"Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am the messiah,' and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved." (Matthew 24:4-13)
What is Jesus talking about?
The context of Jesus' statement is critical. This statement comes in response to an exchange between Jesus and his disciples. Here is the exchange that resulted in this statement:Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. "Do you see all these things?" he asked. "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."The question asked by Jesus' disciples and Jesus' response has been mistranslated and misinterpreted over the past 17 centuries by many within institutions claiming to represent Jesus.
As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. "Tell us," they said, "when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:1-3)
This mistranslation threatens the end of the world. But this is not what Jesus is talking about. The question being asked related to Jesus' statement about the temple buildings being destroyed. And just as predicted, the temple was destroyed within 30 years of Jesus' saying this.
Now Jesus' statement relates to what will happen at the disciples' time of death: As their spiritual guide, Jesus would escort them back to the spiritual world where they would be reunited in their relationship with God.
This is indicated by the Greek. The word "coming" is translated from παρουσία (parousia). 'Coming' is a stretch for this word. παρουσία actually means 'presence.' It can also mean 'advent' or 'arrival,' but these are its secondary meanings. The primary is presence.
Jesus was promising his upcoming presence to his disciples. He promised that he would be with them at their scariest moment, the time of death. Jesus asked that his disciples pass on his teachings to others, and this will be followed by him escorting them back to heaven "at the end".
Consider an earlier statement Jesus made to them:
The interpretation that Jesus is discussing the 'end of the world' and his 'second coming' in Matthew 24 evolved from a conspiracy by the Roman government. Their mission was first, to scare the citizens of the growing Christian world into their control.
Secondly, the Romans wanted to erase their persecution of the Israelites, which erupted into the Jewish-Roman wars that lasted between 66 AD and 135 AD. During these wars, the Israelites and the Christians were overwhelmingly slaughtered by the Romans.
Yes, the Israelites did manage to fight off the Romans during some of these wars. But the result was the sacking and complete destruction of Jerusalem. And hundreds of thousands if not millions of Israelites and early Christians were killed. And most of the survivors were scattered among other regions.
This was followed by the Romans developing a strategy to control religious thought throughout the region in the coming centuries.
The question the disciples urgently asked indicates their fear of not only Jesus' prediction that the temples will fall, but also for their very lives. They wanted to know their own fate when the temples collapse.
This was brought up when Jesus spoke about the temporary nature of the physical world and even the temple buildings. They were concerned because they wanted to be sure that the place Jesus promised for them in heaven was going to be there for them at the end of their lives.
The "end of the age" is not the end of some kind of global era thousands of years after these disciples had passed away. The "end of the age" was simply the end of their physical lifetimes.
How could "stands firm to the end" mean thousands of years into the future for these disciples? That is sure a long time to stay "standing." How could his disciples have remained "standing" for thousands of years?
Rather, the "to the end" means the end of their lifetimes within their respective physical bodies. Others might "turn away from the faith and betray and hate each other," during their lifetimes. But those who "stand firm" by continuing to follow Jesus' instructions would be following Jesus back to the spiritual world.
Such persons would be joyfully passing on Jesus' teachings through the end of their physical lifetimes. As such, they would be reuniting with Jesus (παρουσία) and resuming their loving service relationship with the Supreme Being. This is what Jesus refers to as being "saved."
Let's consider this prediction logically. It is now over 2,000 years after Jesus' statement, and the world - despite the hundreds of predictions by ecclesiastical preachers in the meantime - still has not come to an end. And so many have predicted it. Just consider a shortlist of end-of-the-world predictions and the date the world was supposed to have ended:
All of these have followed the Roman Catholic interpretation that Jesus and his disciples are discussing the coming of the end of the world. Would they now have to admit that Jesus was wrong about the end of the world coming? No, because their predictions continue. They just keep moving the date forward.
Just consider Jesus' further response and discussion. Was Jesus talking to his disciples about a time more than 2,000 years into the future when he says, "Watch out that no one deceives you."
Then Jesus tells them there will be wars, famines, and earthquakes. Then he says, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me."
But then something changed. Suddenly, in the early Fourth Century, the Roman government legalized Christianity. Historians suggest it was because early Christianity spread so quickly that the Roman government could not control it. So they legalized it and took control over it.
