Staying Alive

In answering their questions regarding future events, Jesus gave His disciples a ray of hope: “But he who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mt. 24:13). What did He mean? The key is the phrase to the end. The word end marks time in Matthew 24:6, 13–14 but is nonspecific. Other verses speak of “the end of the age” (13:39–40, 49; 24:3; 28:20). The Jewish people perceived two ages: