Scripture Daily

Context No. 1993 of 4322 · Matthew

Context · Reflection

Matthew 24:1-8: in context

1Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on his way. His disciples came to him to show him the buildings of the temple. 2But he answered them, “You see all of these things, don’t you? Most certainly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone on another, that will not be thrown down.” 3As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign of your coming, and of the end of the age?” 4Jesus answered them, “Be careful that no one leads you astray. 5For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will lead many astray. 6You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you aren’t troubled, for all this must happen, but the end is not yet. 7For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be famines, plagues, and earthquakes in various places. 8But all these things are the beginning of birth pains.

As Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple and the troubles of the last days, his disciples ask when these things will be. He warns them not to be led astray by false messiahs, and then speaks a word about the alarming events to come. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, he says; see that you are not troubled, for these things must happen, but the end is not yet. Nation will rise against nation, and there will be famines and earthquakes; but all these are the beginning of birth pains.

Jesus' counsel amid the alarming events he foretells is worth holding: see that you are not troubled. He tells his followers plainly that there will be wars, disasters, upheavals, and tumults; he does not promise a calm world. But he tells them not to be terrified by these things, not to be thrown into panic and despair by the turmoil of the age. And he gives them a way to understand it: these are not the end, not signs that the world is spinning finally out of control, but the beginning of birth pains, the labor pains that precede a new birth. There is steadiness and hope here for us amid the world's troubles. We live in a world of alarming events, wars, disasters, upheavals, tumults that fill us with fear and can make it seem the world is descending into meaningless chaos. And Jesus' word to his followers is, see that you are not troubled. He does not deny the reality of the troubles; he foretells them. But he calls his people not to be terrified, not to be swept into panic and despair by the world's turmoil, because these things, alarming as they are, are not the end and not chaos, but the birth pains before God's new creation. A woman in labor endures the pains not as meaningless agony but as the prelude to birth; and the troubles of the age, Jesus says, are birth pains, the painful prelude to the new world God is bringing. This changes how his people face the world's tumults. We are not to be untroubled because the troubles are unreal; they are real. We are to be steady because we know what the troubles are: not the meaningless collapse of everything, but the labor pains before God's new birth, endured in hope. In the world you will have trouble, Jesus said, but take heart; I have overcome the world. His followers face the alarming events of the age not with the panic of those who see only chaos, but with the steadiness and hope of those who know that these are birth pains, and that beyond them is the new creation God is bringing. See that you are not troubled, Jesus says; the troubles are birth pains, and God's new world is coming.

When alarming events fill the world, wars, disasters, and upheavals that make it seem everything is descending into meaningless chaos, am I swept into panic and despair, or can I heed Jesus' counsel, see that you are not troubled, understanding that these troubles are not the end but the birth pains before God's new creation, and face them with the steadiness and hope of those who know what is coming?

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