Wednesday after the Last Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on November 29, 2023 by under
Scripture: St. Matthew 24:1-14 (NKJV)
24:1 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple. 2 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”
3 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. 10 And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. 11 Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. 12 And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. 13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
Devotion
Our God provided our creation through the means of our parents. He provides for us by means of food, drink, clothing, etc. He protects and defends us through the government. However, God will not always make use of this world’s created means. In the new heaven and earth—as described in yesterday’s reading—the former things will have passed away. There will be neither sun, nor moon. “In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage” (Matt 22:30).
In today’s text, Jesus explains that the glorious Jerusalem temple would be destroyed before the end comes. Once the Promised Christ, who was the final sacrifice for sins, had offered Himself for our sins (Heb. 7:26-27), there was no longer any need for a temple or Old Testament priests offering up daily sacrifices.
They did not understand that the final age of the Church, ushered in after Christ’s resurrection and ascension, would need to come before the Last Day comes. That Church-age would be both a time of lawlessness (departure from the Word) and faithfulness. Outside the Church “the love of many would grow cold.” Inside the Church, where there is faith in Christ, the Church in love will preach “the gospel…in all the world as a witness to all the nations.” And then, the end will come. Those holding in faith to Christ’s forgiveness will endure to the end and be saved.
Collect: Absolve, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy people from their offenses, that from the bonds of our sins which, by reason of our frailty, we have brought upon us, we may be delivered by Thy bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
