Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Matthew 24,15-28. 3. Last Sunday in the Church Year

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The Word of the Lord Endures Forever

Verbum Domini Manet in Aeternum

Matthew 24,15-28 5519

Drittletzter Sonntag des Kirchenjahres (25. Trinitatis 070)

Florentia, Martyr 354

10. November 2019

1. O Christ Jesus, whose advent we long for; defend us from the false christs and false prophets who will arise and attempt to lead Your Church astray, so that we remain secure upon Your word of Scripture and weather the tempests of false doctrine. Amen. (Matthew 24,.27.24)

2. »Jesus left the temple and was going away, when His disciples went to point out to Him the buildings of the temple. ²But 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. ¹⁵So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), ¹⁶then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁷Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, ¹⁸and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. ¹⁹And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! ²⁰Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. ²¹For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. ²²And 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. ²³Then if anyone says to you: ‘Behold, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. ²⁴For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. ²⁵See, I have told you beforehand. ²⁶So, 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. ²⁷For as the lightning arrives from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the advent of the Son of Man. ²⁸Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.“«

3. In Matthew 24, we are in the final week of Jesus’ ministry, the famous Holy Week that all 4 Gospels devote much ink in telling us the specific activities, often one event per day, of Jesus’ final week in Jerusalem. The apostles were admiring the temple. As Jews, they are extremely proud of the structure, and rightly so. It was the center of their religion where the sacrifices for sin happened on a daily basis. They are also proud of the temple’s grandeur and beauty; King Herod the Great had undertaken a massive restoration of the temple decades earlier, and the work was still ongoing in Matthew 24. The apostles, like many Jews in the 1. century, were pining for the glory days of Israel under David and Solomon, when Israel was important, and had influence in Palestine. They hoped Jesus’ triumphant entry on Palm Sunday was the inauguration of this renewed Jewish glory. But Jesus dashed their hopes: this marvelous temple you admire will be demolished and no stone left on another. He says when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel standing in the holy place, then you know the time is near.

4. Jesus used the historical example of Antiochus Epiphanes IV who on 6. December 167 bc had entered Jerusalem and erected a desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering; his Greek army also built altars in the surrounding cities of Judah and burned incense at the doors of the houses and in the streets; they burned the Jewish Scriptures; finally, they offered sacrifice on the altar of burnt offering (1. Maccabees 1,54-56.59). The desolating sacrilege was an altar to Zeus that was built on top of the altar of burnt offering (Daniel 11,31; 2. Maccabees 6,2). 200 years later, this desecration of the temple still angered the Jews. Jesus also has in mind the other desolations that were fresher in the Jewish memory. Pilate ruled as prefect of Judea from ad 26-36, the 2. longest tenure of a Roman politician in 1. century Palestine. Pilate’s troops once marched into Jerusalem carrying medallions with the emperor’s image or bust among the regimental standards. This action provoked a 5 day mass demonstration by the Jews at the provincial capital, Caesarea, whereby they protested the effigies as a violation of Jewish law concerning engraved images (Exodus 20,4-5). Pilate ordered the offensive standards removed (Maier 148). Then just a few months before the events in Matthew 24, Pilate set up several golden shields in his Jerusalem headquarters that, unlike the standards, had no images whatsoever, only a bare inscription of dedication to Emperor Tiberius. And the Jews protested these imageless shields. Again, Pilate relented and transfered the shields to a Roman temple in Caesarea (Maier 149). These two instances were foreboding portents of a greater abomination on the horizon.

5. Jerusalem looked for their Messiah, but when He arrived they rejected Him and executed Him. This rejection of salvation had dire consequences, and set Jerusalem on an unrepentant path that ended with destruction and judgment. Luke tells us: »And when Jesus drew near and saw Jerusalem, He wept over it, saying: „Would that you had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will befall you, when your enemies will tear you down to the ground, because you did not know the time of your visitation“« (Luke 19,41-43a.44). Judgment Day arrive for Jerusalem on 8. September ad 70 when the Romans finally conquered and destroyed the city and the temple (30. August). The temple was destroyed on the same date, Tisha B’Av (9. Av): Solomon’s temple in 587 bc and the 2. (Herod’s) temple in ad 70. (The war lasted from ad 66-73. The calendar date is different each year because of the lunar calendar.)