The Roman government effectively brought Christianity under its control by creating a state-run institution, the Roman Catholic Church. This was the only approved institution, and all other Christian institutions were forced to become satellites of the Roman Catholic Church.
With this effective takeover of Christianity came a general strategy to co-opt many of Jesus' teachings - especially elements that put the Romans in a negative light. This effort was broadened as Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea and contracted with Eusebius to produce a compilation of scriptures that the Roman government could underwrite. This became the Latin Bible, the only legal form of scripture in the Roman Empire, then the Holy Roman Empire (or Christian Empire, effectively governed by Roman Catholic Popes) for the next 1,000 years.
The problem is that this mission meant Eusebius had to screen the dozens of Gospels concerning Jesus, and choose those that could be supported by the Roman government. This resulted in dozens of scriptures about Jesus being burnt. Some are lost forever. A few have been found buried in the desert in the last century. And the only "official" gospels left are the Book of John and three books (Matthew, Mark and Luke) that appear to historians to be loose narratives surrounding the teachings of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Thomas (which was also burnt by the Romans).
Part of the Roman strategy in this process was to downplay the role of the Romans in the persecution of Jesus. The other element was to minimize the extent of the holocaust-like slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Israelites during the Jewish-Roman wars.
The downplay was effected by making Pontius Pilate seem like an innocent bystander during Jesus' trial. And masking the Roman army's slaughter of the Jewish people was effected by making Jesus' prediction of the coming Roman massacre seems like he was predicting some kind of 'end of the world' scenario.
This strategy consisted of managing the translation and interpretation of scriptures relating to Jesus, along with dominating early Christian teachers. Through the auspices of a central Roman Catholic church, the Romans were able to control the narrative.
They effectively established a doctrine and formed a virtual religious government. This was accomplished by commandeering a group of respected priests from around Europe and the Middle East into what was called the Council of Nicaea - which evolved to become the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church.
This is now known as the Vatican.
The Nicene Council, orchestrated by Constantine, executed his strategies by establishing a doctrine that defined Jesus and God. A doctrine still being promoted today. The essential principles of this doctrine as added on by the Council of 381 were:
- That Jesus was God ("the only begotten Son")
- That Jesus (God) came down to earth and became a man via the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary
This is indicated by the Greek. The word "coming" is translated from παρουσία (parousia). 'Coming' is a stretch for this word. παρουσία actually means 'presence.' It can also mean 'advent' or 'arrival,' but these are its secondary meanings. The primary is presence.
Jesus was promising his upcoming presence to his disciples. He promised that he would be with them at their scariest moment, the time of death. Jesus asked that his disciples pass on his teachings to others, and this will be followed by him escorting them back to heaven "at the end".
What does 'end of the age' mean?
This term, the "end of the age" is derived from the Greek phrase συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος. συντέλεια means 'completion, consummation, end.' It is often used to denote death - the end of the life of the temporary physical body. αἰῶνος or its root αἰών can mean 'forever, an unbroken age, perpetuity of time, eternity, worlds, universe' or a 'period of time' according to the lexicon. In other words, at the end of their lifetimes: when their bodies died.Consider an earlier statement Jesus made to them:
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19)By the time these texts were translated into Latin and combined into the Bible in the Fourth Century, the events Jesus predicted in these verses had already taken place.
The interpretation that Jesus is discussing the 'end of the world' and his 'second coming' in Matthew 24 evolved from a conspiracy by the Roman government. Their mission was first, to scare the citizens of the growing Christian world into their control.
Secondly, the Romans wanted to erase their persecution of the Israelites, which erupted into the Jewish-Roman wars that lasted between 66 AD and 135 AD. During these wars, the Israelites and the Christians were overwhelmingly slaughtered by the Romans.
Yes, the Israelites did manage to fight off the Romans during some of these wars. But the result was the sacking and complete destruction of Jerusalem. And hundreds of thousands if not millions of Israelites and early Christians were killed. And most of the survivors were scattered among other regions.
This was followed by the Romans developing a strategy to control religious thought throughout the region in the coming centuries.
What was Jesus predicting?
Jesus is talking with his disciples about their days to come. He is also discussing where they will stand if they hold on to their loving relationship with God, despite the hellish nature of the coming years of bloodshed and hatred. He tells them that they will return to the spiritual world:"Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."Jesus is talking about a personal end: the end of their respective physical lives. Not the end of some kind era thousands of years into the future.
