Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."
Here Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple and the city of Jerusalem. Naturally His students want to know when it will happen.
In fact, thoughts of such a cataclysmic event move them to ask the Teacher about the end of the world also - …when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?
In fact, thoughts of such a cataclysmic event move them to ask the Teacher about the end of the world also - …when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?
Jesus answers both questions. So it is up the student to decipher when He is talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and when He is speaking about the end of the world.
We know the destruction of Jerusalem happened in A.D. 70 when Titus and the Roman army destroyed the city as Jesus foretold.
Quite naturally what the Teacher says about the signs of the end of the age interests us more than what already happened nearly 2,000 years ago.
Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
So how close are we to the end?
Jesus says that in the end wickedness will have increased and most who claim to love the Lord will have cooled in their fervor. What will this look like? Do you think we are there yet?
He also says the gospel will be preached to the whole world and then the end comes? With modern communication, television, satellites, and increased mission activity, we may be close.
Of course nobody knows, but you’ve heard the Teacher. What do you think?
What do I think???
ReplyDeleteThat's a loaded question!
I am actually torn on this topic.
One sort of "traditional" standpoint is to say - we won't know when but we need to be ready. Certainly a biblical thought: "but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." vs.13 This is an absolute must - we need to be ready! We need to be faithful to the end.
However, with that view often taken, we don't tend to pay much attention to the prophesies that are in scripture about the end. While we won't know the day nor the hour, these prophecies are here for a reason, right?
Maybe if we paid a bit more attention to the prophecies, we would have more of a mindset to be ready!
It is clear in scripture that in biblical times they expected Jesus' return. Us, removed by centuries, tend not to think about His return often.
I'm sure there's a balance to be hit in there somewhere...
However, if you were to hear a sound as a great trumpet, would you be anticipating what is next, or scared to your knees?
Or both!?!