Christmas in July!  This parable is about Jesus’ second advent—the big one… The Parable of the Ten Virgins—the bridesmaids Jesus uses a familiar scene, a wedding, to illustrate the overall point—“At some point it will be too late” There are some pretty obvious symbols in this parable: The parable itself is about the bridesmaids waiting…

Introduction:  remember Joseph? Not Jesus’ dad, but Jacob’s favorite son In our passage, Jesus gives us an insight into his humanity, description of the final day of his coming, a call to be ready for that day, and a warning about what will happen for those who aren’t ready. Jesus’ humanity:  v. 36—not even the…

Matthew 24:32-35 Introduction:  fig tree in 21:18-19  In the morning, as Jesus was returning to the city, he became hungry. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the…

Matthew 24:15-28 Introduction:  Sofia from Golden Girls, “Picture it” In chapter 11, Daniel prophesies about the Abomination of Desolation Now move forward 600 years or so, Jesus of Nazareth is telling his disciples what they should expect to happen in the next 40 years: Put yourself in the disciples’ sandals for a minute: Our passage…