Take heed that no one deceives you

 

 Then 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."

 

- Matthew 24:1-14 

 

Yesterday we finished reading chapter 23 of St. Matthew's Gospel.  The entire chapter was taken up by Jesus' final sermon, a lengthy indictment of the hypocritical ways of the scribes and Pharisees.  We began reading that sermon in Wednesday's reading.  Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught,  "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation."

 

 Then 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."  Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans during the Siege of Jerusalem.  This prophesy is quite literally true; all the remains today of the temple is one retaining wall of the temple, known as the Western Wall (formerly called the Wailing Wall).  Note ways in which this prophecy is connected to Christ's condemnation of the practices of the Pharisees and scribes in yesterday's reading, above.

 

 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?"  My study Bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that there is no precise chronology that can be determined from them (see Daniel 7 - 12; Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  It notes that Christ's emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue, rather than constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.  Here in St. Matthew's account, the end described encompasses the initial sorrows (in today's reading), and in our following readings will cover the great tribulation (verses 15-28), and the coming of the Son of Man (verses 29-31).  The period of the great tribulation, it is important to note, includes all of the Christian era, and is not, as some teach, limited to the final years before Christ's return. 

 

 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."  Christ warnings against deception are given the most emphasis here, stated first.  Of particular importance, my study Bible says, is the warning against following a false Christ, which Jesus will stress again in verses 11, and 23-27.

 

"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."  My study Bible notes that the wars mentioned here refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also certainly include subsequent wars.  Wars are not a sign of the imminent end, it says, but of the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).  

 

"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."  My study Bible comments that all these calamities and all this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel, and indeed it has been seen that the persecutions against the Church often increase the number of those being converted.  St. John Chrysostom marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

 

 My study Bible comments that Jesus' most significant emphasis, in this prophecy of "end times," is a warning against deception.  As we live in an age of great manipulation of images and of information, with ever increasing development of new tools for doing so through popular communications, we should especially pay heed to such warnings.  If we as human beings and followers of Christ always needed to be on our guard against false christs and false prophets, then perhaps we need do so now and in the future more so than ever.  One can only imagine that the capacity for deception and manipulation will only grow with newer and more powerful technologies.  Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) our means of perception as human beings remains perhaps the same as it ever was.  We don't have automatic faculties for knowing what is true and what is phony.  Every day on popular media such as Facebook or TikTok or YouTube, one can see manipulated images created by the new versions of AI (Artificial Intelligence) software which grow exponentially with investment and development.  It seems inevitable that much of our daily business and commerce will be done through various forms of this software, even as it grows in applications for various service interfaces, including decision-making.  The point of recounting these modern phenomena is not to frighten people or make readers more worried for the future, but to point out that Christ's words and warnings about potential deception may grow in significance as we enter into the technological developments of today and the years immediately to come.  Jesus is, in this sense, more prescient than ever, and His words carry an even greater significance for us.  Our response to such phenomena requires us to hold fast to the things of faith with every effort we can muster, and this most certainly includes faith and prayer practices.  For in a world increasingly overtaken by disinformation and false stories generated for clicks and likes (and possibly through bad actors who seek to foment dissension and rancor within our societies), we truly need to hold fast to Christ's light that leads us through a world in which temptations and manipulation have always played a role as stumbling blocks for us.  We need to shore up our faith and prayer practices if only to meet the powerful tools that may mislead us in the future, into believing false things that do not serve the purposes of God, and turn us more and more against one another so that we don't see where the true interests of our faith lie, the narrow and difficult way of the Cross for us.  We need to focus on that life of the soul and the light of Christ which so eluded the Pharisees in their blindness and hypocrisy, focused so heavily on the external forces of worldly power and authority.  All of these new distractions have the effect of pulling us ever more vigorously into the world of competition and competing narratives, including by false actors who do not share our best interests, and certainly not those of community nor love as Christ would have it.  So, our response is to hold fast to things He said, and to "endure to the end" in so doing.  All of the things Christ has prophesied in today's reading are things many of us observe seemingly growing around us:  wars and rumors of wars, nation against nation, earthquakes and other natural disasters, and sorrows abound.  Christians remain under persecution in various parts of the world, and this phenomenon is more frequent than most people know.  Over the past century there has been a dramatic reduction of Christian populations through persecution, especially in the Middle East (estimates claim Christians formed 20% of the population of Middle Eastern countries a century ago, down to perhaps 5% now).   Even in the nations which claim freedom of religion, those who call themselves Christians may find themselves the object of hatred.  Offenses, betrayals, hatreds seem to come up out of nowhere at times.  And this is the place where Christ says that "false prophets' can arise to deceive.  Perhaps His most ringing words for us today teach us that lawlessness will abound, and with that the love of many will grow cold.  As once-common notions of civility disintegrate, even communal understanding of the basic respect for shared humanity becomes more fragile.  We are here in the world to "endure to the end" carrying our Cross, and the light of Christ with us and within us.  Let us make every effort to do as He says, in all the ways available for our faith.   Even so, through the same technology and communications, we can see as well that the gospel of the kingdom is increasingly preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and so we go forward in His name.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He who endures to the end shall be saved

