Matthew – God’s Purposes
Read with anticipation. Read slowly. Read with the Holy Spirit helping with understanding and clarity…Matthew 24, NLT
Jesus Speaks about the Future
24 As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds, his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings. 2 But he responded, “Do you see all these buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”
3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”
4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5 for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7 Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8 But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.
9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10 And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11 And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13 But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.
15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. 17 A person out on the deck of a roof must not go down into the house to pack. 18 A person out in the field must not return even to get a coat. 19 How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for nursing mothers in those days. 20 And pray that your flight will not be in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again. 22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones.
23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. 25 See, I have warned you about this ahead of time.26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it! 27 For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. 28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
29 “Immediately after the anguish of those days,
the sun will be darkened,
the moon will give no light,
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
30 And then at last, the sign that the Son of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with the mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over the world—from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these things take place. 35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.
36 “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in Noah’s day. 38 In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. 39 People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.
40 “Two men will be working together in the field; one will be taken, the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.
42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming. 43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house to be broken into. 44 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.
45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. 46 If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns. 48 But what if the servant is evil and thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’ 49 and he begins beating the other servants, partying, and getting drunk? 50 The master will return unannounced and unexpected, 51 and he will cut the servant to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
NOW THINK ABOUT IT…Many people are not ready. Those who are not ready live all around us, we daily work alongside them, we attend church with a few of them. If we teach, many are students who do not know Jesus because their parents do not know Jesus and are not ready for His coming.
The question for us today, (and always), who do know Him, is how much do we care that others in our family, in our neighborhoods, in our classrooms, and in our places of business do not?
Real saving faith through Jesus Christ with total dependence on God leads us to thinking more and more like Jesus and less like the world. This thinking causes us to love and serve in ways other humans without Jesus cannot love. We love and serve not expecting anything back. We just love without thought for self. We love, as a habit well formed, to please God and give Him glory for the way He works in and through us.
This love leads to showing the way to Jesus (not imperfect us) no matter what is happening around us. His love leads to care enough to live “Christ in us” unashamed, unreserved, out loud, on purpose for God’s purposes and for His glory. We do not back down when others malign and mock us for believing that Jesus is coming back for His own. We cannot step aside, tolerate and allow false hope from other religions to be taught to our children. We must stand firm. We must speak Truth, The Person of Jesus Christ, led by His Holy Spirit of Love for those not yet knowing Him.
We cannot believe in Him and not behave like we say we believe. That presents a false teaching to the world we are trying to point to Jesus for their salvation! We cannot take others farther than where we have come in our own faith. We must grow in our faith. We must continue to learn, grow, and go with Jesus in the lead. We must repent and learn from our failures and missteps and not be paralyzed from these hindrances in our humanity. Jehovah is the God who Saves. Because of Jesus, we are saved from death and restored daily to Life eternal! THIS is being ready for the return of Christ.
Can I get an amen?!
Now, are we ready for Jesus to come back?
Will we welcome His return? Or this there stuff we need to take care of first?
Will we see the signs Jesus talks about in this passage?
God only knows THE time…but we can be ready by living ready with joyful, expectant hearts, minds and souls! Sometimes I imagine Jesus sitting at God’s right hand, leaning over, saying, “please, not yet, there’s a few more that will come around to repentance and relationship with us”. Living ready is a precursor to being ready when He comes.
I am sure that those who believe will immediately recognize the One and Only that have spent a lifetime getting know Him intimately with unswerving faith. I believe this with all my heart.Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for reminding us that you are coming back for your own. Thank you for also challenging us to tell others before it’s too late. Help us to always be looking for You. Help us to focus fully on You, seeing the signs of your coming. Thank you for the assurance that you are with us now and will be with us for eternity. Thank you, Lord, for saving our souls and making us whole and holy before you. Give us this day all You know we will need. Christ in us must no longer be a secret to others but revealed to point the way to You! Guide our every thought and action today.
In Jesus Name, Amen. I believe.
After the game show of questioning Jesus by the Pharisees and other religious leaders and teachers, another “show” is revealed and lamented by Jesus. It is the show of hypocrisy. As I read this passage, I feel more grief and disgust from Jesus’ words and heart than anger. There is nothing worse than disappointing our Lord and Savior, Messiah, the One and Only who came to save us and restore us to a right relationship with God.
16 “Blind guides! What sorrow awaits you! For you say that it means nothing to swear ‘by God’s Temple,’ but that it is binding to swear ‘by the gold in the Temple.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is more important—the gold or the Temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And you say that to swear ‘by the altar’ is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar’ is binding. 19 How blind! For which is more important—the gift on the altar or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 When you swear ‘by the altar,’ you are swearing by it and by everything on it. 21 And when you swear ‘by the Temple,’ you are swearing by it and by God, who lives in it. 22 And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.
