Matthew: What will happen? (24:1-31)

This sermon was preached to Grace Church Guildford on 13 October 2024. The audio recording of the sermon can be found below along with the transcript.

I wonder what the most impressive building you’ve ever seen is? Maybe you’ve been to Egypt to look at the pyramids in person. Or perhaps you’ve been to America, and gazed at the Statue of Liberty. Of course, you don’t have to go far to see such structures. London is full of them. For example, when I stand on the steps of St. Pauls, I am still taken aback by its scope and scale of. Perhaps you feel the same when you look at Parliament or Buckingham Palace. Some buildings are so grand, some structures so large, they can take our breath away.

And you know, that was certainly true of the Jerusalem temple in the first century. It was a magnificent building. It rose high into the sky, sat up on the highest hill in the region, and it was the centre of a temple complex stretching out and engulfing 1/6 of the entire city. Even compared to other great buildings of the time, like the Colosseum or Parthenon, the temple was a sight to behold. And yet, for a Jew, it was even more than that. It was not just a great structure, it was also a great symbol. It was the centrepiece of the Jewish religion, the beating heart of the Jewish nation.

Which is why, what Jesus does here to the temple in Matthew, is so shocking. Before the summer, we looked at chapters 21-23 together. We saw that Jesus, the King, finally arrives in the capital, the promised Messiah appears, and he goes straight to the temple. And yet, rather than receive him, the Jewish leaders reject him. Their king has come, but they don’t want him. And so, in Matthew 23, Jesus stands in that great temple, and pronounces woe after woe, curse after curse, on the nation. At the end of Matthew 23, he predicts that their house, that great temple, will be left desolate, until he returns again in the future to be received as king. And in 24:1, having declared its destruction, he walks out of its massive and majestic courts, with his twelve disciples following after him.

Now as is often the case, the disciples seem to have missed the significance of all that he has said. For Matthew tells us that as they are walking out of the temple, Jesus catches them still marvelling over its magnificence. And so, he again explains in 24:2: [READ]. Jesus is clear: the temple will be destroyed, its great walls left in ruins. And in 24:3, as he sits down on the Mount of Olives, just outside the temple, on the edge of the city, the disciples begin to ask him to tell them about this. In 24:3, we read: [READ]. Those two questions lead Jesus to begin teaching his disciples all about the future for the rest of chapters 24-25. It is Jesus’ fifth and final great sermon in Matthew, and it is often called the Olivet Discourse, as it was given as he sat on the Mount of Olives that day.

I’ve said the sermon starts with two questions, but it really goes on to answer five questions, Jesus tells us five great things we need to know about the future. In Matthew 24, Jesus answers the two questions the disciples ask. What will happen? When will it happen? However, in Matthew 25, he also addresses 3 other questions: Who will be ready? How should we live in the meantime? Where will you go at the end? [...]

What will happen? What does Jesus mean the temple will be destroyed, and he will come at the end of the age? That is the question Jesus answers first, and we see tonight he answers it in two parts. First, in 23:4-14, he gives us a general overview of what will happen in this period before the end, telling us there will be both persecution and proclamation. And then in 24:15-31, Jesus zooms in, focuses on the last part of this present period, the bit just before the end, and says there will be a final time of tribulation and triumph. What will happen? (1) Persecution and Proclamation (24:4-14); (2) Tribulation and Triumph (24:15-31).

1.     OUR PRESENT: PERSECUTION AND PROCLAMATION (24:4-14)

You can see I calling this our present, because while it was in the future for the disciples that day, as they sat on the Mount of Olives, it is the present period we all live in today. In 24:4-14, Jesus describes the time between his 1st and 2nd coming, tells us all that happens before the end will come in 24:14.

The events he lists reads much like a news broadcast of what happens around the world today. In 24:4-5, he warns of religious deception, false teachers and religions causing us to go astray. In 24:6, he predicts that many wars and rumours of wars will break out across the world, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And what is more, in 24:7, he tells us even the earth itself will be affected, as earthquakes and famines occur across our planet.

