EVERY DAY WITH JESUS
Followers (Disciples) of Jesus
A devotional consideration of the Gospel of Saint Matthew
(This is also found on line at www.saintlucas.org)
MONDAY, February 6, 2012 Matthew 24:15-22 “‘So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’[a] spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand— 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the roof of his house go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. 19 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equaled again. 22 If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.’”
Trouble These verses speak of trouble. Trouble for the Church of Christ. Frankly, persons seeking to understand these verses have had trouble doing that too. They are among the most difficult verses to understand in this gospel.
Like much of our troubles in life, the trouble is self-inflicted. People continually press these words for specific minute application to the page of the calendar on which they are living instead of remembering the context in which the words were given. Remember: these words of Jesus are in response to a two-fold question from the disciples which we can summarize in this way - they wanted to know about the up-coming destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, and about the final return of Christ.
Again, we remind ourselves, the events surrounding the first century destruction of the temple and Jerusalem both general and specific are used by Jesus as a picture of the ultimate destruction of the world at His return. Like a skilled weaver, Jesus combines these events. Which is He talking about when? Sometimes the first sometimes the second sometimes both. His purpose is not to give us specific details that we check off one by one to try to pin-point the exact moment of His return. That is precisely what He told us not to do! Instead, He wants His Church until the end of time to understand the general conditions of their life and ministry. Understanding this, we are then to simply and faithfully DO IT - proclaim the Kingdom to His glory and the preparation of others so they receive His grace which prepares them for His return.
You are ready for thait. Who else does God want to use you to get prepared?
PRAYER: LORD Jesus, Your final return will be sudden and it may be soon. Help me not to spend my valuable time in curious questions but in serious service. AMEN
TUESDAY, February 7, 2012 Matthew 24:23-28 “‘At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.
26 “So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the desert,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.27 For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.’”
LIES! Is it any surprise that the evil one who brought destruction upon our race through the big lie would flood the world with lies as the day of his final destruction approaches?! The lies of the end times in one way or another are his attempt to contradict or hide God’s ultimate truth - JESUS. As He Himself said and proved: “‘I AM the Way, and the TRUTH, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.’” (John 14:6)
There is only one preparation for the return of Christ that is “”...that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”. JOHN 3:16!! That ultimate truth about the Person and work of Jesus for the world is the focus of Satan’s attack. False Christs and false things about Christ are his primary weapons. Among people like us, who hold to the biblical truth about the Person and work of Christ, he seeks to divert us to false focuses for our personal and group lives as Christians. He seeks to knock us off center in our witness and life to keep us from personally enjoying Christ and publicly sharing Him. Ironically, one of the plainly most successful of his efforts is by getting people to be overly fascinated and fixated about current events. He wants them to waste their energy and time developing and disseminating their personal prophecies about the end times instead of focusing upon His accomplishments on His first visit and His command to proclaim that to all nations as we wait for His promised return.
PRAYER: LORD, thanks for the signs You gave about Your return, As I anticipate that day, keep me focused on what You have already accomplished and what You have promised. Then, keep me occupied with doing Your will of proclaiming that. AMEN
WEDNESDAY, February 8, 2012 Matthew 24:29-31 “‘Immediately after the distress of those days
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’[a]
30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.’”
VICTORIOUS APPEARANCE Some day the troubles of the Church will end. The victorious Savior and His salvation, which we believe and which we proclaim, will be vindicated in the sight of all people ever by His reappearing. O joyous magnificent day!!
His “power” and HIs “glory” will be displayed. Unlike the fireworks displays that we see here on earth in time, this display will never end. We are going to see His glory forever. His angels “‘...will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other”! O joyous day! O eternal victory! As believers in Christ, each of us can say IT’S MINE!
Until that time we keep before our eyes and hold up before the eyes of all others: the Crucified and Risen LORD, Jesus Christ - our Savior and the Savior of all.
Ready! Set! Come LORD Jesus!
PRAYER: Dear Savior, You lived, died, rose, and rule as the Savior of all. The day of Your triumphant return is set. It will be a day of everlasting mourning for those who don’t believe in You while it is a day of everlasting joy for us who do believe. Help us to cling to and share the sure hope of everlasting life which is for all in You alone! AMEN
THURSDAY, February 9, 2012 Matthew 24:32-35 “‘Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[a] is near, right at the door. 34 I tell you the truth, this generation[b] will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.’”
