Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. – Matthew 24:13-14

Matthew 24 is where we hear, in Jesus’ own words, the prophecy of the end of days. He talks about the temple being thrown down, stone by stone, and the false prophets who will try to deceive us. He also says that many will claim to be the messiah.

I want you to think about how many times you’ve seen a meme depicting a politician or celebrity as Jesus. It’s been both sides of the political aisle, and it’s been a couple of different genres of music at least.

This chapter talks about wars and rumors of wars as part of the end times. I don’t even need to say we all know that sounds familiar.

“You will be hated by all nations because of me,” Jesus says, and I always think of the 21 Coptic Christians being beheaded on the beach in Libya in 2015, but we can see it creeping in in much less insidious ways — again, in music and popular culture in our country at the moment.

BUT. This verse interests me so much. Again, Matthew’s attention to detail comes through and we see that Jesus clearly says, “the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” He’s not talking about physical strength, not who can talk the loudest or post the most or who has the most guns. He’s talking about those who hold tight to the Love that is our calling as followers of Christ. Love, from the beginning of time, is how we are saved.

Even in the face of wars and rumors of wars and end times, Love never fails. ❤️