BE FAITHFUL AND WISE SERVANTS
Matthew 24:1-51 Key Verse: 24:45
“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?”
Last week in Chapter 23 Jesus lamented over Jerusalem. After worship service, one COD student repented of his Pharisee-like-proud heart and decided to live Jesus-like-humble life. In Chapter 24 Jesus predicts the complete destruction of the temple. As there is a beginning, so there is an end. There is a beginning to the semester, and there is an end to the semester. Prompted by his disciples’ questions Jesus discourses about the end of the age. He also instructs his disciples to become faithful and wise managers of God’s world salvation work while they wait for his coming again.
Part I: The beginning of birth pains (1-14)
Look at verse 1. “Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings.” Jesus’ disciples were mostly Galilean fishermen. Whenever they traveled to Jerusalem, they were fascinated by the temple buildings. The Jerusalem temple had been built at the summit of Mount Zion. It was built of white marble stones, plated with gold, and it shone in the sun. No wonder the young disciples from Galilee were overwhelmed to see it. They were vulnerable to the glittering things of the world. Their hearts were filled with the desire to grab and hold onto all that the world had to offer.
How did Jesus answer them? Look at verse 2. “‘Do you see all these things?’ he asked. ‘I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’” This was a prediction of the imminent doom of the temple in Jerusalem. In 70 A.D. Jerusalem fell to the besieging army of Titus, a Roman general. He desecrated the temple and demolished it completely until not one stone was left on another, in order to take out the plated gold in between the stones. Jesus’ prophecy concerning the temple building was also an allegory about the destiny of human civilization.
The Jerusalem temple was the peak of human wisdom and technology at that time. It appeared that it would last forever. Like the Jerusalem temple, human civilization dazzles our minds. The Internet, space travel, nuclear technology, and genetic engineering impress our minds and seem to offer security and hope. Yet it is false. Neither these things nor religious symbols can save us at the time of God’s judgment. This present earth will someday be destroyed by fire (2 Pe 3:10). At that time the only thing that matters is our relationship with God. People want to be rich, famous, popular, powerful, and beautiful. But these are like the flowers of the field. They wither and fall. Jesus’ prophecy concerning the temple building sounds depressing. But it’s not. Jesus wanted to help his disciples have eyes to see beyond the temporal things of the world. Jesus wanted his disciples to have eyes to see the eternal kingdom of God.
What was the response of his disciples? They were greatly surprised at Jesus’ words. Look at verse 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?’”
In verses 4-7, Jesus tells his disciples the general overview of the end of the age and its signs. There will be many false prophets and false Christs (5). Some postmodern young people turn to peers for security. Can a fellow teenager be a savior? Some young American women fall in love with sweet-talking foreign men and marry them. Later they find out that their husbands really wanted American citizenship. “Be careful! There are many deceivers!”
Also there will be many rumors of wars (6). Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places and famines (7). Recently a Tsunami claimed 178,000 lives from 11 Southeast Asian countries. Currently America engages herself in a war on terror. Moreover, environmentalists warn us that global warming will threaten the very existence of our lives on earth unless we do something about it. The movie, “The Day After Tomorrow,” shows us what may happen when we ignore their warnings. It seems that all these events are too big for us to handle. We feel helpless and lose our hearts. But Jesus said in verse 8, “All these are the beginning of birth pains.”
There are two kinds of pains: meaningless pain and pain as the prerequisite to gain something better. Most women are willing to go through birth pains in order to give birth to new life. When their cute babies are born, they immediately forget the anguish. This is Jesus’ view of the sufferings and agonies of the world. Jesus views them not as meaningless pain but as birth pains: suffering to bring forth a better world. This birth pain applies to students as well. Some students enjoy studying in college. But most of them think that studying is pure torture or a necessary evil. But studying in college helps us to grow intellectually and spiritually. It is to learn hard-working spirit, discipline and faith. It is to lay the foundation for the future. No pain, no gain; no study, no degree; no degree, no professional job. This birth pain applies to shepherds. A shepherd’s mission is to go through birth pains to bring forth spiritual children and raise them up as spiritual leaders. Instead of trying to avoid sufferings, we must be willing to suffer for God and for the future of mankind.
Another birth pain we must endure as Christians is persecution from ungodly people. But God will use their persecution on Christians to advance the gospel of his kingdom to the whole world. Look at verse 9. “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me.” The early Christians in Jerusalem enjoyed a wonderful fellowship with one another. Then the Jews began to persecute them. Stephen became the first martyr. Soon Roman Emperors began to persecute Christians, for they refused to worship the emperors as gods. As Jesus predicted in verses 10-12, many turned away from the faith. They betrayed each other. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most grew cold. They became too busy to take care of themselves that they had no room to take care of others.
