121. The Prophecy of the Lord concerning the End of Jerusalem and the End of the World Mt. 24

(Mark 13; Luke 21)

That Tuesday in passion week, which marked the end of his public teaching, had been a very busy and arduous day for Jesus. In the evening of the same day he and his disciples went out of the city again, up the Mount of Olives, towards Bethany, where he spent the night. Then his disciples showed him the temple buildings and said: “What a structure this is!” The temple in Jerusalem, which Herod had had rebuilt, was considered one of the wonders of the world. It rested on a foundation of white marble stones and was richly decorated with gold. Jesus assured that not a stone of this proud building would remain on another. Jerusalem, which had refused to hear the voice of the Son of God until the very end and was now preparing to crucify the King of Zion, was soon to fulfill its destiny. When Jesus sat down on the Mount of Olives, several of his disciples, namely the two pairs of brothers Peter and Andrew, John and James, asked him when this would happen and what the sign of his coming and the end of the world would be. In their minds they linked the end of Jerusalem with the end of the world. And in the writings of the prophets, as in the prophecy of the Lord (Mt. 16:27,28), the destruction of Jerusalem is seen as the beginning and prelude to the Last Judgment. Then, in the year a.d. 70, the wrath of God had “finally” come upon the Jews (1 Thess. 2:16). Now, as the Lord answers his disciples’ question in detail, he repeats and confirms many things that he had already announced to them on other occasions.

First, Jesus gives the general signs that point to the end of the world. Before the end, great plagues and terrors, war, rebellion, pestilence, famine, earthquakes, will afflict the inhabitants of the earth. But especially the disciples of Christ will experience great tribulation and persecution. They will be brought before the courts of the Jews, before the judgment seat of pagan kings. They will be stoned and killed. They will be hated by everyone. However, when they are called to account for their faith, they should not be afraid. God will give them a mouth and wisdom. The Holy Spirit will give them what to say (Mk 13:11; Lk 21:14,15). In the coming days many false Christs, many false prophets will appear and offer themselves as saviors to the world and will deceive many. Injustice will prevail on earth. Many who bear the name of Christ will grow cold in their love and abandon their faith. But only those who persevere to the end will be saved. In addition to these terrible signs, the Lord also mentions a pleasant sign of the last days. The gospel of the kingdom is to be preached throughout the world. Only when the word of salvation has been proclaimed to all the peoples of the earth will the end come. We sing: “The signs by which, discerning, We’d know of Thy returning—Have been so oft appearing, Thine advent must be nearing.” War and great terrors that cover the whole world, oppression of the true Church of God, much false teaching and error, increase in godlessness, great apostasy from the gospel within Christendom, the conquest of the gospel in the heathen world—these are fundamental features in the history of the world and the church ever since the days of Christ. These are still signs of the times for us today. From this we should conclude that the end is near.

But the Lord also points to a special double sign of the last time. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled, until the full number of the elect—chosen out of the peoples of the world—are gathered together. That is, until the end of days (Lk 21:24). And in the holy place will be set up the abomination of desolation, of which the prophet Daniel spoke, especially in the 11th chapter of his prophecy. Then, when Jerusalem is seen besieged by armies (Luke 21:20), but especially when that abomination of desolation is seen, those who are in the land of Judea should flee to the mountains, where there are safe places of refuge. No one who is on the way should turn back to fetch anything from their house. Those who experience that time should pray to God that their flight does not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. In winter, flight is difficult, and on the Sabbath only short distances were permitted. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing at that time, for they cannot flee quickly. These are all figurative speech, similar to Lk 17:31. The meaning here is that at that time there will be such great tribulation that everyone who escapes it will be blessed. Especially when the second sign appears, there will be such tribulations as have never existed since the beginning of creation (Mk 13:19). If the Lord had not shortened those days for the sake of the elect, no human being would be saved. Lying prophets will also perform signs and wonders at that time, satanic forces will be at work to seduce even the elect into error if possible. This twofold prophecy of the Lord has also been fulfilled. Old Jerusalem, the city of the Jews, where God’s sanctuary once stood, now lies in ruins. The Jewish land has been given into the hands of the heathen. The Jewish people walk around like a living curse among the nations of the earth. The abomination of desolation has been set up in a holy place. What is written in Daniel 11 points (as our Lutheran confession, the Apology, shows in more detail) to the Antichrist and the kingdom of the Antichrist. And the Antichrist has appeared and become manifest. The Roman papacy has laid waste the temple of God, the Church of God, abolished the true divine service, set up all kinds of idolatry and otherwise filled the Church with many abominations and scandals, and he also confirmed his doctrine and lies with lying signs and wonders. What a tribulation it was that came upon Jerusalem in the year 70! The siege and destruction of Jerusalem was the bloodiest spectacle the world had ever seen. But the tribulation of the anti-Christian era weighs much more heavily. The Pope was and is the cruelest tyrant and murderer on earth. He has shed more Christian blood than the kings of the heathens.

And then, after giving the signs of his coming, Jesus says another word about his coming and the end of the world itself. Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the last day will dawn. So only cross and tribulation—no blissful state of the church, no thousand-year reign—will precede the day of the Lord. When the day dawns, the sun and moon will lose their brightness, the stars will fall from heaven, the powers of the heavens will be shaken, the sea and the waves will roar terribly. The world will tremble, shake, and be thrown out of joint. For the end of the world is at hand. Then fear will come upon the earth, and many will faint from fear and expectation of what is to come (Lk 21:25,26). And then will they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And all the tribes of the earth will howl when they see the Judge whose salvation they have despised. But the believers will lift up their heads with joy and confidence, because their redemption draws near (Luke 21:28). The Lord will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, which will penetrate even to the graves, and they will gather the elect from the four winds, to go with the Lord into everlasting joy.

The Lord puts a seal on this prophecy. He swears: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” The Lord will surely come and put an end to the world and take his own to himself. Only the day and hour of his coming are hidden from men. No one knows about this, not even the angels in heaven, not even the Son, but only the Father (Mk 13:32). The Son of God who became man, in his lowly state according to his human nature, renounced this knowledge. He did this for the sake of men, so that they would be even less likely to search and inquire about the day and hour. But when we see the signs of which Jesus spoke here, we should certainly conclude that the day is near, just as one rightly concludes from the budding of the fig tree that summer is near. Jesus also adds that this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. By this he probably means the same thing that he said earlier, in Mt. 16:27–28, when he testified that many of his contemporaries would experience the beginning of the end, the wrathful judgment that would come upon Jerusalem. The destruction of Jerusalem appears on the one hand as a sign of the last day, and on the other hand as the beginning of the final judgment.

Finally, Jesus addresses some serious words of warning to his disciples. As he has already shown them, people will live safely and carefree before the last day and will only seek earthly things, as in the time before the Flood. Therefore, Christians should be careful that their hearts are not burdened with eating and drinking and worries about food (Lk 21:34). They should be very alert so that day does not come upon them unexpectedly, and should prepare themselves properly for the coming of Christ, that they may be found worthy to stand before the Son of Man. Here again the Lord reminds us of the difference between the good and faithful servant, whom his master, when he comes will place over all his possessions, and the evil, worthless servant, whom his master will cut to pieces.