 

 Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  

 

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,  Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.  But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

 

- Mark 13:1–13 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple in Jerusalem, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces,  the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

 

  Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."   Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans, my study Bible reminds us.  This prophecy was quite literally true, as all that remained of the temple was one retaining wall, today called the Western Wall, and historically called the Wailing Wall for the prayer which pilgrims through the centuries would come to pray, as they do still today. 

 

 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,  Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"   Note that these disciples who come to ask Christ privately about the destruction of the temple are those closest to Him, the two sets of brothers, James and John, and Peter and Andrew, the first-called disciples.  Peter, James, and John were referred to by St. Paul as the "pillars" for their profound faith (Galatians 2:9).

 

 And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many."   Let us note that Jesus' first warning, in beginning this prophecy of "end times" is on deception.  In St. Matthew's Gospel as well, the warnings against deception are given the most emphasis.  In particular, this warning is against following a false Christ, which Jesus will warn against yet again, and with even greater specificity, in verses 21-22.

 

"But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows."  My study Bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7 - 12; Matthew 24; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  Christ's emphasis, it notes, is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue rather than constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.   The wars here refer first and and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also include subsequent wars, my study Bible says.  Wars, we're told, are not a sign of the imminent end, but of the opposite -- the end is not yet.  In addition, there are calamities of natural disasters, such as earthquakes, famines, and troubles; but these are the beginnings of sorrows.  

 

"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.    Here again, the emphasis is on watchfulness, and a warning of tribulation to come.  But all these calamities and all this opposition, my study Bible notes, cannot stop the spread of the gospel, which will be preached to all nations.  It says that, according to St. John Chrysostom, this truth was evident already at his time, for he marveled that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

 

"But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."   Midst these persecutions, we're also given a great blessing.  This is the gift of the Holy Spirit, our Comforter and Helper, who will give us what we need to speak, our testimony. Amid devastating -- even deadly -- betrayals, turmoil, hatred, and persecutions, we are to rely upon God.  The watchword with Christ also is always on endurance, persistence, forbearance -- for he who endures to the end shall be saved.  This is about endurance in our faithfulness. 

 

