WATCH OUT

WATCH OUT

Matthew 24:1-8 NET.

¹ Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts and walking away, his disciples came to show him the temple buildings. ² And he said to them, “Do you see all these things? I tell you the truth, not one stone will be left on another. All will be torn down!” ³ As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, his disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” ⁴ Jesus answered them, “Watch out that no one misleads you. ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many. ⁶ You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Make sure that you are not alarmed, for this must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁷ For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. ⁸ All these things are the beginning of birth pains.

We are nearing the end of our study of Christ’s commands in the gospels, but there is still a long way to go. For the next few months, we’ll focus on chapters 24 and 25 of Matthew’s gospel. This is called the eschatological discourse, which has also been called the Olivet discourse. It’s called that because it takes place on the Mount of Olives.

Two other gospels record the eschatological discourse besides Matthew. So, we could find similar passages in Mark chapter 13 and Luke chapter 21. But for our purposes, we will stay in Matthew 24 and 25.

Eschatology means the study of the last things. It will not be surprising to find many eschatological instructions in these chapters. But we also need to be careful not to brand these passages as having only to do with eschatology. The instruction came in a historical context. So, we must first look at the context to understand what Jesus is saying.

First, let’s look at the context (1-2).

Jesus had been teaching in the temple courts in Jerusalem. He had been warning the crowds and his disciples about the hypocrisy of the religious leaders in Jerusalem. He had just pronounced woes upon these religious leaders. He was pronouncing judgment against them. And verse one of today’s text tells us that Jesus has finished this, and he is now going out of the temple courts. He is walking away from the temple structure. His disciples joined him. As they walk away with him, they point out that elaborate temple buildings surround them. The temple buildings were intricate and ornate structures. People in those days described the temple area as a majestic mountain. You could not be in the temple area without feeling a sense of awe. The disciples were overwhelmed with this sense of respect for this mighty place.

But Jesus challenges this feeling of respect with a little dose of prophecy. He tells the disciples that this entire temple complex will be destroyed. He says not one stone will be left on another — all will be torn down. You can imagine the sense of despair and the feeling going through the mind of the disciples at this moment. On the one hand, they have learned to trust what their master says. But on the other hand, they can’t imagine a situation in which the temple buildings would be destroyed. How could God allow such a thing? But then they also realize that Jesus had just condemned the religious leaders. Jesus had violently overturned the money changers tables. Could God condemn the whole temple complex as well?

Next, let’s look at the questions (3).

As they walk with Jesus to the Mount of Olives, the disciples think about what Jesus had said to them. Their minds are reeling with the implications of what he had said. The prediction that Jesus had made got them thinking eschatologically. They could not imagine a scenario in which the temple would be destroyed that did not involve the end of the world. This is a temptation for all of us. Every time a disaster occurs, we think this is undoubtedly the end. Whenever something challenges our sense of stability, we believe the world can’t last much longer.

But as disturbed as the disciples were, they were also very curious. So, they probably got together and thought about what questions they would ask Jesus. When they gathered and determined what questions to ask, one approached Jesus. Matthew records that they asked Jesus 3 questions. First of all, they asked him when these things would happen. “These things” refer to what Jesus said in verse 2. He was predicting the destruction of the Jerusalem temple. They wanted to know when that was going to happen.

But they were also concerned that Jesus had been describing the world’s end. They believed that Jesus was going to come back to this earth triumphantly. So perhaps they thought that Jesus when he came back, was going to cause this destruction of the temple. So, the second question they ask him is what will be the sign of his coming. Much of eschatology revolves around that question. People want to know when Jesus is going to come back. In the eschatological discourse, Jesus answers that question. It may not be the answer people seek, but it is still the answer.

The third question the disciples asked that day was what would be the sign of the end of the age. Now, the disciples thought that all these things were going to happen at the same time. They believed that Jesus was going to return and destroy the temple and that the end of the age would occur at that time. So, they asked all three questions together. But Jesus knew that the temple’s destruction would not happen at the end of the age. He would explain in the eschatological discourse that the temple would be destroyed within one generation. That’s 40 years. If you add 40 years to 30 A.D., you come up with 70 A. D. Historically, we know that the temple was destroyed in 70 A. D. The Romans attacked and destroyed Jerusalem at that time.

But Jesus knew that history would last much longer than those 40 years. He knew his coming, and the end of the age would be in the future. So, he needed to teach his disciples not to be misled over the issue of the future. That is why we see the particular command that Jesus gives.

Next, let’s look at the command (4).

Jesus tells his disciples to watch out that no one misleads them. He says the same thing to you and me. We are to watch out that no one misleads us regarding the issues of eschatology. We are living in an age where eschatology is very popular. There have been schools of thought developed to describe the last things. One of those schools could be described as idealism. An idealist takes all of the predictions of Jesus and turns them into spiritual realities. Another of the schools could be called futurism. Futurism is very popular in eschatological thinking today. The nature of futurism is to always see the fulfillment of eschatological teachings in the future. It is trendy to be a futurist but also very dangerous. If your fulfillment is always in the future, there’s no way of knowing if your predictions are correct. Another school of thought on the issue of eschatology is historicism. The historicist looks for fulfillment of prophecy in history. Most of the founders of this denomination were historicists. They saw so many fulfilled prophecies that they believed the Lord’s coming was imminent. Unfortunately, they believed his coming was to happen in 1843-1844. They were wrong.

