Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How to Follow Jesus in 2023 | New Testament | Matthew 24

Episode Date: February 2, 2023

You've been through a lot in the past few years. From COVID to political unrest, following Jesus today is hard. Jesus tells us to expect suffering. In today's episode, Patrick uses Matthew 24 to discuss how to respond to such suffering. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Join the TMBT community in reading the entire New Testament in one year. Get your FREE reading plan here. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it with others, so others can find it too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter@TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Matthew 24

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life. In the time it takes to get to work. I'm Patrick Miller. Let's talk about the end times. Well, kind of. During the pandemic, I remember a lot of people scouring the Bible, suggesting that this pandemic was a sign of the end times. Around the same time, there's actually a famine which was caused by locusts in several African countries. And people came to me and said, look, this is the fulfillment of what Joel talked to. about in the Old Testament. Then as the protest after George Floyd's murder picked up and a contested election happened and then an invasion of the Capitol on January 6th, look, after all of this turmoil, I can't blame people for wondering, is this it? In Matthew 24, Jesus gives what scholars call his mini apocalypse. I kind of like that phrase. He speaks about a day of judgment so awful that he

tells his followers they must flee. He warns that it'll be awful for you if you're pregnant or have kids because fleeing will be all the more difficult. He tells his followers that they will be imprisoned and dragged before the rulers of their age, where they'll have to give an account of their hope in Jesus. But he warns them that this will really go well. They may be persecuted, even unto death. And even as I say all this, you can see that I'm framing this as a future event, something that's going to come one day. But actually I think that's wrong. Not because there will be a future judgment. there will be a future judgment. It's a mistake because Jesus in this passage isn't talking about an event in our future.

He's talking about an event in our past. But that said, this event was in the future for his followers. He calls this event the quote, the end of the age, which doesn't mean that it's the end of time or the final judgment, but that this thing which was going to come is the end of an era. So what was this epoch-changing event? Well, he actually tells us explicitly,

at the beginning of this fascinating chapter. Matthew 24, verse 1. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. They're talking about the temple. Do you see all these things? Jesus asked.

Truly, I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another. Everyone will be thrown down. So Jesus tells his disciples precisely what he's predicting, what he's talking about throughout this entire chapter, the destruction of the temple

in Jerusalem. That event would take place about 40 years later in 70 AD when the future Roman Emperor Titus ordered his troops to burn down the temple in Jerusalem all the way down to the ground. Every stone really was left toppled. So why did all these events happen? Well, even in Jesus' day, the region of Israel was at a near boil with civil unrest. The people were oppressed by the Romans, they were crucified by the Romans, they were forced to pay taxes they couldn't afford as poor farmers and fishermen. And they read all the prophecies of the Hebrew Bible for telling a day when God would bring his justice to earth and end their exile and subjugation. That explains why. Both before and after Jesus, there were many failed attempts of revolts against Rome. The people thought that they could

jumpstart God's kingdom mission with a violent revolution. That also explains why Jesus was crucified. He appeared to be one of those revolutionary leaders in many ways. He presented himself as a king. He spoke about God's kingdom. He gathered followers. He planned to put an end to exile. But he was different because he laid down his life and he built a new temple with living stones, meaning that the old temple, which was in Jerusalem after his death, that temple was defunct and it was under God's judgment. So that leads to a question, why did he speak about the future destruction of the temple? Why even comments on this with his disciples? Well, it's because he knew that his followers would be in Jerusalem at the time of Jerusalem's destruction. And he wanted them when they were there and when the temple was being destroyed,

he wanted them to do at least two things. First, he didn't want them to participate in the revolution. Jesus was their king and he brought the kingdom. The revolutionary sought to bring a different kingdom without King Jesus. Of course, we can see efforts like that today. When people with revolutionary spirits try to establish utopian visions on earth, people on the right and the left do this. They promise a kingdom of America or maybe a kingdom of equity. But there's no King Jesus really in the picture. But Jesus told his disciples, when the temple would be destroyed, don't be deceived by the pseudo messias who promised to save you. He was the true Messiah. And the same thing is true of us. We must not be deceived by the partisans and the leaders who promised to be our pseudo messias,

who promised to save us today. Listen to what he tells his followers and realize this really still applies today. Watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, claiming I am the Messiah and will deceive many. Don't be deceived, friends. The political leaders of our day aren't messias. Jesus alone is the Messiah. Jesus alone is king. Follow him. The second thing Jesus wanted his followers to do was survive. I mean, he warned his followers about this destruction that was coming because he wanted them to flee. But he knew that some of them would be captured. and he wanted them to know that even if they were captured, this wasn't a problem. Even then, they could witness to the true kingdom of Jesus.

Listen to what he told his disciples. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate one another. And many false prophets will appear and deceive the people because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. Now catch this. And the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations.

And then the end will come. Jesus is saying to his disciples, expect suffering and persecution for your faith, but don't lose hope. Instead, share about Jesus and his kingdom to the powers who are trying to persecute you. Proclaim him. And that's how the whole world will one day eventually hear the gospel of his kingdom. And of course, we live downstream from that. We've seen the way that the gospel has gone across the world and has saved people from many nations. You see, this is how the nations come to believe that Jesus is Lord.

When we're persecuted, we proclaim his name. What does that mean for us today? Well, you should expect persecution too. I know that's hard to hear, but it's true. Following Jesus today is harder than it was 15 years ago. Our faith is increasingly out of step with our culture. But the response is not to separate from culture and bunker down. Our response shouldn't be to become like culture and take on its beliefs.

Our response shouldn't be to take up arms and try to fight the culture with words. Instead, Jesus tells us what our responsibility is. It's simply to accept that persecution, to love our enemies, even as they seek to harm us, and to speak truth to them. It might sound like a failing strategy as they dominate us, but in the end, Jesus always wins. somehow through our faithful witness people will come to faith from many nations again this isn't easy but you need to have charitable courage show those who would destroy the common good tact respect and kindness but speak the truth challenge them to do what's right the powers may not listen to you but you might be surprised who hears your message and turns to jesus as a result today i want you to

ask yourself, what false messias are you at risk of being drawn towards? Maybe it's a partisan and political agenda, or maybe it's a cause or justice issue, or maybe it's something in your workplace. I don't know, but we're all tempted to buy into messianic visions that promise salvation in the kingdom, but have no Jesus. They have no king. And then I want you to ask this, where's Jesus calling you right now to show charitable courage? You should expect and even embrace persecution for speaking truth, but when you do, you must do so respectfully with grace and kindness, not anger. How is God calling you to bravely proclaim his kingdom and a culture that's increasingly set against it? Before you forget, sign up for the 10-minute Bible Talks newsletter.

Hit the link in the show notes and you'll get an email every Wednesday that's going to help you beat that midweek slump and go deeper in your walk with Jesus. Thanks for listening.