 Jesus says, "You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them."  This wording is quite striking, because it can be read in at least two different ways.  Jesus says that His followers will be brought before kings and rulers for His sake.  First of all, one may take it that this indicates that it is because believers are followers of Christ, they will be brought before rulers and kings.  But there's another way to read this, and perhaps the text -- as often happens -- is purposefully ambiguous so that both meanings become important.  It is Christ who wants us to testify, and this, too, is what can be meant by, "for My sake."  For testimony is clearly important, not simply perhaps to courts, kings, rulers, dictators, tyrants, and other hostile powers.  But one would say no, it's not important to persecutors.  Testimony is clearly important to Christ, necessary to the Gospel.  For we are witnessing as part of the very crux of our faith, and the missions of all the disciples and others sent out over the centuries and in living their faith, in practicing one's faithfulness.  "Testimony" in the Greek is μαρτύριον/martyrion, and "witness" is μάρτυρ/martyr.   From this, clearly, we get our English word "martyr," and we must know and understand the powerful necessity of such martyrs -- again, throughout the centuries including the most recent periods in places around the world, even today (see here, and here) -- and the role they play in the Church.  Of course, Christ is our great, first Witness and Martyr, even as our Savior.  But to take up our own crosses, and follow Him might also mean to meet Him in this place of sacrifice and even death.  In our modern, prosperous countries where religious freedom is often taken for granted, we are perhaps more used to a certain way of life, an expectation perhaps of goodness and blessedness even in material terms.  We forget about how essential and important to our faith testimony is, and that its root also includes that meaning even of martyrdom.  Most of us, perhaps, do not make such a sacrifice, but nonetheless Jesus' words remind us once again that our faith calls us to a kind of heroism, to sacrifice, to witnessing.  Testimony is important, and essential to our faith, for there would be no Church without it, no struggle for faith without it, no examples of great saints with tremendous courage, and inspiring knowledge for everyday people and common believers who struggle to find faith in their lives and to, indeed, endure in that faith.  For that is the true picture of the reality where we all are, if we would but know it and turn to Christ and His teachings, for the world remains as it was despite the spread of the gospel.  New forms of opposition to the truth of Christ happen everywhere, and we can see them with our own eyes around us.  We remain, no matter where we are, in a spiritual battleground in which "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  The "end times" began with Christ and we remain in those "end times" until the end of the age, at the time of His return.  Let us remain faithful and true witnesses to our faith, in simply living our lives and being true to Him and what He teaches.  For all that we do in His name becomes a testimony to Him, glorifying God. 

 

 

 

 

Take heed that no one deceives you

 

 Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down." 

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.  But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."

 

- Mark 13:1-13 

 

 Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David himself calls  Him 'Lord'; how is He then His Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

 

Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."   Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed in the Siege of Jerusalem.  Not one stone was left upon another, as there were rumors that there was gold between the stones.  Only one retaining wall remained, long known as the Wailing Wall, or today as the Western Wall.

 

 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.  But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."  Here Jesus begins His discourse on the end times (to be continued in Monday's lectionary reading).   My study Bible comments that Christ's account of the end times in Mark (Mark 13:1-23) occurs in what is known as chiastic (mean "cross") form.  That is, it is in a kind of reverse parallel order, where topics mentioned in the first half of this passage are then repeated and amplified in reverse order in the second half.  Today's reading begins with a warning to take heed about false christs, and we will see this repeated at the end of the passage.  The second warning here in today's passage is about wars (and Jesus will teach about tribulation in the second half of the passage we'll read on Monday).  The third warning here is regarding being delivered up to councils, whereas the third-to-last regards being delivered up (betrayed), but by family members, also in today's reading.  At the very center of this chiastic form is verse 10 of today's reading:  the prophecy that the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  My study Bible calls this the heart of the apostolic ministry and mission of the Church (see Matthew 28:19-20). 