What should we do at the time of persecution? We must stand firm to the end. Look at verse 13. “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” At the time of persecution, Satan plants fear in our hearts: fear of losing everything and fear of death. Those who give in to Satan’s fear lose the battle even before the fighting begins. Persecution will test our faith whether it is genuine or not. Those who stand firm in Jesus to the end are true victors. We should not think of persecution as something strange. We should accept persecution as the honorable symbol of living as genuine Christians in this ungodly generation.
Look at verse 14. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” In fact, the Jewish persecution on the early Christians in Jerusalem could not extinguish the fire of their glowing love for Jesus and his gospel in their hearts. The persecution rather fanned the fire into a burning flame. The more the Jews tried to extinguish the fire, the wider the fire spread. Soon the gospel spread from Jerusalem to Judea and Samaria and later to Rome. It is interesting to note that verse 14 has a passive form. It says that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, but does not say “by whom” it will be done. It was, is and will be done by all nameless Christians who stand firm to the end at the time of persecution like Missionary Andrew Hwang.
Part II: Jesus’ second coming. (15-35)
Jesus tells his disciples how the destruction of the Jerusalem temple would occur in detail. Look at verse 15. “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel–let the reader understand–“then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Here Jesus talks about the abomination that causes desolation. After the Roman general Titus besieged Jerusalem, he offered sacrifices to idols on the temple altar. He performed this kind of abominable act in order to cause the desolation of Jerusalem and of the temple. The destruction of the temple would signal the beginning of the crumble of the world. Look at verse 29. “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.’” The destruction of the temple was a local event in Judea. But the collapse of the heavens and the earth will be a global event. It will be the day of final doom to the planet Earth and the universe.
What will happen at this terrible time of final doom? Look at verse 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.” When our Lord Jesus came to this world first, he came as a baby in a manger. Only a few people came to worship him: the shepherds and the Magi from the east. But when he comes again, his coming will be noticed globally. He will come like lightening, visible to all peoples of all nations. At that time we will see Jesus coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory in order to rescue us from utter destruction and usher us into his eternal kingdom. (30-31). Sometimes we feel that our Lord Jesus Christ will not remember what we did for his name's sake. But that is not true. He remembers them all. Our Lord Jesus never ignores his elect. And he will lift us up one by one from the world of misery in order to take us to himself and to the glorious kingdom of God, saying, "Well done, my good and faithful servants!"
In order to assure us of his coming again, he tells us of a fig tree lesson (32-34). We can understand that his coming is sure and certain through nature. During the winter, the tree in front of our Bible House looks dead. But when spring comes, its twigs get tender and its leaves come out. Soon we know that the summer is coming. Likewise, Jesus' second coming is getting nearer and nearer. We as God's people must have spiritual insight to see the signs of Jesus’ glorious second coming. In verse 35, Jesus reassures us of the absolute certainly of his coming again, saying, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.”
Part III: Be faithful and wise servants (36-51).
Then when is Jesus coming? That is a good question. Look at verse 36. "No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Why didn't Jesus tell us when he was coming again? Not even Jesus knows the day or the hour. Only God knows. Jesus did not tell us the exact time of his coming because if we knew the day of his coming, we would calculate. We would take it easy and try to have all kinds of fun and sinful pleasure. And then one day or one hour before his second coming, we would repent quickly and try to be ready for his coming. Instead, Jesus taught us to keep watch because he will come suddenly like a thief (42-44). Here "keep watch" means "be ready.” As you know, thieves do not make an appointment with us for their visits. Therefore, we must be ready 24 hours and 7 days. We must be ready to welcome Jesus at any time.
What is the best way of making ourselves ready for his coming? Look at verses 45-47. "Who then is the faithful and wise servant whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. I tell you the truth, he will put him in charge of all his possessions.” The time of Jesus' second coming is getting nearer and nearer. As he promised, Jesus will return suddenly and publicly for all men and women to see. Many scholars study the book of revelations in order to figure out when Jesus will come. They add numbers; they try to match the prophecies in the book of revelation with current events. We should not be busy in guessing the date of Jesus’ second coming. We should not be stargazers. Before his sudden and glorious return, we have a mission to complete. In today’s passage Jesus said in verse 14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
We must preach the gospel of Jesus’ saving grace and eternal kingdom here in DuPage, Illinois, America and the whole world. That is the glorious mission given to us. Of course, this is too great a mission to fulfill all by ourselves. But it is possible for us to fulfill when all of us take part in it. Today is the Super Bowl Day, 2007, in the football game, there are players and spectators. But in the work of God, there should be no spectators. God called us to be faithful and wise servants in his work and history. As his servants, we must give an account of what we have done with our precious lives. Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished." This was his report to God the Father. When Jesus comes again, we too want to report to him, saying, "It is finished." We don't want to say, "Oh, no! Not now! My work is not done yet.” (48-51). Being assigned a place with the hypocrites will be the most unbearable punishment. But that will be the punishment for wicked servants. Therefore, we must watch ourselves from becoming lazy or complacent.