Grace and peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
In today’s gospel lesson Jesus instructs His disciples about the approaching fall of the city of Jerusalem. None of these twelve will be in Jerusalem when it happens. Judas will have hanged himself because he despaired of God’s mercy. Herod would have killed James the brother of John with the sword (Acts 12:2). Peter would have been crucified by the Emperor in Rome. The rest would have either been ministering in distant lands or already martyred for Christ’s name. Even though none of them would be there to witness it, Jesus tells the Twelve of Jerusalem’s impending fall for the sake of those who believe in Him because of their testimony. When these things take place, Christ’s Christians would take heed and obey His words to save their lives.
He tells them, “Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place” (whoever reads, let him understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” This had happened before in Judea’s history. In 167 B.C.—during the days when the Jews were under the authority of the Syrians, the Syrian ruler Antiochus IV subdued a rebellion in Jerusalem, build a fortress overlooking the sanctuary, and put the city under military rule. Then he ordered his men to set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar (1 Macc 1:54). Scripture often calls idolatry and crass sin abominations, so it is most likely that Aniochus’ abomination of desolation was an idol of Zeus, the chief god of the Greeks. In those days, however, the Lord raised up Mattathias and his sons—the Maccabees—who would retake Jerusalem, cleanse, and rededicate the temple, and eventually establish Judea as a semi-independent state. The difference between that and the desolation Jesus foretells is that the temple will not only be defiled, but entirely destroyed, so that not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down (Matt 24:2). The Lord would not raise up another Mattathias, another Judas Maccabeus, another savior of the Jews. In fact, this desolation was coming upon the Jews because they would reject the Savior sent by God, not only for the Jews but for all people. This time the Romans would siege Jerusalem and level it, with all its inhabitants, to the ground.
This is why, when those who believed in Christ saw the abomination of desolation in the Holy Place, where the Ark of the Covenant belonged, they were to flee. What the abomination was this time, we don’t entirely know. The abomination may have been during the reign of Tiberius, when Pilate images of the emperor into Jerusalem by night, though he removed them to quell the upheaval this caused. The abomination may have been a rebellious band of Jews who took control of the temple just before the Roman siege and desolated it by committing murder in it. But if these were not signs enough to convince Christians that the end was near, Jesus says in Luke 21:20, “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.”
When they saw Jerusalem’s desolation approaching, those who were in Judea—not just Jerusalem and its environs—were to flee to the mountains, and there was to be no looking back. Jesus told them, “Let him who is on the housetop not go down to take anything out of his house. And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.” The things of this life can be replaced, and God has promised to give daily bread. They are not to like Lot’s wife, who looked back in unbelief as Sodom was destroyed, and turned into a pillar salt. Jesus also says, “Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” These would be deterrents to moving quickly and without hesitation, and there was no time for sluggishness or lethargy, for then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened. So fast and hot would Roman fury come down on Judea, that unless the Lord had cut it short, the entire Jewish nation would have been destroyed, and Paul reminds us in Romans 11:5 that there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Even among these Jews there were some who would repent and believe in the Messiah God had promised to their forefathers.
As if this desolation were not enough, a far more dangerous trouble would come upon those who escaped. Jesus warns them: “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand. Therefore if they say to you, ‘Look, He is in the desert!’ do not go out; or ‘Look, He is in the inner rooms!’ do not believe it. For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” By fleeing Jerusalem, they would save their lives. But then they must flee false messiahs and false prophets who would lead them astray. These false christs and pseudoprophets would even do great signs and wonders, miracles and works of power, that would be so convincing that, if it were possible, even God’s elect would be deceived and fall away from true faith. But they are not to follow christs or pursue pseudoprohets. When He returns, it will be evident to all on the earth, as lighting lights up the entire sky, and as carrion birds are drawn to a carcass, all will be drawn to Christ when He returns.
Jesus’ words came true when the Roman army demolished Jerusalem in 70 A.D.. Many Christians fled across the Jordan River to a city by the name of Pella and saved their lives. And many false christs and false prophets arose in those days as well, leading many astray, and even bringing about the second Jewish revolt that brought about Judea’s end. We read in the histories how Christ’s words were fulfilled and how His Christians heeded His warning. But the question remains, “What does this have to do with us?” The answer is: “everything.” Jesus tells us of the coming destruction of the Jerusalem and the signs that would come before it as a prototype, or a microcosm, of the end of world. And what He wants us to take from it is this command: Flee.
As we await the world’s end and Christ’s return in glory to judge the living and dead, we are to flee abominations that bring desolation—idolatry of every kind. There is the outward, crass idolatry of prostrating ourselves before false gods, but much more of a threat is the subtle idolatry which takes place in the heart. How often are we tempted to fear the things of this life—wars and rumors of wars, famine, pestilence, and earthquakes, civil unrest, cultural deterioration—more than we fear God? How often are we tempted to love and value the things of this world—our homes, our possessions, our achievements, our prestige—more than God? How often are we tempted to trust in all these things more than we trust in God, so that as long as we have them, we imagine we have a God who is good and gracious to us, but if they are taken from us, imagine we have God who is evil and vindictive? Every form idolatry takes, externally and internally, we must flee. To where do we flee? The mountains, to the Rock of our Salvation, our Lord Jesus, for in Christ Jesus we have a good and gracious God in spite of our sin and whatever happens to us in this life.
Just as we flee sin and temptation through repentance and vigilance, we also flee false christs and false prophets. The world is full of false christs who promise a better life, perfect health, or better society in this life or the life of the world to come in we place our trust in them. The world is full of false prophets who claim to speak for the Lord, but their teachings are contrary to the word of Lord—Scripture. They look and sound like true preachers of God, but instead of repentance they preach peace to those who live in sin, strengthening them in their sin and leading them to hell. Others turn Christ’s gospel of free forgiveness and new life for those who repent into a list of works—religious and social—to do to accomplish one’s own salvation. Many of them even claim to see visions, hear God’s voice, and do great works of power, so that many people go after them. But you, if you would endure unto the end and be saved, are to flee from these. False christs and false prophets only lead souls astray with false words about God. They lead away from repentance of sin and trust in Christ and His merits alone. They lead away from the sure and certain Word of God to the uncertain words of men and the evolving emotions of the heart as if they were God’s word. Christ tells us all this beforehand, so that we who live in these last days of the world may flee all this and flee to Christ each day in repentance and faith, so that no matter when the end comes, we endure until then. Amen.
May the peace of God which passes understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
