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

 "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 light 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

In our recent readings, Jesus has been in Jerusalem.  It is the final week of His human life, known to us as Holy Week.  He has cleansed the temple, and disputed with the leadership as well.  On Saturday, we read that Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of 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 tells us that Daniel's prophecy of the abomination of desolation (Daniel 9:21-27, 11:31, 12:11) 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.    The fact that Jesus uses the 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 light may not be in winter or on the Sabbath."   Either the severity of the winter weather or respect for the Sabbath would prevent many faithful from fleeing quickly in a time of desperation.  One patristic spiritual interpretation sees the Sabbath as symbolizing idleness with regard to virtue, my study bible says, and winter as indicating fruitlessness with regard to charity.  Therefore, the person who departs this life in such a spiritual state will suffer judgment. 

"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."    Jesus describes the manner in which He will return.  This is an event that will be unmistakable to the entire world.  If there is any question or doubt at all,  that in itself is evidence that He has not returned.  Christ says His return will shine from the east.   For ancient Christians, and even today in Orthodox Churches, the faithful whenever possible worship facing eastward in symbolic hope and anticipation of His second and glorious coming. 

"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."   According to patristic interpretation, the sun will not be destroyed, but rather darkened in relation to the glory of Christ.  In other words, the sun will appear to be dark by comparison to Christ who returns in the fullness of His splendor. 

 Jesus continues to address His followers, prophesying what is to come.  This is anything but what we would call a rosy picture.  There will be tribulation, wars, false christs, all kinds of disasters (both man-made and natural), and fears abounding, betrayals, and love grown cold.  Through all of this we are told that "he who endures to the end shall be saved" (see yesterday's reading, above).    We are told that great signs will happen, the darkening of the sun -- or perhaps it will simply seem dark by comparison to Christ's glory -- and signs in the heavens.  Its very powers will be shaken.  This is a picture of a tremendous change, a kind of transition that involves the whole of the universe.  Then the Son of Man will return with power and great glory, His elect gathered together.  There is no way we can imagine any of this.  But what we can marvel at is the promise that is here.  There is nothing that is flattering to us, nothing cajoling, nothing that tells us that we have a great material benefit nor a promise of bounty we don't have now.  Instead, we're challenged to be strong in our faith, to withstand tremendous difficulties and challenges.  We are used to advertising, to being coerced into believing something, being given easy promises.   But Jesus does none of that.  Instead, He invites us into something worth fighting for, a struggle in which He is the leader, for which He will go to the Cross,  and in which we may participate with Him.  We are taught the value of service and endurance, something quite different from the popular picture of what appeals in sales, an easy life with even easier access to wealth.  So how are we to step into this challenge?  How are modern minds to think about it?  Perhaps what we have to conclude is the tremendous faith that Christ Himself places in His followers to truly follow where He leads.  He calls on us to meet life with great courage, with faith, with endurance, and with the strength that comes from grace -- to meet the joy and peace that come unexpectedly and through His divine power.  This is the promise we're given, and we go forward understanding the power we are capable of sharing in, the struggle we're equipped to be a part of, the mystery into which He initiates us with His astounding words.