Jesus · c. AD 30
Chapter 51
The End of the Age
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
For parents
In this chapter Jesus tells his disciples that they will be handed over, even by their own families, beaten and hated, and that some of them will be put to death (Matthew 24:9–10; Mark 13:9–13; Luke 21:12–17). He speaks of a time of suffering worse than any before it, and, in Luke, of Jerusalem surrounded by armies, its people cut down by the sword and led away captive (Matthew 24:21–22; Luke 21:20–24). In his stories a wicked servant is cut in pieces (Matthew 24:51), a useless servant is thrown into the darkness outside, where there is weeping and grinding of teeth (25:30), and those on the King’s left are sent into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels, into eternal punishment (25:41–46). It is all told plainly, without detail.
went out of the temple, and he was on his way when his came to show him the temple’s buildings. In Mark, one of them said to him, “Teacher, look! What stones, and what buildings!” Luke says that some people were talking about the temple, and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts.
“You see all these things, don’t you?” Jesus answered. “I tell you for certain, there won’t be one stone left here on another. Every stone will be thrown down.” In Luke, he said that the days were coming when this would happen.
As he sat on the , opposite the temple, the disciples came to him privately. Mark says it was , , and who asked him. “Tell us,” they said, “when will these things happen? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” In Mark and Luke, they asked what sign would show that these things were about to happen.
“Be careful that no one leads you astray,” Jesus answered them. “Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the ,’ and will lead many astray.” In Mark and Luke, the words are “Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’” and Luke goes on, “and, ‘The time is near.’ So don’t follow them.”
“You will hear of wars and rumors of wars,” Jesus said. “Don’t let it upset you. All this has to happen, but that isn’t the end yet. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, plagues and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.”
In Luke, he said, “When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified. These things must happen first, but the end won’t come right away.” He told them there would be great earthquakes, famines and plagues in various places, and “terrors and great signs from heaven.” In Mark, along with the famines there are “troubles.”
“Then they will hand you over to suffering, and they will kill you,” Jesus said. In Mark, he told them, “Watch yourselves. They will turn you over to councils and beat you in . You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them.” In Luke, he said, “But before any of this, they will grab you and persecute you. They will take you to synagogues and to prisons, and bring you before kings and governors, all because of my name. It will turn out to be a testimony for you.”
“When they lead you away and hand you over, don’t worry ahead of time, and don’t plan what you will say,” he said in Mark. “Say whatever you are given to say in that hour, because it is not you who speak, but the .” In Luke, he said, “So decide now in your hearts not to work out ahead of time how you will answer, because I will give you what to say, and wisdom. None of those who are against you will be able to stand up to it or argue with it.”
“All the nations will hate you because of my name,” Jesus said. “Then many will stumble. They will hand one another over, and hate one another.” In Mark, he said, “Brother will hand over brother to be killed, and a father will hand over his child. Children will rise up against their parents and cause their deaths.” In Luke, he said, “You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will have some of you put to death.”
“Many false will arise and will lead many astray. Because wrongdoing will spread more and more, the love of many will grow cold. But whoever endures to the end will be saved.” In Luke, he said, “Not a hair of your head will perish. By enduring, you will win your lives.”
“This Good News of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.” In Mark, he said that the Good News must first be preached to all the nations.
“When you see the , which was spoken of through the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in flee to the mountains,” Jesus said. In Mark, he said it would be “standing where it ought not” (let the reader understand).
In Luke, he said, “When you see surrounded by armies, you can be sure that its desolation is coming soon. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Those in the middle of the city should leave, and those out in the country should keep out of it.”
“Anyone on the housetop,” Jesus went on, “must not go down, or go inside, to take anything out of his house, and anyone in the field must not turn back for his clothes.
“ to women who are expecting babies, and to mothers nursing them, in those days! Pray that when you flee, it won’t be in winter, or on a .” In Mark, he spoke only of the winter.
“Because then there will be great suffering,” he said, “worse than any there has been from the beginning of the world until now. Nothing like it will ever come again. If those days were not shortened, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, those days will be shortened.” In Mark, he spoke of suffering like none there had been since the beginning of the creation God made. He said, “If the Lord had not shortened the days, no one would have been saved. But for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days.”
In Luke, he said, “These are days of vengeance, so that everything that is written will come true. There will be great distress in the land, and anger against this people. They will be cut down by the sword and led away as prisoners into all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled down by the until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”
“Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘There!’ don’t believe it,” Jesus said. “False christs and false prophets will arise. They will show great signs and wonders to lead even the chosen ones astray, if possible. As for you, keep watch. Look, I have told you all of it ahead of time.
“So if they tell you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ don’t go out. Or if they tell you, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ don’t believe it, because the coming of the will be like the lightning that flashes from the east and is seen even in the west. Wherever the carcass is, that is where the vultures gather.”
“Immediately after the suffering of those days,” Jesus said, “the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” In Mark, this comes “in those days, after that suffering.”
In Luke, he said, “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars, and nations on the earth will be anxious, not knowing what to do as the sea and the waves roar. People will faint from fear, watching for what is about to come on the world, since the powers of the heavens will be shaken.”
“Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky,” Jesus said. “All the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. With a great sound of a trumpet, he will send out his , and they will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.” In Mark, he sends out his angels and gathers his chosen ones “from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky.”
In Luke, he told them, “When these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your is near.”
“Now learn this from the fig tree,” Jesus said. “Once its branch is tender and producing leaves, you know that the summer is near. It is the same with you. When you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the doors.” In Mark, he said, “know that it is near, at the doors.”
