The Gospel passage Matthew 24:3–35, read at the Presanctified Liturgy on the morning of Holy Monday, introduces us to what is often called the Lord’s “Eschatological Discourse.” The disciples, seeing Jesus depart from the Temple and hearing Him speak of its destruction, ask Him: “When will these things be, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the close of the age?” (Matt. 24:3). The Orthodox Church reads this text within the atmosphere of Holy Week: not as a cold “prediction of events,” but as a call to repentance, watchfulness, and faith, before the mystery of Judgment and the Kingdom.
Christ does not give the disciples a timetable. Rather, He guards them against the deception of false certainty and against curiosity that breeds negligence. “Take heed that no one deceives you” (24:4): the first “sign” the Lord gives is not a sign of the end, but the danger of false christs, false prophets, and spiritual deception. In Orthodox thought, deception is not the same as a simple mistaken opinion; it is a spiritual sickness that clouds a person’s discernment and draws him away from salvation. For this reason, the Church teaches that truth is not merely correct ideas, but a living relationship with Christ within ecclesial life—through repentance, the Mysteries (Sacraments), and obedience to the mind of the Holy Fathers.
The Lord speaks of “wars and rumors of wars… famines and earthquakes” (24:6–7) and clarifies: “all these are the beginning of birth pangs” (24:8). The image of birth pangs shows that history moves through pain, yet with the prospect of birth: it does not end in darkness, but is directed toward the revelation of the Kingdom. Thus, sufferings are not interpreted simply as “punishments”; they become an occasion for watchfulness, compassion for the afflicted, and a turning of the human person back to God.
Next Christ speaks of persecutions and the cooling of love: “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (24:12). Here the center is not external turmoil, but inner erosion: the loss of love. For the Orthodox Church, the criterion of the end is not primarily events, but the spiritual condition of human beings. When love grows cold, life becomes “inexplicably” harsh, relationships shatter, and a person ceases to see the other as an image of God. By contrast, “he who endures to the end will be saved” (24:13): endurance here is not passivity, but steadfastness in faith, perseverance in the struggle for virtue, and persistence in mercy, even when everything presses in the opposite direction.
Of particular importance is the saying: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (24:14). The Church sees here that history does not close with a random “shock,” but with the witness of the Kingdom. The Gospel is not spread as an ideology, but as an invitation into communion with God. Therefore, the end is linked with the universality of this witness: God respects human freedom and calls all people to the possibility of salvation.
Christ, speaking of the great tribulation and of signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars (24:29), uses prophetic language, like the prophets of the Old Testament. Orthodox interpretation keeps balance: it neither reduces the text to mere symbolism nor turns it into an astronomical prediction. It is a description of a cosmic upheaval, which proclaims that the coming of the Son of Man is a universal event that judges and renews all things. The “darkening” of the heavenly lights shows that every created light withdraws before the uncreated light of Christ.
Afterward, the parabolic image of the fig tree (24:32–33) teaches discernment: just as we see its leaves and understand that summer is near, so we are called to read the “signs” as a summons to readiness. And yet the Lord does not allow anxious date-setting. The conclusion of the passage is striking: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away” (24:35). The word of Christ is not simple instruction; it is life-giving power, truth that holds the world upright. In Holy Week, as we move toward the Passion, this word is heard as support: everything changes, everything is shaken, but Christ remains. And whoever abides in Him passes from fear to hope, from turmoil to repentance, and from corruption to the expectation of the Resurrection.
+ Metropolitan Nektarios of Hong Kong and South East Asia
