Introduction
This is the word of the Lord
Matthew 24:15-18
Matthew 24:15–18 LSB
15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains.
17 “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house.
18 “And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his garment.
Let us pray.
We’re expounding through Matthew 24, that addresses the subject of Eschatology, or the study of the last things.
It would be a tragic loss for us to examine the subject of Eschatology, if we fail to grasp the sheer majesty of what has been prophesied, and instead be entirely caught up in the specifics of the timings of each of these events.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The timings matter in one way. Jesus asked us to look for and discern these signs. But the maturity of a Christian can be observed in the manner in which he weighs these matters.
The differences between the millennial views have to do with timings, order of events and the nature of some of those events. And some of these differences are strong disagreements in interpretation and the application of theological hermeneutics.
Yet, there is much that overlaps, and fortunately these overlaps are often what matter more than the differences.
Jesus died and rose from the grave. He is ascended and seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again physically to judge the living and the dead. All the dead shall be raised and those among them appointed for eternal life shall live with Christ who will usher in the New Heavens and the New Earth. The Kingdom of God will see no end and Christ will present his bride without blemish in the end. Satan will be cast into hell with all the wicked of the world.
And when we’ve been there in eternity 10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we’ve no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun.
There is much here in the way of unity that is not worth losing in light of all the differences. And the testament of our unity will be a measure of our Christian maturity.
Exegesis
Therefore
• Our consideration of verses 15 and 16 today starts with the word ‘therefore’.
This means that the following passage is either a summarisation, a conclusion, or a reiteration, or even a mix of these things as it relates to the verses that preceded it.
From the reading of the chapter, it appears that Jesus, in response to the disciples’ question, gives them a general overview in verses 4-14, of what to expect, and having established that, he then starts with v15 (therefore), and begins to hash out a chronology of events that are to be expected.
• Beginning of birth pains
• False Christ and false prophets misleading many
• Wars and rumours of wars (not yet the end)
• Nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom
• Famines and earthquakes
• Tribulation
• Deliver you, kill you
• Hated by all nations because of My name
• Fall away, betray and hate one another
• Increased lawlessness
• Most people’s love will grow cold
• Gospel preached to all the generations and then the end will come
If v4-14 were a generalisation, verses 15 onward are a detailing of the signs to expect.
• Now, keep in mind that the Olivet discourse begins with Jesus’ remark about the destruction of the Jewish temple.
• This was to be the time of His coming and the end of the age.
We know of the sentiment of these disciples regarding the Messianic kingdom.
Mark 10:35–37 ESV
35 And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came up to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.”
36 And he said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 And they said to him, “Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”
Luke 19:11 ESV
11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately.
We know that the general crowd had similar sentiments.
John 6:15 ESV
15 Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.
But listen now to what the apostles ask Jesus after he was raised. The last question that the apostles asked him Acts 1:6
Acts 1:6 ESV
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
• Now, the apostles knew of the destruction of Jerusalem prophesied in Matthew 24, yet their expectations of God’s intention to restore them was not misplaced in their minds.
They somehow went together. In other words, I believe that the destruction of Jerusalem in the mind of the apostles was to usher in a new age of Messianic restoration.
It was to be the end of one age and the beginning of a new one. One that according to the OT has no end.
And Jesus responds to this question, Acts 1:7-8
Acts 1:7–8 ESV
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus says something similar in the Olivet Discourse Matthew 24:36
Matthew 24:36 ESV
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
Matthew 24:42 ESV
42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
The disciples were therefore instructed to not focus on times or seasons, but to wait for the Holy Spirit.
• Now, after the Holy Spirit was poured out on them at Pentecost, listen to how Peter speaks to the people in Acts 3:18-21
Acts 3:18–21 ESV
18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out,
20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,
21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
• Repentance – turning back to God has three promises here
a. Forgiveness of sins
Justification! This is the conversion of a Christian.
b. Times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord
Sanctification! This is the refreshing or the renewal of Christian by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
c. Awaiting the coming of Christ, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all things
Glorification! The appointed time when Christ will return for the final act of restoration in the defeat of death and the resurrection of the saints.
This goes back to last week’s sermon.
Psalm 110:1
Psalm 110:1 ESV
1 The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.”
1 Corinthians 15:26 ESV
26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.
about which God spoke by the mouth of the holy prophets
According to the holy prophets, this restoration is an ongoing work.
