In Jesus’ time, foot washing was a common practice. People wore sandals, and their feet would often become dirty from traveling dusty roads and paths. Upon entering a house, the first order of business was the washing of feet. If a person were wealthy enough to have a servant, his servant would wash his feet and the feet of visiting guests.

By washing His disciples’ feet, Jesus was doing what an ordinary servant would do. What made His act so extraordinary is that He was their Lord and Teacher. In their society (and ours) no one of any stature would stoop to such a lowly level of servanthood. But Jesus wanted to demonstrate to them what true greatness was in God’s eyes. In God’s kingdom, the greatest person is the one who serves others. Jesus, of course, is the greatest servant there ever was—He gave His life for us all.

If Jesus visited you and wanted to teach the same lesson, He probably wouldn’t wash your feet, but would do something more culturally relevant. He would perform some equivalent lowly and undesirable task to demonstrate true servanthood. Perhaps He would wash out your garbage cans or clean your toilet. If He was visiting your church on Sunday, He might work in the nursery, changing diapers. Then He would say, “I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you” (John 13:15). God wants His children to serve each other in practical ways. The question is: Are we?

To a casual reader, it might seem as if Matthew and John were writing about the same incident. The two stories, however, contain details that differ significantly. Mary anointed Jesus six days before the Passover, and the unnamed woman anointed Him two days before the Passover. It seems Mary anointed Jesus while He was visiting her, her sister Martha and her brother Lazarus in their home; the unnamed woman anointed Jesus in the home of a man named Simon the Leper. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair; the unnamed woman poured her perfume on His head.

Both women were expressing their love for Jesus in a costly act of worship, spending the equivalent of a year’s wages in a few minutes of adoration. Both women obviously believed Jesus was God! He was worth it.

Both women were rebuked for what they did, the unnamed woman by Jesus’ disciples, and Mary by Judas Iscariot. This gives us some more insight into Judas’s evil character. The disciples’ rebuke of the unnamed woman was motivated by concern for the poor, certainly a worthy motive. Still, Jesus rebuked them, correcting their perspective. Four days later, they again watched as another year’s wages was spent on Jesus’ feet. Even after being among those rebuked by Jesus four days earlier, Judas still grumbled about it. Beyond that, John informs us that Judas really wasn’t concerned with the poor. He often stole money from the box where Jesus kept money that was to be given to the poor, and he wanted the perfume to be sold only so there would be more money for him to steal.

Judas was a classic example of someone whose true god is money. Anyone who enriches himself in ways that are sinful or unethical proves that money, and not the Lord, is his god. People have often speculated what Judas’s motive was in betraying Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. The answer is that he saw an opportunity to make a large sum of money easily.

Q. Let’s pretend that your parents spent thirty thousand dollars in one day on your sister, buying her all kinds of expensive and unnecessary things. Let’s also pretend that you complained about it, saying that the money could have been spent on a much more worthy cause, perhaps given to the poor for the basic necessities of life. If your sister responded as Jesus did, essentially saying that she was more important than all the poor people who could have been helped, what would that say about her?

A. It would prove she had a huge ego and was incredibly selfish.

Q. Then what about Jesus? Didn’t His answer prove the same about Him?

A. No, because Jesus was God. He is infinitely more valuable than all the people of the world, rich and poor, combined. It would be impossible for Him to think a thought or say a word that could be considered egotistical. He has no equals and couldn’t do anything that could rightfully be considered selfish. Selfishness is a sin that can only be committed by a human being.

Application: When Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with her expensive perfume, the house was filled with the fragrance. Likewise, when we sincerely worship Jesus from our hearts, there seems to be a heavenly fragrance of God’s Spirit that fills the place where we worship.

Today we’ve read about a portion of Jesus’ final full day on earth. Thousands of Jews from all over Israel had journeyed to Jerusalem for the weeklong Feast of Unleavened Bread, which began with the Passover celebration. On that day, every Israelite family would kill a year-old lamb, commemorating the time when the angel of death, who killed all the firstborn in Egypt, passed over their homes on the night of their exodus from Egypt. The Bible refers to Jesus as the Lamb of God because He came to fulfill what every previous Passover lamb prefigured—His substitutionary death for the sins of the world.

