December 13th, 2021
Matthew 24: 15-31
15 “So when you see the desolating sacrilege standing in the holy place, as was spoken of by the prophet Daniel (let the reader understand), 16 then those in Judea must flee to the mountains; 17 the one on the housetop must not go down to take what is in the house; 18 the one in the field must not turn back to get a coat. 19 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a sabbath. 21 For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!’ or ‘There he is!’—do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Take note, I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look! He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look! He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
29 “Immediately after the suffering of those days
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from heaven,
and the powers of heaven will be shaken.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see ‘the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven’ with power and great glory. 31 And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Christ is Found…
“For at that time there will be great suffering, such as has not been seen from the beginning of the world, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no one would be saved; for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”—Matthew 24:21-22
Is this Jesus predicting the coming doom of the world? The whole dark passage speaks of suffering, fear, destruction. It also warns of the coming of false messiahs: “Then if anyone says to you ‘Look! Here is the Messiah!” or ‘There he is!’—do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and produce great signs and omens, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.”—Matthew 24:23-24.
Matthew prefaces this frightening passage with a prediction of the desecration of the great Temple of Jerusalem, and adds these parenthetical words: “Let the reader understand.”—Matthew 24:15. This suggests to us that these words are directed to the readers of Matthew’s Gospel, which, according to most scholars, was written in in the 80s AD, some fifty years after the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. What was the reader in the final decades of the First Century AD to make of these words?
Anyone reading or hearing this passage in the late First Century could not help but remember the horror of an event that took place in 70 AD: the Roman siege of Jerusalem. As the legions gathered outside the city, the people suffered and starved. When the Romans finally breached the walls, there was widespread slaughter, ending with the destruction of the Temple, the central shrine for the worship of Israel’s God. So the audience of Matthew’s Gospel was hearing not just a prediction of a tribulation in the indeterminate future, but a description of events in the living memory of many of the faithful. This was not just something that would happen in years or decades or centuries ahead—it was a description of what they had lived through themselves.
The biblical trials of the faithful are not set in a hazy time to come, neither for the believers of the First Century, nor for us in our time. We see war and suffering throughout the world in our time. We know fear in our time. We seek to defend ourselves and flee from disaster in our time.
As for the most immediate effect of tribulation in our own lives, we find ourselves well into the second year of a global pandemic. Some of us have experienced the death of those we love. Some have suffered from COVID-19 ourselves. We have all had to adjust to disruptions in our daily lives, new rules and regulations and precautions. And it seems never-ending.
There is also no shortage of false messiahs and saviors. We hear daily that our freedoms are being curtailed. There are those who preach that this or that remedy will free us from the burden of having to deal with the illness that stalks our country and the world. Many claim to be experts, and that “they” are suppressing information that might protect us and save us.
We, like our ancestors in the faith of the First Century, face a crisis of our own time. We do not wait passively for some distant revelation of God’s will. We look for its unfolding in our world, here where we live not.
Will a mighty Son of Man appear on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory? Perhaps. But we experience Advent here and now, in our own lives and world. While we may look to the heavens and the distant future for salvation, let us lower our gaze to our present condition.
Where is that mighty Savior? Where is the One who will bless us with relief from suffering? The Christ of Advent is here, now. Christ is found in the strength with which we face each day of an uncertain world. Christ is found in the love and compassion and support we offer to the suffering. Christ is found in the welcoming of the stranger and the refugee who flees from war and terror. Christ is found in our striving for a more just and loving society, caring for those who have no helper. Christ is found in each of us, in our daily calling to reach out a hand and a compassionate heart.
May we not wait passively for a time of suffering, and the Advent of Christ to save us. May we share the love of Christ within us in the time of our own world’s tribulation.
The Rev. John Borrego
Episcopal Diocese of Oklahoma