Isaiah 2:2–4 ESV
2 It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,
3 and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
4 He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.
Daniel 2:44 ESV
44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,
Isaiah 9:7 ESV
7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
This is more assurance to the postmillennial argument that the end of the age that the disciples ask about is the end of the Judaic age.
The Abomination of Desolation
Matthew 24:15 LSB
15 “Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
• What is the abomination of desolation? This phrase is a subject of great debate among Christian theologians.
βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως – bdelygma tēs erēmōseōs
bdelygma or abomination means disgustingly abhorrent (to reek with stench) – what is foul smelling (immorality of the extreme kind) according to God
and erēmōseōs or desolation means to lay waste, make destitute, or barren.
The abomination of desolation then are disgustingly abhorrent actions that lay waste to something. These are actions involving both abominations and desolations.
Jesus before the Olivet discourse remarks in Matthew 23:38
Matthew 23:38 ESV
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
There is a desolation that Jesus pronounces over Jerusalem, in the destruction of the temple and that desolation will involve an abomination that the disciples were instructed to look out for.
According to Jesus, that abomination will be the fulfilment of Daniel’s prophecy.
• What did Daniel prophecy?
Daniel 8:13–14 ESV
13 Then I heard a holy one speaking, and another holy one said to the one who spoke, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate, and the giving over of the sanctuary and host to be trampled underfoot?”
14 And he said to me, “For 2,300 evenings and mornings. Then the sanctuary shall be restored to its rightful state.”
The angel Gabriel interpreted this dream for Daniel with great precision:
• The two-horned ram represents the kings of Media and Persia, of whom Cyrus, king of Persia, became the dominant partner (c. 550 B.C.).
• The goat was the king of Greece (v. 21), Alexander the Great, who defeated the Persians and conquered most of the then-known world. When he died in 323 B.C., his empire was divided among his four generals, fulfilling the prophecy in v. 22: four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power (cf. v. 8).
• Dan. 8:23 The “little horn” of v. 9 then corresponds to a king of bold face, who was completely wicked (see note on vv. 20–22). This describes Antiochus IV Epiphanes (reigned 175–164 B.C.). He was king of the Seleucid Empire, one of the four kingdoms that emerged from Alexander the Great’s former territory (stretching from Asia Minor through Persia). He seized the throne from his nephew and enlarged his kingdom through military power.
• Antiochus desecrated the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 167 BC by erecting a statue of Zeus Olympus and sacrificing a pig on the altar, an act considered abominable to the Jewish people.
Daniel 11:31 ESV
31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
• Daniel chapter 11 traces in such exquisite detail the history down to the time of Antiochus and beyond highlighting key rulers that would rise. Many unbelieving scholars are propelled to think that this chapter was added in much later because they cannot make an account of such accuracy.
• And in this detailing, which we will not have the time to go into today, we again see how Daniel’s prophecies trace down to the time of Antiochus who raise the abomination of desolation in the temple.
These are Daniel’s prophecies of the abomination of desolation, and it was fulfilled in history in AD 167, but that was not the only abomination of desolation that Daniel spoke of.
Daniel 9:24 ESV
24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.
• In Daniel chapter 9, we find that Daniel while reading Jeremiah realises that the “seventy years” (v. 2) of their exile are almost up, and so Daniel turns to God in prayer, seeking mercy for Jerusalem. The angel Gabriel (v. 21) appears to him and explains that another period of 70 weeks or 70 “sevens” is at hand for God’s people.
• The Hebrew word translated ‘week’ here is שְׁבוּעַ (shabua) which can be a period of 7 days or 7 years. Therefore, Christian scholarship rightly renders 70 weeks as 70 “sevens” which 70 times 7 years which comes to 490 years.
Therefore, the angel Gabriel tells Daniel that 490 years have been decreed for the Israelites.
• And these 490 years (70 weeks) will culminate in 6 things:
i. The finishing or end of transgressions
Some interpret this to mean the final acts of transgression or the last straw of Israel’s sins before judgment in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.
Matthew 21:37-38
Matthew 21:37–38 ESV
37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’
But the word here for finish is to shut up or withhold. To put an end of transgression might also be in view.
ii. To put an end or to seal up sin
Here however, the word to put an end to is more clearly translated as to seal up. In that sense, this would be related to the first in that the sins of Israel have been sealed or reserved for punishment.
This goes in line with what we read in Matthew 23:38
Matthew 23:38 ESV
38 See, your house is left to you desolate.
Matthew 23:34–36 ESV
34 Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town,
35 so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.
