What Jesus Actually Said About the End
Text: Matthew 24:1-14, 24:14
The end isn’t about God leaving. It’s about God coming.
If you’ve ever been confused by Matthew 24, you’re not alone. The disciples were confused too.
They were standing in front of the most beautiful building they’d ever seen – the Temple in Jerusalem. White stone, gold roof. They said, “Look at this, Jesus!”
Jesus said, “It’s all coming down. Not one stone left on another.”
That got their attention. So they walked across the valley to the Mount of Olives and asked, “When? What will be the sign that you’re coming back and wrapping this age up?”
Matthew 24 is Jesus’ answer. And if we zoom out, the whole chapter is actually pretty simple. He answers in four everyday pictures.
1. First, He Says: Don’t Be Fooled. (v. 4-8)
The first danger isn’t war or earthquakes. It’s being misled.
Jesus says, “Many will come saying ‘I am the Christ’ and will lead many astray.”
Then he lists the headlines we see every day: wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes. He says, “Don’t be alarmed. This is not the end. This is the beginning of birth pains.”
I like that picture. My wife gave birth to my son. Those early pains were real, but they weren’t the end. They meant something new was coming.
Jesus says the shaking we feel is not a dead end. It’s a birth canal. God is not destroying. God is delivering.
2. Then He Says: Don’t Quit. (v. 9-14)
He gets honest. “You will be hated. Many will fall away. Lawlessness will increase. The love of many will grow cold.”
That’s not very encouraging. But then he plants a flag in the middle of it:
“But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Did you catch it? The Gospel will go to all nations. Not just to us. Not just to our group. To all.
That’s what we mean when we say Yahweh is good to all. God’s plan isn’t to save a few and ditch the rest. His plan is to get the good news to everyone. The end doesn’t come until the invitation has gone everywhere.
If the end was about God abandoning the world, he’d pull the covers off now. But he says, “We keep going. We keep preaching. We keep loving. To all.”
3. Then He Says: Don’t Panic When The Old System Falls. (v. 15-28)
This part sounds strange to us – “the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place.”
For his listeners, it was simple. Daniel had warned that a time would come when something unholy would set itself up in God’s house. For Matthew’s church, it happened in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed the Temple.
Jesus says, “When you see that, get out. Don’t go back for your coat.”
Why? Because God was finished with a religion that kept people out. Jesus had already said, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” When the Temple system that excluded Gentiles, lepers, and sinners fell, it wasn’t God being mean. It was God clearing space for a bigger table.
He doesn’t destroy to reject. He deconstructs to include.
He also says, “Don’t run after secret messiahs in the desert or in back rooms. When I come, everyone will know it, like lightning from east to west.”
In other words: Don’t chase hype.
4. Finally, He Says: Get Ready – I’m Coming to Gather, Not to Abandon. (v. 29-35)
“After the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened… and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds… and he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds.”
Sun, moon, stars shaking – that’s Bible language for big change. The old world order shaking.
But what does Jesus actually do when he comes? Does he evacuate the planet?
No. He gathers.
From the four winds. From everywhere. North, south, east, west. That word “elect” – we’ve made it mean “favorites.” In the Bible it means “firstfruits.” The first batch of dough that shows the whole loaf is coming. God starts with some to show he intends to reach all.
Then he says, “Learn from the fig tree. When its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know summer is near.”
If God keeps his promise to make one tree bud again – Israel – then he will keep his promise to bring summer for everyone.
He finishes: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
The Temple stones fell. Empires fall. But his word stands. And what is his word? Romans 11:32 tells us plainly: “God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.”
That’s the whole tour in one sentence: God is not good to some. Yahweh is good to all.
So how do we live while we wait?
Jesus doesn’t give us a timeline. He gives us a job description: Don’t be fooled. Don’t quit. Don’t panic. Be ready to welcome everybody to the table.
For Personal Reflection – Keep it simple:
- What headline is making you afraid right now – war, money, health? How does it help to see it as a birth pain, not a dead end?
- Who is one person outside your usual circle that God might want you to show mercy to this week?
- Do you live like God is abandoning the world, or visiting the world?
Next–> Sermon 1: The Question Behind the Question
