their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

2 Cor 11:13. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. Acts 13:6. And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus, Acts 20:29-30. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. 1 John 4:1.Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 John 7. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. These are written as having already happened in the day these accounts were written.

Verse 12. Explanation: Lawlessness will increase.

Verse 12 says, And because lawlessness is multiplied, most people’s love will grow cold.

Argumentation:

Paul is dealing with this in many of his letters. Notably, listen to this passage from 1 Cor 5:1-2. It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and sexual immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife.2 And you have become puffed up and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst. History also records great lawlessness and wickedness increasing during the reign of Caligula and Nero, especially in the emperor's themselves. Notably, Nero is still to this day known as one of the most wicked rulers in history.

Verse 14. Explanation. The Gospel will go out to the “whole world.”

Verse 14 says this, And this gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.

Argumentation.

Paul says this, Col 1:5-6, 23. because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel 6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and multiplying, just as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard and understood the grace of God in truth;”… if indeed you continue in the faith firmly grounded and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.

Romans 1:8. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. Romans 10:18.But I say, have they never heard? On the contrary, they have; “Their voice has gone out into all the earth, And their words to the ends of the world.” Or Acts 19:10. This took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. All of these speak of the gospel being proclaimed to the entire Roman world. This is spoken of in the past tense.

Verse 15. Explanation: Abomination of Desolation.

Verse 15 says, 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),

Argumentation:

This is more clearly stated in Luke. Luke 21:20. “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is at hand.” Clearly this happened in A.D. 70 at the siege of Jerusalem.

Verse 16. Explanation: Flee to the mountains.

Verse 16 gives commands for when this abomination comes. “then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.”

Argumentation:

One of the great mystery's of history is that during the siege of Jerusalem, no Christians were killed. The Christians, fled as soon as the armies came. The armies of Rome marched on Jerusalem and the Christians dropped everything and fled. This is odd because the practice of the day when an army was approaching, you fled to the walled city. The Christians did the opposite of this. They fled to the mountains. History records the death of millions of Jews, but no Christians. The Christians saw the armies, and then fled, pointing to Jesus’ words as their reason. They saw that as the fulfilment of Jesus’ warning. And they survived.

Verse 21. Explanation: Great Tribulation.

Verse 21 says, “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.”

Argumentation:

Think back to chapter 23. Jesus is referring to the judgement He prophesied in the previous chapter. The wrath of God against the previous generations was poured out upon that generation. It was a massive outpouring against the people of Israel for the death of the prophets. Jesus is not referring to this being the largest body count in history. This was the great outpouring of God’s wrath against the Jews.

Verse 27. Explanation: Lightning from east to west.

Verse 27 speaks of lightning flashing from east to west.

Argumentation:

This is common language of judgement. Ezek 21:15, 28. “that their hearts may melt, and many will be stumbling blocks at all their gates. I have given the glittering sword. Ah! It is made for striking like lightning, it is wrapped up in readiness for slaughter.”...“Now as for you, son of man, prophesy and say, ‘Thus says Lord Yahweh concerning the sons of Ammon and concerning their reproach,’ and say: ‘A sword, a sword is drawn, polished for the slaughter, to cause it to consume, that it may be like lightning⁠—”

Zech 9:14. Then Yahweh will appear over them, And His arrow will go forth like lightning; And Lord Yahweh will blow the trumpet And will go in the storm winds of the south.

Verse 28. Explanation: Vultures gather.

Verse 28 says, Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.

Argumentation:

This is more common judgement language showing the great death toll. It is also possible that the word vulture is a play on the word Eagle, which was the signet of the Roman army.

Verse 29. Explanation: Sun and stars falling.

Verse 29 says “But 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 the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”

Argumentation:

Again this is common judgement language contained in the prophets. Isaiah 13:9-10. is speaking of God’s judgement against Babylon. Behold, the day of Yahweh is coming, Cruel, with fury and burning anger, To make the land a desolation; And He will exterminate its sinners from it. Or Isaiah 34:4-5 And all the host of heaven will rot away, And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll; All their hosts will also wither away As a leaf withers from the vine, Or as one withers from the fig tree. 5 For My sword is satiated in heaven; Behold, it shall descend for judgment upon Edom And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.

Or Ezek 32:7-8 speaking of God’s judgement against Egypt. And when I extinguish you, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, And the moon will not give its light. 8 All the shining lights in the heavens I will darken over you And will give darkness on your land,” Declares Lord Yahweh. This is common judgement language. It does not mean that the sky is literally falling. It is prophetic language signalling the judgement of God and the destruction of a people.

Verse 30. Explanation: The appearing of the Son of Man.

But what of verse 30? This must be speaking of something else, right? Verse 30 says, “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.”

Argumentation:

I admit that verse 30 and 31 do appear to be speaking of a future event. However, if we examine those existing judgement passages, we see other language of God coming on the clouds to judge people.

Isaiah 19:1. The oracle concerning Egypt. “Behold, Yahweh is riding on a swift cloud and is about to come to Egypt; The idols of Egypt will shake at His presence, And the heart of the Egyptians will melt within them.” God did not literally strap a saddle on a cloud and cry “giddeup!” But did God visit the Egyptians in His wrath? Yes.

There are two types of “coming” we see within Scripture when referring to God. One is the return of Christ at the end of time to consummate the Kingdom. This is a real and physical return that is yet to happen. However, the second type of “coming” we see in Scripture is when God rains down judgement upon a wicked people. I think, given context, we shouldn’t view this as Jesus switching narrative styles mid sentence. I think Jesus is speaking of the judgement of God raining down on the people.