Luke says that he told them a parable: “Watch the fig tree and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is already near. It is the same with you. When you see these things happening, know that God’s Kingdom is near.”
In Matthew, Jesus went on, “Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things are accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” In Mark, his words are, “Most certainly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen.” In Luke, they are, “Most certainly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things are accomplished. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.”
Then in Matthew he said, “But no one knows of that day and hour, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” In Mark, he said, “But of that day or that hour no one knows—not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
“The Son of Man’s coming will be like the days of ,” Jesus said. “Before the flood, people went on eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, right up to the day Noah went into the . They had no idea until the flood came and carried them all off. The Son of Man’s coming will be like that.
“Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and one will be left. Two women will be grinding grain at the mill: one will be taken and one will be left.
“So watch, because you don’t know at what hour your Lord comes. But know this: if the master of the house had known how late in the night the thief would come, he would have watched for him, and he wouldn’t have let anyone break into his house. So be ready yourselves, because in an hour you don’t expect, the Son of Man will come.”
In Mark, Jesus said, “Watch, keep alert, and pray, because you don’t know when that time will come. It is like a man who went traveling to another country. He left his house, gave his servants authority, and gave each one his own work. He also ordered the doorkeeper to keep watch. So watch, because you can’t tell when the master of the house will be back, whether it’s evening, or midnight, or when the rooster crows, or morning. He might come all of a sudden and find you sleeping. What I tell you, I tell all: Watch!”
In Luke, he said, “So be careful, or your hearts will grow heavy with wild parties, drunkenness and the worries of this life, and then that day will spring on you suddenly. It will come like a trap on everyone who lives anywhere on the earth. So be watchful all the time, praying that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will happen, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
“Who, then, is the faithful and wise servant,” Jesus asked, “whom his master has placed in charge of his household, to give them their food on time? That servant is blessed if his master finds him doing so when he comes. I tell you for certain, his master will put him in charge of everything he has.
“But suppose that servant is wicked. He tells himself, ‘My master is taking a long time,’ and he starts beating his fellow servants and eating and drinking with the drunkards. His master will come back on a day he doesn’t expect, at an hour he doesn’t know about. He will cut him in pieces and give him his place with the . That is where the weeping and grinding of teeth will be.”
“Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like ten young unmarried women who took their lamps and went out to meet the ,” Jesus said. “Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. Those who were foolish brought their lamps, but no oil to go with them. The wise ones brought their lamps, and oil in jars as well.
“The bridegroom was slow to come, and they all nodded off and slept. At midnight a cry went up: ‘Look! The bridegroom is coming! Come out to meet him!’ Then all the young women got up and trimmed the wicks of their lamps.
“‘Our lamps are going out,’ the foolish ones told the wise. ‘Give us some of your oil.’ But the wise ones answered, ‘What if there isn’t enough for all of us? Go to those who sell it instead, and buy your own.’
“While they were away buying it, the bridegroom came. Those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other young women came back too, calling, ‘Lord, Lord, open up for us!’ But he answered, ‘I tell you for certain, I don’t know you.’
“So watch, because you don’t know the day or the hour when the Son of Man is coming.”
“It is like a man who was going away to another country,” Jesus said. “He called his own servants and put his property in their hands. To one he gave five , to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability. Then he set off on his journey.” A talent was about sixty-six pounds, a weight usually used for silver.
“The servant who got the five talents went straight off and traded with them, and he earned five more,” Jesus went on. “The one who had two did the same, and gained two more. But the servant who got one talent went away, dug in the earth, and hid his master’s money there.
“Long afterward the servants’ master came back to settle accounts with them. The servant who had been given five talents came and brought five talents more. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you handed me five talents. Look, I have gained five talents more.’ ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ his master said. ‘You have been faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Come into your master’s joy.’
“The one who had been given the two talents came too. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you handed me two talents. Look, I have gained two talents more.’ ‘Well done, good and faithful servant,’ his master said. ‘You have been faithful over a few things; I will set you over many things. Come into your master’s joy.’
“Then the servant who had been given the one talent came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew you were a hard man. You harvest where you didn’t plant, and gather where you didn’t scatter. I was afraid, and I went away and hid your talent in the earth. Look, you have what is yours.’
“But his master answered him, ‘You lazy, wicked servant! You knew that I harvest where I didn’t plant, and gather where I didn’t scatter. Then you should have left my money with the bankers, and when I came back I would have gotten my own money back with interest. So take the talent away from him and give it to the servant who has the ten, because whoever has will be given more, and he will have plenty. But the one who doesn’t have will lose even what he has. Throw the useless servant out into the darkness outside, where there will be weeping and grinding of teeth.’”
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory,” Jesus said. “All the nations will be brought together in front of him. He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on his left.
“Then the King will tell those on his right, ‘Come, you whom my Father has blessed, and inherit the Kingdom prepared for you since the world was first made. For I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’
“‘Lord,’ the will answer him, ‘when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you a drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you in, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’
“The King will answer them, ‘I tell you for certain, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’
“Then he will speak to those on his left as well: ‘Go away from me, you cursed people, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the and his angels. For I was hungry, and you didn’t give me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger, and you didn’t take me in; naked, and you didn’t clothe me; sick and in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
“‘Lord,’ they too will answer, ‘when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and didn’t help you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘I tell you for certain, because you didn’t do it to one of the least of these, you didn’t do it to me.’
“These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
Luke says that Jesus was teaching in the temple every day, and every night he would go out and spend the night on the mountain called . All the people got up early and came to the temple to hear him.