And is this not what we see around us today? Jesus warns us that false teachers will deceive many. And is that not what we see? The largest church on earth today, the Roman Catholic Church, is a false church, an organisation that claims the name of Christ but denies the Gospel of Christ, deceives and draws many away from the true faith. And Jesus told us to expect that. He also warns us that we will hear of wars and rumour of wars, and is that not all over our news headlines today, whether it is here in Ukraine in Europe, or the escalating conflict in the Middle East. And we have all had a very recent reminder of the current chaos of creation, with Hurricane Milton causing destruction throughout the southern United States. Brothers and sisters, Jesus told us that it would be like this, that deception, destruction, disasters would all come.

Sometimes when such things happen, it feels like the world is ending. I am sure that is how the citizens of Beirut, the occupants of Florida, feel right now. And yet, Jesus says here that while such things may make us feel like it is the end of the world, it is really just the reality of this world. In 24:6, he says, “see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.” As he puts in in 24:8, these are but the beginning of birth pains, the early stages of labour. This is just the way that the world is between Christ’s first and second coming. And so Christian, we should not be surprised when we hear of such things on the news, or even experience them in our own lives. For this how Jesus said the world would be! He told us to expect these troubles during this time!

Rather than signalling the end of the world, we see such things are only the start of our suffering. For in 24:9, Jesus goes on to speak of how troubles in this world will increase. From 24:9, he tells us Christians will face persecution, be hated and put to death, for the sake of his name. And again, you don’t have to look far to see this, for Christianity is still the most persecuted religion around the world today. You know, sometimes we can assume that persecution was worst in the early years of the church, but has got better as time went on. And yet, the opposite is actually true. Indeed, more Christians died for their faith in the 20th century, than in all the previous 19 centuries combined. [...] And they are still dying. The organisation Open Doors recorded 5,000 Christians martyrs last year, that is 5,000 people were put to death in 2023 because they bore the name of Christ. And, of course, many more suffer other forms of persecution too. Indeed, Open Doors observes that 1 in 7 Christians around the world today suffer severe persecution due to their faith (imprisoned, lose legal rights, face penalties, harassed, beaten). Christian, if you sometimes feel like you don’t hear much about Christians being persecuted today, then maybe you aren’t listening closely enough to the voices of your brothers and sisters who are suffering. Why not sign up for updates from organisations like Open Doors or the Voice of the Martyrs, so you can hear what is happening?

You don’t have to go far in our world today to hear of Christians suffering, being persecuted for their faith. And yet, you also don’t have to go back very far in our own history to find the same thing here in the UK. And you know one of the fascinating things about the persecution that has taken place here in England especially, is it has primarily been between Christians. One professing Christian persecuting another professing Christian. Historically, the greatest persecutor of the church here in England, has been the church here in England. During the Reformation, the Church of England was often used by successive monarchs as a weapon against the true preaching of the Bible and practice of the Christian faith. And this continued long after the Reformation too. For hundreds of years, those who worshipped outside the Church of England, like us Baptists here at Grace Church, were not permitted to vote, were not allowed to hold political office, were not allowed to go to university. At times such non-conformists, like Baptists, weren’t even allowed to gather for worship or preach from the Bible. Indeed, John Bunyan, the great Baptist preacher was imprisoned for 12 years in the 17th century for doing what we are doing this evening: getting together with other Christians and preaching from the Bible. And his persecutors were not ungodly pagans, but other professing Christians, ministers of the Church of England, who opposed his preaching of the Gospel, did not want what we are doing here tonight to spread across the country. Historically, the greatest persecutor of Christians in England, has been other professing Christians. And here in Matthew 24, we see Jesus told us it might be so, for in 24:10 he says that many of his followers would be deceived, and end up betraying and hating one another. That Christian will turn on Christian, one brother betray another, just as Judas will soon betray Jesus with a kiss.

Brothers and sisters, what Jesus tells us here in chapter 24 helps us make sense of our past, as well as our present. It warns us that we will not just be persecuted by the world, but we may even be opposed by others who call themselves the church. Perhaps you have found yourself unsettled, alarmed, at recent events in the Church of England, as it increasingly embraces false views on sexuality, begins to call sacred that which God calls an abomination. Maybe your heart is heavy when you think of evangelical brothers and sisters within the Anglican communion, who now find themselves under increased pressure. Friend, if so, see here that Jesus told us to expect such things. Do not be alarmed! He told us that God’s people would not only be opposed by the world, but would also be persecuted by wolves in sheep’s clothing. Friend, as Dave reminded us this morning, God’s people have been here before. Indeed, this is what the world was always going to be like, between the first and second coming of Christ.

