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"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
- Matthew 24:15-31
Yesterday, we read that after giving His final sermon, Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings in the temple. And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down." Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?" And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."
"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand) . . . " My study bible explains that this refers to the prophecy of Daniel (see Daniel 9:20-27; 11:31; 12:11). The "abomination of desolation" was fulfilled in AD 70, when the Roman general Titus entered the Most Holy Place and had a statue of himself erected in the temple before having the temple destroyed. It says, "The Lord's phrase when you see indicates that many of the disciples would still be alive at that time. The words whoever reads, let him understand are commonly understood to be inserted by Matthew into Christ's address as an encouragement to his early Christian flock, who may have witnessed this event."
". . . then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath." In Luke's Gospel, it's reported that Jesus gives a blessing here, "Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!" St. John Chrysostom has commented, "Mothers are held by the tie of feeling for their children, but cannot save them. How can one escape the bonds of nature? How can she who nurses ever overlook the one she has borne?" Also, my study bible comments here: "The severity of winter weather or respect for the Sabbath would prevent many faithful from fleeing quickly in a time of desperation. A spiritual interpretation given by the Fathers sees the Sabbath as symbolizing idleness with regard to virtue, and winter as indicating fruitlessness with regard to charity. Thus, the person who departs this life in such a spiritual state will suffer judgment."
"And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be." My study bible asks, "In what manner will Christ come back? The event will be unmistakable to the whole world. If there is any question or doubt, that alone is evidence that He has not returned. As Christ's return will shine from the east, so Orthodox Christians [and many others] whenever possible worship facing eastward in symbolic hope and anticipation of His second and glorious coming."
"For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together." There are many interpretations to this statement. Some have said that the "eagles" gathering are symbolic of the Roman army. However, my study bible notes here that "the body refers to Christ, while the eagles refer to the angels and the saints."
"Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken." A note reads: "According to the Fathers, the sun will not be destroyed, but darkened in relation to the glory of Christ. In other words, the sun will appear to be dark by comparison when Christ returns in the fullness of His splendor."
"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." My study bible says here: "The sign of the Son of Man is the Cross, which will be revealed as the standard for Christ's impending judgment. While at His first coming, Christ came in humility and mortality, at His second coming, He will be revealed in power and great glory."
"And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." My study bible refers us here to St. Paul's teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
It is hard to study prophesy, in the sense that quite often they are rather unintelligible, except perhaps in hindsight. We have a body of work from the Fathers of the Church, as well as those men and women who continue to study the Scriptures today and build upon what the Church has already come to recognize. I speak of the entirety of the Church in diverse communities, for today scholarship is a great shared enterprise, as well as, of course, Hebrew and Greek scholarship from all kinds of communities, scholarly institutions, fields, and departments. I once had a priest comment to me that in terms of bible scholarship, we now have far more resources than were ever available to our ancestors in studying Scripture (of course, this can apply to both the Old Testament and the New Testament). So, when we think about it, we have a situation that, through time, actually increases its capacity to inform, to help us to think and to study, and thereby to better know our faith. Therefore, modern scholars and clergy whom I respect enormously teach that the Body of Christ is one, even in our currently fragmented diversity -- and of course, it was long ago that St. Paul taught that there may be found the work of the law written on the hearts even of those who haven't heard it (Romans 12:12-16). Taking all of that into consideration, the prophecies of Judgment and End Times teach us about living our lives in the here and the now. They are statements about the eventual Judgment Day, and also they were mixed with warnings about what was to come in Jerusalem, the end of the temple and the sacrifices, and even the results of sin in the world. (Let us understand clearly that we cannot extrapolate from any and all misfortune anything about Judgment or about sin.) But we can see clearly the results of our behavior toward others, whether we are speaking about individual to individual or community to community or even nation to nation. We know what cruel behavior results in -- and we can see all around us, even in the news, what violence in the excess and unnecessary can create. We can see the tragedies when we fail to help others, and the good that comes from following Christ's teachings. I do not believe the world to be exempt from the spiritual consequences of our behavior nor from the rejection (by those who know better) of the gospel and its teachings available in all kinds of forms. Let us consider then, how we live in the here and now, what we do to our world and in our own lives, and how Christ reminds us that Judgment, any way you look at it, is never far off. Let us take these words seriously, as those who heard them 2,000 years ago.
