Return Of The King (Part 1)

Jesus intends His followers to walk away from this text prepared for what is sure to come before His return. In this chapter there are at least four things that we will face as we wait for Jesus' coming. First, followers of Jesus will face deception. Jesus says in verses 4-5, "Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Messiah,' and they will deceive many." He says essentially the same thing in verses 23-26, warning of those who will say, "Look, here is the Messiah!" (v. 23). This is what Jesus' followers are to expect: "False messiahs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible, even the elect" (v. 24). When we see and hear such things, our instructions are clear: "do not believe it" (v. 26). Individuals like Jim Jones, David Koresh, and other blatantly false teachers typically come to mind when we hear such warnings, but deception can be much more subtle. Many people promote a picture or a version of Jesus that is not found in the Bible, and they continue to deceive scores of Christians.

Second, as we wait for Christ's return, followers of Jesus will face tribulation. Whether in the first century or in the twenty-first century, life will not be easy for those who bear witness to the Lord Jesus Christ. In verses 6-8 Jesus speaks of the "beginning of birth pains" (v. 8), which will319 include "wars and rumors of wars," as well as "famines and earthquakes in various places" (vv. 6-7). These things were familiar to first-century Christians, and they are certainly familiar to us today. We hear of wars and rumors of wars across the Middle East, escalating tensions between Israel and Iran, and nuclear threats from North Korea. The daily news is also littered with reports of famine in parts of Africa, where hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children have starved and are starving. Earthquakes, cyclones, flooding, and tsunamis have taken countless lives in a matter of minutes. Needless to say, we are not immune to tribulation in this world, not one of us. And Jesus tells us to expect these things, not so that we can pinpoint a date for His coming based on one particular event, but so that we will be reminded about how to live and what to prepare for in this fallen world before He returns.

Astoundingly, in light of the terrifying events mentioned in this chapter, Jesus tells us not to fear: "See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet" (v. 6). Your hope as a follower of Christ should not come and go based on political trends or potential disasters; these things are not to alarm you. We're reminded of Paul's reference to the "labor pains" of creation, for even creation is waiting to be "set free from the bondage of corruption into the glorious freedom of God's children" (Rom 8:21). Remember, Christians are not saved from trials; Scripture is very clear on this. Rather, Christians are saved through trials.56 Jesus is saying, in effect, "Trust in Me. Even when it seems that everything is out of control, I am in control." With such confidence in Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can persevere through tribulation and deception.

Third, followers of Jesus will face temptation. In verse 10 Jesus says that many will "take offense, betray one another and hate one another." The increase in lawlessness will cause "the love of many to grow cold" (v. 12). Followers of Christ will be tempted not to trust in God, but instead to trust in themselves. Those who we thought were believers—people who were identified with the church—will turn away, and we will be tempted to do the same.

Fourth and finally, followers of Jesus will face persecution. Jesus warns us in verse 9, "They will hand you over for persecution, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of My name."320 You will experience suffering because you bear the name of Christ, so don't be surprised at the world's opposition. Persevere, for "the one who endures to the end will be delivered" (v. 13). As we persevere, we do so with the promise of Christ's power and presence, for He tells us at the end of Matthew's Gospel, "I am with you always, to the end of the age" (28:20).

As we persevere, we do so proclaiming this gospel of the kingdom. Matthew 24:14—a verse George Ladd once called "perhaps the most important single verse in the Word of God for God's people today" (Ladd, The Gospel of the Kingdom, 123)—says the following: "This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come." Jesus has just given us a long list of things that will happen that are not necessarily signs of the end; they're just birth pains leading to the end. The end will come when the gospel has been proclaimed as a testimony to all nations. This is why we long to make the gospel known to every people group in the world. These truths about worldwide proclamation set the stage for the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, where Jesus gives that foundational command to the church to "make disciples of all nations" (v. 19). But this glorious task will not be easy.

While the gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed to all nations, persecution inevitably follows kingdom proclamation. If you give your life to proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom in your workplace or somewhere across the world, life will get harder for you, not easier. If you want to live a nice, comfortable, safe Christian life, then don't share the gospel. Of course, that's not an option if we love Jesus and want to be faithful to Him! We make Him known, regardless of the cost, because His reward is worth it.

One of the reasons we can rejoice in making the gospel known is because proclamation ultimately results in kingdom consummation. Jesus will return and consummate His kingdom when this mission is accomplished. The accomplishment of this mission will happen when every nation, that is, every group of people on the planet, has been reached with the gospel. This is what we give our lives and resources to. Christians often ask, "How will you know when all the nations have been reached with the gospel of the kingdom?" I can't improve on Ladd's response:

May God help us to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom throughout the world as we persevere in this world in the power of the King.

