living for the end

On Sunday of Holy Week, our Lord entered Jerusalem, offering the Jews of Jerusalem the Blessing of Salvation, promised to Abraham, to be offered to all the families of the earth.  Most of the people refused to receive it, and Jesus wept.

On Monday, Jesus entered the temple and cleansed it, showing us the importance of cleansing the temple of our own bodies.

Now it is Tuesday, and Jesus is teaching.  He is teaching on a subject of great interest to His followers and to us.  Before this day, Jesus has not taught often or much about this.  But on Tuesday of Holy Week, He teaches a whole lot on the End Times.

If you know me, you know that the End Times is one of my favorite Scriptural studies.  I gained a love of it as a young pastor, studying my way through the Book of Revelation, verse by verse.  I will, however, resist the temptation to unload all that I have come to believe about how the events of the End Time will occur.

Nevertheless, we ought not miss the point of Jesus´ teaching on the End Times in the heart of Holy Week.  Jesus was intentional about everything He did, and there was purpose in the timing of this teaching.

​His initial point is very timely for us at the moment in that we are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic with COVID-19.  But the first point Jesus made in Mt. 24 was that pestilences, wars, and earthquakes would come upon the earth, but they were not the marks of the End.  They were just the beginning of sorrows.

There was a common theme throughout all that Jesus taught that day about all the events we call the End Time.  That theme was Live for the End.  Live today as if you know the End was coming later today.  Live ready for the End.

Specifically Jesus told us

• Endure to the end – Mt. 24:13
• Preach the gospel to all the nations – Mt. 24:14
• Know His words will not pass away – Mt. 24:35
• Watch, be ready – Mt. 24:42,44; 25:13
• Be faithful – Mt. 24:45-46; 25:21-23
• Be wise – Mt. 25:1-13
• Minister to the least of these – Mt. 25:31-46

 
While I am not one to disparage the study of End Times, I would certainly say it is far more important to live now in readiness for the End Times than it is to get all the events in the right order in our minds.  I like to tease some of my pastor friends who have a different perspective of the End Times at points, that when we all get to glory, I am going to say, “I told you so!”  The truth is that I suspect there will be plenty of points for which they will say the same words back to me.

​Concerning the details of the order of each event, even the most astute scholar of End Times chronology will probably get something wrong.  But how much more important it is to get the preparation right! 
 
I pray, “Lord, I do not want to be found lacking in the sharing of the gospel or in knowing and believing Your Word.  Holy Spirit, who lives within me, constantly remind me to be watchful, ready, faithful, and wise.  Jesus, may I be so continually engaged in ministering to ‘the least of these’ that when You call me to rise and meet You in the air, that will have been a calling recently engaged.”
 
Although I do think the End Times are approaching soon, I do not think the Coronavirus pandemic signals its beginning.  No doubt, such a world shaking event makes us think about the truth that the End Times are closer than they have ever been.
 
May we live ready!  May we live for the end!