As we look at the eschatological discourse over the next few months, we’ll find that some of the things Jesus predicted would happen soon. But other things that he predicted would not happen for a long time. Some stuff he predicted was going to happen many times. So, the command that Jesus gives in today’s passage is a word for all of us. He tells us all to watch out so that no one misleads us.

Finally, let’s look at predictions (5-8).

He told his disciples that there were going to be many false prophets and political and religious leaders seeking a following. They would tell people things would get better if they just believed them and followed them. Jesus’ warning is for the disciples not to be misled by those false prophets. When Jesus comes again, it will not be through another man or another movement. It is going to be in person!

Jesus also predicted a long period of international conflict and warfare. He said that there would be wars and times when we were in danger of war. He is describing the entire age in which we are living. It is an age in which we can hardly go an entire generation without being affected by warfare.

He also predicted a long period interspersed by natural disasters. During this age, there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. What do all three of these predictions have in common? Well, if we look at history and what it tells us, we see that there certainly have been many false messiahs. They come, and they go. They never last long, but they do a lot of damage when they’re here. We have also seen many wars. They come, and they go. They never last long, but they do a lot of damage when they’re here. You and I are still being affected by the consequences of wars that took place generations ago. The legacy of war is that it lasts much longer than expected. Long after the soldiers defeated in battle are buried, the effect of the war is felt for many generations. Likewise, we have seen many natural disasters. Famines and earthquakes are just examples. We can add to that fires, hurricanes, epidemics, and pandemics. They come, and they go. They never last long, but they do a lot of damage when they’re here.

Jesus said that all these things are the beginning of birth pains. The keyword is the word beginning. It stands in contrast with the word end. The disciples had asked when the end of the age would come. Jesus could have answered that question with a date. He could have said the age would end on May 12th, 2024. But he was not interested in giving us a date that we could put on a calendar. He was more interested in preparing us for what we will face before the end.

There are two wrong ways to face an uncertain future. First, you can approach the future with too much confidence. You can be too optimistic. You can have so much confidence in your human ability to deal with whatever you might face that you don’t rely on God at all. Plenty of people in the world today are facing the future like that. They don’t know what is coming ahead, but they are confident that they will be able to handle it.

The second wrong way to face an uncertain future is to approach it with too much fear. These are the overly pessimistic people. They see every sign as a sign of doom. They are afraid to live because they fear what will happen next. They think the world’s best times are behind them. All that’s coming next is disaster after disaster—doom and gloom.

Our Lord has a command for both the extreme optimist and the extreme pessimist. His command for all of us is to watch out that no one misleads you. Human beings will not come up with the answer to the world’s problems. So don’t follow a false Christ or an Antichrist. Don’t trust in the arm of man. Trust in almighty God alone. But don’t be overcome by fear. Make sure that you are not alarmed. Things are going to get bad before they get better. But someone is coming who is going to make things better. Our best days are not behind us. Our glorious future awaits us. The revelation of the children of God is coming. The king is coming. And when he comes, he has the ability and the authority to undo all the evil that has ever happened including the evil that is happening now.

Our Lord has a command for the church as well. It is the same command. He tells us to watch out so that no one misleads us. Heresy and schism have plagued the church throughout this age. Jesus prayed that we be unified. But history tells us that we have been misled by many. We have divided and divided and divided again. We have been misled politically. We have fought those wars and spread those rumors of wars. We have been guilty of being overconfident in our abilities and righteousness. We have failed to reconcile with others and rushed to war with them. We have been misled psychologically. Every disaster we claim is an act of God and cringe in fear of his wrath. In the Bible, when God sends a plague, it allows people to repent. There is no reason to fear God if we turn to him. But often, we have let our fears push us away from God instead of toward him. We have been just as guilty of stubbornness as the pharaoh with his hard heart.

Jesus wants a church solidly grounded on the foundation of sacred scripture. He wants a church that keeps a sound watch on its doctrine. He wants a church that will not be led astray by false messiahs and false teachings. So, he tells us to watch out. He doesn’t ask us to watch closely what other churches are doing so that we can copy them. He tells us to watch out for deception. Where do we think that deception is going to come from?

Jesus wants a church that puts its faith and confidence in God, not itself. Our salvation will not come from a change in policy, a change in government, or a change in who we align ourselves with. Our salvation is coming from the sky and he is Jesus. If our confidence is not in him, it is a misplaced confidence. Jesus said that all these things that he predicted were the beginning of birth pains. They are not the end. They are not signs of the end. They are signs that we are living in the last days. Jesus wants us to live in these days with confidence solidly based on him. He wants us to be solidly focused on him. He wants us to be focused on obeying his commands. He wants us to be focused on spreading his gospel. He wants us to be compassionate to the lost. He wants us to persevere throughout this age of trial. We will experience these birth pains, but that only means that the birth is coming.

What is being born is a new universe. There is a new age coming.

When the king comes back, he brings with him that new universe. He will defeat and destroy all his enemies and establish his new kingdom. It will be an eternal and perpetual kingdom. We await his arrival.

Andy and Opie are sitting on a log. Opie says, “Pa, when is Jesus coming back?” Andy replies, “I don’t rightly know ‘Ope … Ya see, we’re not on the planning committee. We’re on the welcoming committee!”

Jesus smiles. He looks down and says, “Yes, I am coming soon!” We reply, “Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!”