Matthew 24:1-24
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “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.”
3 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?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 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. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 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.
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ w spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. [1]
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Jesus speaks of the hard times to come, speaking of both the fall of Jerusalem and the signs of His reappearance in glory, the one as preview of the other. And at the same time warning of many of the hardships of the time between the two, the time in which we are living.
The part that struck me today was verse 10: “At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other.” Such a sad and tragic picture of the people of God. Instead of standing “firm to the end,” as Jesus calls for in verse 13, people of God will fall away and turn on each other. It is important to note that their falling away from the faith is displayed in their lives in the way they treat each other.
Faithfulness to God is not just about the vertical, our relationship with our Savior. It is also always about the horizontal, our relationships with others. This is why most of the Ten Commandments are about loving our neighbors. This is why when Jesus was asked which is the greatest commandment, He couldn’t name just one, but had to mention two: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Why is this so important to Jesus? It is important to keep in mind that saving us is not just about forgiving us in order to snatch us away from the fire of judgement. His goal is to restore us to the original image, to transform us into His likeness. In other words, to renew us so that our character becomes more and more a picture of His own. That’s why John writes “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen (1 John 4:20-21).”
How is my faithfulness to God being displayed in my treatment of others? Are my relationships with others a picture of the relationship that I have with the Savior? Am I seeking live the cross-shaped love of Jesus in all my relationships?
Lord Jesus, shape my heart to be more and more like Yours. Let Your saving love for me transform me more and more into Your image, so that Your love may flow through me into the lives of others, as I love them in Your name.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Mt 24:1–25). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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