The Third to Last Sunday of the Church Year – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 24:15-28 “For Your Sake, the Days are Short”
November 10, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
+ + +
Lord God, heavenly Father, we most heartily thank You that by Your Word You have brought us out of the darkness of error into the light of Your grace: We beseech You, mercifully help us to walk in that light, guard us from all error and false doctrine, and grant that we may not become ungrateful and despise and persecute Your Word, but receive it with all our heart, govern our lives according to it, and put all our trust in Your grace, through the merit of Your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 165)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 24th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
[Jesus said:] “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who does not sit idly by while destruction comes your way, but instead He warns you about the corpse, and guards you until the end, dear fellow redeemed:
When God created man, the creation account reveals to us how He made us into social beings. Man was not meant to be alone so God made him a help mate. From the man and woman, we see how human companionship expands to the groups we are a part of. From the two and with a blessing, a family is created. As the family expands and more families are created, this family can come together to form a family reunion. Now before the process continues, we see just how many groups of people we can be a part of. For children, friend groups form at school. For adults, friend groups can form at work. We very much enjoy it when we are going to see the people we love and these friendships can last for a lifetime. Now as we have our get together, Jesus reveals there are groups that are bad for us. This group is a worldly group and sometimes we don’t realize we have joined it and as we dwell in the end times, we do not have to worry about what is going to happen. For your sake, the days are short.
When we hear that the days are short, we are probably looking around and think there is no way they will be short. And as we hear our text, Jesus doesn’t make it look like things will be okay. [Jesus said:] “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to
take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days!” Jesus is telling the people what will happen to the nation. The destruction of Jerusalem will come. For many, they will not pay attention to this message. Roughly forty years after Jesus’ warnings, what He says does come to pass in 70 AD.
However, this is not the only thing Daniel prophesies. Daniel is talking about the here and now for the people. And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary (Daniel 9:26). The anointed One has come among the people. The evidence it is Jesus is found in the work that He does. He isn’t looking for an earthly kingdom. As He preaches to them the law, He reveals to them the Gospel, that God does care for the people. With Jesus being among the people and doing all of these great things, it wasn’t enough for them. So, after Jesus came and then ascended, the fullness of time would catch up to the city of Jerusalem that had cast the Savior out. It would be so severe that Jesus would warn them to “Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath.”
We know how winter can be severe. And though you can flee on the day of rest, the meaning is significant. The day of rest is holy to the Lord, to praise and worship all that He has done for you. If a moment arises so severe that this becomes the day you have to flee, it would feel like there is rejection. These thoughts of rejection only can come from our actions. Actions that happen when we have joined the world in sin. Sin is the reason things are getting worse. Jesus continued to warn, “For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved.” The days before the sack of Jerusalem were long and very hard days. Many people died. Today, the days are hard. While we try to fight through, it can be easy to join the group that worries about what is going to happen next.
And in our state of mind as we can dwell more with this group in worrying, people will come and say, “I can bring you relief.” Jesus points out, “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There He is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” They aren’t going to discriminate on who they will try to collect. We have to watch out for such teachings. Jesus doesn’t say that only unbelievers will be targeted, but the elect will also be tempted by these false teachers. The devil will try to convince us that we can withstand their teachings. There are signs of some groups that are easy to see. So, even if his temptations don’t succeed in getting you into one group, he might focus on using is the group of people worrying about what is to come. He wants us to believe that we won’t be able to survive the dangers ahead. Just with worry, we have forgotten and thrown away the truth of Scripture. Something so small as that is as big a betrayal as rejecting heavy doctrines. These days of suffering like those days are short. They are short because Jesus cares for His people.
He teaches, “But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” For the days that He is talking about, it is this warning that caused the Christians to flee Jerusalem before it is destroyed. This is only possible if the people of His time also saw shortened days. The fullness of time was their time as Jesus, the anointed One, saved them from the coming destruction of their souls. Their eternal enemies would now have to flee His saving work. This work is seen by all and as He came, He left, and He will return. The disciples witnessed this when they watched Him ascend. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
Jesus now sitting at the right hand of the Father will keep the days short for His elect. There will be
persecutions and they will be strong, but they will not be able to pry the elect out of hands of the Father. St. Paul writes how strong His grip is. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:4-6). From the foundation of the world, we have been chosen. And as the elect we will wait through all danger because we will see the same Savior come again.
The angels are only repeating what Jesus told His disciples. “For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” There will be nothing hidden about Jesus’ second coming and it isn’t something the world will be able to question. As the world gets worse, people will more and more look for something spiritual to help. Unfortunately, they will look in the wrong places. You are here today because you have been guided to look in the right place. You have heard Jesus’ warnings. You have heard His message of repentance. And with the great tribulations taking place you find your strength in the cross of Christ. Scripture reveals to you that He is the anointed One. It is His sacrifice which cleanses you, it is His Word that stands firm, and it is His power that defeats the abomination of desolation.
In the face of evil and destruction your Savior is with you through it all. He gives you these warnings because He is the antidote. He didn’t worry because He was the plan. In giving up His life for you on the cross, these scary times lose all of their horror. And, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Ephesians 1:7-10). You are prepared now more than ever through hearing and learning His Word. And while you wait for the end to come, He continues to come to you in the Word and Sacraments.
For your sake, the Word and Sacraments will strengthen you. As the world and you hear the law, the Prophet Malachi makes it clear that you can’t stand on your own. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap (Malachi 3:2). You endure because He has called you. He has refined you with His law and points you to His cross. In His truth you will see the evil as He says, “Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.” Even with the vultures flying, St. John writes how you test the corpse. “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). And when you see all of these signs, you don’t need to question if you will survive destruction. You see them and you can defend yourself because of the Word. With the Word and for your sake, the days are short because of God’s great love. And since the days are short, it won’t be long and you will see the shine of the Son of Man in the group of the elect. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
+ + +