Jesus and His disciples had been staying each night in the nearby town of Bethany. On this particular day, Jesus sent Peter and John before Him into Jerusalem to prepare the Passover meal so Jesus and His disciples could eat it together. The instructions Jesus gave them for the preparations were amazing. Just as they entered through a gate in Jerusalem’s wall, they would meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. They should simply follow him to a house he would enter. Then they were to say to the owner of that house, “The Teacher asks, ‘Where is the guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?'” He would take them to a large upstairs room that was already set up for them.

Apparently, the owner had some prior knowledge that Jesus wanted to use his upper room for a meal with His disciples, but how he knew that, we don’t know. Either Jesus had previously made arrangements with him, or God had somehow informed him. The man, whom Peter and John followed, was on an errand to bring a pitcher of water to the house they needed to find. He wasn’t specifically waiting for Peter and John at the Jerusalem Gate, but just “happened” to be walking there at the same time they entered the city. God had arranged the circumstances so that they were all at the right place at the right time. If He desires, God can slow us down or speed us up to make sure that we’re in the right place at the right time as well. For example, God might arrange for a slowpoke driver to be ahead of your car to help you avoid an accident in which you would otherwise be involved.

Once Jesus and His disciples had gathered for the Passover meal, Jesus made it very clear that it would be the last time He would eat the Passover meal until it came to fulfillment in the Kingdom of God (see Luke 22:16). Either He was speaking of the time of His thousand-year reign on the earth, indicating that He would join people then who would celebrate the Passover in commemoration of His sacrifice, or He was speaking of celebrating the Passover in a spiritual sense with every person who would believe in Him.

Although Luke didn’t record it, as Jesus shared the cup of wine with His disciples, He said, “This is my blood, which seals the covenant between God and his people. It is poured out to forgive the sins of many” (Matthew 26:28). God couldn’t simply forgive people’s sins by a decree of forgiveness; otherwise He would be compromising His own holiness and justice. As the Creator and moral Judge of all humanity, He must punish all sin. Amazingly, Jesus was willing to suffer our deserved punishment, dying as our substitute. His blood being poured out speaks of His violent and painful death. And like all ancient covenants that were ratified by blood being shed, God has entered into a covenant with us, promising to forgive all our sins. That covenant is ratified by Jesus’ shed blood.

Just as the wine Jesus shared represented His blood, so the bread He broke and shared represented His body. Our eating and drinking what represents His body and blood is symbolic of our becoming one with Him. We’re in Him and He’s in us. Our sins have been paid for in full by the One who now lives in us by His Holy Spirit.

Q. Did Jesus tell us how often we are to share in what is now called Communion or the Lord’s Supper?

A. No, He didn’t. He just said that as often as we do it, we should do it in His remembrance.

Q. Is the Lord’s Supper something we can only celebrate in a church service officiated by an ordained minister?

A. No, not according to the Bible. When Jesus broke bread and drank wine, He did something that was extremely common in His day. People broke and ate bread at practically every meal of their lives. Wine was the most common beverage other than water. For this reason, some Christians believe that every meal we eat can be viewed as Communion, blessed at the beginning, done in Christ’s remembrance and serving as a reminder of our oneness with Him.

Application: The author of Hebrews wrote, “We have become partakers of Christ” (Hebrews 3:14, NASB). One of the greatest truths of the New Testament is that Jesus lives inside of everyone who truly believes in Him. Now Christ in us wants to live through us. Our job is to allow Him to do just that.

When Jesus told the crowd that He would die by being lifted up on a cross, they were confused. How could He claim to be the Messiah if He was going to die? Didn’t the Old Testament promise that the Messiah’s kingdom would have no end?

The problem was their limited understanding of the Old Testament messianic predictions. Yes, the Scriptures did promise a never-ending messianic kingdom, but they also revealed that the Messiah would die for our sins.

Jesus emphasized that His remaining time on earth was limited, and encouraged His audience to take advantage of the opportunity that would soon be gone. Comparing Himself to a light that was about to be shut off, He told them to walk in His light and believe in it. Light is symbolic of truth, and that is all Jesus spoke. In fact, He Himself was a revelation of God’s truthfulness, because He was the Savior God promised to send. Those who walk in His light, that is, base their lives on what He said, and believe in Him, become His spiritual offspring, members of His family, or as Jesus said, “children of the light” (John 12:36).

