Do you ever feel like each day is the same, over and over? Do the years seem to blur together, leaving you wondering if we're doomed to repeat ourselves endlessly? Jesus approaches this topic in Matthew 24, part of our ongoing series in Matthew.
You know that film Groundhog Day, with Bill Murray? He wakes up and lives the same day repeatedly. That can really resonate with us, can't it? Even though we identify with it, it's not a compelling vision of the world. If that's our expectation, it doesn't grow passion—it grows complacency. "Well, that's just how things are." It's not inspiring, but what can you do? Love for life has grown cold.
What the Bible teaches is something both more true and more compelling. Life isn't cyclical; there's a narrative. There's a beginning, middle, and end—it's going somewhere. In Matthew 24, Jesus addresses an important part of this story: where we're going. The end!
The Problem with Our Stories
Here's another challenge we face with all of this. When we think of life's narrative, we all want our life to be about us. We're the main character: the beginning, the middle, the end.
What's your ideal ending? Probably some sunny beach in retirement, right? No work, just relaxing, eating good food, reading a book. Sounds lovely! And very self-absorbed. That promise of a good end to your life isn't always kept. It's not only self-absorbed; it's rare. Yet we all chase after it.
For all of us, there will be times when everything around us feels chaotic and crumbling—situations that no amount of planning can undo.
So either we accept the status quo that life is just one ongoing circle, every day the same, or we try hard and maybe get to live our most selfish dreams.
Jesus steps in and says: what if there was something better? What if there were more options?
Jesus' Better Vision
Jesus, over and over, persuades us to aim for something bigger. For our imaginations to expand beyond "this is just how things are" and for our hearts to expand beyond "this life is all about me." Jesus gives us a glimpse into the ending. If this is the ending, how should we live today?
Through Jesus, He enables us to:
Pay attention
Be resilient
Grow in love
Understanding Apocalyptic Texts
Before we look into this passage, a few things to keep in mind. This area of Christian faith, called eschatology—the study of end times—can be tricky. For some people, it's 90% of their faith, and they're rather obsessed. For others, they don't really care much about it.
Let's be honest first: it's weird. When we read these strange parts of the Bible, a good first question is: what is this for? This isn't about predictions, though some wrongly obsess over that. The main purpose: to shake us awake. To get our attention now.
It's intense and frightening—meant to shake us out of our complacency and point us to something beyond our selfishness, beyond the status quo.
The Christian marketing machine really likes to use this material to sell books and films (notice they're often found in the "fiction" category!). Sadly, there's often a fixation on the timing (which we can't know) or on the manner of Jesus' return, like a disaster film. To do that is to miss the whole point of Jesus' words!
The whole point is about how we live now as we look to Jesus' return in the future.
What Jesus Said to Them
The Temple's Destruction
It all starts with a question. Jesus tells His disciples that the symbol of God's presence, what makes Israel Israel—the temple—will be destroyed.
His disciples want to hear more. They're troubled, so they ask Jesus to elaborate. He describes a season of intense trouble. Say what you want about Jesus, He's honest!
False Messiahs
People would come in His name but use Him for their own reasons. Very soon from that time, there would be a series of Jewish revolts against the Romans. People would claim Jesus but have nothing to do with Him. One example: the Second Jewish Revolt of 135, led by Bar Kokhba (a wannabe messiah), resulting in Rome banishing all Jews from Jerusalem.
Some of these false teachers would sound great, perhaps even do impressive things. Don't believe it. They're charlatans! For you: pay attention—stay awake!
War, Famine, Earthquakes
Wars, rumours of wars. This has always been happening. Don't be alarmed. Jesus tells us ahead of time so we can be resilient and not crumble under the pressure. Humans will create chaos, but so will nature. Life on earth will be, is, chaotic. Prepare to be resilient.
Persecution
You will be handed over, persecuted, even killed. Others will walk away from faith when persecution comes. Don't be like that. When persecution comes, when love becomes cold: stand firm. Keep at it. You must continue the mission.
When things are difficult, it's hard enough to be resilient, let alone preventing our love from growing cold. But life with Jesus not only allows us to endure the most difficult times—it allows our love to grow.
Jesus was preparing His disciples for what they would do in the book of Acts: continuing Jesus' mission amidst chaos and persecution.
Jesus' Return
Then Jesus speaks about His return. The purpose? To gather believers—what He calls the elect—together. All those who believe in Jesus, gathered up with Him.
If this is true in the future, what should those hearing this think about? Are we alert? Are we paying attention?
They don't know when, we don't know when, so keep at it. It's supposed to spur us on, keep us going. They don't know when, neither do we, but we all know Who. And Jesus is clear about how we should live: for something better.
What Jesus Says to Us
False Messiahs Today
"For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the Messiah,' and will deceive many" (Matthew 24:5).
The televangelist asking for money so you can be healed? Nothing new. Politicians using religion for their agenda? Nothing new. But don't let the abuse of a good thing ruin the original good thing.
We should be honest about how others have manipulated Christianity for their own ends. It's horrible, and we shouldn't be defensive—we should be frustrated and angry about it! What we get to do is move forward with justice and truth.
Today, much of this applies to YouTubers, podcasters, Substack writers, Facebook posters. The amount of influence a random person can wield is rarely connected with the truth they communicate. People know how to manipulate: stoke fear, prey on insecurities, say things people want to hear.
There are other kinds of false messiahs:
Your career will give you the meaning you need
Your family will save you
Your partner will fulfil you
More money will give you real happiness
False. False. False. False.
So our job is to pay attention: don't get swindled! We're resilient: when others are taken in by lies, we stand firm on what we know is true. We also grow in love and continue inviting everyone to know the real Messiah.
