When will Jesus Return?

Read Matthew 24.

In 23:38, Jesus said, "See your house is left to you desolate."  As He began to leave the Temple, the disciples commented on the buildings.  Jesus again spoke of a day when it will all "be thrown down."  (That actually took place in A.D. 70 at the hands of the Romans.)  Jesus statement prompted the twelve to ask two questions:  "Tell us when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?"

Jesus answered those two questions in reverse order.

1. What will be the sign of your coming? (vv.4-14)
False Messiahs, wars, rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes are only the beginning of what is to come.  Believers will be hated simply because of their faith in Jesus.  Some will be put to death.  Those days will be marked by false teachers, divisiveness, increased crime, and apathy.  "And then the end will come."

2. When will these things be? (vv.15-31)
Jesus referenced the book of Daniel and the sign of the abominable thing being brought into the Temple.  First, this means that before the return of Christ, the Temple must be rebuilt on the site where the Dome of Rock stands today.  That abomination according to verse 21 says this will touch off the Great Tribulation, or the second half of the seven years (seventieth week) about which Daniel prophesied.  This will not just be a time of trouble but "such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, never will be."

These will be days of preparation for Israel to receive her King.  There is no mention of the church here or in the details of the Tribulation in Revelation 6-18.  "Immediately after the tribulation" (v.29), "then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man." (v.30).  "And every eye will see him" (Revelation 1:7) as Jesus appears "with power and great glory" (v.30).  This exactly what Revelation 19:11-16 describes.

But when those seven years will begin we are not told.  "No one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only" (v.36)  The disciples asked the same question again in Acts 1:6.  Jesus said, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority."

3. What does this mean to us?
First, as bad as things are in this world, they will get worse.  However, God's plans will be fulfilled right on time.

Second, believers in Jesus today will not experience the Great Tribulation.  Our future hope is in not physically making it through that excruciating experience and "endure to the end" (24:13).  We look forward to being "caught up" at any moment "to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:17).

Third, people who reject the love and gracious redemption in Jesus, who are alive at that time, will face those awful days.  No wonder, after answering the disciples in Acts 1, Jesus commissioned His followers saying, "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8).  Do it while there is time.