Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Matthew chapter 24 and 25
VII. Passion Week (chs. 21-27)
- The Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as King (21:1-11)
- The Cleansing of the Temple (21:12-17)
- The Last Controversies with the Jewish Leaders (21:18 -- 23:39)
- The Olivet Discourse (chs. 24-25)
Matthew 24
1 As Jesus was leaving the Temple grounds,
his disciples pointed out to him the various Temple buildings.
2 But he responded, “Do you see all these
buildings? I tell you the truth, they will be completely demolished. Not one
stone will be left on top of another!”
3 Later, Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives.
His disciples came to him privately and said, “Tell us, when will all this
happen? What sign will signal your return and the end of the world? ”
4 Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone
mislead you,
5 for many will come in my name, claiming,
‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many.
6 And you will hear of wars and threats of
wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t
follow immediately.
7 Nation will go to war against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many
parts of the world.
8 But all this is only the first of the
birth pains, with more to come.
9 “Then you will be arrested, persecuted,
and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers.
10 And many will turn away from me and
betray and hate each other.
11 And many false prophets will appear and
will deceive many people.
12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the
love of many will grow cold.
13 But the one who endures to the end will
be saved.
14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will
be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and
then the end will come.
15 “The day is coming when you will see
what Daniel the prophet spoke about—the sacrilegious object that causes
desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!)
16 “Then those in Judea must flee to the
hills.
17 A person out on the deck of a roof must
not go down into the house to pack.
18 A person out in the field must not
return even to get a coat.
19 How terrible it will be for pregnant
women and for nursing mothers in those days.
20 And pray that your flight will not be in
winter or on the Sabbath.
21 For there will be greater anguish than
at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.
22 In fact, unless that time of calamity is
shortened, not a single person will survive. But it will be shortened for the
sake of God’s chosen ones.
23 “Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here
is the Messiah,’ or ‘There he is,’ don’t believe it.
24 For false messiahs and false prophets
will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible,
even God’s chosen ones.
25 See, I have warned you about this ahead
of time.
26 “So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the
Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is
hiding here,’ don’t believe it!
27 For as the lightning flashes in the east
and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.
28 Just as the gathering of vultures shows
there is a carcass nearby, so these signs indicate that the end is near.
29 “Immediately after the anguish of those
days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will
fall from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
30 And then at last, the sign that the Son
of Man is coming will appear in the heavens, and there will be deep mourning
among all the peoples of the earth. And they will see the Son of Man coming on
the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And he will send out his angels with the
mighty blast of a trumpet, and they will gather his chosen ones from all over
the world —from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.
32 “Now learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branches bud and its leaves begin to sprout, you know that summer is
near.
33 In the same way, when you see all these
things, you can know his return is very near, right at the door.
34 I tell you the truth, this generation
will not pass from the scene until all these things take place.
35 Heaven and earth will disappear, but my
words will never disappear.
36 “However, no one knows the day or hour
when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son
himself. Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man returns, it will be
like it was in Noah’s day.
38 In those days before the flood, the
people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time
Noah entered his boat.
39 People didn’t realize what was going to
happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be
when the Son of Man comes.
40 “Two men will be working together in the
field; one will be taken, the other left.
41 Two women will be grinding flour at the
mill; one will be taken, the other left.
42 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you
don’t know what day your Lord is coming.
43 Understand this: If a homeowner knew
exactly when a burglar was coming, he would keep watch and not permit his house
to be broken into.
44 You also must be ready all the time, for
the Son of Man will come when least expected.
45 “A faithful, sensible servant is one to
whom the master can give the responsibility of managing his other household
servants and feeding them.
46 If the master returns and finds that the
servant has done a good job, there will be a reward.
47 I tell you the truth, the master will
put that servant in charge of all he owns.
48 But what if the servant is evil and
thinks, ‘My master won’t be back for a while,’
49 and he begins beating the other
servants, partying, and getting drunk?
50 The master will return unannounced and
unexpected,
51 and he will cut the servant to pieces
and assign him a place with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping
and gnashing of teeth.
Matthew 25
1 “Then the Kingdom of Heaven will be like
ten bridesmaids who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.
2 Five of them were foolish, and five were
wise.
3 The five who were foolish didn’t take
enough olive oil for their lamps,
4 but the other five were wise enough to
take along extra oil.
5 When the bridegroom was delayed, they
all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6 “At midnight they were roused by the
shout, ‘Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!’
7 “All the bridesmaids got up and prepared
their lamps.
8 Then the five foolish ones asked the
others, ‘Please give us some of your oil because our lamps are going out.’
9 “But the others replied, ‘We don’t have
enough for all of us. Go to a shop and buy some for yourselves.’
10 “But while they were gone to buy oil,
the bridegroom came. Then those who were ready went in with him to the marriage
feast, and the door was locked.
11 Later, when the other five bridesmaids
returned, they stood outside, calling, ‘Lord! Lord! Open the door for us!’
12 “But he called back, ‘Believe me, I
don’t know you!’
13 “So you, too, must keep watch! For you
do not know the day or hour of my return.
14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be
illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his
servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone.
15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two
bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in
proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.
16 “The servant who received the five bags
of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.
17 The servant with two bags of silver also
went to work and earned two more.
18 But the servant who received the one bag
of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.
19 “After a long time their master returned
from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his
money.
20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the
five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me
five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’
21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well
done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this
small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s
celebrate together! ’
22 “The servant who had received the two
bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver
to invest, and I have earned two more.’
23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good
and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so
now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’
24 “Then the servant with the one bag of
silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops
you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate.
25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so
I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’
26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and
lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I
didn’t cultivate,
27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the
bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’
28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from
this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver.
29 To those who use well what they are
given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those
who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.
30 Now throw this useless servant into
outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
31 “But when the Son of Man comes in his
glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne.
32 All the nations will be gathered in his
presence, and he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep
from the goats.
33 He will place the sheep at his right
hand and the goats at his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his
right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared
for you from the creation of the world.
35 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was
thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into
your home.
36 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I
was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
37 “Then these righteous ones will reply,
‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you
something to drink?
38 Or a stranger and show you hospitality?
Or naked and give you clothing?
39 When did we ever see you sick or in
prison and visit you?’
40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the
truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters,
you were doing it to me!’
41 “Then the King will turn to those on the
left and say, ‘Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his demons.
42 For I was hungry, and you didn’t feed
me. I was thirsty, and you didn’t give me a drink.
43 I was a stranger, and you didn’t invite
me into your home. I was naked, and you didn’t give me clothing. I was sick and
in prison, and you didn’t visit me.’
44 “Then they will reply, ‘Lord, when did
we ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison,
and not help you?’
45 “And he will answer, ‘I tell you the
truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you
were refusing to help me.’
46 “And they will go away into eternal
punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life.”
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