A
study of the Gospel of Matthew
Part
25: Future
Cast
An underlying story behind the whole of
Matthew's gospel is the clash of the kingdoms of the earth and the
kingdom of heaven. This is a theme that keeps repeating. The values
of the world are not the values of God. The people who matter in the
world are not given the same status in the kingdom of God. The humble
are lifted up, the 'little ones' treated as examples of faith and
trust. In the last chapter we heard how Jesus lambasted the Pharisees
for their religious hypocrisy. They are exposed as being far from God
and more concerned with promoting themselves than they are concerned
with promoting the values of God's kingdom... love, mercy, grace,
justice and peace.
All of this talking about the Kingdom
has the disciples asking some deep questions. If the kingdom they
were expecting was never going to happen, then when would the kingdom
Jesus was talking about come into being? How was the whole thing
going to work out?
Matthew 24 and 25 are difficult
chapters as they concern future events.
Jesus has set the ball rolling by speaking about the downfall of the
temple. But that's just one event among many that the disciples are
interested in finding out about. As they sit on the Mount of Olives
they ask Him about times, signs and how it's all going to end. In
Matthew chapter 24, what may have been a much lengthier conversation,
is all lumped together, which does present a challenge to unravel!
Jesus speaks to them;
- about things that would happen quite soon,
- about things that would happen over the years as His Kingdom grew in the world,
- of things that would happen at the end of time.
Lest we think that Matthew was being
deliberately obscure, he is actually staying within the prophetic
tradition. This form of prophetic speaking is just the sort of thing
the Old Testament prophets got up to.
For instance: Jeremiah.
In Chapter 28: 16-17, Jeremiah talks
about events that would happen almost immediately.
Therefore this is
what the LORD says: 'I am about to remove you from the face of the
earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached
rebellion against the LORD.'" In the seventh month of that same
year, Hananiah the prophet died. (Jer
28:16-17 NIV)
In Chapter 31: 1-6, he talks about
things that would happen to the Jewish nation in the distant future.
"At that time,"
declares the LORD, "I will be the God of all the families of
Israel, and they will be my people." This is what the LORD
says: "The people who survive the sword will find favor in the
wilderness; I will come to give rest to Israel." The LORD
appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an
everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will
build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again
you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful.
Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers
will plant them and enjoy their fruit. There will be a day when
watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, 'Come, let us go up to
Zion, to the LORD our God.'" (Jer
31:1-6 NIV)
In the same chapter, verses 31-34, he
talks of a time beyond that, when God would enter into “A New
Covenant” with His people.
"The days are
coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new
covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It
will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took
them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my
covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD.
"This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in
their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and
they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or
say to one another, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For
I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no
more." (Jer 31:31-34 NIV)
The New Testament writers acknowledge
they have difficulty understanding these things!
Peter (1 Peter 1 10-12) talks of
“things even the angels would like to understand”. Of how the
prophets themselves struggled over times and circumstances. When in 2
Peter 3: 8-11 he speaks of the “Promise of the Lord’s Coming”
he reminds his readers “There is no difference in the Lord’s
sight between one day and a thousand years. “ To speculate about
exact dates and times was a futile pursuit.
The point of prophecy wasn’t to tell
the future. It was rather to encourage people along the lines of:
look, all sorts of mind-boggling things are going to take place, and
they’ll happen something like this, but don’t worry. Live your
lives in the knowledge that God has the past, the present and the
future in control. Be holy and dedicated to God.
Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 writes
in vivid pictures of the events of the Lord’s coming. The
archangel’s voice, the sound of the trumpet, believers caught up in
the cloud, the Lord Himself coming down from heaven. The reason he
writes is not to give a literal picture of final events but as he
says in verse 18 “encourage one another with these words."
In chapters 24-25 it will be helpful to
remember two guidelines:
1. Jesus is speaking in the tradition
of the Old Testament prophets, of (i) things about to happen, (ii)
about things that would happen throughout the ages, (iii) about
things that will happen when the end of the age comes.