Perhaps anticipating that some of his readers might wonder why so many Jews rejected Jesus if He was their long-awaited Messiah, John mentions that Isaiah the prophet foretold Christ’s rejection. Thus Jesus’ widespread rejection is not reason for readers to doubt He is the Messiah; rather, it is even more reason to believe He is the Messiah.

Unfortunately, the New Living Translation, in translating John’s paraphrase of Isaiah’s prophecy, makes it seem as if God hardened people’s hearts so that they could not believe in Him even if they wanted to. However, other translations leave room for varied interpretations of Isaiah’s words. It would certainly seem strange and unfair if God expected people to do what He made it impossible for them to do! Paul wrote that it is Satan, not God, who blinds the minds of the unbelieving (see 2 Corinthians 4:4).

In the final part of today’s reading, Jesus again repeated His often-made claims, clearly conveying that He was nothing less than God. To believe in Him was to believe in God. To see Him was to see God. He was the sole source of truth in the world. He had come to save the world. He should be obeyed. The truth He had spoken would be the standard by which every person will be judged on the last day. His words were actually the words of God the Father, and they were the words that could bring eternal life. Anyone other than God who would make those kinds of claims would be guilty of blasphemy!

Q. Although many people rejected Jesus, according to John, many people also believed in Him, including some Jewish leaders. However, John told us that they wouldn’t admit their faith to anyone for fear that the Pharisees would throw them out of the synagogue. Does that mean that they weren’t true believers?

A. No, it just means they were timid believers. John criticized them for loving the praise of men more than the praise of God. When we are hesitant to confess Christ openly and boldly, we are guilty of the same fault.

Q. According to what we read today, Jesus expects people to believe in Him and obey Him. Which is more important?

A. That was a trick question. They are equally important, and, in fact, the two can’t be separated. If a person believes in Jesus, he will also obey Jesus.

Application: Jesus, although obviously the Son of God sent from heaven, is still rejected by the majority of people. Because of the hardness of their hearts, they refuse to believe in Him. As the saying goes, “The majority is not always right.” Be glad that you’re a part of the minority who is right!

Continuing to answer His disciples’ questions about His return, Jesus concluded by telling them what would happen soon after He did come back. That will be the time when He will judge everyone on the earth, ultimately allowing them to remain in His kingdom or be cast into hell.

The question most asked about this portion of Scripture centers on the criteria used by God to determine who is saved and who is not. If we are saved by grace through faith and not by works, then why are people’s works the determining factor in their salvation or damnation? The answer is that our deeds show if we believe or don’t believe in Jesus. The Bible often declares that every person will be judged according to his or her deeds. The reason is because deeds alone reveal the faith a person possesses or doesn’t possess.

True believers in Jesus love others who believe in Jesus. Jesus Himself said, “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples” (John 13:35). The apostle John wrote, “If we love other Christians, it proves that we have passed from death to eternal life” (1 John 3:14). Love is manifested in deeds, and that is why the saved in today’s reading were the ones who gave food, drink, hospitality and clothing to their needy brothers and sisters, cared for them when they were sick and visited them when they were in prison. That is what true believers do, and when they show their love for the brethren, they show their love for Christ.

On the other hand, unbelievers could care less about Christians who are suffering. In fact, they are often glad because of it. And when they show their hatred for Christians, they show their hatred for Christ. Again, the apostle John wrote, “Anyone who hates another Christian is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them” (1 John 3:15).

Q. Today’s reading gives us another indication that God wants everyone to be saved. What indication is that? (Clue: It has something to do with for whom hell is prepared.)

A. Jesus said that hell was prepared for the Devil and his demons. That could indicate that is wasn’t originally intended to be a place for human beings. God’s will is for everyone to be saved, even for those who will spend eternity in hell. The unsaved forfeit what God wants for them by their unbelief.

Q. Jesus said that His kingdom was prepared for saved people from the foundation of the world. Does this prove that God has predestined only certain people to be saved?

A. No, that would contradict what He said about salvation being offered to everyone. God planned from the foundation of the world that anyone who would believe in His Son would inherit His kingdom. The kingdom has been prepared from the foundation of the world for all who will believe the gospel.

Application: The most important question any of us could ask is this: Is my love for Jesus Christ evident in how I treat fellow Christians? More specifically, what needy Christian have I served or am I serving?