Jesus tells us what we can expect in the present. He tells us that it will be a time of trouble. A period of persecution. And yet, he also tells us there is one other thing that will happen during this same period as well. In 24:14, we read that as well as being a period of persecution, this will also a period of proclamation. We saw that in Acts 18 this morning too, where the persecution of Aquila and Priscilla, as well as Paul, only led to more and more proclamation. And Jesus says the exact same here. Yes, this is a day when the church will suffer, but it will also be a day when the Gospel will spread. In 24:14, we read: [READ].

Earlier we heard some statistics of the numbers of brothers and sisters who are being persecuted around the world today. And yet, there is always a danger when we look at such figures that in realising the harsh reality of persecution today, that we miss the obvious and wonderful encouragement that such statistics show us. For example, yes, it is still illegal to convert to Christianity in Nepal, and believers living there today can be beaten and harassed. But do you know how many Christians were being persecuted like that 75 years ago? None. No Christians were being persecuted there 75 years ago, because there were no Christians in Nepal 75 years ago. Similarly, do you know how many Christians there were in China 75 years ago? There were 1 million. And do you know how many professing Christians there are in China today, after many decades of persecution and suffering? 100 million. Yes, ours is a day when the church will suffer, but it is also a day when the Gospel will spread! The next time you hear of believers being imprisoned in North Korea, or being put to death by militants in Nigeria, yes, pray for them. And yet don’t also forget to praise God for them. Give thanks that there are brothers and sisters in such places, that during this time of the church suffering, we are also witnessing the Gospel spread. That as we endure, we will also expand. And the good news of Jesus Christ will go to all the ends of the earth, right up to the end of the age.

2.     OUR FUTURE: TRIBULATION AND TRIUMPH (24:15-31)

Until 24:14, Jesus’ sermon is fairly straightforward. However, from 24:15 it gets much more difficult to interpret. Indeed, this next section has led to the Olivet Discourse getting the reputation for being a complex Bible passage. The main difficulty is from Jesus’ reference to an “abomination of desolation” in 24:15, where we read: [READ]. It is somewhat ironic that while Matthew, and perhaps even Jesus, clearly meant readers to understand something from that reference, for 2000 years now readers haven’t really been that sure what they should understand!

The reference is to a few places in the OT book of Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11), where we read that one day someone would come into the holy place, enter the temple, to desecrate it. And it is largely agreed that what Daniel predicted took place about 200 years before the time of Jesus, when Greek armies retook Jerusalem after a Jewish revolt, and their leader, Antiochus Epiphanies punished Israel by entering their temple, offering a pig on its altar, and setting a shrine to Zeus in its holy place, which would all have been an abomination, a desecration for the Jews. And so, when Jesus references this abomination here in 24:15, that is what his disciples would think of, that moment when the temple was previously desecrated in history by Antiochus Epiphanies.

And yet, here in Matthew 24, Jesus also suggests there will be a second fulfilment of this prophecy in the future. For he speaks of it in 24:15 as something that is still to happen, and from 24:16, he gives his followers instructions about what to do when it happens. He says that those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, that is head north towards the safety of Galilee. They are not to go back for their coats or take anything with them, but are to literally run for their lives. And so, it seems Jesus expects a similar event, a repeat of what has already happened once to reoccur again in the future. And it would seem that it did, for in AD 70, it was the turn of the Roman armies to arrive in Jerusalem, to put down a significant Jewish revolt, and like the Greeks before them, they also desecrate the temple, even tearing it down so that not a stone is left standing, just as Jesus promised at the beginning of our chapter.

This great temple that the disciples were so impressed by on that day, was taken apart brick by brick, resulting in the circumstances that we find in Jerusalem today, where there is no temple, for it was desolated 2000 years ago, just like Jesus promised. And just like Jesus says here, that event was a moment of great distress, untold tribulation and suffering, far worse than even what occurred through Antiochus Epiphanies. In A.D. 70, the Romans killed over 1 million Jews in putting down the rebellion, the whole city of Jerusalem was put to the sword, and the Jewish people scattered to the four corners of the world, and tradition tells us that the only reason that Christians in Jerusalem survived was that many heeded these words of Jesus, fleeing north just as he told them to do.