2. Jesus is speaking, not to give the
disciples a comprehensive picture of the future, but to encourage
them in their faith and to empower them in their mission. They were
about to face the darkest and most significant events of Jesus’
life, namely his death and crucifixion.
Let us pick up on our chapter at the
beginning and read verses 1-3.
Matthew 24:1 Jesus left the temple and
was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call His
attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?"
He asked. "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on
another; every one will be thrown down." As Jesus was sitting
on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell
us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be
the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
They are in Jerusalem. Maybe some of
them haven't been to Jerusalem before. One of the most impressive
things about Jerusalem was the temple. It truly was a magnificent
edifice.
When we lived New York we knew it not
just as a working city, but also as a tourist destination. Some of
those who had grown up around the city forgot how impressive the
sights were! They had to put themselves in the shoes of someone, say
from West Virginia, who had lived in a rural area of mountains and
uncrowded roads and a pace of life that flows along at a steady
space. To come into the midst of the city, with the traffic and the
skyscrapers and the masses of people, was truly an experience for
people from a different background.
I am guessing that's what it was like
for country folk from Galilee to be in the midst of Jerusalem.
Sights, sounds, smells, sensory experiences that were new and like
nothing they had known before. So they are in sightseeing mode as
they look around the temple. And as they are walking away they are
surprised by their conversation with Jesus. It was hardly believable
that the whole temple could be destroyed! The very idea raised in
their minds a whole host of questions about the future. When would
the kingdom come? And how? And how would they know?
Jesus begins talking about signs that
would indicate the end was coming. Read verses 4 - 14
Jesus answered: "Watch out that no
one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the
Messiah,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of
wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must
happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and
earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth
pains. "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put
to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At
that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate
each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many
people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will
grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as
a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
As you look at these
verses you can't help but reflect that they could be applied to
almost any decade of the last 2000 years. False prophets, wars,
famines, persecutions of the Church, people falling away from their
faith. The only unexpected element... that appears to have any time
frame upon it.... is that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached
to the whole world. 'And then' says Jesus, “the end will come”
(verse 14).
Against the backdrop
of of this great historical drama the encouragement is given to
'stand firm'. (verse 13). It is worth reflecting that today's doom
merchants and end-time proclaimers are doing nothing new in pointing
to their interpretations of events as meaning the end is coming.
Jesus seems to be saying “That's going to happen!”.
This seems to be a warning not to allow
ourselves to be sucked in to such dead end avenues of understanding
but rather stand firm in doing what we understand the gospel calls us
to, namely worship and service of God as we reach out to others with
the love of Christ. Events on the world stage will go their crazy
way, in the mean time, just keep doing what you know and let God take
care of the rest.
That being said, dramatic events were
about to fall upon Jerusalem. Jesus appears to move from
generalizations to speaking about some specific events that would
take place in the near future of the earliest church. Read verses 15
-22.
"So when you
see standing in the holy place 'the abomination that causes
desolation,' spoken of through the prophet Daniel--let the reader
understand-- then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house.
Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. How dreadful it
will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! Pray
that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning
of the world until now--and never to be equaled again. "If those
days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake
of the elect those days will be shortened.
This section begins
with Jesus referencing a passage in the book of Daniel 12:11 "From
the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination
that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.”
In 167 BC the temple had been
desecrated by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It would be desecrated again as
the Romans overthrew the Jewish rebellion of AD70 and set about
destroying both city and population. In the face of the invasion many
chose to stay and fight rather than flee to the hills. The words of
the historian Josephus, writing in his 'Wars of the Jews' provide an
interesting counterpoint to Matthew's text.