The question the disciples urgently asked indicates their fear of not only Jesus' prediction that the temples will fall, but also for their very lives. They wanted to know their own fate when the temples collapse.
This was brought up when Jesus spoke about the temporary nature of the physical world and even the temple buildings. They were concerned because they wanted to be sure that the place Jesus promised for them in heaven was going to be there for them at the end of their lives.
The "end of the age" is not the end of some kind of global era thousands of years after these disciples had passed away. The "end of the age" was simply the end of their physical lifetimes.
How could "stands firm to the end" mean thousands of years into the future for these disciples? That is sure a long time to stay "standing." How could his disciples have remained "standing" for thousands of years?
Rather, the "to the end" means the end of their lifetimes within their respective physical bodies. Others might "turn away from the faith and betray and hate each other," during their lifetimes. But those who "stand firm" by continuing to follow Jesus' instructions would be following Jesus back to the spiritual world.
Such persons would be joyfully passing on Jesus' teachings through the end of their physical lifetimes. As such, they would be reuniting with Jesus (παρουσία) and resuming their loving service relationship with the Supreme Being. This is what Jesus refers to as being "saved."
Did the "end of the world" ever come?
Is it possible that Jesus could have been talking about the end of the world or the end of the universe to his close disciples? This has also been called the doomsday prediction.Let's consider this prediction logically. It is now over 2,000 years after Jesus' statement, and the world - despite the hundreds of predictions by ecclesiastical preachers in the meantime - still has not come to an end. And so many have predicted it. Just consider a shortlist of end-of-the-world predictions and the date the world was supposed to have ended:
Hilary of Poitiers: 365 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Martin of Tours: 375 to 400 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Hydatius (Bishop of Aquae) 482 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Martin of Tours: 375 to 400 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Hydatius (Bishop of Aquae) 482 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Sextus Julius Africanus: 500 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Hippolytus of Rome: 500 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Hippolytus of Rome: 500 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Beatus of Leibana: 793 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Gregory of Tours: 799 to 800 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Thiota: 847 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Pope Sylvester II: 1000 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Gerard of Poehlde: 1147 AD (predicted doomsday date)
John of Toledo: 1179 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Joachim of Fiore: 1205 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Pope Innocent III: 1284 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Joachimites: 1290 and 1335 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
John of Toledo: 1179 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Joachim of Fiore: 1205 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Pope Innocent III: 1284 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Joachimites: 1290 and 1335 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Jean de Roquetaillade: 1368 and 1370 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Amaldus de Villa Nova: 1378 (predicted doomsday date)
Thomas Muntzer: 1525 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Johannes Stoffler: 1524 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Hans Hut (Anabaptist): 1528 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Melchior Hoffman (Anabaptist): 1533 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Jan Matthys (Anabaptist): 1534 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Jan Matthys (Anabaptist): 1534 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Martin Luther (Augustinian monk): 1600 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Christopher Columbus: 1658 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Joseph Mede: 1660 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Sabbatai Zevi: 1648 and 1666 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Fifth Monarchists: 1666 and 1673 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Benjamin Keach (Baptist): 1689 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Pierre Jurieu: 1689 AD (predicted doomsday date)
John Mason (Anglican): 1694 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Johan Heinrich Alsted (Calvinist): 1694 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Cotton Mather (Puritan): 1697, 1716 and 1736 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Henry Archer (Fifth Monarchist): 1700 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa: 1700 to 1734 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Camisards: 1705 and 1708 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
William Whitson: 1736 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Emanuel Swedenborg (Lutheran): 1757 AD (predicted doomsday date)
The Shakers (Ann Lee): 1792 and 1794 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Cardinal Pierre d'Ailly: 1789 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Charles Wesley (Methodist): 1794 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Christopher Love (Presbyterian): 1805 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Margaret McDonald: 1830 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Joseph Smith (Mormon): 1832 and 1891 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Johann Albrecht Bengel (Lutheran): 1846 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Johann Albrecht Bengel (Lutheran): 1846 AD (predicted doomsday date)
John Wesley (Methodist founder): 1836 AD (predicted doomsday date)