Life Will Be Chaotic
Sometimes you don't need a real tornado when you have a three-year-old! But of course, war isn't just a metaphor—it's reality for many people, some of whom have moved to the UK because of it.
Real, horrible things will happen to us. Some of this is a product of living in a broken world. Some happens because people come after us precisely for what we believe.
It's much easier to give in, to not face difficult things. We don't even need persecution to stop us—just the threat of awkwardness will do.
Life will have suffering regardless of your faith. But for Christians, we have Someone who walks through it with us.
Jesus isn't saying bad things will happen, but don't worry, you'll be fine. No! You could die! He's saying the most important thing is to persevere. To have resilience, to keep going. In fact, resilience in being obedient to Jesus in a world that doesn't pay Him attention is a mark of Christian maturity.
"The one who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Jesus' Return Is Good News
Jesus' return is part of the good news of the Kingdom. Jesus will return, He will gather us up in ways we can't completely understand but can be completely confident of.
If we have faith in Christ, He will give us what we need when we need it, and the ending is something He controls. That's good news because so much is out of our control, and even what's in our control, we're not always great with.
But with God: all things are in His hand. Jesus is in control, all the time. Whatever might be overwhelming you right now, whatever you face in the future: Jesus has it. He's in control. And He's good, gentle, and loves us.
Jesus' return, scary as it might sound, is actually good news because it's a promise that He will set all things right. When you can see a finish line, it's much easier to keep running.
How to Live This Way
Pay Attention
Life is not cyclical; it's a narrative with an arc.
When you wake up first thing, where does your brain go? What are you putting in your eyes and ears during the day? We're all paying attention to various things, and what we pay attention to most is what we organise our lives around.
In a world vying for your attention, how do you pay attention to what truly matters? If we aren't paying attention to God, we can't expect to see Him work. To "be alert" isn't anxiety-standby-mode; it's orientating our lives around Him.
The sun is the brightest, weightiest thing in our galaxy. The planets revolve around it. For Christians, the gift we have is the sun! The brightest and weightiest thing: we know Him! It's Jesus! If you have this gift, let's take advantage of it!
To pay attention, we have His Word in our ears and our words to Him in our mouths. We can't expect to pay attention if we aren't in the Word, in prayer, and with each other. Understanding how to read the Bible helps us stay attentive to God's voice.
Be Resilient
The command to "be resilient"—much easier said than done, right?
When you're in it, life feels like it's crumbling. If you feel worn out, tired, overwhelmed, the key to resilience is what we stand on.
What's under your feet? Does your life stop with you, or is there something else underneath? God's foundation is firm and will never break, no matter what weight or pressure is put on it.
We crumble because we've been relying on ourselves. The key to resilience isn't getting better; it's getting a better foundation. It's God Himself. We learn how to be more dependent.
God often works through His people. When people are struggling, sometimes they step back from Sundays, communities, all of that. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. "I don't feel strong," so they step away from how God delivers His strength—then wonder why they don't feel strong!
Maybe life is ticking along fine now. This is when you stock up. We aren't guaranteed peaceful circumstances, but we are guaranteed chaotic ones. If you aren't in a storm now, stock up on what you need so you're ready when it comes.
Grow in Love
"Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 24:12-13).
Wickedness and cold love are contrasted with those who endure. The opposite of wickedness and cold love is obedience and growing in love. "The gospel of the kingdom" means good news—and good news isn't just for us; it's for everyone!
We can't grow in love if we aren't in proximity with each other. It's hard to grow in love when people are theories. But have them around the dinner table? That's different. This isn't something we whip up because we're nice people. God save us from being merely nice!
What we need, what others need is nothing less than God's own power at work in us and in this world. Being part of a church in Manchester means learning together what it means to grow in love even when circumstances are difficult.
God Is With Us
Before this is a command to followers of Jesus, this is who He is for us. He always pays attention to us—our needs, inadequacies, the overwhelming seas of life. He's never not paying attention.
Jesus is always resilient. He endured death for our sake, which means whatever comes at us in death or life: we too can endure through it.
If anyone would have legitimacy for their love to grow cold, it would be Jesus when He sees us—but it's the opposite. We are the apple of His eye. He loves to love us!
Because Jesus is these things, when we follow Him, He lives in us through His Spirit. That enables us to be these things. It's something more than us at work—it's nothing less than God Himself.
Jesus' last words in Matthew's gospel relate to this chapter, the "end of the age." What does He say?
"Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age" (Matthew 28:20).
We don't go through anything alone. The Father and the Son send the Holy Spirit so we can pay attention, so we will be resilient, so our love will grow. Understanding what it means to live in God's beautiful harmony with each other helps us embody this reality.
A Final Word
Take the example of the people Jesus spoke to. They saw Rome—big, powerful. In their imagination, no other power on earth could be greater. But what is Rome now? A ruin! And God's kingdom? It has only grown!
Apply that to whatever you might face now that seems insurmountable.
Really, Rome isn't far from us—it's how our city was founded! We're at the edge of Roman power and civilisation. We don't even have ruins here; we've had to reconstruct them! The only real power in this world comes from God, and He's at work in His kingdom.
"I am with you always even to the end of the age." What great words! When you're overwhelmed, remember these words.
At best, 98% of people in Manchester don't know God. How many have really heard the gospel in a way they can understand? How many of those 2,744,000 people know a Christian, have experienced God's family?
Jesus' words in verse 14: the gospel of the kingdom needs to be preached in the whole world, including here. That's us. The reason for us to be these things? It's not just for us—it's for others!
As we seek to live as a faithful church in Manchester, we're learning together what it means to pay attention, be resilient, and grow in love—not just for ourselves, but for this city that Jesus loves.