36 Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.
iii. The atonement of all iniquity
The cross of Jesus Christ – Hebrews 9:26
Hebrews 9:26 ESV
26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
iv. Bring an everlasting righteousness
Romans 3:21–25 ESV
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—
22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Romans 8:1 ESV
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
v. To seal both vision and prophet – the mark of the fulfilment of the prophet and the prophecy he delivered
Luke 18:31 ESV
31 And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished.
vi. The anointing of the Most Holy
The phrase in the original language does not say like the ESV does (a most holy place). Now in this prophecy in Daniel, the temple is destroyed in v26. And so, it does not seem to be the temple that is anointed.
But verses 25 and 26 speak of an anointed One.
The Most Holy One here is the anointed One, the Messiah himself.
Daniel 9:25 ESV
25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time.
• From the decree to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of the anointed one, we are given 7 weeks and 62 weeks which amounts to 69 weeks or 69 “sevens”.
• In 538 BC, we have the decree of Cyrus as recorded in Ezra 1:1-4
Ezra 1:1–4 ESV
1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put it in writing:
2 “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.
3 Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem.
4 And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”
Some scholars argue that the decree of King Artaxerxes (458 BC) seems more fitting as his decree issues the beginning of the temple practices and worship.
Either way, the year of the word to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to 69 “sevens” or 69 times 7 years which is 483 years brings us to the live and ministry of Jesus Christ, the anointed One.
Daniel 9:26 ESV
26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
• Now, after the 7 and then 62 weeks, which is the entire 69 weeks, we are now in the final 70th week. The next verse makes this more clear.
• On the 70th week or 70th “sevens”, this anointed One is cut off. The English rendering “cut off” translates the Hebrew כָּרַת (karath) which “is used of the death penalty, Lev. 7:20; and refers to a violent death.”
• And, after the 69 weeks, we are also told of the destruction of the city and the sanctuary. An end like a flood. Matthew 24:37-39
Matthew 24:37–39 ESV
37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark,
39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
• Desolations are decreed.
Daniel 9:27 ESV
27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”
• Here we have the explicit mention of the final 70th week. In this week, we are told that the Messiah makes a strong covenant with many for this last week or seven years.
• And for half of the seven years he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. This means that in the middle of these seven years, the Messiah who makes the strong covenant makes an end to sacrifice and offering.
If then the baptism of Jesus, the anointing of the anointed One properly marks the beginning of the last seven years, then you have in three and a half years, the crucifixion of Jesus which marks the end to sacrifice and offering.
Hebrews 10:11–14 ESV
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
• Here again, you have the conjunction ‘and’. And on the wings of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.
In both verses 26 and 27, we have a prince and a desolator who are mentioned and although no specific timing is given to their coming, both these are closely tied to the 70th week that seals the prophet and his visions about the Messiah.
Daniel has one more mention of the abomination of desolation in,
Daniel 12:11 ESV
11 And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days.
Now, this timing also seems to refer to the same events of Daniel 9. In which case, we are given the time between the ceasing of regular burnt offerings in the temple to the abomination of desolation – 3.5 years which is again half of 7 years.
In Matthew 24, the abomination of desolation is the sign that Jesus gives the disciples to know when the destruction of the temple was going to be (as prophesied in Daniel 9). As eyewitnesses in history have recorded it, between the ceasing of the regular burnt offerings in the temple to the final abomination (which I will get to) and destruction of the temple in Jerusalem was 3.5 years.
• Now, whatever be the argumentation of the different views on Eschatology, I am persuaded by Scripture to first look for the fulfilment of these things within the first century in the period of the generation to which the prophecy was given.
Matthew 24:34 ESV
34 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
Let the Reader understand
Matthew 24:15 ESV
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
• Some scholars have argued that the comment in parenthesis was a marginal note by the author or a scribe, but we have no reason to believe that is the case. As those who hold to the inerrancy, infallibility and sufficiency of Scripture, we can take these to be the words of Christ as most translators have rightly done.
• In that case, Jesus is making a profound remark here. This isn’t Matthew telling us the readers that we have to discern what is being said, but rather the very words of Jesus to his disciples that only those who take the time to read Daniel would understand these things.
Beloved, this is so true an instruction that it must remain in our hearts. The blessing of understanding is often reserved to the one who reads. As Christians, the lack of biblical reading is inexcusable.
