One of the great London preachers of the early 19th century was a Scot called Edward Irving. He preached systematically from Scripture and his bible studies on Corinthians led directly to the earliest known British charismatic movement, still sometimes called the Irvingites. His eloquent turn of phrase led to a mention in Parliament by George Canning, later Prime Minister. Irving ended up preaching to congregations of thousands of the fashionable and the famous. In a building made for 600. For a while admission was by ticket. Prime Minister Lord Liverpool attended and a young Gladstone was taken along by his father.
But Irving’s most famous sermon was preached in a small chapel on a stormy night in Annan – a village just over the Scottish border from Carlisle. In the middle of his exposition on preparedness for the Lord’s coming, lightning struck the church roof. When the ringing in people’s ears cleared the quick-witted Irving roared to the congregation from the King James Bible: ‘For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.’ The effect was electrifying. The congregation hurried home in the rain reconsidering their priorities.
In a way, that is all you need to know about Matthew 24. It is about readiness. You know what that looks like and feels like. It involves a shift of perspective, a change of focus and a reordering of our priorities. If you like, stop reading right here. I mean, read to the end but don’t lose the key thought: be ready for his coming. The rest of what I have got to say is footnotes. Some thought Jesus was predicting a sprint. But what he says is not a sprint but a 10,000 metre race. But even the 10,000 metre runners sprint at the end. Stop here too if you like.
Some take Matthew 24 as a timetable of events leading up to the coming of the Lord. Another popular way to see the text is to note that much of what Jesus says here predicts with reasonable accuracy the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans just 35 years later. But not everything in this chapter fits perfectly with 70 AD Judea. Others, and I think I’m closest to this, think that these signs are seen right through history but will intensify at the end. The symphony of history, if you like, has repeated themes that all converge in the final great crescendo. Perhaps it is most helpful to see Jesus’ teaching as not referring to unique events at the end of time, but the patterns of repeated actions, all of which are meant to draw our attention to readiness for his coming.
It looks to me as if the Gospel has an eye both on history and the future at the same time. And there is even a worked example of this ‘double perspective’ within the text. The reader is meant to understand what the phrase the ‘abomination of desolation’ refers to. So here’s the history lesson. In 167 BC the ruler of the eastern part of the Greek Empire was Antiochus the Fourth. He thought highly enough of himself to use the title Epiphanes which means ‘God made manifest’. He tried systematically to destroy Jewish religion. He deliberately desecrated the Jerusalem Temple by sacrificing pigs on the altar and by having a statue of Zeus set up to be worshipped. It was one of the darkest days in Jewish history. In saying look out for this desolating sacrilege Jesus was not saying: Antiochus IV would return. He was saying: someone will arise behaving in a similar way; not just with disregard for godly faith but with positive antagonism towards it. Jesus is looking backwards but is also looking forwards at the same time. As Mark Twain put it ‘history does not repeat itself – but it rhymes.’
Someone said that the early days of the coronavirus epidemic was like the Phoney War – referring to the period between Sept 1939 and early May 1940 when Britain was at war, preparations were being made but the urgency seemed odd when nothing much appeared to be happening. By the end of May, Churchill was Prime Minister, the enemy were staring across the channel and the government were sending fishing boats to get the British Army off the beaches of Dunkirk. Jesus starts by saying that there is a Phoney War going on. But prepare seriously. The Day will come. Look for the signs.
And the logic of signs is now the stuff of everyday life. Certain symptoms are the signs of underlying infection and the onset of disease. Every time I cough I wonder: is it new and dry? I’m looking for the signs. Even my temporary and wet cough reminds me that this is deadly serious.
Lord, it is 2000 years since you walked the earth. Deliver us from complacency and give us, we pray, the power of the Holy Spirit to live lives of humble service and joyful hope. May your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as in heaven. Amen.