We've already seen in Matthew 24 that we are to trust in the authority of Christ and persevere in the power of Christ. Now, based on what we see in this chapter and the portrait of Christ we see throughout Matthew's Gospel, we should long for the coming of Christ. The realities of tribulation, deception, temptation, and persecution create anticipation. The more we live in this world, the more we will long for Christ to come back to this world.

This text leaves no doubt that the day of Christ's return will be evident to all. His coming will be no secret: the angels of heaven will let out a trumpet blast, and every eye will behold the Son of Man in the sky (vv. 29-31). How different this will be from His first coming! The first time He came to a remote, obscure town just outside Jerusalem, where He went largely unnoticed, save for a few shepherds and some farm animals. He came the first time lying in a manger; however, He will come the second time riding on the clouds. This is what Daniel prophesied centuries before:

Just as surely as He came the first time in humility to provide salvation, so He will come the second time in glory to execute judgment. Matthew's reference to "the clouds of heaven" in verse 30 is not just an allusion to Daniel 7. Throughout the Old Testament, God reveals His glory in the image of a cloud. It was a pillar of cloud that led God's people in the exodus from Egypt (Exod 13:21). Then, at the end of the book of Exodus, God's glory was revealed in a cloud that covered the tabernacle (Exod 40:34-38). Psalm 104:3 says that God makes the clouds "His chariot," and Isaiah 19:1 depicts the Lord riding on a "swift cloud." The picture we get in Matthew 24 is of the glory of God revealed in the glorious Son of God, who will come on the clouds in power to execute judgment.

In verse 30 Jesus says that the tribes of the earth will "mourn" when they see Him coming. That day will be a day of judgment, and all who are not ready for that day—that is, those who have refused to turn from their sin and to trust in Christ as Savior and King—will come face to face with the Holy One whom they have rejected.

This text should cause us to ask ourselves, "What if this happened today? Would I be ready?" If not, then repent and believe in Christ today.

If you are a genuine follower of Christ, are there things in your life that you still need to repent of, sins that you're holding on to and toying with? What are you doing today that would cause you to be ashamed before Jesus if He were to come this moment? If so, let go of these things. Confess your sin and find mercy in Your Savior, so that you will be ready for His coming.

Following Jesus' description of His second coming in verses 29-31, He tells the parable of the fig tree in verses 32-33. The lesson of this parable is that Christians confidently watch, for they see the leaves on the tree (the signs Jesus has spoken of) indicating that the Lord's return is near. In a very real sense, we keep our eyes on the sky and our hearts prepared, even though we don't know the exact timing of His coming. Yet we know that His timing will confound our wisdom. When the Son returns, we will see that the Father's timing makes perfect sense, so we watch with confidence in the sovereign control of God.

While we watch, Christians patiently wait. In verse 34, Jesus says, "I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place." This verse has been particularly confusing, because it323 seems that Jesus is saying that the generation He was speaking to would see His second coming. There's much discussion over what is meant by terms like "generation," "pass away," and "all these things." Good scholars have reached different conclusions. It seems clear, however, that Jesus did not mean that He would return before His disciples died. After all, He explicitly told Peter in John 21:18-19 that Peter would be put to death. Matthew 24:34 seems to teach that all of the things that Jesus has talked about—tribulation, deception, temptation, and persecution—would come upon His disciples, and that others in that generation would see the destruction of Jerusalem as a foretaste of the return of Jesus. But those things would not be the end. In the midst of these signs, from generation to generation, followers of Christ are called to wait patiently.

As we wait for the coming of our glorious King, we know for certain that He is coming back and that today we are closer to His return than we were yesterday. And when He comes, His return will exceed our expectations. We've all been hopeful for some thing or some anticipated event, waiting eagerly to experience it, only to be deeply disappointed when it didn't meet our expectations. It will not be so with the second coming of Christ. Our words are inadequate to describe the glory of what that scene will be like, as well as all that will unfold in the days to come after that. In The Chronicles of Narnia, C. S. Lewis gives us a rich, imaginative picture of what that eternal state will be like. He ends the last book in the series like this:

For believers, the return of Christ and the end of this world will be the beginning of a new heaven and a new earth (Rev 21-22). While waiting and watching confidently, Christians urgently work. We fight deception and temptation, we persevere through tribulation, and we324 endure persecution as we proclaim the gospel of the kingdom throughout the whole world. We do this in full dependence on God, as we pray, "Your kingdom come" (Matt 6:10). This is what we give our time and resources to. We spend our lives, even lose them, if necessary, knowing Christ's power will ensure that His church (our lives!) will accomplish His mission.