This time of great tribulation, of unparalleled suffering, of the abomination of desolation, occurred through the Greeks around 170BC, occurred again with the Romans in AD70, and I think the best way to understand what Jesus is saying here is that it will also reoccur again in the future, just before the end. Now, there are many faithful scholars, professors, pastors who don’t think that. Who think Jesus is just talking here about what takes place in AD70, that it is just an example of the sort of suffering and tribulation we heard about earlier.

However, I think there are three reasons to read it as more than that. First, we already see by the time of Jesus that a pattern is emerging. For the prophecy of an abomination of desolation in Daniel was first fulfilled 200 years beforehand. And yet, Jesus seems to say that it was more than a single event, but that Daniel sets a pattern of prophetic fulfilment, as is true for some other OT prophecies. Second, we see that this is exactly how both Paul and John will later interpret this prophecy. In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul will interpret it as telling us that a man of sin, an anti-Christ, will come. Similarly, John in Revelation 13, speaks of a man he calls the beast. And they say that he will also desecrate the temple (this time as the church, the new temple of God) right before the end of time. And thirdly, and most importantly, not only does Daniel, Paul and John suggest this, but I think that Jesus himself suggests this further down the passage. For while he starts by speaking narrowly of the tribulation on Jerusalem in AD70, by 24:22, he begins to broaden this tribulation out and declares that except for the Lord shortening this suffering, no human would survive, and the elect, the whole church, would be lost. And most persuasively, in 24:29, he explicitly states that immediately after the distress of those days, that Christ will come.

Now as I have said, you can read it differently. And given that passage contains so many warnings about being deceived about this topic of the end times, all of us need to hold views in this area loosely. And yet, I think the best way to understand the passage is that while we get a glimpse of this abomination of desolation, this time of great tribulation, though the Greeks and the Romans, the final reality is yet to arrive. And when it does arrive, it will be truly terrible, a period of unparalleled persecution. Friends, Jesus is telling us here that the worst is yet to come. To continue his illustration from 24:8, just as at birth, labour contractions get stronger and stronger, these cycles of suffering will also get worse and worse and worse, until there is one last time of great tribulation, and then the end will come.

Jesus says that in the future, there will be a final time of tribulation. That that suffering will be great, and yet it will also be short. For as we heard from Dave this morning, even in the worst persecution, when the final false Christ arrives, we will still be between the paws of the true Aslan. For Jesus says in 24:22, our sovereign God will have mercy on his suffering people, shorten this time of tribulation, and bring history to its final triumphant end. Christ himself will return in great glory, and gather us together. As we read from 24:29: [READ].

CONCLUSION

It is this return that we will be thinking much more about over the next 4 weeks. However, as we close this evening, I want you to imagine how this must have sounded to the disciples that day, as they sat on the Mount of Olives, listening to Jesus say these things. Against the backdrop of the marvel and magnificence of the Jewish temple, it must have sounded strange to hear him declare its desolation and destruction. It must have seemed stranger still a few days later, when in Matthew 26, he is charged with blasphemy for speaking against the temple, saying that he would destroy it. Rather than seeing Jesus lifted on the clouds in great glory, they find him lifted up on the cross in agony and shame.

And yet, as the Bible goes on to explain, in that moment, when Jesus himself becomes an abomination, is cursed by God, faces desolation, it is for our sin. It is so that there might be a Gospel to proclaim to all the nations of the world, that there might be a people to gather from the four corners of the world! Oh yes, in the first century, the temple in Jerusalem was one of the marvels of the world, it was a sight to behold. And yet, here in Matthew 24, we see that out of the ruins of the old temple Jesus will build himself a new temple, a new dwelling place for God, made up of living stones from every tribe and tongue, a temple that will be not just a wonder for a few eyes to see in the first century, but will be a wonder that every eye will see on that last day, when he comes in glory. For here sits here teaching on the Mount of Olives, Jesus promises that after this present period of persecution and proclamation, after that final time of tribulation, he will return to earth again. Indeed, Zechariah 14 tells us he will return to this very same spot. That he will stand on the Mount of Olives, the very place he sat speaking of these things that day to his disciples, and that that is when the end will finally come.

I wonder where you will be on that day. […] On that day, the world will mourn, but the church will rejoice. For it is only those who keep going, pursuing, keep following Jesus, that can expect to be saved on that last day. If we turn away from Jesus now, whether due to suffering or sin, then we can have no expectation he will save us then.