Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Matthew 24,1-2.15-28. The 3rd Last Sunday in the Church Year

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Matthew 24,[1-2]15-28 5413

Drittletzer Sonntag des Kirchenjahres nach Trinitatis 070 (Trinity 25)

Florentia, Martyr 354

10. November 2013

1. Stir up, we beseech Thee, O Lord, the wills of Thy faithful people; so that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of Thee be plenteously rewarded. Amen.

2. Jesus left the temple and was going away, when His disciples came to point out to Him the buildings of the temple. But He answered them: „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. So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. Then if anyone says to you: ‘Behold, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you: ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say: ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the arrival of the Son of Man. Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather“ (Matthew 24,1-2.15-28)

3. 10, 9, 8, 7 ... you may have heard this countdown if you have ever watched a televised rocket or shuttle launch from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Today is the 3. Last Sunday in the Church Year (also known as the 25. Sunday after Trinity), and it is the countdown to the end.

4. In Matthew 24, the end of Jesus’ ministry was drawing to a close. He was in Jerusalem and Holy Week was in full swing. The cross and the empty tomb were nigh; Jesus would soon inaugurate the last days. The apostles, however, were admiring the wonders of the city and its crowning jewel: the temple. Jesus dashed their hopes for glory: these buildings and this marvelous temple will be demolished so that only individual stones remain in a pile of rubble. This is nothing short of saying that the old covenant will be coming to an end. No temple means no sacrifices; no sacrifices means no forgiveness being given out. It is the end.

5. Jesus used the historical example of Antiochus Epiphanes IV who in 168 B.C. entered Jerusalem and offered up a desolating sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering (1. Maccabees 1,54). Antiochus had also placed a statue of Zeus in the most holy place of the temple, thereby turning Yahweh’s temple into a temple of idolatry. Jesus explained to His apostles that just as Antiochus desecrated the temple, when the apostles see another abomination which causes desolation standing in the temple they should flee from the area. Jesus’ warning came to pass a few decades later when in A.D. 70 General Titus lead his legions into Jerusalem, crushed the Jewish rebellion against Emperor Vespatian, planted the Imperial eagle standard on holy ground and destroyed the city and the temple.

6. Well-meaning, but false, messengers cried out: God will save us! Behold, the Christ is on His way to drive the Roman pagans out of holy Jerusalem! The Christians, however, heeded Jesus’ warning from Matthew 24. When the Jews revolted, the Christians fled Judea and Jerusalem because they knew Jesus was not returning to save the city. Failure to heed Jesus’ words leads to destruction, but faithfulness to Jesus’ words leads to salvation.

7. In A.D. 30 Jesus entered Jerusalem as the Christ and the Son of Man. The Jewish authorities summarily rejected Him. The chief priests, the elders, the scribes and the Pharisees colluded together to accuse Jesus of blasphemy and handed Him over to Pontius Pilate for judgment and execution as a seditionist against Roman authority. Yahweh had arrived in their midst in human flesh. He fulfilled His promise to redeem His holy and chosen people, but the Jewish leaders chose a false god and idol over the God of their covenant. The Jewish leaders preferred the wine in the old wineskins rather than the wine in the new wineskins that Jesus offered. »No one puts new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled, and the skins will be destroyed. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one after drinking old wine desires new, for he says: ”The old is good.“« (Luke 5,37-39). Thus the Jewish leaders preferred the old covenant rather than the new covenant.

8. The old covenant was tied to the animal sacrifices and located at the temple in Jerusalem. With the temple gone and the city razed, the old covenant and its sacrifices for sin came to an end. The temple has never been rebuilt and the animal sacrifices have ceased. The old covenant has come to an end, the new covenant is now in effect and this was God’s will. The wine is now given in new wineskins. Jesus is the new covenant and the new wineskins. His vicarious sacrifice on the cross is the one sacrifice that redeems all the world back unto God the Father. The effects of this one sacrifice are given out though the means of grace. Where the Word is preached and the Sacraments administered, there the grace and forgiveness of God though Jesus Christ are given and received.

9. We live in world that is enthralled with the future. Christians and even entire denominations stake their claim on predicting when Jesus will return, perhaps such predictions occupy your thoughts. Since Jesus ascended to heaven, over 240 predictions of when He will return have been prognosticated. (That’s an average of one new prediction every 8.2625 years!) Christians often look for and desire for Jesus to return at an event of great tragedy. There have been numerous world-changing events that seemed like the end of the world as we knew it, but Jesus has not returned during any of those tragic historical events. Jesus Himself tells us: »Then if anyone says to you: ‘Behold, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it.«

10. Jesus’ return is delayed. The Apostle Peter explains why in his epistle: »The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but He is patient toward us, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance« (2. Peter 3,9). Our Lord’s delay in His second advent is so more people will have the opportunity to hear the gospel and believe in Him. We should not worry ourselves with when Jesus will return, but instead we should concern ourselves with ensuring that the gospel can continue to be preached from this corner for many years to come. The gospel that Christ redeemed the world with His death and then promises eternal resurrected life in His presence is the proclamation that comforts troubled consciences. Christ is here when two or three Christians gather in His Name. Christ is there when His Word is preached.

11. You won’t miss our Lord’s return. It will be a surprise, like when a thief breaks into a house (2. Peter 3,10), but it will also be visible around the world. There will be no doubt that He has returned, for the heavens will light up with brilliance to gloriously usher in His return.

12. We long for the return of Christ Jesus, for we are wearied and burdened by false christs who promise salvation, by false prophets who offer false hope and law burdens disguised as gospel, by those who wear us down with their incessant dating of Christ’s return, by those who persecute our Christian brothers and sisters around the world, by those who ridicule and defame Christians in our society and by the cares and duties of this fallen world that weigh us down as if a millstone were hung around our necks. The pure gospel of the crucified and risen Christ soothes burdened consciences. Every generation sees its share of tribulations that threaten to overwhelm the Church. The gospel brings us blessed assurance (seligste Versicherung): Fear not, dear Christians, fear not, for we are saved by Christ alone (solus Christus) and no one and nothing can snatch us out of Christ’s redeeming hands: not our sins, not false teachers, not the tribulations of the world and not even the devil himself. We are free; we are forgiven; we belong to Jesus. His vicarious and substitutionary death solves our real, deadly problem: (which is our) sin. There is now full and complete peace between God the Father and us. We are righteous and justified on account of Christ’s merits which have now been credited to us. This is the doctrine of justification that Christ Jesus established for you and your salvation. Let the world and the devil press against us with tribulations, doubts and despair! We have Christ, and He has rescued us from the fallen world and the hordes of devils that surround us. Christ is our Victor and Deliverer. Amen.

13. Let us pray. We give thanks to You, O Lord Jesus Christ, we give thanks, for Your Name is near, and where Your Name is, there is the precious gospel that promises that we are justified and conquerors through Your merits. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Monday, November 11, 2013

Matthew 24,1-2.15-28. The 3rd Last Sunday in the Church Year

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