Matthew 24:15-28; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; Exodus 32:1-20
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Matthew chapter 24 is part of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse, His fifth, final, and most extensive discourse in The Gospel According to St. Matthew. Jesus’ topic is the End Times and being prepared for Christ’s Second Advent which will come on a day and hour that no one will know. Jesus had spoken to the Pharisees concerning judgment in chapter 23 issuing seven “Woes” upon the scribes and the Pharisees. At the beginning of chapter 24 Jesus and His disciples are leaving the temple and Jerusalem heading down across the Kidron Valley and up the slopes of Mount Olivet (the Mount of Olives), likely to the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus often rested, prayed, and taught His disciples more intimately. Looking back upon the temple from Olivet the disciples began to point out the majesty of the temple and the city. Jesus answered them saying, “You see all these, do you not? Truly, I say to you, there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” This prophecy was literally fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. The temple was burned. The gold in the temple melted in the fire and ran down into the cracks between the stones. As people later searched for the gold, they toppled every stone from its place. This destruction of Jerusalem was but a foreshadowing of what is yet to come.
Jesus’ prophecy of doom got the disciples curious, and probably more than a little concerned. When they were alone with Jesus on the Mount of Olives, they asked Him, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” Jesus answered them with the rest of Matthew chapter 24 and 25 which has come to be known as the Olivet Discourse. Jesus warns His disciple of false Christs and false prophets, false teachers claiming to tell the truth in order to lead the faithful astray. He also speaks of tribulation, wars, famines, earthquakes, and persecution. Jesus warns, “See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. […] All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Again, pretty much all of this was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem. And yet, some of it is true of every generation and is even now being fulfilled. And then there are a few things that are yet to be fulfilled which will come to pass in the days immediately preceding the Lord’s Second Advent. Regardless of the time, the advice is the same, “Stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.” “You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
The Kingdom of God is coming, but not with signs to be observed. You must use your ears and not your eyes, for God’s Kingdom in this world is one of faith, and faith comes by hearing the Word of Christ. But men demand signs, not faith. They want to walk not by faith but by sight. After their Exodus out of Egypt, when Moses was delayed on the mountain holding discourse with God, the people demanded a visible image and made a golden calf, a god unto themselves. So, the people of Jesus’ times were looking for God’s Kingdom to come in power and glory as sinful men count such things. They could not accept a royal city in ruins and a king crowned with thorns reigning from a Roman cross. They rejected God’s Word which prophesied and promised such things and were left in dismay, open to any other explanation than the truth. Upon such faithless and false worshippers God’s judgment comes. Only on the Last Day will our faith be turned to sight.
Which brings us to today’s Gospel pericope Matthew 24:15-28. Jesus begins by saying, “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), …”. This enigmatic saying raises a couple of obvious questions at once: Who or what is the “abomination of desolation”, and what is “the holy place”? Let us begin with the latter question, what is “the holy place”? Well, this really isn’t all that difficult to decipher, the holy place in the minds of most first century Jews would be the Temple, and particularly the space within known as “The Holy Place”. Jesus references an event that occurred long ago prophesied by Prophet Daniel when the Greek King Antiochus IV Epiphanes defiled the temple in B.C. 167 by sacrificing a pig upon its altar to the Greek god Zeus. This desecration of the temple was known as the “abomination of desolation” and served to ignite the Maccabean revolt amongst the Jews. As Jesus and the disciples had just left Jerusalem, and considering Jesus’ remarks concerning the temple, it seems clear that Jesus is prophesying of another such desecration of the temple. As I mentioned earlier that desecration did occur less than forty years later when Emperor Titus laid siege to Jerusalem for four years before leveling and burning the city, destroying its walls and the temple so that no stone was left standing upon another. The Jews were scattered, worship and sacrifices ceased, and there was despair and desolation continuing to this very day. This was the LORD’s judgment upon apostate Israel who played the whore with false gods, stoned and killed the Prophets the LORD sent to Her, and ultimately murdered the LORD’s Son believing the kingdom would be theirs.
The truth, however, was that there was nothing in the Holy Place within the temple. The Shekinah Glory of God was no longer there but had vacated the temple at least thirty-three years earlier when it took up residence within the womb of a young Jewish virgin named Mary. Jesus referred to His body as the temple saying, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” And throughout His ministry Jesus was fond of saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is near,” and “The Kingdom of Heaven is in your midst,” referring to his own bodily presence. While it may be an allegorical reading, it seems reasonable, faithful, and likely that the Abomination of Desolation of which Jesus refers is His own bodily crucifixion and death. Surely there is nothing more abominable than the murder of the Son of God. Surely there is nothing more desolating than our God dead upon the cross by our own hands, heart, will, and betrayal.
The Kingdom of God may not come with signs to be observed, but that does not mean that there are not signs that its coming is near. There are wars and rumors of war. There are false teachers who lead astray. There are earthquakes and famines, and natural disasters of all sorts. And there is the death of the Son of God, the abomination of abominations. Each day we are nearer to the day of His return than we were before. He is coming at a day and hour we cannot know, but He is coming. What should we be doing as we wait? What will we be found doing when He comes? The last three Sunday of the Church Year help us to answer these questions, and they prepare us for a similar, though different, meditation on the same in Advent. The simple answer is that we must read the signs with our ears and not with our eyes; that is, we must hearken to the Word of the Lord and gather together to hear it and receive the Sacraments until He comes.
The advice and counsel are simple enough: Don’t get distracted. Don’t take your eyes off the prize. Don’t let yourself be deceived. Though their logic might appeal to human reason, human reason is fallen, sinful, and corrupt; let the Word of the LORD be your light and guide. Do not cling to worldly possessions, wealth, reputation, or anything that will not last. You can’t take it with you. But one thing is needful and that is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of the LORD points to Jesus, reveals Jesus, is about Jesus, and is fulfilled in Jesus; it will not steer you wrong. Gather with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Receive Jesus’ gifts with them. Pray for each other. Support each other. Be strengthened by each other.
The Kingdom of God may not come with signs to be observed, but it will be no secret when the Son of God returns. For “the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.” Then every eye will see Him, every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue will confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord,” and God the Father will be glorified. “As the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” It will be like when you see vultures circling high above an area of ground, field, or forest, you know there is a corpse there of dead beast. Likewise, when you see these things happening you know that the end is near. “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.”
And so, we gather here, where the resurrected and glorified body and blood of Jesus are present for us to eat and drink, where God’s Word is proclaimed in its truth and purity and the Sacraments are administered in accordance, where the flock and family of our Lord comfort each other with these words.
In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.
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