Second coming of Christ and Last Judgement

Jesus‘s instructions to his disciples – The end of time

Matthew chapters 24 and 25

The last week in Jesus' life was very busy. He had more still to teach his disciples. There were several subjects.

• Enemies would destroy Jerusalem. This would happen soon, while some people there were still alive. Jesus spoke about this at the same time as he spoke about the next subject.
• The Second Coming [when Jesus will return to this world in the future], and the last Judgement. Jesus would come again. He would then judge all who have ever lived. Before Jesus died, the disciples could not understand this. But later they would remember Jesus' words. They would understand then.
• The Holy Spirit would come. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come. He would help Christians to obey Jesus and to tell other people about him, all over the world.

We can read about the first two subjects, especially in Matthew chapters 24-25. John chapters 14-16 tell us about the promise of the Holy Spirit. We will write a little about that in a later chapter.

Jesus started the discussion about the end of the age. They had just left the Temple, which was perhaps the most beautiful building ever built. But Jesus said that enemies would destroy it completely. The disciples thought that this would be the end of the age. [The 'end of the age' means the time when God's kingdom will be complete. This will be after Jesus returns to this world.] They were wrong. Jesus‘ answer puts two subjects together: what would happen to the Temple, and the Second Coming. [The Second Coming is the time when Jesus will return to this world in the future.] Prophets often spoke about two subjects together, like this. In the Old Testament, prophets often spoke about what the Messiah would do in his first and second coming. They were not explaining about the time of these events. instead, they were warning the people. We should listen to what God says, and obey him.

There are two important things to remember about the future.

• First of all, Jesus will come back again. He will not be humble then. He will come in great power and glory. Men will see that he is Lord.

The Bible warns us all to be ready.

• Next, there will be a last judgement of all people. Every person will be humble in front of God. We must all answer when God judges us. He will say that we are all guilty. He can forgive us only because of what Christ has done for us. We should ask ourselves, now: 'Are we really trusting only in him?'

The Second Coming and the last Judgement are important subjects. We should study them well. Christ himself taught us much of what we know about them. We will not find answers to all that we may ask. But we need to study Christ's words carefully.

The most important lesson for us is very clear. Jesus knew that he would die. He also knew that he would come again with great power and glory. Jesus is Lord, and everyone must be humble. How important it is that we should answer his loving call. We must repent and trust him. How sad he was when many of his own people, the Jews, did not trust him.

Read: Matthew 21-23

Bible study: Matthew 24 and 25