The Beginning of Sorrows - Matthew 24:8

Matthew the apostle wrote how Jesus, “sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places”, and in chapter twenty-four and verse eight of his book Matthew writes how Jesus shared about these things being, “the beginning of sorrows” where we read:

All these are the beginning of sorrows.

The verse reads, “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew began with the words, “all these” which means “each, every, the whole and everyone of the things Jesus spoke of before” “are the beginning” or “exist as the origin, principal and chief” “of sorrows” which means “pertaining to intolerable anguish because of the dire calamities which precede the advent of the Messiah”. Matthew shared how Jesus said the things He just spoke about were only the “beginning” of the causes of anguish that would come upon mankind.

When we think through Matthew's words in this verse, we see how Jesus framed the timing for all these events around His “coming again” and the “end of the world”. He called them, “the beginning of sorrows” which means there is much more to come after these horrific events. God offers salvation to mankind from their sins when they “believe and trust” in His Son Jesus as their personal “Savior and Lord”. Those who submit themselves shall be saved, and those who do not shall endure more calamities upon the earth than anyone can imagine or conceive.

Next time Matthew writes how Jesus warns, “then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.