Day 311 (Matthew 24) - Year 4
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Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today's reading has a lot in common with yesterday's reading. We recapped the first half yesterday, so today we'll zoom in on the second half.

I mentioned this yesterday, but it bears repeating. One of the things that helps me through passages like these is to look at what parts are information and what parts are instruction. To figure out which is which, you can ask yourself questions like, is Jesus telling me something God is going to do or something the disciples are supposed to do or something I am supposed to do? If he's telling us what God is doing or what the disciples were supposed to do, it's information. If he's telling us what we're supposed to do, it's instruction. But just a heads up,

Sometimes there is a clear or implied overlap of information and instruction. This is the final week of his life, and Jesus is talking to his inner circle, plus Andrew, on the Mount of Olives, just outside the gates of Jerusalem. He tells them about how the temple will be destroyed and Jerusalem will fall to Rome. He tells them about lots of trials and struggles they'll endure. And so far, it seems like he's kind of working in chronological order. Thanks, Jesus.

As a reminder, one of the names for the Messiah is Son of Man. So when Jesus dives into this topic, he's talking about his return to earth after his death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven. So while it's possible that everything up to that point has already happened, this is something we're still waiting for.

He pulls back the curtain a bit on what will happen, but there's still a glare on the window, so we can't really expect to see things clearly just yet. We may have ideas, we may have hints, but none of us know the full details on all of this. There are a few major perspectives on this, and I've tried reading the passages through the various lenses of those different opinions, and I can truly see how each perspective has its own strengths. This is one of the many places where it's wise to hold things with an open hand.

Because, as always, we don't scream where scripture whispers and we don't whisper where scripture screams. So now that we've got that out of the way, what's going to happen? Jesus says that when he returns, there will be some strange astronomical phenomenon. Maybe.

What I mean is, will the actual stars really fall? Or is this just another time Jesus is speaking of things in spiritual terms, not physical terms? Maybe this refers to kings and kingdoms, or to the spiritual forces of evil, like Satan, who many believe is called the day star in Isaiah 14.12. Your guess is as good as mine, and we're both still guessing.

Then Jesus will send his angels to gather his elect from the four corners of the earth as well as the four corners of heaven, and we'll all be united together with him through eternal life, a merging of heaven and earth.

Luke's account of this in chapter 21 says people will even faint with fear when all this is happening. But do you know who doesn't need the smelling salts? God's kids. The so-called end times are the beginning times for believers. This is what we're moving toward. When Jesus talks about all these terrible things in Luke 21-28, he says, When these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

It's tempting to read his words about the future and focus on the hard parts. Some people are so consumed by the hard parts that they try to determine when it's going to happen, which is a dangerous path to walk. Maybe those efforts are rooted in pure joy and excitement, but if they're rooted in any kind of fear or control, they'll cause us to miss the point Jesus is trying to make here. Our redemption is drawing near. This is good news.

Lots of people have made fools of themselves through the centuries by trying to name the dates of his return or by saying certain world leaders are the ones prophesied in scripture to do specific things. But then those dates pass and those people die and here we still are. Meanwhile, it makes a mockery of our faith to outsiders who are looking in. Jesus says, no one knows the day or the hour. So I try to resist the urge to be all blood moon this and mark of the beast that because it tends to put my focus on the wrong thing.

Here's what Jesus said I should think about instead. Straighten up and raise your heads, for your redemption is drawing near. By the way, the phrase straighten up isn't a call to get your act together. It's his way of saying we don't have to cower in fear. This reminder is one of the clearest things he says in this whole passage. Then he says something that is not clear. He says, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. So was he lying? Because these guys have definitely passed away.

Here are two things worth noting. First, Jesus is definitely not referring to these guys specifically because he tells a few of them how they'll die, and he makes it clear that that will happen before his return. Second, like we've already said, Jesus confirms that he doesn't know when he'll be returning. Only the Father knows, so he can't be telling them it will be within their lifetime. So what's he talking about then?

Most scholars believe the phrase this generation refers to either humanity itself or to the line of descendants of God's family. But it's kind of inconsequential, which it is, because God's family will last as long as humanity lasts. So they both have the same end point. This seems to be yet another time where Jesus is aiming to encourage his followers with reminders that despite all the terrible things that are going to happen, despite the way most of them will be martyred,

His kingdom will keep advancing into the future. What they're building is eternal. The gospel isn't going to die or be killed off. It's going to keep reaching the peoples and the nations, and then he will return. And this is where my God shot comes in for today. Along with don't be afraid, another thing Jesus makes abundantly clear in this passage is that his followers should stay awake. Amidst all the half information he gives, this is one of the commands he gives. He never says, try to figure out when I'm coming back.

He never says, see if you can piece this all together like a big puzzle. What he says very clearly is stay awake. Don't be lulled to sleep by the world. And when things get crazy, don't be afraid and share the gospel no matter what.

When we know him, it becomes easier to trust him. And when we trust him, we can have the kind of peace only he can bring, even amidst uncertainty. We can walk out the values of his upside-down kingdom where we aren't trying to grab all we can get or make sure our earthly future is secure. But instead, we can trust that he's granted us an eternal inheritance. Knowing Jesus helps us live with open hands, no matter what happens, because he's where the joy is. ♪

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