GOOD NEWS, WE’RE LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS

Mark 13 is one long answer to a question. This is also true of Matthew 24. Same event. This was on Tuesday of the week that Jesus died on the cross. He had just left the temple for the last time. While He thought about these things, Jesus spoke of how the temple would be utterly destroyed one day. This made the disciples think of the end of the world. They asked Him a question.

It was four of His disciples – Peter, James and John, and Andrew – the first four disciples whom Jesus called to be fishers of men. One of them, perhaps Andrew, asked: “When will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?” In Matthew 24 it’s put this way: “What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Then follows Jesus’ lengthy response. Last Sunday we heard the first part. We heard Jesus say there would be disturbances in the world – “wars and rumors of wars … nation will rise against nation.” Also that there would be disturbances in nature – “earthquakes and famines.” Then, that there would be aggression – persecution – coming from the world against the church: “You will be hated by all for My name’s sake.” This brings us to the next portion of Jesus’ answer about the signs “of His coming and of the end of the age”:

Sermon Text, St. Mark 13:14-23. “So when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand), “then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter. For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days. Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, He is there!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.”

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. May Your Word of truth keep us in the way of truth, so that living in the last days does not weaken us but that we keep looking to You in joy. Amen.

Dear fellow redeemed in Christ, who is the First and the Last: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

The first thing to say about the last days is that we’re living in them. All the things Jesus says about these “signs of the end of the age” have already happened or are in the process of happening.

Having spoken of the disturbances in the world and with governments, wars and instability, then extraordinary disturbances in nature (which the recent hurricanes are part of, and before that the pandemic), and then of the world’s aggression against the church and against Christians individually – which is certainly going on today especially for Christians at school and at work – what Jesus adds in these verses are disturbances inside the church.

When Jesus mentions “the abomination of desolation standing where it ought not,” He refers to what happens “in the holy place” (Mt 24:15) – that is, inside the church. Jesus says: “False christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.”Way back in the Sermon on the Mount Jesus warned against “false prophets,” or false teachers. Here He says it’s a sign of the last days. St. Paul says it’s “in the last days” that “they will not endure sound doctrine [but] will turn their ears away from the truth” (1Ti 3:1,4:3-4). This is surely true now. We’re living in the last days.

The next thing to say about the last days is that they’re no fun. Jesus draws a picture of the world growing worse. If we think the world is getting worse, that’s just how Jesus said it would be. Jesus here says there’s no time to even get clothes out of the house, or that it’s no good for people who can’t run, such as pregnant women. These are just illustrations of the desperateness of the times. He says: “For in those days there will be great tribulation.”

But as we see these things taking place – wars and strife between nations, governments oppressing people, plagues and pandemics, disasters in nature, cruelty and prejudice, the world declaring things that are against nature to be good and then forcing Christian schools and agencies, even Christians at work and in school to deny the truth and deny their faith by conforming to these lies – our response is first to groan, which is good and right. In Romans 8, Paul says that along with “the whole creation” we “groan within ourselves” at this “bondage of corruption,” as the world grows worse and gets closer to the end.

But when we groan, we have to be careful not to have the wrong view. We can’t look at this with only natural eyes. We need to see with spiritual eyes, eyes of faith. Because we’ll be tempted to cling to the things of this world in an idolatrous way. We’ll think we must fix it. We must be able to fix it.

This is the way of those who think there are disasters in nature because of climate change, or that wars and bad governments are preventable, that these things are in our hands, not God’s. This thinking originates with evolution, a belief that there’s nothing outside the material world, worshipping progress, denying that God is the mighty Maker and loving Creator. Such atheistic or agnostic ideas leave a person grasping or desperate if things are falling apart, searching for human fixes. It isn’t wrong to work for world peace, better government, better stewardship of creation, less cruelty, but the idea that these will fix or end the problem is wrong. We don’t rely on human solutions. When you become a Christian, you leave this behind. We rely on God and trust in Him.

We do still react to events in this world or our lives with anxiety or dark, empty feelings that come from worldly sorrow. But we know such thoughts go against our faith! We don’t have to fixwhat’s wrong in these last days. Which is why it’s best to see this time not as “the last days” but “the days that precede His coming.” Our faith points us not to the last days but to the Last One – He who is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last – who brightens our days!

The ultimate thing to say about the last days is that they reveal Jesus. All these “signs” are really the signs of Jesus’ coming – meaning, that when we see these signs, we are supposed to know that Jesus is about to come back.

This is where believing in creation, as God’s own Word teaches, also comforts us. He was there in the beginning; He’ll be there in the end. He is the First and the Last. He is the eternal Word who was there in the beginning: “all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made” (Jn 1:3). Our salvation was in His hands, and He completed that work. He’s coming at the end. He upholds the creation by His Word, even in the last days. So things are not falling apart. The world isn’t some bad thing. It’s His thing. He redeemed the world. He loves the world He made. He will preserve it exactly as long as He needs to. He does so in love for each and every person.

Jesus says: “Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.” It’s all about saving, not destroying. This is Jesus, your Savior. The purpose of these signs, and telling them to us, is to drive us to His means of saving us: His Word.

This is where you bring all your anxiety, all your sadness about the world and how things come to an end, and all that’s wrong in life. This certainty and comfort gives us more determination to “assemble ourselves together,” gathering in church together, “so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (He 10:25).

For who is it who speaks to you in His Word, in the absolution, in the sermon, in the Supper, in the benediction? It’s the actual Christ, who will come “in His glory and all His angels with Him” (Mt 25:31) at an hour no one knows. Who speaks to you in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper? It’s the actual Christ, who is “coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him” (Rev 1:7).

It’s the second coming, after all. There was a first coming. In His first coming, He came not to accuse us because of our sins – but to carry the sins and be punished for them instead of us. It was the most friendly “coming” ever. The second coming isn’t different. It’s a “Gospel” coming, still friendly. He won’t come to carry sins – that’s done – but to give you everything He’s redeemed you for.

Preparing for this is something He does for you, in and with you. This is all the church service is for: His coming, to you, to make you glad, not sad; to forgive, not condemn you. We don’t see Him coming in power and glory with our eyes, as we will on “the Day.” But He comes in just as real of a way now as He will then. We get used to Jesus coming in such a friendly way, so on that great day we’re confident that He comes to us in a friendly way, to take us home.

He is teaching you not to be afraid. The main thing is not just if He is in your picture, but if you’re in His. He is showing you that this is safely in His hands. He makes sure that you are safely in His hands, now and through eternity. Amen!