When Is The Baby Due?
James Merritt
Matthew 24:1-26
INTRODUCTION
1. Recently my oldest son celebrated his thirteenth birthday. My mind flashed back to that red-letter day about seven months prior to his birth. I was at the seminary sitting in our little one bedroom apartment when my darling wife Teresa came walking in from her job as a legal secretary. Her beauty has always been able to light up an entire room, but that day she was especially beautiful and especially radiant.
2. She walked over to me and took me by the hands and gave me that smile that has always been able to stop me in my tracks, and said, "We're going to have a baby!"
3. My first question was, "When is the baby due?" Over the next few months my entire life revolved around that climatic event that I knew was going to come.
4. The disciples asked Jesus a similar question. "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?'" (v.3) The disciples knew that the Messiah was going to come to Jerusalem and establish his kingdom. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah and they were wondering when he was going to go back to Jerusalem and set up his reign over this earth.
5. Now even though they were reading from the same book as Jesus was, they were not quite on the same page. You see, the disciples were thinking about a successful coming. They thought that Jesus was going to march right into Jerusalem immediately; conquer the Romans; exalt the Jewish nation and set up his kingdom. But Jesus was speaking of a second coming.
6. The reason the disciples were not thinking of a second coming was because they could not conceive that Jesus would leave his first coming. The reason was this: They could see the crown, but they could not see the cross. They could see Jesus sitting on a throne, but they could not see Jesus hanging on a tree. But neverthe ...
James Merritt
Matthew 24:1-26
INTRODUCTION
1. Recently my oldest son celebrated his thirteenth birthday. My mind flashed back to that red-letter day about seven months prior to his birth. I was at the seminary sitting in our little one bedroom apartment when my darling wife Teresa came walking in from her job as a legal secretary. Her beauty has always been able to light up an entire room, but that day she was especially beautiful and especially radiant.
2. She walked over to me and took me by the hands and gave me that smile that has always been able to stop me in my tracks, and said, "We're going to have a baby!"
3. My first question was, "When is the baby due?" Over the next few months my entire life revolved around that climatic event that I knew was going to come.
4. The disciples asked Jesus a similar question. "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, 'Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?'" (v.3) The disciples knew that the Messiah was going to come to Jerusalem and establish his kingdom. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah and they were wondering when he was going to go back to Jerusalem and set up his reign over this earth.
5. Now even though they were reading from the same book as Jesus was, they were not quite on the same page. You see, the disciples were thinking about a successful coming. They thought that Jesus was going to march right into Jerusalem immediately; conquer the Romans; exalt the Jewish nation and set up his kingdom. But Jesus was speaking of a second coming.
6. The reason the disciples were not thinking of a second coming was because they could not conceive that Jesus would leave his first coming. The reason was this: They could see the crown, but they could not see the cross. They could see Jesus sitting on a throne, but they could not see Jesus hanging on a tree. But neverthe ...
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