Jesus knew that He would be crucified in Jerusalem during the Passover festival in just a few days. He had already predicted His death on several occasions to His disciples, but now He wanted them to begin to understand the purpose of His death.

First of all, Jesus didn’t consider His death to be an end, but a beginning. He said, “The time has come for the Son of Man to enter into his glory” (John 12:23). That is, it was time for Him to go to heaven. The death of any Christian should also be viewed as a beginning. However, Christians enter into God’s glory when they die, not their own glory, as did Jesus.

Second, Jesus’ death was not an accident or twist of fate. It was God’s intention that He die. In fact, it was the main reason Jesus became a human being and lived on the earth (see John 12:27).

Third, the result of His death would be new life for a lot of people. Jesus compared Himself to a kernel of wheat that dies and is planted in the ground. The result is new life for many more kernels of wheat that grow from that single seed.

Fourth, Jesus explained what we must do to reap the benefits of His death, saying, “Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). Before a person can be saved, he must come to the place of despising his life, recognizing that he is a sinner trapped in his sins, and is displeasing to God. Then and only then will he be motivated to come sincerely to Jesus, repenting of his sins and seeking a new life that is pleasing to God.

Fifth, Jesus’ death would glorify God (see John 12:28) because it would reveal the greatness of His love for humanity.

Sixth, Jesus’ death would be the beginning of the end of Satan’s rule over the millions of sinful people in the world (see John 12:31). The reason is because God has allowed Satan to hold everyone who is a sinner in captivity. But once the penalty for people’s sins was paid, those who were made righteous by believing are released from Satan’s captivity. Moreover, one day only righteous, redeemed people will be living on the earth, and then Satan will have no authority whatsoever. He himself will ultimately be cast into hell. And it will be due to Jesus’ sacrificial death.

Seventh, Jesus’ death would, more than anything else He did, draw people to Him as they learn of His great sacrifice on their behalf (see John 12:32). His death on the cross is the central part of the gospel.

Q. People often “accept Jesus” for different reasons. For example, some people hope God will give them a better edge in their business or enhance their relationship with others. Are these valid reasons for becoming a Christian?

A. No, according to Jesus, they’re not. A person must despise his life in this world if he wants eternal life. People who supposedly “accept Jesus” to help them become more successful in life aren’t meeting the requirements Jesus laid down. They are those, who, as Jesus said, love their lives in this world, and don’t recognize their pathetic condition—rebellious, lost, and hell-bound.

Q. We read today about God speaking in an audible voice to Jesus so that the crowd who was listening to Jesus heard it. Everyone heard the same thing, but not everyone who heard God’s voice agreed about what they’d heard. Why do you suppose they disagreed?

A. Because everyone in the crowd was more or less receptive to the truth, either believing or doubtful. The less receptive ones didn’t want to admit that anything supernatural had happened, so they explained God’s voice by saying it was thunder. The more receptive ones thought an angel had spoken. However, all of them knew that Jesus had just addressed His Father in prayer, but none of them were apparently receptive enough to believe that God Himself had spoken.

Application: The problem is not that people can’t believe, it’s that they won’t believe because of the hardness of their hearts. Here is a modern example of the same kind of unbelief Jesus encountered, found in an article in Popular Mechanics magazine that explains how Jesus was able to raise Lazarus from the dead:

“Dr. Gerald A. Larue, professor emeritus of biblical history and archeology at the University of Southern California and president of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion (CSER), a secular humanist organization, says it’s possible Lazarus was either in a coma or a catatonic state….Larue says that a person in a catatonic state shows few signs of a heartbeat or breathing. The biblical account leads him to suspect Lazarus was actually in a coma, since in this condition hearing is often the last sense lost. “Assuming Jesus had a loud voice, and he called out ‘Lazarus,’ the man may have heard him and come out of the coma,” Larue says. (Popular Mechanics, Vol. 173, No 12, p. 42).

What do you think?

Today’s reading is a continuation of Jesus’ response to His disciples’ questions about His return. The first parable of the ten bridesmaids is a little difficult for us to understand unless we know something about the wedding customs of Jesus’ day.

Back then, people didn’t get married in churches, but in their own homes. With his friends, the bridegroom would walk from his house to the house of the bride. From there he would take her back home in a wedding procession, and the wedding guests would light their way through the darkened streets with oil lamps. The ten bridesmaids in this story were either stationed at the bride’s home, waiting for the bridegroom to arrive, or at his house, waiting for both bride and bridegroom to arrive.