Josephus speaks of
how the inhabitants of Jerusalem lost the battle because the Romans
cut off their food supply. “The lanes of the city were full of dead
bodies; children and young men wandered about like shadows, swelled
by famine... A deadly night seized the city … and everyone died
with their eyes fixed on the temple”. He speaks of a mother who
turns on her infant child in act of cannibalism. Of how the Romans
finally enter the city and find entire homes full of corpses. He
records that over a million perish whilst the remaining 97,000 were
taken into slavery.
If these were events
Jesus could see coming, then it is hardly surprising His advice was
to flee to the mountains. He pictures a period of great terror
centered upon the temple. Truly an 'abomination that causes
desolation'. Part of the horror is the idea that the Kingdom of God
has been overthrown by an empire of the ungodly. Yet, terrible as the
events of the Fall of Jerusalem were, they were not the end of all
things. That would not be until the coming of the 'Son of Man'. Our
next passage, verses 23 – 31:
At that time if anyone says to you,
'Look, here is the Messiah!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it.
For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great
signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I
have told you ahead of time. "So if anyone tells you, 'There he
is, out in the wilderness,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the
inner rooms,' do not believe it. For as lightning that comes from
the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the
Son of Man. Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will
gather. "Immediately after the distress of those days "'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.'
"Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then
all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he
will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather
his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the
other.
The idea of the people of God as being
'the elect' was referred to in verse 22 and again appears in this
passage at 24 and 31. For the sake of the 'elect' the days of trial
are shortened. Even the 'elect' are in danger of being deceived by
the dazzling acts of false Messiahs. But at the end of the day, God's
'elect' shall be gathered from the four corners of all creation.
The term 'elect' is used to describe
those who have responded to the call of Christ... in other words the
Christian community. Discipleship, rather like a public election,
involves call and response. A person is elected to office. They agree
to stand. They are aware that standing for something has both
responsibilities and privileges. We are called into Christ's service.
It takes a heart response on our part to say 'Yes, I will take the
stand for Jesus Christ'. We know that doing so brings many blessings
but also lays upon us the constraint of love.
Some theologians associate the idea of
'the elect' with that of 'a remnant'. “Remnant Theology” has
been particularly popular with religious groups who suggest that the
end of the world is near. The basic notion of such theology is that
no matter how bad things get, God always preserves a few 'an elected
remnant' to faithfully bear witness to the Kingdom. You can
understand how this passage appeals to folk who like 'end-times'
theology. It is chock-a-block with apocalyptic imagery... the sun is
darkened, stars fall from the sky, the son of man sends a trumpeting
angel to gather the faithful few from the corners of the earth.
But as we will see later in this
chapter, Matthew does not write to encourage speculation on when the
end of the world is coming, but rather to encourage his readers to
hold fast to the faith, believing that God has it all under control,
no matter what! The Presbyterian Church of Wales brief statement of
faith had as it's final sentence “I believe in the coming Kingdom
of God”. I liked that! I could commit to that, without having to
explain it.
However, for the disciples immediate
future, trouble was coming to Jerusalem. As Josephus tells us, in
AD70 the city was vanquished. They needed to be aware of the signs of
the times. Yet they were also called upon to trust that God's Word
could not be silenced and God's Kingdom would continue to grow. Such
seems to lay behind our next cluster of verses 32-35;
Now learn this
lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its
leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see
all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. Truly
I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all
these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my
words will never pass away.
The fig tree represented the national
fruitfulness of Israel. We saw in a previous chapter how Jesus cursed
a fig tree for it's barrenness. In this illustration the fig tree is
used in the context of Israel's impending destruction. Trouble was
coming, as surely as summer would follow spring!
Jesus tells His
disciples 'Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass
away until all these things have happened. The only logical
interpretation of these words is that He was speaking about
the downfall of Jerusalem. William Barclay writes “What Jesus is
saying is that these grim warnings of His regarding the doom of
Jerusalem will be fulfilled within that very generation – and they
were, in fact, fulfilled forty years later” P315
In the light of such a disaster
befalling God's holy city there would be ample cause to feel that it
was 'game over.' Jesus reassures the disciples that actually, the
game had hardly even started. The Kingdom is endued with a cosmic
significance as Jesus declares 'Heaven and earth
will pass away, but my words will never pass away.'
