First, we need to remember why the disciples are asking these questions in the first place. They have not been thinking about global events that will transpire at the end of the world or cataclysmic phenomena that would usher in the end of history. These men were thinking about the things that were in front of them, such as the abandonment and destruction of their beloved temple and when Jesus would return to make sure that event happened. They were not assuming a multi-millennia wait for the second coming of Christ. They saw His next coming would be against Jerusalem when He destroyed it within a generation.

Black Mamba Eschatology
One of the things that separate great players from legendary players is drive. Great players wake up early in the morning and give everything they have in practice. Legendary players get up hours before everyone else, play through blood, sweat, and tears, perfecting every facet of their game before practice, and then outwork everyone else during practice. Great players get scoring titles and end up in the hall of fame. Legendary players put their teams on their back and will get them into championship, after championship, after championship. Great players are disappointed after a hard-fought loss. Legendary players would rather die than lose a game.
That, in my humble opinion, is what differentiates truly great players like Shaquille O’Neal, Allen Iverson, and Lebron James from NBA legends like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, (also known as the black mamba). One group was truly great and deserves all the accolades we can give them. The other group lived with a never-ending obsession to be the greatest that ever lived and they are in a class all by themselves.
One of the ways we see this distinction playing out is among childhood fans. Fans love the great players and cheer for them. But when it comes to who they want to be when they grow up, or who they pretend to be in their driveway when no one else is looking, children almost always choose the legends, because they can sense the difference. And as a child growing up in the 80s, I certainly fell afoul of this fandom, wanting with all my heart to be “Like Mike”, while being unwilling to put in the effort of men like Jordan and Kobe. This silly introduction, ironically, may help us understand one of the great dilemmas in eschatology and may aid us when we come to Matthew 24.
The Most Important Chapter
When it comes to Biblical chapters of eschatology, Matthew 24 is the zenith of all the end-times passages. It is the Superbowl, it is game seven of the NBA finals or the last round at Augusta. No one wins at that level accidentally just as no one begins to understand Matthew 24 by sloth. It is a chapter that will only yield its treasures to the ones who are willing to put in the maximal effort. Perhaps this is why so few understand eschatology in the church today. Because passages like this one can only be understood with rigorous effort, which is out of style in a culture of easy believism.
For the last eight weeks, we have been working towards Matthew 24. We did so by attempting to understand the basics and introductory materials of eschatology in our first couple of weeks. Then we moved along to Malachi where we learned the hermeneutical principles for interpreting eschatology. From there we saw those principles playing out in the theology of John the Baptist and our Lord. And over the last several weeks, we have observed how Matthew 21-23 provides the essential context that will aid us in understanding Matthew 24. Had we not labored in the way we did, we would not have been prepared for what we now face. So, with that introduction, let us remember very briefly the context and then let us dive, or maybe only stick our pinky toe, in the water of Matthew 24.
Remembering the Context
Matthew 24 occurs as a part of the dramatic events surrounding Jesus’ final week where He will bring judgment to some and salvation to others. In judgment, He rides into the fruitless city, judges the fruitless temple, curses a fruitless tree, and shows how this judgment applies to Jerusalem (Matthew 21). With three successive parables of judgment, Jesus demonstrates that Jerusalem will soon fall and that God’s Kingdom will be given to a people who will bear God’s fruit (Matthew 22). After prophesying Jerusalem’s downfall, Jesus seals their fate with seven covenantal curses of woe and pronounces the wrath of God upon the city and its temple (Matthew 23). In Matthew 24, Jesus does not abandon the narrative of judgment against Jerusalem but instead gives the clearest prophecy ever uttered describing its downfall.
Since this passage is of the utmost importance for our understanding, we will move slowly through it over the next several weeks until we have sufficiently covered its material. Our goal is that we would understand it, not fly through it. With that, let us begin.
A Shocking Point
The passage picks up immediately where Matthew 23 left off. Jesus finished uttering fiery woes against the Pharisees (Matthew 23:13-33). Then He prophesied God would visit that generation with the harshest judgment ever given (Matthew 23:34-36). And then He tells them Jerusalem’s house, the temple, will be left entirely desolated (Matthew 23:37-38).
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Christian, you represent God in the world. You bear God’s name. Don’t bear it in vain. Bring him honor in how you live. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The good news of the gospel is that God has done everything necessary to bless us through Jesus. Through Jesus we have the blessing we need: protection, God’s smile, and peace. But it also means that God has placed his name upon you. 