• But as we have now read Daniel, what can we make of the Abomination of Desolation? What is the understanding that we can have?
a. The phrase is descriptive of a gross immorality or sacrilege amidst desolations. It is not a direct reference to a particular act.
b. The Jews rightly observed many actions in the sanctuary as being an abomination. Pontius Pilate and others governors were known to avoid marching their soldiers through the temple because their presence and their emblems were idolatrous. It was an abomination to the Jews.
c. In the course of history, there have been and can be many acts of abomination of desolation. For one, during the time of the war between the Jews and the Romans in AD 67, a large faction of Jewish Zealots began fighting and killing each other.
• The Zealots, particularly the faction led by John of Gischala, took over the Temple and used it as a stronghold. They fortified the Temple and used it as a base for their operations against both the Roman forces and other Jewish factions. According to the historian Josephus, this occupation included the defiling of the sanctuary by turning it into a place of refuge and warfare, thereby desecrating its sacred purpose.
• They engaged in violent conflicts with other Jewish groups within the Temple complex. This internal strife resulted in bloodshed within the sacred precincts, further desecrating the holy site. Josephus reports that the Temple courts were filled with dead bodies as a result of these conflicts, which was seen as a profound sacrilege.
• They appointed a new High Priest who was not from the traditional priestly lineage. They installed a man named Phanni, who was described as uneducated and unfit for the role. This act was considered a direct violation of the religious laws and traditions, contributing to the abomination.
• The Zealots plundered the Temple’s treasures to fund their rebellion. This included sacred vessels and other items dedicated to the worship of God. The misuse of these holy objects for secular and military purposes was another significant desecration.
In AD 39, the Roman Emperor Caligula (Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) ordered that his statue be placed in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. This was part of his broader campaign to enforce emperor worship throughout the Roman Empire.
These were great acts of abominations of desolation perpetrated by the Jewish people themselves, and some scholars have taken this to be the sign that Jesus was pointing to.
• I am more persuaded that the abomination of desolation that Jesus refers to is the desecration by the Roman soldiers who invaded the temple and set it on fire.
They branded their emblems and marched in the sanctuary. Titus their commander himself walked into the holy of holies.
Speaking of the bloodshed and horrors of this time period, Jesus said a few verses later, in Matthew 24:28
Matthew 24:28 CCEPONTVIVI:BT
28 For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.
Some commentators have highlighted the ‘eagle’ here because that is what the word means. Yet, many translators have changed it to ‘vultures’ because eagles are not known to gather around carcases.
But these commentators highlight this because the carcases of the Jews were laid everywhere and the Roman legions that gathered all around them wore the pagan emblem of the eagle.
Conclusion
The Escape of the Christians
Matthew 24:15-18
Matthew 24:15–18 ESV
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand),
16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.
17 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house,
18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak.
• The sight of the Abomination of Desolation would be the final sight before which the Christians must flee to the mountains.
It is the final sight since the one on the housetop has no time to go down to his house to take anything, and the one who is in the field has no time to turn back. At the sight of this abomination they are to flee without hesitation.
• In the time of the Emperor Nero, the rising Jewish animosity to the Romans reached a peak and he had the president of Syria, Cestius Gallus march in to Judea. Full of bloodshed and desolation, history speaks of how he breached the gates and burnt large divisions of the city, but for some reason retreated. The Jews in pursuit of Cestius killed nearly six thousand of his men.
Cestius’ defeat is what prompts Nero to send Titus who eventually led the invasion of Jerusalem and the destruction of the city and its sanctuary.
But, around this time of Cestius’ defeat, history records of how many Jewish converts and Christians fled heeding the warnings of the Olivet discourse.
Though we cannot justify a point from the silence of history, it is worth noting that no historical record mentions Christians perishing in the siege of Jerusalem.
They fled as Jesus asked them to, not waiting for the final sight of the abomination of desolation. Sensing the nearing of these desolations, they fled.
Next week, I will highlight more of the historical events surrounding the destruction of the temple and how they accurately fulfil the many prophesies of the Olivet Discourse.
Let me close with this thought. When Daniel prayed, we are told that the angel Gabriel was sent to instruct him. Daniel 9:21-23
Daniel 9:21–23 ESV
21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.
22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.
23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.
And Gabriel then proceeds to explain the prophecy concerning the coming of the Messiah (the anointed One).
And almost 70 “sevens” later, we read in Luke 1:26-33
Luke 1:26–33 ESV
26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth,
27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.
31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
This is the Messiah who came, who was cut off, and raised again and is seated and rules at the right hand of the Father, whom heaven has received till all his enemies are subdued under his feat, the last enemy being death.
