Tonight we will read the first 28 verses of Matthew 24. After Jesus’s confrontation with the Sadducees, He leaves the temple and the disciples begin to show Him all of the buildings that make up the temple. We can infer that the disciples were impressed by these structures, but Jesus was not. Like the Sadducees, the temples buildings were to Jesus not as great as they actually seemed. This is because Jesus knew of the upcoming destruction of Jerusalem.
Verses 4-14 talk in a general way about the challenges that Christian faith will encounter. Men will suffer and imposters will threaten the faith, but Jesus instructs them to be strong.
Verses 15-28 are more specific in their language and deal with the upcoming war and destruction of Jerusalem. The picture that Jesus describes is an unsettling one. People running for the hills and not turning back, pregnant women and children having an especially difficult time, more false prophets and the threats that accompany them.
Jesus encourages a strength of faith that can meet these challenges. Challenges such as these are really unknown to us as Americans in 2017, but we should be prepared for them nevertheless. And that is the lesson for tonight: how strong is my faith? Where is my breaking point? Is it up until my death? The death of my children?
Tough questions! But questions alluded to by the Son of God Himself.
Monday Night Bible Study 