My study Bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that there is no precise chronology laid out neatly.  But what is important is that we notice that our Lord's emphasis is rather on what we do during these times.  We can say "these times" as the Church has understood the end times to be continuing from the beginning of the apostolic period, until the time that Christ returns.  Therefore, the elements that we see noted by Jesus in this prophecy here are things that are with us, and have been with us from the beginning of what we know as the Christian era, and will continue to be with us until the time Christ returns in what we know as the Second Coming.   In my study Bible's words, then, Jesus' emphasis is not on us knowing when and how things will happen so much as it is a warning to us, plus an emphasis on how we conduct ourselves.  He asks us for watchfulness and the practice of virtue through these difficulties, and He prepares us for these times.  If we see persecutions in the world for our faith, He has warned us about them.  If we see and hear wars and rumors of wars, He has told us this.  Then and now, this is true -- certainly for the people He was addressing who would witness the horrific Siege of Jerusalem, but also for us today and clearly in recent history.  Yet, both of these things are true.  But Christ's first words (as well as His final warning which we'll read on Monday) are that we should take heed that no one deceives us.  This is a clear emphasis on our own need to be alert and aware to deceptions.  We are not meant to be like children in the sense that we are unaware of the dangers He's teaching us about, and the things to come.  We should, in fact, expect deception or those who will attempt to deceive us.  He teaches us about wars between nations, a characteristic of this time in which we have lived and continue to live.  He teaches us about earthquakes and famines and troubles as but the beginning of sorrows.  His prophecies do not make these things happen, and yet neither has He told us that we can necessarily fix or prevent them from happening, for until the time of His return there will be this struggle in the world not only affecting natural forces but also continuing in a spiritual sense.  He does not tell us which side to take, or which sort of political or other acts to take, but He does teach that these are but the beginning of sorrows.  The real tribulation for His followers comes from persecutions, and betrayals that may come even from those closest to us, with the most extreme forms of punishment meted out through even the closest and more cherished of relationships.   He even goes so far as to say that we will be hated by all for His name's sake.  The most important thing through all of these things, however, is our endurance, that we endure to the end.  That is our endurance in obedience and loyalty to His commands, to living our lives in the ways that He has taught us through the Gospels.  Most of us have not experienced the most extreme forms of the tribulation and wars He names, but nonetheless in living memory there are those for whom vicious genocide and horrific war remain clear memories in recent times, with threats of the same hanging over their heads.  Let us do what we can to uplift our brothers and sisters in the faith, to sustain those whom we cannot physically help through prayer, to strengthen our own faith so that we can help others both to take heed and to endure.  Let us be faithful to Him and strengthen faith through the ways He teaches us to live.  Let us take heed that we are not deceived into complacency or fantasies that we will not need to struggle in our own ways for Him and for the faith He gives us.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 Then 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 may 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."

 

- Matthew 24:1-14 

 

In yesterday's reading, we were given the last part of Christ's final sermon, a great indictment of the corruption in the temple and among the scribes and Pharisees:   "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your father's guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" 

 

Then 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."  My study Bible notes that Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.   This prophesy proved vividly true, as Roman soldiers believed there was gold between the stones of the temple.  All that remained was one retaining wall, long known as the Wailing Wall, today more commonly called the Western Wall.

 

 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?"  My study Bible notes here that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7 - 12; Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Revelation).  Christ's great emphasis in His response to the disciples is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue -- rather than on the construction of timetables of things that have not yet happened.  Here in Matthew's account, the end is described as encompassing first the initial sorrows, then the great tribulation, and finally the coming of the Son of Man.  The period of the great tribulation, my study Bible remarks, includes the entire Christian era.  It is not limited only to the final years before Christ's return.

 

And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For may will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many."  Christ gives the greatest priority to warnings against deception.  Of particular significance is His warning against following a false Christ.  Jesus will stress this repeatedly; see also verses 11, 23-27.  

"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."  My study Bible says that the wars here refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but in the verses that follow we understand He includes subsequent wars also.  My study Bible comments that wars are not a sign of the imminent end, but rather of the opposite:  that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). 

"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."  Here is a virtual list of things that characterize the period of history since Christ's Incarnation; let us understand that it is borne out in the history of the Church and the faithful.   But note that Christ's warnings are given in order to convey the message of endurance in faith through difficulties and disasters, that "he who endures to the end shall be saved."  My study Bible comments that all these calamities and all this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel.  Indeed, it says, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted.  St. John Chrysostom marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising (in the Siege of Jerusalem, AD 70), they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