William Miller (Millerites founder): 1843 and 1844 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
George Rapp (Harmony Society founder): 1847 AD (predicted doomsday date)
George Rapp (Harmony Society founder): 1847 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Harriet Livermore: 1847 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Ellen White (Seven Day Adventists): 1850, 1856 and "early 1900s" AD (predicted doomsday dates)
John Cumming: 1862 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Joseph Morris (Mormon): 1862 AD (predicted doomsday date)
John Wroe (Christian Israelite Church): 1863 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Jonas Wendell and other Adventist preachers: 1863, 1874, 1870 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Mother Shipton: 1881 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Wovoka (Ghost Dance): 1890 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Catholic Apostolic Church: 1901 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses): 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, 1975, 1994 and others more recent. (predicted doomsday dates)
Margaret Rowen (Seventh-Day Adventist): 1920 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Spencer Perceval (Catholic Apostolic Church): 1926 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Wilbur Glenn Voliva: 1935 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Herbert Armstrong (Worldwide Church of God founder): 1936 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Florence Houteff (Branch Davidians): 1959 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Johann Bischoff (New Apostolic Church): 1951 and 1960 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Jim Jones (People's Temple cult): 1967 AD (predicted doomsday date)
George Williams (Church of the Firstborn): 1969 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Herbert Armstrong (Worldwide Church of God): 1972 AD (predicted doomsday date)
John Wroe (Christian Israelite Church): 1977 AD (predicted doomsday date)
William Branham (evangelist): 1977 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Chuck Smith (Calvary Chapel): 1981 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Pat Robertson (evangelist): 1982 and 2007 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
Lester Sumrall (Pentecostal): 1985 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Edgar Whisenant: 1988 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Elizabeth Clare (Summit Lighthouse): 1990 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Rollen Stewart: 1992 AD (predicted doomsday date)
David Berg (The Family): 1993 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Harold Camping: 1994, 1995, 2011 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Ronald Weinland (Church of God): 2011 and 2012 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Aggai: 1997 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Marshall Applewhite (Heavens Gate cult): 1997 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Archbishop James Ussher: 1997 AD (predicted doomsday date)
James Gordon Lindsay (Christ for the Nations): 1999 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Jerry Falwell (evangelist): 2000 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Ed Dobson: 2000 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Lester Sumrall: 2000 AD (predicted doomsday date)
Jonathan Edwards (Congr. Protestant): 2000 AD (predicted doomsday date)
David Meade: 2017 and 2018 AD (predicted doomsday dates)
All of these have followed the Roman Catholic interpretation that Jesus and his disciples are discussing the coming of the end of the world. Would they now have to admit that Jesus was wrong about the end of the world coming? No, because their predictions continue. They just keep moving the date forward.
Just consider Jesus' further response and discussion. Was Jesus talking to his disciples about a time more than 2,000 years into the future when he says, "Watch out that no one deceives you."
Then Jesus tells them there will be wars, famines, and earthquakes. Then he says, "Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me."
Were Jesus' teachings suppressed by the Romans?
For nearly 300 years, the Roman government banned the practice of Christianity. They outlawed the teachings and suppressed the distribution of scripture. They also murdered most of Jesus' close disciples in addition to their persecution of Jesus.But then something changed. Suddenly, in the early Fourth Century, the Roman government legalized Christianity. Historians suggest it was because early Christianity spread so quickly that the Roman government could not control it. So they legalized it and took control over it.
The Roman government effectively brought Christianity under its control by creating a state-run institution, the Roman Catholic Church. This was the only approved institution, and all other Christian institutions were forced to become satellites of the Roman Catholic Church.
With this effective takeover of Christianity came a general strategy to co-opt many of Jesus' teachings - especially elements that put the Romans in a negative light. This effort was broadened as Constantine convened the Council of Nicaea and contracted with Eusebius to produce a compilation of scriptures that the Roman government could underwrite. This became the Latin Bible, the only legal form of scripture in the Roman Empire, then the Holy Roman Empire (or Christian Empire, effectively governed by Roman Catholic Popes) for the next 1,000 years.
The problem is that this mission meant Eusebius had to screen the dozens of Gospels concerning Jesus, and choose those that could be supported by the Roman government. This resulted in dozens of scriptures about Jesus being burnt. Some are lost forever. A few have been found buried in the desert in the last century. And the only "official" gospels left are the Book of John and three books (Matthew, Mark and Luke) that appear to historians to be loose narratives surrounding the teachings of Jesus recorded in the Gospel of Thomas (which was also burnt by the Romans).