One of the most significant events of your life took place without you having much to do about it.
One day, a long time ago, someone gave you a name. You were just lying there. They looked at you and made a decision about what you would be called from that point on. Maybe they’d already decided. Maybe they chose a name that was already meaningful. Maybe you reminded them of a certain name. But on that day, they gave you a name. And, for most of us, that name has shaped our identity from that point on.
Another one of the most significant events of our lives happens as we receive another name.
In Numbers 6, God instructs Aaron, the high priest, to pronounce a blessing on the people. This is a blessing from the heart of God himself. It’s a blessing that conveys his protection, his smile, and peace. It’s a microcosm of the gospel itself. And at the end of it, God says: “So shall they put my name upon the people of Israel, and I will bless them” (Numbers 6:27).
In other words, what we have in this passage is not only a blessing but a naming ceremony. As these words from God himself are pronounced on the people, God himself puts his name on the people.
The question is: what does this mean? This is not just something that Israel got to experience; it’s something that we get to experience too. Revelation 22:4 speaks of the new heavens and the new earth: “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”
God’s name is a precious thing. A name represents the person and the totality of their identity. “Our name is not tangential to our being. It marks us and identifies us. Over time, as people get to know us, our name embodies who we are,” says Kevin DeYoung.
So when God puts his name on his people, it’s deeply personal. God’s name can’t be separated from God himself. This blessing is meant not only to give you God’s blessing, but for God to put his name and his blessing on your life.
But what does that mean? That’s what I want to look at today. It means three things.
One: It Means That God Owns You
When God puts his name on us means so much. It means that he chooses to identify with us. It means that he identifies us as his people, the objects of his blessing. It means that he claims us as his own, that he marks us as his people.
I love books. The first thing that I do when I get a book is to open the cover and put my name on the first page. Why? Because I love books so much that I don’t want other people thinking that my books are their books, and so I put my name upon it and claim it as my own. To put our name on something means that we claim ownership of that item and declare to everyone that we own it; that it belongs to us.
And that’s what God does with his people too. God blesses them. He protects them, smiles upon them, and looks after them, and the whole purpose is this: that they become his. He writes their name on them. He claims them as his own.
It goes with what God said to them earlier in Exodus 19:5-6:
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.
God has made his people his exclusive possession. God’s people are his royal property. God is so committed to his people that he declares his ownership over them, that they belong to him. God states that everything already belongs to him — all people and people groups. And yet, despite this, his intention is “to bring close to himself a people that will join him for all eternity as adopted members of his family” (Douglas Stuart).
Israel could go through the wilderness and know that they had a unique relationship with God that no other nation had.
Similarly, if you are a follower of Jesus, you can go through your life and know what you also have a unique relationship with God. God has placed his name on you. This is the heart of what God intends for us. It’s why he saves a people: so we can belong to him.
If you have trusted Christ, God wants you to understand that you belong to him. You are not your own. He has written his name on you as one of his people. You are part of his treasured possession.
But this has a flip side. It also means that you don’t own you. The first question of the Heidelberg Catechism says this:

What is your only comfort in life and death?
That I am not my own, but belong with body and soul, both in life and in death, to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

In his book You Are Not Your Own: Belonging to God in an Inhuman World, Alan Noble says:
A proper understanding of our personhood requires we recognize that we are not our own. At our core, we belong to Christ.
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The titles of God are not mere labels; they are revelations of His nature, declarations of His character, and signposts for His authority. Taking God’s titles in vain means taking His name in vain and taking Him in vain. Using them in a way that diminishes their significance, misrepresents His nature, or treats them lightly is a violation of this third most holy command. 

Beyond a Rigid Literalism
There is a kind of rigid literalism when it comes to this command that says, as long as I do not take the name of the Lord God in vain, then I have honored this commandment. So long as I do not say the word God, followed by the word Damn, or insert a curse word after the name of Jesus, then I am all good and honoring the law. But that, my friends, is reductionism at its finest.
As we have seen in the Ten Commandments, a world of application is under the surface. For instance, in the command to honor father and mother, there is a much larger application that applies to all elders and all persons in authority over us. In that command, you dishonor your father and mother when you are combative with your elders at church, or when you refuse to listen to a boss at work, or mouth off at a police officer who pulled you over. You disobey “father and mother” whenever you disregard the authority structures God has sovereignly placed in your life. My point in sharing that is that the application of the fifth commandment is much broader and more comprehensive than a rigid literalistic reading.
Understanding that there is also an expanded application here on the third command. For instance, the Bible is not saying you can disparage God all you want, malign His character, doubt His promises, or eschew His acts of creation and providence, so long as you do not say a curse word with His name. You could use your mouth to utter all sorts of godless atrocities, to speak about the character and work of God in every vile and venomous way you so choose, so long as you do not say the GD word, and you would be golden. That line of thinking is tremendously absurd.
The Meaning of God’s Name
In the Bible, God’s name encompasses more than the letters GO and D. When the Bible speaks about “His name,” it includes all of His attributes, character, and being.
For instance, when the Lord passes by Moses and proclaims His “name” in front of him, He says: “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful, and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” The text explicitly says that God passed by Moses, hiding in the cleft of the rock, announcing His name. When God announced His own name, His superlative and perfect character was included as well. His perfect and holy attributes fall under the banner of His name, so if you doubt His love, you doubt His name. If you reject His mercy, you reject His name. If you provoke God to fury, despising His patience, then you do nothing short of taking His name in vain! To malign, doubt, reject, or disagree with His character is to take His name in vain. His name represents all of Him! Therefore, this command says we cannot take any of God in vain. We must not allow vanity into any part of our relationship with God because His name represents all of Him!
This is why when Psalm 8:1 says that His name will be proclaimed in all the earth, it means God Himself will be proclaimed. That is why when Psalm 20:1 says that the name of God will protect you, it means that God Himself will protect you! His name is synonymous with Him! This is why Proverbs 18:10 says that the name of the Lord is a strong tower.
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