Matthew 24-25

 Matthew 24 The signs of the end of the age

Matthew 24:1-2 Jesus talks about the end of the Temple; this happened in 70 AD, exactly as He described. Empty symbols have no value and won’t persist indefinitely. It was torn down.

Matthew 24:3-8 The disciples ask about sign of His coming and the end of the age. Don’t be misled by beginning of birth pangs. Wars, famines, and earthquakes are not signs of the end - they have happened throughout human history, and can be expected.

Matthew 24:9-14 Things that will happen before the end - persecution and cold faith. Christians will be hated and persecuted, the love of many will grow cold; the gospel must be preached to the whole world, as a testimony to all nations.  (Strong’s g1484, ethnos -  heathen, pagan, nations, tribes)

Matthew 24:15-22 The Abomination of Desolation a sign. This is mentioned in Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11. Things will go very badly after this.  Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated the altar of the temple in 167 BC by offering a pig to Zeus. Things did go very badly for the Jews living in Jerusalem at that time, as related by Josephus. Yet Jesus here speaks of a future event, so Antiochus was only a picture of what will happen in the times of the end. This is a true sign because the distress of that time will surpass any past or future era. So great, in fact, that mankind would be wiped out if Jesus Himself doesn’t come to end it.

Matthew 24:23-27 False messiahs and false claims of His presence. Even when the signs point to Jesus’ return, only recognize Him in the sky, nowhere else and no one else. Jesus was on earth once, only a small cadre recognized Him at that time; He died to redeem mankind, established the church to carry His message, and sent the Holy Spirit to empower it. When He returns, every eye will see Him, it won’t be a hidden event. (Revelation 1:7) 

Matthew 24:28 Vultures gather around carcasses. Corpses imply many killed in the open, perhaps as part of the events that are signs of Jesus’ return. Vultures feed on dead meat - the spiritual evil that will prevail and nearly destroy mankind, feeds on this distress and its victims.

Matthew 24:29-31 The sign in the sky. Jesus cites/quotes three separate passages that link signs in the sky to judgment: Isaiah 13:10 - Babylon; Isaiah 34:4 - The whole world; Daniel 7:9-10 - The four beasts. When He returns, He will fulfill these prophecies.

Matthew 24:32-35 Signs of the Times. Referring back to the preceding verses, the signs appear to be false messiahs, false reports of Jesus on the earth, the preaching of the gospel to every tribe and nation, and the abomination of desolation.

Matthew 24:36-51 The time of His return is not revealed to anyone, so live ready. Jesus refers to the time of Noah, described in Genesis 6:13. The emphasis in Noah’s day is on the world’s wickedness, so it will be at the time of Jesus’ return. Although we can decry the wickedness of modern society, this is only one of the signs of Jesus’ return. God is looking to rescue those who are His faithful servants. Those who are not faithful, even if they thought themselves servants to Him, will be placed with the actors - the hypocrites - in God’s economy.

Matthew 25 The two parables have a common theme - await the arrival or return. However, they have different foci on what was expected. The bridal party was expected to wait and be prepared, while the servants with gold were expected to be gainfully employed.

Matthew 25:1-13 Parable of the wise and foolish virgins. I have heard it inferred that having ten virgins wait with the bride for the groom’s arrival was a custom of the time, but that is really unimportant to Jesus’ point. The oil may represent the Holy Spirit, or may represent providing for the light of God to illuminate our path. When the foolish virgins ask the others for some oil, they ask the impossible. Neither the Holy Spirit nor God’s light to our path can be just given by one person to another. We must go to God for these things. Learning from His word takes time. And the door being slammed in their faces seems to speak of the rapture, of people who believe they are part of the bride of Christ being left behind, because they are not waiting with anticipation for the bridegroom. (Hebrews 9:28) Being a virgin by itself does not qualify them to go. Although personal holiness is important, there is more to faith - as Jesus will explain with sheep and goats.

Matthew 25:14-30 Parable of three servants with bags of gold. The talent as money seems to be a symbol or metaphor for man’s capabilities and time, perhaps talent as innate ability is not far off from Jesus’ meaning. The master gave bags of gold to each according to his ability (25:15). There is perhaps a hint that the third servant was jealous of the greater resources given the other servants, but that is not his excuse. He saw his master as a hard man who demanded the impossible. He completely misunderstood the master. It is like seeing God’s holiness as unachievable perfection and therefore not even trying to let God change his life, by running and hiding. God calls us to be active, not hide in our safe place. The outer darkness ultimately delivers the third servant from the Lord’s presence, but it is not a happy place.

Matthew 25:31-46 The sheep and the goats. In Psalm 23, the sheep accepted Jesus as their shepherd, and He directs their paths.  In Leviticus 16:21-22, Aaron was directed to release the scapegoat into the wilderness, with all the wrongdoings of Israel on it, to an isolated place.  This parable weighs into the faith vs. works debate firmly on the side of  James 2:18. There are lots of types of works - giving food and drink to and clothing the needy, welcoming strangers, and visiting prisoners. And these are just examples. Jesus’ point is simple: He identifies with these needy people, and He expects His followers to minister to them. To neglect them is to neglect Him. One has to wonder how Jesus’ warning weighs against our treatment of illegal migrants. Were the Pilgrims and Puritans, and the settlers in Jamestown illegal immigrants to North America?