Jesus names many disasters that befall humankind, most of which any one of us has likely seen in our lifetimes.  There are human, man-made disasters and also natural disasters.  But even the natural disasters such as famines, and in some cases even earthquakes, can be the result of human action.  But these are just "the beginning of sorrows" in Jesus' prophesy of the times in which we live.  But then He speaks of tribulation, in which the faithful will be killed, and hated for His name's sake.   There are those in the Church who will be offended, betray one another, and hate one another.  He speaks again of false prophets and deceit -- and of the lawlessness that will abound, with the result that the love of many will grow cold.  All of these things we may think we see or have seen.  But the key, to my way of thinking, in Christ's warning is that "he who endures to the end will be saved."  He preaches to us watchfulness and endurance, which amount to virtually the same thing, because our endurance is not possible without watchfulness.  We need to be alert to deception and alert to when the disasters and myriad distractions around us start to veer us off our course,  taking away the love of God in our hearts so that we grow cold to the things on which we must build our lives.  He virtually assures the disciples that into the life of the Church and of the faithful all of these things will come, but we are to watch and know what we are to be about.  We are, above all, to endure through it.  That is, to endure in our faith and the practice of our faith, the carrying out of His commands, of love of God and love of neighbor, as best we can.  These are the things in which we must endure and which we must pursue.  We are to remember what is the "blessed life" He teaches us in the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:1-12), and all the ways He teaches us to be His disciples.  We have to hold fast to what it is that makes us salt and light, and reflect that light and God's glory back into the world (Matthew 5:13-16).  Throughout the difficulties, for over so many centuries since Christ's Incarnation, this is what the saints and the faithful of the Church have done, under any and all circumstances.  There is one saint I will take as an example who is inspirational to me.  She is St. Philothei of Athens, a woman who lived in the 16th century in Athens, Greece.  She lived in a time of oppressive Ottoman rule over Greece's mostly Christian citizens.   At a young age she became a very wealthy widow and devoted herself to monastic life.  She established on her property a women's monastery, where young women were taught various crafts and skills with which they could work.  She was active in philanthropy and charity, extended outside her immediate environment.  Among other things, she was active in buying the freedom of Greeks who'd been taken as Ottoman slaves, especially women taken to harems.  She took in and hid fleeing slaves, many of them women who were pregnant.  She spent extensive monies for bribes and ransoms for such people, and was heavily taxed and fined.  Her monasteries were plundered and agricultural lands destroyed.  For her work in hiding and smuggling out women who sought refuge in her monasteries, her fame grew and so did animosity against her.  She was beaten and imprisoned and eventually released.  Finally, four mercenaries broke into her monastery during an evening vigil and beat her severely; after a lengthy attempt at recuperation she died of her injuries, a martyr for faith.  Today much of central Athens remains a part of her legacy, and her bones are enshrined in the Metropolitan cathedral.  There, too, one may also find remnants of the chains of St. Paul, another reminder that in the endurance of our faith, we are free even in the face of the tribulations of the world and all the things that would enslave us.  Let us set these extraordinary examples before us, and understand that to endure is to truly live our faith and hang on to its priceless, matchless value, its love and light.  Notice that Jesus finishes by saying that "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations."  Let us remember, also, that we witness by living our faith every day, and enduring in so doing.

He who endures to the end shall be saved

 Then 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."

- Matthew 24:1-14

Over the past three days, we have read Jesus' final sermon, delivered in the temple at Jerusalem.  (See Monday's and Tuesday's readings for the first two parts of this sermon.)  In yesterday's reading, Jesus preached, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 Then 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."    This prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  True to the prophesy, not one stone of the temple was left upon another.  Only a small portion of an outer retaining wall was to remain, known as the Western Wall.

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."   From these verses through verse 35, which we'll read over the course of the next two readings, Jesus speaks of the end times.  My study bible says that as the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, there is no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  But Christ's emphasis here is plain for us to understand and take to heart:  He stresses watchfulness and the practice of virtue, rather than constructing timetables of things that haven't yet happened.  In Matthew, the end is described as encompassing the initial sorrows (today's reading), the great tribulation, and the coming of the Son of Man.  My study bible tells us that the period of the great tribulation includes the entire Christian era, and is not limited to the final years before Christ's return.  Here in our passage, the warnings against deception are given great emphasis by Jesus.  He particularly warns us against following a false Christ, and He repeats this warning twice (vv. 11, 23-27).  The wars here, according to my study bible, refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but they also include subsequent wars.  Wars, it notes, are not a sign of the imminent end, but of the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).

