Again, a reminder of what we are looking at here:

⁹“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. ¹⁰And then many will be offended, and betray one another, and will hate one another. ¹¹Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. ¹²And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. ¹³But he who endures to the end shall be saved. ¹⁴And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.   
(Matthew 24:9-14; NKJV)

And now we’re in 1985:

“9-12. These verses similarly speak in general terms of the sufferings to come, not now in relation to the world at large, but more with reference to Jesus’ disciples. They will, as he has predicted already, be persecuted and hated…This persecution will take its toll, in that many will fall away (‘be tripped up’, the same verb as in 5:29-30; 13:21; 18:6-9; etc.; here it echoes particularly Dn. 11:41),”

²⁹If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. ³⁰And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. 
(Matthew 5:29,30; RSV)

yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away.  
(Matthew 13:21; RSV)

⁶but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened round his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea. ⁷”Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the man by whom the temptation comes! ⁸And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire.    (Matthew 18:6-8; RSV)

He shall come into the glorious land. And tens of thousands shall fall, but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom and Moab and the main part of the Ammonites.  
(Daniel 11:41; RSV)

The Greek verb being discussed is “skandalizo,” where we get the word scandalize. It means to entrap, or trip up, stumble; or to entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure; offend, cause to sin, to cause someone to stumble and fall, to give or cause offense.  Daniel wasn’t written in Greek, so I’m not sure why a Daniel quote would be appropriate here.

I also want to say that I disagree that verses “9-12” are just about Jesus’ disciples. Verses 9 and 10 could be about Jesus’ followers, depending on how it’s translated; but 11 and 12 I have been seeing as more universal. In verse 9, Jesus directs the action to “you”: “you” will be persecuted, “you” will be killed; the “you” clearly being His followers. Then He switches to the “many,” which is not so clear, and is less likely to be limited to His followers.

“and the disciple group itself will be the scene of betrayal, hatred, false prophecy and wickedness (lit. ‘lawlessness’). And lawlessness will lead to the cooling off of love, a connection to be noted. Most men’s love is literally ‘the love of many’, which could mean disciples’ love for ‘the many’ outside; but the sequence of thought in these verses, where it is the disciple group itself which is under pressure, suggests that it means that ‘the majority’ (of the disciples) will cool off in their love, whether for God or for their fellow-men. It is a sombre picture of a church in decline. All this, the context indicates, is part of the history which must run its course before ‘the end’ comes; but there is no indication as to the temporal relation between such situation and ‘the end’.”

I just don’t see “the many” meaning specifically the followers of Jesus. Jesus did not say “many of you will cool off in your love;” He just said “many.” Personally, I see “many” church-goers, who weren’t very engaged “falling away.” But even more, I see the lines being drawn in the world, with those on one side of the line losing their love/hating those on the other side of the line. And the false prophets are hard at work.

“13. Endurance is a prominent apocalyptic theme (cf., e.g., Dn. 12:12-13). 

¹²Blessed is he who waits and comes to the thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. ¹³But go your way till the end; and you shall rest, and shall stand in your allotted place at the end of the days.” 
(Daniel 12:12,13; RSV) 

“When the majority ‘cool off’, only those who endure will be saved, i.e. only they will enjoy the blessings of the new age. To the end does not necessarily point to the apocalyptic consummation (as though those who have lived earlier cannot be saved!), but is a standard phrase for ‘right through’ (it lacks the article, which would be needed, as in vv. 6 and 14, to refer to ‘the End)…”

Of course it’s “to the end.” The Greek is eis telos, which is translated as: to (the) end, “the” being implied (Google translates it as: you’re done, which is interesting). As to the idea that “to the end” can’t apply to the “apocalyptic consummation” because it might mean that “those who have lived earlier cannot be saved,” I think that’s dead wrong. The verse is referring to those who live through this hard time that Jesus is talking about, not mythical people who survive the totality of history. Remember, Jesus raises the dead in Christ first at the Rapture…He doesn’t just save those who are still living, whether they are 2000 years old or not.