Verse 31. Explanation: The trumpet call.

Finally, let’s look at verse 31. And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.

Argumentation:

This seems to be speaking of the final day. However, Jesus has just finished teaching that there would be great judgement on the Jews and that the gospel would go out to the gentiles for a time. In light of everything else in this prophesy being clear judgement language, I think that Jesus is continuing the more symbolic language of a judgement oracle. I think the most consistent view of this passage is that Jesus is using the language of a trumpet call and a gathering of the elect as the overarching shift in the gospel call. No longer is Israel alone being gathers, but the angels are going out and gathering the elect from all over the world. From all nations and peoples. Even that language of the four winds is heavily symbolic of the entire earth.

It is possible that Jesus is switching language and now speaking of the final day. But I don’t think that is consistent interpretation. I think Jesus is speaking of the gospel being taken to the uttermost ends of the earth. I think other passages speak clearly and in context of the final trumpet call and the final gathering of the saved at the last day. But from context, I don’t think this is one of them.

Transition:

Now, with all this said, it is easy to wonder, “so what?” That is a good question. I think we all know in general that this can be applied to us by saying, “we must be careful to interpret Scripture in context.” I have repeated countless times that the most important rules for understanding Scripture are context, context, and context. But is there more for us here than simply knowing that this passage is not talking about the final judgement, but of a specific judgement that took place in A.D. 70? I believe there is.

Application:

If we are not careful, we can become obsessive over these verses. We can get so wrapped up in this that we fully miss the point. So many of us can be tempted to read current headlines and then try to squeeze them into Jesus’ words here. We can become obsessive and try to find connections to current events. I think we have all heard people quote out of context the “wars and rumors of wars” verse followed by, “so Jesus must be coming back any day now.” Well, the truth is, we don’t know when Jesus is coming back. It could be today, it could be a few more thousand years.

If you want my personal opinion, I think we have a lot more work to do. If you recall earlier in the gospel of Matthew, Jesus compared the growing of the kingdom to leaven in a loaf. A small amount would eventually leaven the whole loaf. It may take time, but it will happen eventually. I believe the gospel will go out into the entire world. I believe Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled With the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh, As the waters cover the sea.

In this passage in Matthew, Jesus is warning the Apostles and the early church of the judgement of God that would fall on the Jews in that generation. All of that took place in A.D. 70 at the destruction of Jerusalem. We ought not get so wrapped up in words that are already fulfilled that we miss our mandate. What is our mandate? Jesus gave an overarching command to the entire church in Matthew 28:18-20. And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Jesus gave us a commission.

First, Jesus gave us a commission. He gave a command to the entire church. And He opens by saying that all authority in heaven and on earth is His. Think about that.

Jesus Has All Authority in Heaven and On Earth.

Jesus has ALL authority. What does that mean? It means that there is no authority in the entire universe that is not inherently, by nature, belonging to Christ. Think about that, there is no authority whatsoever that is not completely answerable to Christ. Jesus here is declaring that He is the Sovereign over all creation. Every single being must inherently answer to Him, because He has all authority. Every man woman and child will answer to Jesus. Beyond this, every authority will answer to Him. Every employee, slave, manager, dog catcher, mayor, governor, senator, king, and emperor will answer to Jesus, because the whatever authority they have is inherently Christ’s, and they must use it as such.

Because of This...

So what happens in light of this? What is the consequence of this? Jesus is the ultimate Lord. He has authority over how states govern, who is to teach children and how, all of it. So what is the command of this sovereign to His people? Go disciple the nations.

We Disciple the Nations.

That is the command. Go make disciples of the nations. Go and disciple the nations. Now we think of this in two ways. First, nations are made of individuals. So we made disciples of individuals within the nations. But notice Jesus’ phrasing. He divides the task into the nations. So what is the outpouring? We make disciples of the nations and it results in entire nations being evangelized. Practically, this means that here in Lead, SD, we make disciples. We share the gospel with individual people, yes. And the outpouring of the work here, is that eventually, the work of the gospel spreads and we disciple as many people as we can. We make disciples of the people on the streets. We make disciples of the people in the library. We make disciples of the people in the city hall. And eventually, we have discipled Lead, SD. That is the mission. How do we do it? We baptize them and teach them to obey Christ.

We Baptize Them and teach them obedience to Christ.

What are the weapons of the warfare of this kingdom? Word and sacrament. We baptize them in obedience to Christ’s command. And then, we teach them to obey Christ. Practically, this means we call people to obey Christ and when they are saved, we baptize them. And we do no discriminate. The call goes out to all. We call for the businessmen to bow the knee to Christ. We call the tourists to bow the knee to Christ. We call the mayor to bow the knee to Christ. And as people heed this call, we baptize them, give them the Lord’s supper, and teach them how to live out their lives in submission to the King. And we do this until we die, passing on this mission to the next generation, or until Christ returns and consummates the Kingdom.

In short, passages like Matthew 24 are fascinating. They are interesting to study and to dive deep into. It is exciting to examine the fulfilled prophesy of Christ. It is also encouraging to study the passages that prophesy Christ’s return at the end of all things. But our study of these things should stir us on in our mission. They should encourage us call sinners to repent and trust in Christ. They should encourage us to learn how to obey Christ. They should spur us on in hope and in passion to complete the mission Christ gave us. Let’s pray.

Prayer:

Closing Doxology:

Closing Benediction:

Matthew 28:18-20 “18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.””