"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."    My study bible says here that all these calamities and all this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel, and indeed, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted.  It adds that St. John Chrysostom marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising; they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.

My study bible makes it clear that we still live in the era that Christ is speaking about in today's reading.  Indeed, "end times" really lives on a kind of spectrum, and is not limited to one set of circumstances at a particularly denoted time.  It is the age in which we live, initiated by Christ's Incarnation into the world, that is the true "end time."  True to God's own timetable and perspective, the age in which we live manifests its "end times" with echoes of Christ's words throughout the time of the end and the period in which we live, in which "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations."  Jesus speaks of the difficulties of being one of His followers, the tribulations that will follow.  It's not just persecution He warns us about, but also of false prophets in our own midst, and even betrayal, hatred, offenses -- even lawlessness, and that "the love of many will grow cold."  What a terrible scenario!  One might wonder how He could preach such things to His followers and still have a following.    Quite a different perspective than market research would indicate will draw followers.  But His word to us is to endure to the end, and that takes faith.  It takes our ability to bear our own crosses, even those things that are neither fair nor just, that may be placed upon us by a hostile world that doesn't accept nor understand Him.  The cross we bear may be a kind of unjust humiliation like His.  But He calls us to faith, forbearance, and discernment.   We're to be watchful, above all else, and to live in preparation for His return. 

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

 Then 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."

- Matthew 24:1-14

 We are currently in the midst of reading Jesus' final sermon, delivered in the temple in Jerusalem during what we call Holy Week, the final week of Jesus' life in which He is in Jerusalem for the Passover Feast.  In yesterday's reading, He continued, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.  O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 Then 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."   Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.   Only one retaining wall of the splendid temple remained, known today as the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall.   The temple at Jerusalem at the time of Christ was the crowning achievement of Herod the Great, also known as Herod the Builder.  It was considered one of the wonders of the world in its time for its extraordinary beauty and scope of architecture, expansive design, and artistic detail.   This prophecy would have been unimaginable and shocking to those who heard it at the time.

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?"  My study bible tells us that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  Christ's emphasis for His followers is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue rather than on constructing timetables of events that have not yet happened.  Matthew describes the end times as encompassing (1) the initial sorrows (in verses 4-14, included in today's reading), (2) the great tribulation (vv. 15-28), and (3) the coming of the Son of Man (vv. 29-31).  The period of the great tribulation includes the entire Christian era and is not limited to the final years before Christ's return. 

 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."   Jesus' warnings against deception are given the greatest emphasis.  Of particular importance, my study bible tells us, is the warning against following a false Christ, which Jesus stresses again in verses 11, 23-27.

"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."  The wars that Jesus mentions here refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem.  But they also include subsequent wars.  They are not a sign of the imminent end, but rather the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). 

"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."   My study bible notes that all these calamities and opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel.  Indeed, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls who are being converted.  St. John Chrysostom marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We have already been given a very interesting picture of what it is to have strength, to have authority and greatness, and to be first among those who are Christ's followers.  So far in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus has taught on a number of occasions that it is humility that is the key to true accomplishment and the power of faith -- that is those who are servants to others who are great among the disciples, and that the one who would be first among them must be the slave to all.  In today's reading, we get a kind of extension of these teachings.  What makes a good disciple, a good servant?  A good disciple is one who endures to the end.  Jesus prepares His followers for difficulties.   He tells them, "See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."  We mustn't forget that this is a command from Christ.  Even the things He names, all of which are dreaded by human beings, are only the beginning of sorrows.   In Greek, this word for sorrows can also mean the pain of giving birth.  The difficulties for those who will follow Him become more acute in the verses that follow, and personal.  He says to them, "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."  All these things He says will be aimed particularly at this community of His followers.  His command, in addition to the authority and greatness of service and humility, is endurance.  "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."  Greatness, authority, and strength come from humility, service to all, and a capacity for endurance.  These are His teachings, what He asks from His followers.    This includes the capacity for discernment, alertness to false prophets, false teachings, those who would lead astray in the midst of tribulation.  All of this is still with us; we live in the age which He describes.  Let us endeavor to be His good servants, and keep the true end in mind.