6. The destruction of the temple is a grim reminder that rejection of God and His Christ has a price to pay. God is long-suffering in His judgment but His judgment does eventually fall upon the unrepentant. The world is storing up its punishment for rejecting Jesus and for persecuting His Christians. On that day, known only to God, another Judgment Day will befall all humanity.

7. As Christians we pray for God to be merciful and long-suffering in His judgment so people have time to repent of their unbelief and confess Jesus to be their Savior. We pray that the Holy Spirit would send forth the gospel throughout all the world so all people have opportunity to hear it. We humble ourselves, and draw near to God in repentance for our sins and desiring His forgiveness and absolution.

8. There will always be those Christians who sincerely believe they can predict, or glean from the Holy Scriptures, the date of Christ’s return to judge the world. 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 8.265 years. The last well-known date put forth for Christ return was 28. September 2015, the infamous blood moon prophecy, that televangelist John Hagee espoused with great fervor. 2015 has passed us by 4 years now and here we still are. Unfortunately, we are due soon for someone else to make a bold claim that they have calculated the right date this time for Christ’s return.

9. Jesus prepared us for such charlatans 2000 years ago. He tells us not to listen to such people. If anyone says to you: Look, here is the Christ! Look, there He is! Do not believe it. Even if they perform great signs and wonders, do not listen to them. They are false christs and false prophets; ignore them. Why? Jesus says: »For as the lightning flashes from east and shines as far as the west so will be the parousia of the Son of Man.« Christ’s return to judge the world will be seen by everyone; it will not be hidden but publicly revealed to all. There will be no mistake as to what is occurring. Our Lord will return and everyone will witness it.

10. The 2. advent of Jesus will be a joyous event for us. The Apostle Paul proclaims: »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 we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words. For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us so that we will live with Him« (1. Thessalonians 4,16-18; 5,9-10). Saint Paul has no concern for the exact date of Christ’s 2. advent; he only cares that He will return and whenever that happens to be it is a day of great joy for Christians. Do not fret over the when of Christ’s return, but focus on the promise that it will happen and the resulting glory we shall have at His return.

11. Jesus’ return is the drawing to completion what He initiated at His 1. advent. His crucifixion fulfilled the Old Testament laws to make payment for sin. All the world has been forgiven; the price has been paid; the ransom is secured. His resurrection shows that not even Death and Hades can defeat Him, but He has taken their keys and their authority. The destruction of the temple proclaimed that the Old Testament has been fulfilled by Jesus and that the New Testament is now in force: the Lamb of God has taken away the sin of the world; it is a done deal.

12. Luther explains the power of the New Testament in Christ: „If we truly believe that Christ is our Savior, then we have a God of love, and to see God in faith is to look upon His friendly heart (Luther 21,37). So when the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, then tell him this: „I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? Am I therefore condemned eternally? No, not at all, for I know one thing that is certain: I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!““ (WA, Br, V 519-20.63-68). We need not fear Christ’s return and the judgment day He brings with Him. Amen.

13. Let us pray. O Son of God, who is drawing near to us this day through the read and proclaimed word of the Holy Scriptures; grant us peace and serenity in these days of tribulation as we patiently await Your 2. advent, so that we may stand firm in faith grounded upon You, our Shield and Defender. Amen.

To God alone be the Glory

Soli Deo Gloria

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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 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Löhe, Wilhelm. Seed-Grains of Prayer: A Manual for Evangelical Christians. Wartburg Publishing House, Chicago circa 1912. Concordia Publishing House; Concordia on Demand.

Luther, Martin. To Jerome Weller July 1530. Weimarer Ausgabe, Br, V 519-20.63-68 (Latin).

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Matthew 24,15-28. 3. Last Sunday in the Church Year

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