WordLive - Year OneSample

Prepare: Are there things happening in the world which make you long for Jesus to return? Warning signs It’s difficult to separate yesterday’s passage from today’s. The whole chapter intertwines two events. One of them is now in the past – the destruction of the Temple (v 14). The other is in the future – the return of Jesus (v 26). Jesus returns to the subject of fig trees, but positively this time. When fig trees come into leaf it is a sign of the approaching summer (v 28). In the same way, the events described in verses 5–13 are a sign, but in this case to warn of terrible things about to happen in Jerusalem. Watch! It’s easy to lose sight of the fact that these signs are not meant as clues to tell us when the end would come. No one knows when that will be (v 32). The real point of them is to change the way that we live. The only thing that we do know about the end is that it will be sudden (vs 35,36). For us, much of what Jesus warned the disciples about still stands. False messiahs, stretched relationships and persecution have always been part of the experience of Christians. It may be a long time since Jesus left the earth but his return is as certain as it has ever been. For us the most important thing of all is the last word, ‘Watch!’ (v 37). Respond: If you knew that the world would end tomorrow, what would you change today? So why not change it anyway? http://www.wordlive.org/Session/Classic/2012-11-24