Matthew 24:12-14 12And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. 13But the one who endures to the end, this one will be saved. 14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Verse 12 used the grammatical construction of an articular infinitive of cause. This means that lawlessness results in cold love. Lawlessness (anomian) is a disregard for God’s laws and revelation because of humanistic thinking controlled by a fallen nature bent on self-preservation and self-exaltation. Lawlessness affects our relationship with God through sin and wickedness, and our relationship with other people through hurtful actions. It is the evidence of the self turned in on itself in selfish love. Even the love for oneself can become distorted in rebellion against God’s designs for creation and evidenced through self-harm. Lawlessness is summarized in Judges 17:6: “everyone did what they wanted in their own eyes.” In this situation, love becomes distorted and is replaced by sin. God’s love is unconditional and positively creative. Love focused on self that has become cold is conditional, judgmental, zaps life, and is often destructive. In the end times, distorted love will become the norm and will be one of the causes for the persecution of believers.
Verse 13 gives the primary application for disciples. Knowing that the world will become like what Jesus describes in the previous verses, we must stay true to our faith in Jesus, even to the point of death. Endurance (used here as the participle hypomeinas) is a significant theme in the New Testament writings as the early church leaders called on believes to endure through the growing opposition they faced. Endurance is build on faith in God’s protection and sovereignty, the assurance of eternal life because of what Jesus did on the cross, and the hope given by the Holy Spirit. Endurance can be defined as staying true to what one believes in and standing firm in one’s faith through difficult times that tempt one to compromise in this faith or in the obedience that should be the byproduct of faith.
Verse 14 expresses the goal Jesus left his disciples in 28:18-20. This gospel of the kingdom refers to the message Jesus preached and the call to become his followers. Gospel (euangelion) literally means “good news.” What makes this news good is that it offers eternal life to all who believe in it. This verse has been interpreted by various people to mean that Jesus will not come again until every “people group” has a believer in it. This narrow of an interpretation misses the point of this verse. When Jesus first spoke this, there was only a handful of disciples. It may have been beyond their imagination to think that they could impact the whole world. As the world become more populous and diverse today, the task becomes even more daunting. The good news has gone out one person at a time, sometimes in groups, families, and clans, but every person ultimately is responsible before God. The way the message will go out is as a testimony (martyrion), from which comes the word “martyr.” Sometimes sharing this message has cost people their lives. The word itself simply means to bear witness to a message. Our testimony can be in many forms and expressed in countless ways. This central task of believers should never stop until the end comes, referring to the coming again of Jesus.
For older posts, click here.