When we fall short some days and slip up in our walk, that is not hypocrisy, that is humanity. God forgives us. But when we memorize God’s Word, preach God’s Word and speak as if our hearts are pure but “act” or live our lives with no intention of following God’s Word for ourselves, then that is hypocrisy.
Have you ever watched the game show, Jeopardy? People gamble what they have on hand to gain more by getting the right answer by giving the right question that fits the answer on the board. 
Taxes for Caesar
NO MORE QUESTIONS – GAME OVER…FOR NOW
There is nothing more irritating than your family’s lack of response when called to the dinner you have waiting on the table! You have done all the work necessary to serve a piping hot meal only to be ignored when you tell them it is ready. 
22 Jesus also told them other parables. He said, 2 “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. 3 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!
Isn’t it annoying to work for a leader who gives you solutions to your question off the top of their heads without really knowing the answer or thinking about what is true and right? You question it but you obey the boss hoping it will be okay. Do we do this to our kids at times? Wouldn’t it be better (and safer) to just say, “I don’t know”? Even better, is to follow “I don’t know” with “I will find out the Truth and get back to you”. There would be a lot less confusion in the world if we would think first then respond.
The Pharisees, however, consistently trying to trap Jesus, expressed concern of His authority at the Temple in front of everyone gathered there. Jesus, knowing their hearts, answered their question with a question. After a leadership committee meeting, they respond, “We don’t know”. Best response they could have given. They DIDN’T know. They didn’t know Jesus, Son of God. They didn’t know God’s Word was meant to help not burden people. The didn’t know the intent of God’s Word and commands. Worst of all, they didn’t know God anymore. 
Wow. They were right about ONE thing…They didn’t know.
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
28 “But what do you think about this? A man with two sons told the older boy, ‘Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.’ 29 The son answered, ‘No, I won’t go,’ but later he changed his mind and went anyway. 30 Then the father told the other son, ‘You go,’ and he said, ‘Yes, sir, I will.’ But he didn’t go.
Dear Heavenly Father,
I love to grow plants of all kinds. I win some and lose some in this hobby, but I still like to watch God’s creation grow to bloom. You get a little dirty in this work but it is worth all the effort. I love watching fruits and vegetables form from the blooms. It is all amazing to watch. As a family, we love eating the fruits of our labor. 
18 In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, 19 and he noticed a fig tree beside the road. He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” And immediately the fig tree withered up.
Ah, so now we get it, right? Allow God’s Holy Spirit to reign supremely in us and through us. The fruit will come through obedience to His Spirit as we yield to Him every day of our lives.
12 Jesus entered the Temple and began to drive out all the people buying and selling animals for sacrifice. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves. 13 He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”
Jesus had opened His ministry with a similar act (John 2:13–25). Now, three years later, the temple was defiled again by the “religious business” of the leaders. They had turned the court of the Gentiles into a place where foreign Jews could exchange money and purchase sacrifices. What had begun as a service and convenience for visitors from other lands soon turned into a lucrative business. The dealers charged exorbitant prices and no one could compete with them or oppose them. 
Our hearts, minds and souls are now God’s Temple where He abides with all who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. If Jesus was to come back, what would He find? 
Dear Heavenly Father,
As Jesus and the disciples approached Jerusalem, they came to the town of Bethphage on the Mount of Olives. Jesus sent two of them on ahead. 2 “Go into the village over there,” he said. “As soon as you enter it, you will see a donkey tied there, with its colt beside it. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone asks what you are doing, just say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will immediately let you take them.”
There was a second reason for this public presentation: It forced the Jewish leaders to act. When they saw the spontaneous demonstration of the people, they concluded that Jesus had to be destroyed (see John 12:19). The prophetic Scriptures required that the Lamb of God be crucified on Passover. This demonstration of Christ’s popularity incited the rulers to act. 
Given what I know, how willfully blind am I to God’s Truth in the Person of Jesus Christ? Is He my Savior in which I put ALL my hope and trust? Is He LORD of my life? ALL of it? Do I allow Him to guide my thinking, being and doing?
The closing event of Matthew 20 is the healing of Bartimaeus and his friend, both of whom were blind
29 As Jesus and the disciples left the town of Jericho, a large crowd followed behind. 30 Two blind men were sitting beside the road. When they heard that Jesus was coming that way, they began shouting, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”
To call on Jesus is to acknowledge who Jesus is. The blind men called out, “Lord, Son of David…” This got Jesus’ attention.
We are such easily distracted humans, especially when we are pulled away from God’s purpose for us to selfish ambitions and natural desires to be great. It makes sense that Jesus would pause and remind them again about what He will face in Jerusalem, predicting his death by telling them a few details of what will happen to Him. But are the disciples who are walking along beside our Savior really listening? Nope. There is a side conversation happening.
Matthew 20, NLT
LET’S GO OVER THIS AGAIN…