The important point of the story is that, because the bridegroom was delayed, five of the bridesmaids ran out of oil to fuel their lamps and had to go and purchase more oil. When they returned, they couldn’t gain entrance into the wedding feast that was by then in progress.

We should be very cautious about searching for significance in every detail of parables such as this, otherwise we’ll become confused. Every parable is an imperfect comparison that usually serves to make one major point. We don’t need to wonder what the oil represents, what is the significance of the number of bridesmaids, or why the five foolish ones were excluded from the wedding feast just because they arrived late. The obvious point of this parable is that we need to stay ready for the return of our bridegroom, Jesus, even if it seems He’s delayed. People who are spiritually asleep will miss out on a great eternal wedding feast.

The story of the three servants is very similar to the parable of the ten servants we read in the nineteenth chapter of Luke’s Gospel. Notice that in this parable, the unfaithful servant was cast into “outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30), obviously hell. We can be sure he wasn’t a Christian. So what did the one bag of gold he was entrusted with represent? It represented either his life, a gift given to him by God, or it represents gifts, abilities and opportunities that God gave him. When he had to give an account at the final judgment, he had nothing to show for what God had given him. He was considered to be lazy, wicked and useless by God (see Matthew 25:26, 30). The least he could have done would have been to invest his master’s money in the bank and earn a little interest for him. A true believer would have at least produced a little fruit in his life. But this man had none.

The other two servants represent those who, by their obedience, prove their faithfulness. (The reason they had been given more money than the other servant was perhaps because they had already proven themselves faithful with one bag of gold). As God finds us faithful, He entrusts us with more responsibility. This is true in this life and the next one.

The primary point of this parable is that every person is accountable to God for what God entrusts to him. Those who prove to be completely faithless will suffer eternally, but those who prove themselves faithful to serve God with their gifts will be rewarded. Again, this parable teaches us that true believers are identifiable by their deeds.

Q. If Jesus visited the earth for the first time today, do you think He would tell people the same parable of ten bridesmaids as He did two thousand years ago?

A. He probably wouldn’t, because it doesn’t fit our modern customs. He would probably adapt it to fit modern weddings or use an entirely different story to illustrate the same truth. Perhaps He would talk about a man who was late for his job interview and who wasn’t hired, or a young lady who arrived late for her college entrance exams and was consequently prohibited from entering the room where the test was being taken.

Q. How do you think Jesus might change the parable of the three servants to fit our modern culture?

A. He might change the wealthy master into an employer who, upon leaving for a business trip, gave his employees certain assignments according to their abilities. Upon his return, he would discover that one employee, to whom he gave the easiest task, had accomplished nothing. That employee would be fired. Or Jesus might tell a story about a mother who gave her three children jobs to do while she went grocery shopping. When she returned earlier than expected, she found out that one child had been watching TV the whole time. Because of this, his mom grounded him for a week!

Application: What did we learn today? Stay ready, and be faithful. If Jesus returned right now, would you be ready to meet Him?

If you were giving Jesus a tour of your city and pointed out the city hall, public library and largest old stone church, and He told you that the time was coming when those buildings would be completely destroyed, you’d probably want to know when! That is how the disciples felt when Jesus predicted that the massive Temple buildings in Jerusalem would be destroyed. They knew that if the Temple was to be demolished, a building that took forty-six years to build, it could only be for one of two possible reasons. Either a highly motivated enemy would destroy it during a major war, or God would destroy it. In either case, to the disciples, such an event would surely be a sign of the end of the world. So they asked Jesus when this would take place, and what signs would signal His return and the end of the world.

We know from history that Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed about forty years later by the Roman army, and Jesus told His disciples what would happen immediately preceding that disaster so they could preserve their lives. However, only Luke recorded that portion of what Jesus said: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then you will know that the time of its destruction has arrived. Then those in Judea must flee to the hills. Let those in Jerusalem escape, and those outside the city should not enter it for shelter. For those will be days of God’s vengeance, and the prophetic words of the Scriptures will be fulfilled. How terrible it will be for pregnant women and for mothers nursing their babies. For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people. They will be brutally killed by the sword or sent away as captives to all the nations of the world. And Jerusalem will be conquered and trampled down by the Gentiles until the age of the Gentiles comes to an end” (Luke 21:20-24).