“14. For Gospel of the Kingdom, see on 4:23.” 

Under 4:23 this author has the following about the Gospel of the Kingdom:

“…in Jesus’ ministry what for John was future became present, and God’s kingdom became a reality. Gospel means ‘good news’, and gospel of the kingdom is used by Matthew here…as a summary of the message of Jesus and of his disciples, that in him the kingdom of heaven has arrived…”

Back to the quote:

“Verse 9 (‘by all nations’) has already hinted at an extension of the disciples’ mission beyond the limits imposed in 10:5-6 and 15:24, and now Jesus points clearly to a time when Israel’s special priority will be over, and the gospel which Israel…has largely rejected will be preached to the Gentiles. 

⁵These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, ⁶but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.     (Matthew 10:5,6; RSV)

He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  (Matthew 15:24; RSV)

“The world is oikoumene, lit. ‘the inhabited area’, a standard term originally for the Greek world (as opposed to barbarians), then for the Roman Empire, and subsequently for the whole of the then known world; it is thus not so much a geographical term which must include every area and community now know to be on earth, but rather an indication of the universal offer of the gospel to all nations, i.e. outside the confines of the Jewish community. (This extension does not, of course, imply any cessation of the mission to Israel…). Then the end will come may seem at first sight to allow the calculation of a date for the final consummation; but that would depend on defining a specific time or situation which could be regarded as ‘the preaching of the gospel throughout the whole world’. In one sense Paul could claim long before AD 70 to have ‘fully preached the gospel’ in a large area of Asia and Europe (Rom. 15:19), 

by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Holy Spirit, so that from Jerusalem and as far round as Illyr’icum I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.  
(Romans 15:19; RSV)

“and at many times since then similar claims could have been made with reference to an area far wider than the oikoumene known in Jesus’ time. But Jesus’ words allow no such calculation. The end cannot come until the gospel has reached far outside the Jewish world, but that gives us no warrant for deciding when it must come.”           [from THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW: AN INTRODUCTION AND COMMENTARY, by R. T. France, 1985]

While I agree that we cannot know the exact time, I can’t help but wonder why Jesus would have given us this knowledge if He didn’t intend that we should be watching and anticipating His return at the end.

The last quote is from 1992:

“9. Jesus moves from what the Jews in general expected to the way these happenings will affect his followers. In a little section largely peculiar to Matthew (though cf. Luke 21:12), they are introduced without explanation, but clearly he is speaking of people in places of antiquity, people in a position to take decisive action and who will take action against the disciples.”

But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.  (Luke 21:12; NRSV)

Interesting that the author does not see Jesus talking to His followers down through the ages, but only to His contemporary disciples who would be affected by “people in places of antiquity.” In a few paragraphs we will see the author allude to coming persecution in the end times, so it doesn’t make a lot of sense for him to limit this reference to just Jesus’ contemporary disciples.

“They will hand you over (for the verb see on 4:12; it is used with special frequency in this Gospel, 31 times in all) to trouble.” 

The author explains this verb a bit more under 4:12 this way:

“Matthew does not tell us how Jesus heard that John the Baptist had been arrested (for the story see 14:3-12), where his verb is a technical term for handing someone over into custody. It is often used of Judas, when it is usually translated ‘betray.’ “

The Greek verb is paradidomi, meaning to surrender, as in deliver up, to intrust, transmit, to betray (or betrayer), commend, commit, give over or give up, hand over, put in prison, ripen, risk. You can see that the verb isn’t just “a technical term” for putting someone into custody. It had broader uses than that. But, it could indeed mean handing someone over into custody.