That's a powerful statement to make in
the midst of all this talk of impending destruction, stars falling
from the sky, people turning away from God and going after false
prophets... all this crazy negative stuff taking place, and here is
Jesus telling us that none of it is as significant as the Kingdom
teaching that He offers to us. Such is quite an incentive to take
bible study seriously!
We also need to bear in mind that
Matthew is writing 'after the fact' for the early church. They needed
to hear that the Fall of Jerusalem was part of God's plan. They were
facing persecution. They needed to hear that God had a future in mind
for them!
But did any of this
answer the disciples original question? Back in verse 3 "Tell
us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be
the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" Having
laid before them this confusing mish-mash of events immanent and far
off, (in the manner of the Old Testament prophets) we may have
expected from Jesus some statement of clarity... a more concise
timetable.... If you search the internet or browse religious TV
channels you will find no shortage of folks who are quite prepared to
offer just that. But this is what Jesus has to say; verses 36-44
"But about that day or hour no one
knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the
Father. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of
the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating
and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah
entered the ark;and they knew nothing about what would happen until
the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the
coming of the Son of Man.
Two men will be in the field; one will
be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand
mill; one will be taken and the other left. "Therefore keep
watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 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. So you also must be ready,
because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect
him."
I personally find it comforting to
understand from scripture that every crackpot who suggests they know
the time and hour of Jesus second coming is setting themselves up for
a major disappointment. Jesus makes it quite clear that NOBODY.. not
even He Himself knew when such things would take place. He insists
that there will come a time when everything will change and He will
takes His rightful place as Lord of all creation, but as to when...
well the only clue He offers is that it will be just like the days of
Noah.
From what we know about the days of
Noah, it was life as usual for most folk. They weren't expecting a
flood. Even Noah wasn't expecting God to tell him to build a big
boat. It was completely unanticipated.
Such is totally consistent with the
parables of the growth of the Kingdom that Jesus taught back in
chapter 13. The Kingdom is a hidden treasure. It is the mustard seed.
It is the yeast that leavens the whole loaf. The parable of the
'wheat and the tares' pictures the Kingdom of God as growing up in
the midst of and alongside the kingdoms of the world. Who could tell
the difference? Well that had to be left to harvest time.
We are given this picture of people
side by side, and one being taken and another left behind. This has
very little to do with any theology of a 'rapture' or of folk being
whizzed off to heaven whilst some have to duke it out on earth. (If
you are familiar with the “Left Behind' series of books or movies,
you'll know what I'm referring to). It has to do with the way the
Kingdom grows in secret, in the midst of the world. Just as
redemption came in Noah's day, unexpectedly and surprisingly, so at
the end of all things, God alone will be the Harvester.
Jesus compares it to a burglary. A
thief doesn't give you notice of when they are going to break into
your house. “Hello! I'd like to schedule a break in please. Would
Thursday at 7:00 work for you?” Thieves catch you out whilst your
guard is down.
Because there are thieves out there we
do take precautions. We may not know when they will come. But if they
do, we want to be ready. That's the sort of attitude Jesus suggests
to have towards the coming Kingdom. 'Be Prepared!” as the scouts
used to say.
Carol Howard Merrit has a passage in
her book “Reframing Hope” that talks of how we engage with the
Kingdom through our hungering and thirsting to see a better world
coming into being.