History tells us that Jerusalem was surrounded by Roman armies around A.D. 70, but for a short time they were drawn away to fight elsewhere, and that is when all the Christians escaped, obeying Jesus’ words. When the Roman armies returned to besiege the city and destroy it, not one true follower of Christ was harmed during the siege, while tens of thousands of nonbelievers lost their lives.

Matthew, whose record we’ve read today, seemed to focus more on Jesus’ predictions that related to His return and the end of the age. Notice that Jesus first talked about things that would not be signs of His return and the end of the world. False christs, wars, famines and earthquakes would be many, but they are not signs that the end is near. Neither are severe persecution, false prophets or rampant sin and selfishness indications that Jesus will soon come back.

However, Jesus did give us two signs that will occur within a short time before His return. First, when the gospel has been proclaimed to the whole world, the end will be near. As I write this, as many as half the people in the world have not heard the name of Jesus. However, that looks like it is changing as the church takes Christ’s command to preach the gospel to every person more seriously.

The second sign is something that Daniel predicted about 2,500 years ago, what Jesus called “the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the holy place” (Matthew 24:15). We don’t have the space to explore this in detail, but one day a man whom the Bible calls the antichrist will walk into the new Temple in Jerusalem and proclaim that he is God. Paul wrote to the Christians in Thessalonica about that man, saying, “He will exalt himself and defy every god there is and tear down every object of adoration and worship. He will position himself in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God” (2 Thessalonians 2:4).

That event will be a sign that the end of the world and Christ’s return are very near. Many Bible scholars believe that, according to other scriptures, that event will precede Christ’s return by three-and-a-half years. It will be a time of terrible distress for people in Jerusalem and around the world, what the Bible calls the “great tribulation,” of which we can read in the book of Revelation. God’s wrath will be poured out upon the inhabitants of the earth like never before. At the end of it, Jesus will return in a way that no one will miss seeing Him, lighting up the entire sky like a flash of lightning does for only a split second. And although the world will consider that to be the end, we will consider it to be another beginning!

Q. The Jerusalem Temple that was destroyed in A.D. 70 has never been rebuilt. Does this mean that Daniel, Jesus and Paul were mistaken about the future antichrist walking into the holy place of the Temple to proclaim himself as being God?

A. No, you can be sure that Scripture will be fulfilled. Obviously a new Temple will have to be built before the antichrist can fulfill Daniel’s, Jesus’ and Paul’s predictions. Therefore, when we hear that a new Temple is being constructed in Jerusalem, this will be a sign to us that the end is drawing closer. Think about this: It wasn’t until 1948 that the Jews repossessed the region of ancient Israel as their homeland for the first time since A.D. 70, and it wasn’t until a short war in 1967 that they repossessed Jerusalem as their own city. These are two relatively recent events that were both necessary before the Jerusalem Temple could ever be rebuilt.

Q. When God’s wrath is poured out upon the earth during the tribulation period that the Bible tells us about, will true Christians be punished along with nonbelievers?

A. No, they will not. Some Bible scholars believe that all true Christians will be taken up to heaven prior to the tribulation period. This is called the “rapture,” and Paul wrote about it in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. There is no doubt that it will happen; the only question is when it will happen. Those who think the rapture won’t happen until some point during the tribulation period or at the end of the tribulation period agree that Christians will be protected from God’s wrath upon the ungodly, as this is what God has always done in the past. They will not, however, be necessarily spared from the persecution of the anti-Christ.

Application: It sure is good to know that we have nothing to dread about the future. We will not have to suffer God’s eternal wrath like those who don’t follow Jesus. And any trials we face on the road to heaven are only temporary.

Today we continue reading Jesus’ response to His disciples’ question about the signs that will precede His return and the end of the world. After a time of terrible, worldwide tribulation, there will be some unmistakable signs that Jesus is just about to return. The sun will be darkened, and the moon, because it only reflects the sun’s light, will not shine. The stars will fall from the sky. Can you imagine seeing that? It will terrorize those who are unprepared. Isaiah predicted this almost three thousand years ago, writing, “The land will be destroyed and all the sinners with it. The heavens will be black above them. No light will shine from stars or sun or moon….The heavens above will melt away and disappear like a rolled-up scroll. The stars will fall from the sky, just as withered leaves and fruit fall from a tree” (Isaiah 13:9-10; 34:4).