Part of the Roman strategy in this process was to downplay the role of the Romans in the persecution of Jesus. The other element was to minimize the extent of the holocaust-like slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Israelites during the Jewish-Roman wars.
The downplay was effected by making Pontius Pilate seem like an innocent bystander during Jesus' trial. And masking the Roman army's slaughter of the Jewish people was effected by making Jesus' prediction of the coming Roman massacre seems like he was predicting some kind of 'end of the world' scenario.
This strategy consisted of managing the translation and interpretation of scriptures relating to Jesus, along with dominating early Christian teachers. Through the auspices of a central Roman Catholic church, the Romans were able to control the narrative.
They effectively established a doctrine and formed a virtual religious government. This was accomplished by commandeering a group of respected priests from around Europe and the Middle East into what was called the Council of Nicaea - which evolved to become the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church.
This is now known as the Vatican.
The Nicene Council, orchestrated by Constantine, executed his strategies by establishing a doctrine that defined Jesus and God. A doctrine still being promoted today. The essential principles of this doctrine as added on by the Council of 381 were:
- That Jesus was God ("the only begotten Son")
- That Jesus (God) came down to earth and became a man via the Holy Ghost and the Virgin Mary
- That Jesus (God) suffered on the cross and then rose on the third day
- Then he rose to heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father
- That Jesus is the judge of the "quick and the dead."
- That the Trinity (God, Jesus, Holy Ghost) are to be worshiped together, as supported by the prophets.
- And finally, that the Roman Catholic church is the only true church and provides the only true baptism.
As to the final point, here is the text translated from Latin:
"In one holy catholic and apostolic Church; we acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins; we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen."
It is odd that practically every Christian sect to this day supports the Nicene Creed, yet the Creed itself does not support any other sect except the Roman Catholic Church.
It also means that all other teachers of ancient Israel, up through Jesus' teacher John the Baptist - including Moses, Abraham, David, Samuel and many others, were relegated to the position of predicting Jesus' coming - and denigrated to merely predicting the future - specifically the arrival of Jesus.
If that is so, then why did no one mention Jesus by name? None of the Prophets said, "Jesus Christ is the only son begotten son of God."
Not one Prophet said this.
This consequences of the Nicene Creed included:
If people did not attend Roman Catholic mass, give alms, and support the Roman Catholic church they were condemned to hell - and persecuted through imprisonment or burning at the stake.
Why was this doctrine needed outside of Jesus' teachings?
Jesus spent years walking and preaching throughout Judea. He spoke to thousands of people over a period of several years. Why did they need to make a doctrine?They needed a doctrine because they had departed from Jesus' teachings. They were creating their own teachings.
After creating this doctrine and assembling their version of events, the Roman government then proceeded to burn and thereby eliminate all other Christian scriptural texts. They burned down libraries and private collections throughout the region.
It was only when a buried library of scriptures was discovered in Middle East caves during the 20th century (Nag Hammadi library) did we discover some of the other scriptures that the Roman Catholics eliminated from circulation in order to exert their interpretation of Jesus and his teachings.
The translations into Latin were strictly supervised by Constantine and the council to adhere to the political objectives of the Roman government. It was not as if the scribes were devoted students of Jesus. They were paid literary scribes. In other words, they were beholden to the objectives of the Roman Catholic church. They were not free to translate as they saw fit.
This also allowed the Romans to erase the notion that Jesus was predicting the slaughter of the Israelites in the coming Jewish-Roman wars.
It was only when a buried library of scriptures was discovered in Middle East caves during the 20th century (Nag Hammadi library) did we discover some of the other scriptures that the Roman Catholics eliminated from circulation in order to exert their interpretation of Jesus and his teachings.
The translations into Latin were strictly supervised by Constantine and the council to adhere to the political objectives of the Roman government. It was not as if the scribes were devoted students of Jesus. They were paid literary scribes. In other words, they were beholden to the objectives of the Roman Catholic church. They were not free to translate as they saw fit.
This also allowed the Romans to erase the notion that Jesus was predicting the slaughter of the Israelites in the coming Jewish-Roman wars.