Returning to the quote, where we see that the author acknowledges persecution coming in the end times:

“This signifies that people in authority will take the initiative against Jesus’ followers; they must expect special trouble in the last days and not simply the suffering they will share with all people, such as the famines and earthquakes of which Jesus has just spoken. They will suffer because of who they are — Christians, and their suffering will be no insignificant discomfort but the trouble that crushes. That they will kill you does not mean that all Christians will be killed but that some of them certainly will. And they will all be the objects of a hatred that will be universal. It is one of the things that puzzle Christians in every age that, although they are doing their best to love God and their neighbor and to put love into practice by ministering to whatever needs they discern in those they encounter on their way through life, they are so often the butt of ridicule and the objects of hatred. Jesus is saying that this will be especially the case in the last days. Perhaps the issues will be more clearly drawn then. Whether that is the reason or not, Jesus’ followers are clearly warned that the end time will mean serious trouble for them. They will be hated not because of anything that they will have done, but on account of my name; they will suffer persecution simply because they bear the name ‘Christian.’ In an evil world they must expect to suffer for what they are, not for what they have done.”

This is a good breakdown of the idea of being hated for your faith. I especially like the author’s discussion of the confusion Christians feel as they love their neighbor, yet receive anger and hate in return. I think that what the author leaves out here is that, as Christians, we seem to speak a different language than non-Christians.

“10. Matthew now has a little section not found in the other Gospels (vv. 10-12). In those difficult circumstances many will be entrapped. The meaning is that they will be caught in the situation in which their Christian profession will be the accusation again them (cf. [R. C. H.] Lenski, ‘be caught so as to have their faith killed, like an animal that springs a trap…; not ‘shall stumble’ {our versions}, for one may quickly recover after stumbling,’ p.933). These people will encounter disaster: they had professed to be Christians because of the peace and joy they sought in a difficult world, and instead they find persecution. In such a situation nominal Christians readily find the faith a trap and seek to get out of it promptly. GNB [Good News Bible] paraphrases with ‘will give up their faith,’ and NRSV [New Revised Standard Version] with ‘will fall away.’  That certainly is the outcome, and they will go so far as to hand one another over (the verb is that used in v.9); we could translate ‘betray one another’ (as several translations do). So far from fulfilling their function as the servants of God they will actively assist the evil people in authority by handing over to them those with whom they had been associated in the church. The final disaster for those who formerly professed the Christian faith is that they will hate one another. Those who had been taught to love as Christ had loved them will degenerate in to living in hatred. If this passage refers to the siege of Jerusalem, it is worth noticing that Josephus gives vivid pictures of the hatred and strife that characterized those days.”

Remember the verb “skandalizo”? Remember that it can mean to entrap, as well as: trip up, stumble; or to entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure; offend, cause to sin, to cause someone to stumble and fall, to give or cause offense. It’s an interesting “trap” that the author outlines here, and I have no doubt that this is a “trap” that many could fall into. However, as I watch the slow and grinding progression towards a one-world religion, I suspect that most of those eligible for the “trap” described here will already have moved on to either a non-Christian or an un-Christian variation that will be acceptable by the world.

“11. In the early church prophets were very significant figures (they are ranked second to apostles, 1 Cor. 12:28). 

And God has placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, gifts of healing, forms of assistance, forms of leadership, various kinds of tongues.  
(1 Corinthians 12:28; NRSV)

“Clearly they were valued very highly and their words listened to with close attention. Accordingly it is a disastrous situation when false prophets make their appearance, and in that there will be many of them Jesus is speaking of no small trouble in the church. The inevitable result, given the church’s estimation of the prophets, is that they will deceive many people. Jesus’ followers were accustomed to valuing the prophets highly; until a false prophet discredited himself, therefore, he was going to be heard and heeded, and he was going to lead simple people astray.”

This breakdown is not so great. First of all, even in 1992 we were not seeing a lot of formal “prophets” around. Instead, we’ve been seeing boatloads of false preachers, many of whom speak as if they have a personal mainline to God. Some of them start their own churches: churches that don’t follow the whole teaching of God but focus in on a few ideas taken out of context. We could technically call these people “prophets,” because they claim to hear from God, but, unlike Jeremiah’s time, for instance, we don’t have “true” prophets with which to compare them. We must compare what these people say with the written Word of God, and unfortunately, many are too lazy to do that.