'When a man asks Jesus when the kingdom
of God is coming, Jesus responds mysteriously: 'The Kingdom of God
isn't coming with things that can be observed. They won't say, “Look
here it is' or 'There it is'. The Kingdom of God is among you (….or
within you)” “We cannot see God's reign, yet somehow it is among
us. It is as if we know the reign of God best through our deep
personal and communal longing for it. We understand what it is
because there is something within us that needs it and craves it. We
can almost taste it” (p82) “The reign of God. We can point to
it.... but we cannot quite realize it.” (p83)
Our final section of chapter 24 and on
into chapter 25 moves us through a series of stories about how to act
in the light of the kingdoms coming. Every Sunday we pray “Thy
kingdom Come on earth as it is in heaven”... but how do we make
that prayer more than words? What is the practical outcome of
understanding that we will never know when the Kingdom will be here,
yet being called upon to prepare for it's coming? The key appears to
be 'faithfulness'. Read verses 45 - 51
"Who then is
the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of
the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper
time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing
so when he returns. Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of
all his possessions. But suppose that servant is wicked and says to
himself, 'My master is staying away a long time,' and he then begins
to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. The
master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him
and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and
assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
Hear this passage... adapted from the
Message Bible.
"I have a job vacancy. Anybody
here qualify for the job of overseeing the kitchen? I need a person
the Master can depend on to feed the workers on time each day.
Someone the Master can drop in on unannounced and always find them
doing a good job. A God-blessed man or woman! I tell you, it won't be
long before the Master will put that person in charge of the whole
operation.
"But if that person only looks out
for themselves... and the minute the Master is away does what they
please — abusing the help and throwing drunken parties for their
friends — the Master is going to show up when they least expect it
and make hash of them. They'll end up in the dump with the
hypocrites, out in the cold... shivering ... teeth chattering. “
There's a TV program
called “Undercover Boss” in which company mangers disguise
themselves and go out among their workforce to discern what is really
going on. By doing so they gain an insight as to where the strengths
and weaknesses are in their companies. It can be a surprisingly
emotional program. Often the bosses are humbled to see the commitment
that some of their employees have to their company. Invariably, when
the boss realizes the potential some of the employees have, they are
promoted to higher levels of engagement within the company. The whole
premise of the program is, to use 'The Message's' words, the 'Master
showing up when they least expect it'. It is a feature of the program
that faithfulness and loyalty are rewarded.
Let's put that into the framework of
Matthew Chapter 24. We don't know when the Master is coming. We don't
know when the Kingdom of God will be revealed in all it's glory. We
cannot predict how God is going to answer our often spoken prayer
“Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven”.
But some things we
can know. Firstly that the Kingdom is coming. That there will come a
time when things will be as God intends. We can never know when that
will be. In a positive sense: “God only knows.”
Secondly, we can know that there is a
way that God has chosen to bring the Kingdom into being. The Kingdom
comes 'on earth as it is in heaven' when those whom God calls (or if
you want to use the term those God 'elects') to be God's servants,
are faithful in doing the things God calls them to do. What sort of
things? Well, we'll find out more of that in chapter 25! But for now
it is sufficient to remind ourselves that Jesus tells us that the
whole job description of being a disciple revolves around loving God
and loving others as much as God loves them.
That's the crazy thing about all this
future watching. Jesus encourages us to do it, but only so as we
understand that, as we can never get our heads around it, we better
just trust God to sort it all out and get on with the job of being
faithful to more immediate concerns God brings to our attention.
Chapter 24 is quite a journey! We start
out with a sight-seeing trip in old Jerusalem, are taken from there
into questions about the end of all things. In the midst of it all
Jesus appears to offer warnings about the temples immanent
destruction, (warnings that were tragically fulfilled in AD 70 when
Jerusalem was all but destroyed)... as well as floating visions about
a future that is out of this world.
We are warned not to speculate about
such things but rather be ready for action by trusting the Word and
doing what He asks us to do. And the chapter closes with harsh words
for any who feel they can live however they please and ignore the
signs of the times.
And next time....
more future-casted stories.
So... unless the
end of the world interrupts our calendar,
I hope to gather with you again in
the not so distant future!