Matthew: Understanding the End

Matthew 24:1-51

“The approaching birth of a baby is a time of great hope and new possibility, and also, especially before modern medicine, a time of great danger and anxiety.” NT Wright

“This little introduction also teaches the church not to be taken up with anything else impressive on earth except God in his Christ. Temples do not last—nor do places, institutions, attitudes, beliefs, or acts over which Jesus has pronounced judgment. When unwisely idolized realities come crashing down, so will our hopes and dreams.” - Dale Bruner

Matthew Henry - “Neither miracles nor multitudes are certain signs of a true church”

Ps 27:1-3

“All nine of these preliminary events in fact occurred before AD 70 though most if not all have recurred many times since then as well.” - Craig Blomberg

“speculation surrounding what Jesus must have meant by “desolating sacrilege” is endless.” Stanley Hauerwas

Luke 21:21

“After entering the city, Titus placed his army’s standards at the temple’s eastern gate and offered sacrifices to the Empire, defiling what was left of the Holy City — the “corpse” of verse 28. The Greek word the esv translates as “vultures” here is the plural form of aetos, which was also used of eagles. Notably, the Roman standard, a long pole that bore a legion’s insignia into battle, was always topped with the figure of an eagle, the symbol of the empire. Given this context, “eagles” is probably a better translation than “vultures” in verse 28; thus, Jesus’ reference to eagles gathering at the corpse naturally foresees the eagle-topped standards of Titus standing amidst Jerusalem’s ruins.” RC Sproul

As with the “abomination that causes desolation” in v. 15, seeing Jesus’ reference to the great tribulation as beginning in a.d. 70 does not exclude a later application of this expression to the period of time described in Rev 7–19—the final stages of this entire inter-advent period. Revelation 7:14 seems to suggest precisely such an intensification of horrors immediately preceding the end of the age. - Craig Blomberg

Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it that He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when. But we can guess why He is delaying. He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have though much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. God will invade. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realize what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: but what is the good of saying you are on His side then, when you see the whole natural universe melting away like a dream and something else -something it never entered your head to conceive- comes crashing in; something so beautiful to some of us and so terrible to others that none of us will have any choice left? For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature. It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: it will be the time when we discover which side we really have chosen, whether we realized it before or not. Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance. It will not last forever. We must take it or leave it.” - CS Lewis

“Maryland forests and St. John’s Apocalypse show me over and over again that when I am bored it is no fault of creation or covenant. Familiarty dulls my perceptions. Hurry scatters my attention. Ambition fogs my intelligence. Selfishness restricts my range. Anxiety robs me of appetite. Envy distracts me from what is good and blessed right before me. And then Monday’s unhurried pace and St. John’s apocalyptic vision bring me to my senses, body and soul. This power to wake us up is the most obvious use of the Revelation. It is also very often overlooked. Sometimes the obvious is the hardest thing of all to see.” - Eugene Peterson