“12. In that situation lawlessness will abound. With the increase of evil both inside and outside the church many people will choose to go their own way. It is possible to put too much stress on the letter of the law and thus to descend to legalism. But the opposite error can cause much wider devastation. When people refuse to submit to law and each person does what is right in his own eyes, moral disaster follows (as is abundantly documented in many lands in modern times). It is basic to the Christian way that the follower of Jesus must be humble, must say ‘No’ to self… To acknowledge no law is to place oneself outside the sphere of those who are Christ’s, so it is not surprising that in an atmosphere of lawlessness Jesus says, ‘the love of many will grow cold.’ Jesus does not here speak either of love to God or of love to people; in this context the noun probably means both.  But real love is impossible for the lawless person. By definition the lawless person is motivated by personal, selfish concerns, not by any regard for others or for the rules that govern our intercourse with one another. So with the upsurge of lawlessness there is a cooling off of love. The one necessarily involves the other.”

This is pretty good. The author doesn’t rule out the lawlessness that comes to the secular world, and all the specialness that brings. But I agree that it is also happening to the Christians, regarding God’s Law, and it’s happening to both churched and unchurched Christians. 

“13. All this, however, should not daunt the true follower of Christ. ‘He who endures to the end will be saved.’ Saving faith is known not by some firm declaration or a well-intentioned beginning, but by endurance. The words, however, are not to be thought of wholly as an injunction to constancy. They are that, but they contain also a valid and valuable promise: the person described will be saved. The power of God is such that he can and will sustain his faithful servants through whatever trials they may be called upon to endure.”

Very encouraging! The author is right, endurance is very important, and can only be accomplished with God’s help; but it’s the promise that shows the power of God.

“14. Mark has a parallel to verse 13, but not to this verse (nor has Luke). The church’s missionary task is very important for this Evangelist. For the third and last time in his Gospel Matthew speaks of the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom…He has first spoken of Jesus as proclaiming this gospel… but now it is a task for his followers. Gospel, of course, means ‘good news.’ The good news that God has established his kingdom through what his Son has done for sinners is a message that must be taken to the ends of the world. So Jesus now says that it will be proclaimed (the word is that used for a herald passing on the message that has been committed to him) in all the world. At a time when his followers were confined to a little group of people mostly in Galilee with a few in Judea, Jesus looked to the gospel message as good news that would be taken throughout the whole world.

“It is perhaps somewhat unexpected that the proclamation is to be done as a testimony, but we must bear in mind that throughout the New Testament the gospel is always the good news of what God has done. It is never simply a challenge for people to do something for themselves. there is, of course, a challenge in living out the Christian life, but the essence of the gospel is what God has done in Christ. Christian salvation calls for endurance, as this passage makes abundantly clear, but in its essence it is not anything that people do.  It is what God in Christ has done. The death of Jesus was to be an atoning death, a death in which he would deal with the problems of human sin and be (as Matthew has earlier reported )’a ransom for many’… The proclamation of the gospel is the bearing of testimony to that great fact. And this is to be done in no minor way but to all the nations. The followers of Jesus must not lose sight of the fact that their Savior, during his life on earth, spoke of carrying the gospel to every nation. Christianity must always be a missionary faith.”

Amen!

“All this is spoken in an eschatological context. Jesus has been speaking of the importance of being prepared for all manner of troubles before the end of this age. Now he says that the missionary task must be carried out, and then the end will come. Strictly this verb means something like ‘will have become present,’ ‘will have made its appearance.’ Jesus has foretold grievous trouble for his followers in the days ahead. But he does not let them forget the certainty of final triumph.”           [from THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, by Leon Morris, 1992]

The Greek verb is eko or heko; it means to arrive, to be present, both literally and figuratively; to have come; metaphorically it can mean to come to one, as in seeking intimacy, or to become a follower; to come upon one unexpectedly; also metaphorically, it can refer to things endured. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon indicates that the meaning in Matthew 24:14 is absolute (not metaphoric), and is of time and events. This is how a literal reading would see it.

This is a perfect place to stop, leaving us on a high note. We can see what’s coming, but we know who wins.