Mat 24:11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Mat 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Mat 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

Alternative: And great fake prophets will arise and lead the crowd astray. And through increasing lawlessness, their love of the great will cool. But those who have a purpose will stay safe.

The word translated as "many," which means "many," "great," and "large," is woven in and out of the beginning of this chapter. Though it is always translated as "many" here, it can be read in a couple of different ways that offer more depth of meaning to Christ's words here. The same word can be translated as "the crowd" and "the great." Christ sees both as the negative side of the human community. (In ancient Chinese, the word "crowd" often works best in context when translating their character for "many," which is what gave me this idea. "The many" and "the few" are complementary opposites in Chinese philosophy.) Here, Christ is setting up a similar dichotomy between "the great" and "the crowd," but using the same word in different contexts. (And you can reverse my use of "great" and "crowd" to have the great being mislead and alienated by the crowd as well.)

Using this viewpoint, let us look again at the beginning of this chapter. In verse 5, Christ says that "the great" will come in his name and lead the crowd astray. In verse 6 and 7, this leads to wars among between people's and nations. In verse 10, the crowd or the great (it can be read either or both ways) stumble, betray one another, and hate one another. This leads to a new generation of great "false prophets" (pseudoprophetes) arising and again leading the crowd astray. This new generation of "rebels" leads to lawlessness. The chaos causes the crowd to lose their love for their leaders. Those who have a sense that their lives have a purpose are saved from all this.

My point is that Christ is describing a natural cycle. This cycle occurs throughout history and in everyone's life. In the twentieth century, people like Karl Marx were hailed by the crowd as great prophets. Today, we have the prophets of environmental doom. In our lives, we all look for role models, people who can explain the world to us, and these people can lead us astray. We are all rebels when we are young, but those of us who remain true to our sense of purpose are safe from all this craziness. (Remember, telos means "end" primarily in the sense of a purpose or goal as in, "the end justifies the means." It doesn't have the sense of end as an ending or death. )

"Many" is from polus, which means "many (in number)," "great (in size or power or worth)," and "large (of space)." As an adverb is means "far," "very much," "a great way," and "long."

"Inequity" is from anomia, which means "lawless" and "the negation of law."

"Love" is from agapê, which means "love" especially the love of a spouses and God for man and man for God. It also means "brotherly love" and "charity." This is the first time Christ uses the noun form of the word. Previously, he has used only the verb-form: agapaô.

"Cool" is from psuchô, which means "to breath," "to blow," "to cool," "to refresh," "to chill," "to torment," and "to dry." Interesting, this is a form of the word, psuchê, which means "life," "breath," "soul," "consciousness," and "spirit of the universe." A different word, pneuma, is translated as "spirit" in the NT, and it also means "blast," "wind," "breath," "breath of life," "divine inspiration," and "immaterial beings."

"Endure" is from hupomenô, which means "to stay behind," "to be left behind," "to remain," "await," "be patient," "stand one's ground," "submit," and "bear."

"Save" is from sôizô (sozo), which means "save from death," "keep alive," "keep safe," "preserve," "maintain," "keep in mind," "carry off safely," and "rescue."