“Some important do’s and don’ts”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Thursday, July 11, 2024
Matthew 24:1-14 (Forward, p. 74) CEV p. 1015
One of the real difficulties that we, who are so removed from the Biblical world, is that we often view the Scriptures in light of what later transpired-- which means that we miss out on or misinterpret how things were meant way back then. So, for instance, in today’s passage the disciples come to Jesus in private and ask Him, “When will this happen? What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the world? (verse 3). Now, all this makes perfect sense to us because we know that Jerusalem was destroyed, and likewise know that Jesus did leave the earth with the promise to one day return.
But what about those first disciples? What did they understand by Jesus’ words? And what led them to even ask those questions in the first place? Certainly, they knew that ‘something was afoot’ for Jesus had just mentioned that the Temple would be left desolate (Matthew 23: 38) and that it would be totally destroyed (Matthew 24: 2). Surely, these two pronouncements fit in with the widespread notion of ‘the day of the Lord’, a day of destruction and gloom prior to God’s decisive intervention. And so it was quite appropriate for them to ask ‘when’, when will this happen?
And, as Jesus’ departure, He had just made a somewhat cryptic and vague comment about them ‘not seeing him again’ until…They, of course, couldn’t have even the foggiest idea of what that would mean, but we do.
So, then, given that much of what Jesus had said would have been ‘lost’ on them just then, just what would Jesus have been trying to say? I would suggest that it can be summed up in several do’s and ‘don’ts’:
Don’t be fooled: many false Messiahs will arise claiming to be Him,
and many false prophets presuming to speak for Him.
Don’t be fearful: wars, famine, and earthquakes will take place, but
this is not the end.
Don’t be faithless: you will be hated, betrayed, arrested, punished,
and in some cases, killed. Furthermore, things will seem to go
from bad to worse. Evil will seem to prevail.
No, Jesus says, stand firm. Keep on being faithful, right to the very end. And, in the meantime, keep on spreading the good news of the Kingdom, for once it has been preached all over the world and told to all nations the end will come. So, rather than despair, we have a job to do. In fact, the very answer to the question, ‘when will then end come?’, has a lot to do with us. An earlier expression of the evangelical movement saw this as the propelling motive for their efforts and hard work, but somehow, we have often lost this sense of urgency. Let us regain it and work all the more to ‘do our part.’ Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down” (verse 2b).
“Scripture is full of apocalyptic messages that can fill us with fear. But ‘apocalypse,’ in its original Greek, means to reveal or uncover something. In other words, it means to see the truth.
“To me, the fact that there is pain in this world proves we are meant for something better. If our hearts were not oriented toward a better way, we wouldn’t care that the universe seems disordered. We experience suffering because there is a gap between what is now and how we know the world is meant to be. Our systems and institutions are far from perfect, and frankly, it would be a relief if some of them were torn down. God does not want us to cling to them in fear. God promises that, in God’s Beloved Community, they will be torn down. But God does not mean for us to live in disordered chaos. God also promises a new heaven and a new earth, which will finally be perfect. I look forward in hope to that world!”
Moving Forward: “What does it look like when you imagine a better world? Can you help create some of it today?”