Then Jesus will return, shining brightly in a black sky, in clouds of God’s radiant glory. All who are alive on earth will see Him and mourn, for they will have no doubts then that their eternal fate is sealed because they rejected Him. A great trumpet will sound, and God’s angels will gather His people from the farthest ends of the earth and heaven.

That will mark the beginning of Jesus’ reign over all the earth, and people would be foolish to be unprepared for such a momentous event. Jesus therefore admonished us to be ready by watching for the signs He predicted and by living obedient lives. Although no one knows the exact day or hour of His return, everyone should be able to recognize when the time is near. The signs He described will not be spread out over centuries of time.

Unfortunately, multitudes will be caught unprepared, living their normal lives right up until the day when Jesus comes back. In spite of the distress that will exist during the time just prior to Jesus’ return, people will be working, eating and partying right up until the end. In some cases, they will be working right alongside people who have come to believe in Jesus, and will see them disappear when Jesus sends His angels to gather His people. The unsaved will be completely caught off guard.

Those who are ready for Christ’s return will be those who believe in Him, and naturally, their faith will be evident by their lifestyles. When Jesus comes back, they will be doing His will. Those who are selfishly living for themselves, always partying and getting drunk, prove that they don’t believe in Jesus or His promise to return. And, as Jesus said, they will be banished to hell.

Are you ready?

Q. We read today about some major changes that will one day occur to some things most people think are permanent: the sun, moon and stars. Jesus also mentioned a major change in something else people consider permanent. What is it?

A. Jesus said that one day the earth would disappear (see Matthew 24:35). Don’t be alarmed, however, because God will create a new one right after He destroys the present one (see Revelation 21:1)!

Application: In today’s reading and throughout Scripture, we are told that every material thing we presently own will one day disappear. For that reason we should view material things from a spiritual perspective. We should, as much as possible, use material things for spiritual purposes, to serve God and others. Our use of material things is a test of our Christlikeness, and one day we’ll be rewarded for every unselfish act.

People who love God will show their love by how they live their lives. One area in which their love for God will be manifested is how they spend their money. If how they spend their money isn’t affected by their relationship with God, they probably have no relationship with Him.

For example, parents love their children, and their love shows when they use their money to take care of their children’s needs or buy them gifts. If a parent never spent any money on his children, we would doubt his love. People love their friends, and their love shows when they, among other things, spend money to show hospitality to, or help their friends. People love their dogs, and their love shows when they spend money on their dogs.

By the same token, when people love God, it affects their pocketbooks. Unfortunately, many people who claim to love God actually prove by their actions that they love their dogs more!

Of course, there is no way to give God money or any material thing directly. The only way we can give to God is to support what He is interested in, and He is primarily interested in His kingdom and the advancement of it. He wants people to be saved and discipled. So we can show our love for God by supporting our church, missionaries and other biblical ministries.

As today’s story clearly illustrates, God is not so impressed by how much we give, but by how much we give in proportion to how much we have available to give. It’s easy for a millionaire to give a thousand dollars to God’s work, but in God’s eyes, a poor person’s gift of one dollar could be a bigger gift. This is something for us to consider in our own lives. Every Christian should regularly be giving a portion of his income to God’s work, but those who have more should be giving a larger percentage—if they want their gifts to be equivalent to the smaller percentages that poorer Christians are giving.

Q. Is there a biblical percentage of income that is the minimum that every Christian should be giving? If so, what is that percentage?

A. In the Old Testament, God commanded all of His people to give ten percent of their income to His work, regardless of how rich or poor they were. It would seem reasonable to conclude that God does not expect less of His people under the new covenant, and so giving ten percent is a good place to start.

Q. Let’s say your parents give you an allowance of five dollars a week and you give it all to a missionary. Would that be the same as your parents giving away all of their weekly income?

A. Your giving would be commendable, but your parents’ giving would be a much greater sacrifice. This is not because the amount of their gift was greater, but because they gave what they had to live on for a week, something you really didn’t do. You probably didn’t need any of your money to buy food, pay electric bills or purchase clothing for your kids!

Application: Because God knows everything, He views things differently than we often do. What impresses us might not impress Him, and vice versa. Jesus once said, “What this world honors is an abomination in the sight of God” (Luke 16:15).