 

Do you not see all these things?

Then 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 shall 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."

- Matthew 24:1-14

Jesus has just finished a long discourse of accusations regarding the scribes and Pharisees and their practices, which, he says, keep those whom they would lead far from God. See the readings for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for this complete speech to the multitudes and to his disciples (Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, Fools and blind!, and But you were not willing!). This assertive indictment of their faults as leadership to the people of God came after the leadership tried to trap Jesus with their own questions, made with the intent to have him arrested. In the final verses of this indictment or list of faults, Jesus predicted the destruction of Jerusalem and expressed his deep sorrow over their choices.

Then 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." My study bible notes here: "This is a prediction of the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, which sets the tone for Jesus discourse on the end of the age (chs. 24-25). The New Testament describes the end time in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Cor. 15:51-55; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; and the Book of Revelation). Jesus' emphasis is on being prepared through watchfulness and stewardship rather than on constructing exacting chronologies. In this chapter the end is described as a process with three overlapping stages: (1) the beginning of sorrows (vv. 4-14), (2) the Great Tribulation (vv. 15-28) and (3) the coming of the Son of Man (vv. 29-31)." At the time of the destruction of the temple by the Romans, it was believed that the temple stones, which were massive in size, were lined with gold. So "not one stone shall be left here upon another" is a rather remarkable prediction. The temple itself was completely destroyed. Out of a huge complex of grand designs, only a small part of a retaining perimeter wall remained standing, which became known as The Wailing Wall.

For the rest of today's reading, my study bible has the following general note: "The question about the signs and the persecutions is connected in Matthew with the sign of his coming and the end of the age. The disciples dream of the hoped-for earthly kingdom, which they expect to appear almost immediately. Jesus knows their anticipation and sets out to prepare them for what is to come. He warns them to take heed (v. 4) not to (1) be seduced by any deception (v. 5); (2) be overpowered by the violence of afflictions which will come (vv. 6-9); or (3) stumble because of the false brethren (vv. 10-12)."

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 shall 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." My study bible notes, specifically regarding verse 6: "Jesus and the disciples are sitting on the Mount of Olives looking out over Jerusalem (v. 1). The immediate reference here is not to the wars of the world over the centuries, but to wars in Jerusalem." Clearly, in this beginning of his discourse to his disciples, Jesus is referring to what will take place in Jerusalem in their lifetimes. We can imagine the difficulties these men will endure in Jerusalem itself - just as Jesus has described above. The word for "sorrows" ("All these are the beginning of sorrows") comes from a word that also means "pain" or "birth pang" or "agony." Its root is the word for "grief." So, Jesus is clearly initiating them into the time to come: not one of the glory of the final kingdom - but rather one of travail and hardship, and endurance.

"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." My study bible notes here: "All these calamities and tribulations will not prevent the progress of the gospel; the Good News will be preached everywhere (Rom. 10:18; Col. 1:6, 23)." So, Jesus' disciples are being initiated into a time of great sorrow, travail and affliction, difficulties -- but also of the endurance that comes from fighting the good fight. We will come to know this fight as one that defines strength, persistence and courage as those skills with which we bear our faith and in which we pursue it. We will continue with this discourse in the next several readings, as Jesus expands on the question posed to him in today's reading. We understand Jesus' reference to the sorrows they will endure. In many ways, they remain the sorrows and difficulties of the world that we endure and that the history of the Church has known. We are still in this time of "the good fight." We wage it with weapons of peace and love and hope and truth. It is a war that takes place within each of us. May you be equipped for it well, and strong in all the gifts that teach us what these things truly mean, and what it is to endure with the help we give to one another and that comes from above.