PASTOR RYAN LADEN – DEVOTIONALS
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Over the next few devotionals, I intend to walk through the message of Matthew chapter 24. This chapter contains a great deal of teaching from Jesus about the kinds of trials and tribulations that should be expected to befall those who follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
This chapter contains many metaphors and parables that some people like to read as hard facts and therefore miss the point being made by the Lord. Others take the plain message concerning the return of the Son of God and attempt to obfuscate this clear promise of return into something ephemeral and difficult to understand.
I will not be providing you with any sort of revelatory message from God that is not already in the message of God’s word, but I do hope to provide you with something that helps you make sense of the world around us as we see it today.
Context
Prior to the teaching that Jesus provides in the text of Matthew 24, Jesus was addressing the need for the religious leaders of his day to let go of their self-centered view of God’s kingdom and get on board with the work of the Messiah being done right in front of them. The end of that teaching included a dire warning for those who trust their own wisdom rather than the wisdom of God that stood before them in the person of Jesus.
And so we read the first section of this teaching:
1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
(Matthew 24:1-3 NIV11)
Question
The disciples were marveling at the beauty and scope of Herod’s temple, built on Mt. Moriah. This structure was nothing like that of Moses or Solomon. It was a testament to the political power and reputation of Herod the Great’s dynasty.
As the disciples gawked at the scale of the building, Jesus said something to them that must have seemed impossible. He told them that every one of the visible stones (some the size of school buses) would soon be overturned, implying the destruction of the Jewish temple.
This must have been hard to process as the disciples waited until they were alone to ask Jesus about the meaning of this statement.
Hard to see
The disciples and Jesus were sitting across from the temple (looking over the Kidron Valley), taking in the beauty of the cream colored stones that made up the huge structure. The disciples asked Jesus the question that we all want to ask the Lord…
- When will this happen?
- When will you conquer the earth as we know it?
- How will we know that you are about to act?
These are the questions that we all want to know when we consider the promises of the Lord that relate to the return of the Christ and the creation of the new heaven and new earth, or the establishment of the Kingdom of God.
Over and over we ask these questions of one another and of the biblical text, and over and over, we feel like the disciples, still waiting and wondering.
Discourse
Following this question, Matthew provides us with a long discourse from the Lord on all kinds of events, details, parables, and metaphors related to the questions of when and how. In the passage that follows, we hear the first of these markers.
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
(Matthew 24:4-8 NIV11)
Beginning
Yikes. The worst part of this part of Jesus’ message for me is the last thing we just read, “all these are just the beginning of birth pains.”
Just the beginning? Man, that is not what I want to hear.
I want Jesus to tell me that I will escape all forms of tribulation and trial and that I will be spared from suffering as the world wages war and false religions rise up and attempt to choke out the truth of Christ.
Preparation
But it is good that the Lord is being upfront with us. In verse 6, we are warned to “see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, then the end is still to come.”
The Lord wants us to face the future with our eyes open. The Christian is challenged by Jesus to live a life marked by readiness and preparation. We are not to be caught off guard when we are the subject of lies, attack, persecution, and all the other misfortunes that come with being a part of this broken and fallen world.
Application
Today, I hope that you will pause and reflect on the truths spoken by the Lord.
- We will face all kinds of hardship and trials in this life.
- The Christian is not exempt from war and the effects of violence and conflict.
- Things have been bad in the past, and the people of God continued on in their service to the Lord.
- Things will be bad once again, and once again, we will persevere and serve the Lord faithfully.
- The Lord knows what is going on, and nothing is a surprise.
- There will come an end to all of this mess one day soon.
- Until then, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will lead your path.
In Christ,
Ryan Laden
PASTOR RYAN LADEN
Senior Pastor at PARK HILL BAPTIST CHURCH
Worked at MTN. CHURCH
Former Senior pastor at Warnbro Community Church
Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Studied at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
Studied at Baylor University
Studied at Texas Tech University
Went to Castle Hills First Baptist
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