“‘Now learn this lesson from the fig tree...’” Most of the trees of Palestine are evergreens. Two prominent local trees that do lose their leaves are the almond and the fig. The almond leaves return in early spring while the fig tree’s leaves come back in late spring shortly before the summer harvests.
This is why Jesus uses the fig tree as a symbol for the immanence of His return. The leaves appearing on the fig tree are a sign of the joyous reality that spring has sprung after a hard winter. So, too, in the midst of all the harsh signs of the times before Christ’s return, those very signs can serve as a source of joy as we see them fulfilled because then we, the Church of Christ, can know that our spiritual winter too is almost over.
In these verses we again find Jesus’ now familiar combining of the events of the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem and the events of His return. The generation that first heard these words from Him witnessed that first destruction before they passed away. Future generations, including ours, see in that first fulfillment the certainty that the later judgment will also come just as He said.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus, You will return just as You promised. The signs are everywhere all the time urging us to always be prepared. By Your Spirit help us to learn from those frightening yet gracious signs to always be prepared by staying in and sharing our faith. AMEN
FRIDAY, February 10, 2012 Matthew 24:36 “‘No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father.’”
“‘No one knows!’” How often has this simple astounding fact been contradicted?! The highest selling book series of all time is virtually a contradiction of these very words; and that from a person who proclaims himself a follower of Christ! Why doesn’t he listen to Him then?
Continuously the Church is confronted (and embarrassed in front of the world we might add!) by persons who claim they can pinpoint at least the approximate if not the exact day of Christ’s return. Stop it!
Neither the angels of God, nor God’s own Son in the time of His voluntary humiliation know that day. Idle speculation is worse than distracting! It is disobedient!
If it were good for the Church of Christ to know the exact day or even the year or decade or century - our gracious God would have told us. What complacency would have overwhelmed the Church in the first century or subsequent centuries if they had been told that it would happen in 2011 (whoops!) or 2012?
It would have happened already if it had been God’s time. It will happen today or this year if it is God’s will. Meanwhile, we shall not be bothered by not knowing exactly when nor will be defiantly try to determine that. Instead, we will devote ourselves to being prepared and being busy to prepare others - that we know is God’s will.
PRAYER: LORD, thank You for what You have kept to Yourself and thank You for what You have made known to us and through us. AMEN
SATURDAY, February 11, 2012 Matthew 24:36-39 “‘No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.’”
The Old Normal Don’t be fooled by the normalcy of the times before Christ’s return. While there are many dramatic signs repeatedly held before us as reminders of His promised return, at the same time life often seems to be the same old same old.
The sameness of mundane life in Noah’s day was used by the scoffers to mock the message of that prophet. Then, the rain started and didn’t stop until they were all dead except for the prophet and his immediate family.
When Christ returns - and, He will return! - those living normal lives without faith in Him and expectation of His return will be destroyed. We, on the other hand, who know of His promise and believe in Him, go about the normal tasks of life while continuously and consciously staying prepared and sharing the faith which has us prepared. In this way, we honor Him and help others while enjoying His promises ourselves.
PRAYER: Dear Savior, the day is coming when the old normal will end forever. Keep us prepared in You and keep us active in our efforts to share Your Word so that Your Spirit can prepare all others. AMEN
SUNDAY, February 12, 2012 Matthew 24:40,41 “‘Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.’”
“The rapture”? The devil inspired misuse of these verses has become one of the best known false fantasies ever perpetrated by him through wayward alleged followers of Jesus.
God knows whether the perpetrators and proclaimers of these “rapture” myths are believers in Him at all. One thing is certainly clear: with respect to what they say about these verses they are not following His words but proclaiming their own fantasies.
God’s believer will not be “raptured” out of this world before His return. All of the surrounding context is preparing His people to continue to serve and share Him in the midst of the tribulation including the great tribulation of the last days.
These verses take believers to the day when Christ returns and give them the assurance that on that day they will be taken away to salvation while those who do not believe will be left behind for eternal destruction.
The Holy Spirit has given us His inspired commentary on these not as mysterious as people say words:
“ Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.14 We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.” (I Thessalonians 4:13-18) To which we say: AMEN!
PRAYER: Take me home LORD, when I depart and/or when You return! AMEN
