Daily Blast - The Book of Matthew: Chapter 24
Scripture
“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.”
Reflection
‘No one can confidently say that he will still be living tomorrow.’ (Euripides, Greek Playwright (480-406BC)).
Have you ever heard of the concept of a ‘Bucket List?’ I hadn’t either until a few years ago. It’s a list of all of the crazy and meaningful things people want to do before they die, so that they know that they have lived their life as fully as they possibly could before they leave the world forever. It’s a great idea, isn’t it? The truth is, most of us will not get a 5-year warning before we leave this earth. Life isn’t that convenient.
Nor will we get a 5-minute warning about when the end of the world happens, as Jesus describes in Matthew 24. He foretells His return to earth as it’s King, and how various people will rise up claiming to be the Messiah and mislead people, turning them from God. Wars, mourning, persecution and killing are all mentioned. It doesn’t sound like much fun if you ask me!
The truth is, we live in a fallen world, where bad and unfair things happen. Sometimes it can be hard to see God at work in all of the mess. We can give up and be persuaded that we as individuals can’t possibly have an impact in such a big world full of suffering and sin. We can forget that God loves us and has a plan for us and that He will take care of those who follow Him and His ways.
There is hope, though; ‘the one who endures to the end will be saved. 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’, (24:13-14) and the ‘calamity… will be shortened for the sake of God’s chosen ones’ (24:22).
Challenge
Verse 36 onwards says, ‘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… So you, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know what day your Lord is coming… You […] must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected. A faithful, sensible servant is one to whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household servants and feeding them. If the master returns and finds that the servant has done a good job, there will be a reward. I tell you the truth, the master will put that servant in charge of all he owns.’
We, as carriers of the Good News and servants of God, have a huge responsibility to stay strong in our faith and tell as many people as possible about it. God doesn’t want us to suffer, but the enemy does! He wants to take as many people to hell with him as possible. The best thing we can do in the meantime, is to trust God, talk to Him, learn His ways from the Bible, and live it out by showing love and grace to others, so that they too might be saved with us. Then when Jesus comes back, we’ll be surprised, but we’ll know we’ve done our absolute best to live for Him before that time comes. Just like a Bucket List. But better.