1 Thessalonians 4.13-18 + Matthew 24.15–28
Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Trinity
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Therefore when you see the ‘abomination of desolation,’ spoke 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 was the disciples’ sign. When they saw this abomination in the temple, they would know that the end of the temple, Jerusalem, and the Jewish nation was near. When they saw this abomination that causes desolation they were to flee to the mountains immediately. If someone was on their housetop—Jewish homes were usually had flat roofs—they weren’t to go inside to gather up any belongings or valuables. Those things could be replaced. If they were out in the field working, they weren’t to go back and get their shirts. When they saw this abomination, they were to drop everything and flee. To impress the urgency upon them He says, “But 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.” There are many things which might slow them down, and they are to pray that when the time comes, when they see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, they let nothing deter them.
What the abomination of desolation was, exactly, we are not sure. Daniel prophesies that after the Messiah is cut off, “The people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined” (Dan 9:26). This is what happened. The Messiah was cut off by the Jews, crucified. After His resurrection He sent His apostles to the Jews to proclaim repentance and forgiveness in His name. While many Jews believed, many persecuted the apostles. In 70 A.D., the Romans—the people of the prince—arrived at Jerusalem, laid siege to the city, and razed it to the ground. Daniel also prophesied, “On the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate.” Between the time of Christ and the arrival of the Roman army there would be abominations among the Jews. By rejecting their Messiah, the one whom the temple sacrifices foreshadowed, they made their worship in the temple idolatrous. It seems, then, that many things blended to make the abomination of desolation. The antichristian worship and teaching of the Jews, increasing idolatry in general, and the approaching Roman army. When the faithful saw these things, they were to immediately flee.
And by God’s grace, that is what they did. Eusebius, the father of church history, writes, “The people of the church in Jerusalem had been commanded by a revelation, vouchsafed to approved men there before the war, to leave the city and to dwell in a certain town of Perea called Pella. And when those that believed in Christ had come thither from Jerusalem, then, as if the royal city of the Jews and the whole land of Judea were entirely destitute of holy men, the judgment of God at length overtook those who had committed such outrages against Christ and his apostles, and totally destroyed that generation of impious men” (HE 3.5.3). The faithful, those who believed in Christ, heard His word recorded by St. Matthew and, when they saw these things begin to happen before their very eyes, they fled to the mountains just as Jesus had commanded. They sojourned to a city called Pella beyond the Jordan River. By heeding Jesus’ word, they saved their lives.
This physical fleeing from Jerusalem and Judea is paired with another spiritual fleeing as well. During this period many false Messiahs rose up, rallying the Jews around the idea of a restored nation of Israel. Some claimed to be the Christ, leading the people to misery and captivity as they tried to subvert God’s judgment for their sin of rejecting their true Messiah. Along with false christs, false Prophets arose, as we hear about in the epistles, who brought destructive heresies with them. Some denied Christ’s divinity. Others denied His humanity. Some taught that works of law were necessary for salvation. Others taught that works aren’t necessary, and believers can live in sin so that God’s grace in Christ could abound all the more in the lives of believers. Some of these false christs and false prophets would even do signs and wonders—miracles—that would be so convincing they would deceive God’s elect if it were possible. Signs and wonders, for as awesome as they might be, are nothing if they do not accompany and adorn Christ’s true teaching, because they lead away from Christ’s teaching.
Having fled one abomination—one perversion of God’s doctrine—they were to be on guard against other abominations that bring desolation to the soul as well. They were to live in Christ’s teaching which He had given to the apostles and they recorded in the New Testament. They were to flee from everything that taught differently than Christ and His apostles taught, looking for Christ in His Word—Holy Scripture—until He returned. On that day there will be no doubt that “there is the Christ!” For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.” The Lord Himself will descend with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.
This is Jesus’ answer to the disciples’ question, “When will the temple be destroyed and what will the sign of Your coming and the end be?” Jesus answers this way, not just for their benefit, but for ours. As it was in those days, it will be in the last days, the end times, the entire New Testament period.
What is the abomination of desolation during the entire New Testament period? It’s idolatry of every kind. Scripture often calls idolatry an abomination because it is a perversion of the worship of God and the teaching of Christ. Sometimes it is crass and obvious idolatry, as when churches teach universalism—that all religions lead to everlasting life—or friendship with the world’s thinking, as well churches teach that evolution, homosexuality, or lawlessness is compatible with Scripture. These are idolatrous because they remake Christ’s teaching in the image of the world and popular opinion. Often times, the idolatry is more subtle, as when churches teach enthusiasm—the idea that God speaks directly to us in our hearts and intuitions—for this is the most popular way of saying, “Look, here is Christ!” or “There!” This, along with many other misunderstandings of Christ’s word— is idolatry because it teaches people to seek God within themselves rather than in the places He has promised to be—the preaching of His Word, Holy Scripture, Baptism, and His Supper. It doesn’t matter if there are signs and wonders. Pharaoh’s magicians were able to mimic the first several plagues, so there is no certainty in signs and wonders themselves, only in the Word of God.
And as Jesus taught urgency in this to the believing Jews in and around Jerusalem, so He wants to impress that upon us as well. We are not to doddle when we see idolatry and falsehood in the church and world. We are not to remain with it, wait it out, hoping that God will change it. We are commanded to flee from it. Sometimes that means physically fleeing from idolatry and false prophets in churches, as Paul says in Romans 16:17, “Note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them.” We are also to flee spiritually from idolatry and falsehood in the world, not allowing ourselves to fear, love, or trust in anything more than we fear God, love Him, and trust Him. In these last days, the end times, the entire period of the New Testament, we flee to the mountains, the rock of our salvation, our Lord Jesus Christ, and we don’t look back on the things we may miss out on. For only by fleeing abominations, false christs and prophets, do we save our lives and persevere in faith unto the end.
Just as the Christians fled to the city of Pella and became sojourners in their own land, we, too, become sojourners and pilgrims in our own land. We live in the world but not as ones who are of this world. We eagerly await the day when Christ returns. On that day everyone will see Him. For His return will be as the lightning comes from the east and flashes in the west. And where the carcass is, there the eagles will gather. When the crucified and resurrected Christ descends, there will we, and all resurrected believers, be. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. In these last days we flee from falsehood to Christ in His Word, not looking back to what we have left, but forward to the day when He descends from heaven, and we meet Him in the air to be with Him forever. Amen.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
