25th Sunday after Trinity + Matthew 24:15-28 + November 11, 2018

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

The final Sundays of the church year direct our thoughts to the end of all things and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Last Day. In today’s Gospel lesson Jesus teaches His disciples about the fall of Jerusalem and the end of the world. He teaches them about both because they’ve asked about both. This chapter begins with Jesus saying of the Temple, “Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” His disciples ask Him, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” Jesus answers both of their questions, using the end of Jerusalem and its temple as a prototype for the end of the age, so that as it would go for Jerusalem so it would go for the entire world. And just as there was but one way of escape from Jerusalem’s judgment, so too at the end of the age there is but one way to escape from the wrath to come.

When will the disciples know the end of Jerusalem is at hand? “When you see the ‘abomination of desolation’ spoken of by the prophet Daniel standing in the holy place . . . then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” The Jews had seen this already before during the days of the Maccabees. In 165 B.C. the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV conquered Jerusalem and set up an idol in the temple. In those days, the Jews who were faithful to the Word of God fled to the hills to escape the idolatry and wickedness that was Jerusalem. The Lord spared His people and raised up the Maccabean brothers to defeat Antiochus and cleanse the temple. But that wouldn’t be the case when Christians see the abomination of desolation set up in the temple this time. This time the desolation would be complete. Jerusalem and the temple would be torn down along with everyone in them. This is why Christ tells them to flee to the mountains. There will be no hope for Jerusalem. The holy city will have heaped judgment upon itself by rejecting its Messiah and persecuting His apostles. The abomination Jesus prophesies was more than likely the Roman army rather than an idol erected in the temple. Seeing an army approaching would have given the Christians time to flee, whereas for someone to place an idol in the temple they would have had to conquer Jerusalem already, leaving no time for faithful Christians to escape and save their lives.

But that is only the beginning of the tribulation and hardship of God’s people. Having escaped physical danger they enter spiritual danger. “False christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” History proves Jesus true. False christs did rise up. Several men claimed to the true Messiah who would lead the Jews against the Romans, retake Jerusalem, and usher in a period of freedom. But each of them failed because they were false christs, though many followed them to their destruction. History shows how false prophets rose up, tempting Christians to forsake Christ’s doctrine and embrace new teachings. The Nicolaitans taught that faith in Christ gave believers a license to sin. Men could remain in their sins and increase in them and not lose their salvation. On the other side were the Ebionites who taught that Jesus wasn’t divine and that strict adherence to the Mosaic Law was necessary for salvation. License on the one hand, legalism on the other, both attractive to the sinful flesh. With false teachings came great signs and wonders to deceive, which were so convincing that the elect themselves would have fallen away if that were possible. The Christians that escaped the destruction of Jerusalem had to then continually flee false doctrine, false signs and wonders, for if they didn’t they would not endure to the end, and “he who endures to the end shall be saved.”

So what in today’s text is left for us who live long after the destruction of Jerusalem? Since the fall of Jerusalem was a prototype of the end of the age, we can draw a few parallels. First, we are to watch for the abomination of desolation within God’s temple. Not the physical temple, but the Church. St. Paul describes the Antichrist in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 as one “who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” We recently celebrated the Reformation during which we heard again how the Lutheran reformers pointed to the Roman Papacy as the antichrist. They said this because he rules in the church. He exalts himself in place of God and imposes idolatrous practices, teaching that they are necessary if men want to be saved. What else is it to pray to the dead as mediators with God rather than Christ? What else is it to trust in one’s own merits and works rather than Christ’s perfect merits offered in the gospel? What else is it when he claims to be the head of church by divine right so that there is no true church where he is not? When Christians see this abomination then are to flee. So the reformers fled and many still to today.

Then we are to watch for false christs and false prophets and not be awestruck by great signs and wonders they might do. Christians today are to flee false teachers, false churches, and anything that teaches a doctrine other than the things Christ has taught us through His apostles. Many within the church teach a license to sin, that God doesn’t require repentance of sin and faith in Christ but proclaims that God loves people just as they are, so they can keep being just as they are. On the hand there are those who teach legalism, that God requires works of the Law to please God and earn righteousness. Some are even bold enough to merge works into the definition of faith so that they still have the gall to claim they teach that we are saved by grace through faith! So we must be on our guard against those who teach license on the one and hand and those who teach legalism on the other; for the one keeps us in our sins while the other burdens our conscience with works. We must also be on guard against those who perform signs and wonders in Christ’s name. These are no proof that they are from God. Christ has told us rather that they are signs of Satan to deceive.

Such is the Christian’s lot in life during these end times. We must flee Antichrist. We must continually flee false prophets. We must continually watch and diligently guard against all that calls itself Christian but is not. Yet in Christ’s warning today there is also hope. “See, I have told you beforehand.” Christ tells us all these things beforehand so that we might not despair as we see the state of visible Christendom: the antichrist, the false prophets and the droves of people being deceived by them. He doesn’t want us to be discouraged by all this. He tells us these things so that as we witness all this we might we might see His truthfulness. Everything goes just as He said it would go. His word about the earthly Jerusalem didn’t go unfulfilled and those who heard it, believed it, and acted upon it by fleeing saved their lives. So it is for you. The end of the age will go just as He said it would go. Antichrist. False prophets. False signs and wonders. They show you that Christ is truthful, which means that He will most certainly return to raise the dead and bring His faithful ones into His everlasting kingdom. Don’t lose heart and be discouraged. Be of good cheer! These are all signs that your salvation draws near. Flee all these things that are detrimental to your soul. Flee to Christ in faith each day in faith, so that by faith you may endure until the end and receive the salvation of your souls when Your Lord does finally return. Amen. 

In the Name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.