Mat 24:5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Alternative: Because many are coming in my name saying that I am the Christ and shall lead many astray.

First, lets go back a couple of verses to the question that preceeds this whole section. The last two verses are written the way they are because they are a response to a question from the apostles about the fall of the Temple. This question is translated as, "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what [shall be] the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?"

This question make sense from our current perspective (and common church teaching), but is it a good translation of what the apostles really asked? At this point, Christ had predicted his death, but it really didn't seem like the apostles believed it. They certainly don't seemed focussed on a "second coming," though that idea has become such a big part of Christian teaching. Nor were they focused on the "end of the world." Those ideas actually come, rightly or wrongly, from what he is about to say, not what he has said before.

A better translation of this question is: Tell us, when will this happen and what does your presence signify about the end of the age? (See vocabulary below for more.) This question makes perfect sense given what the apostles were really thinking about after being told that the temple would fall. And this is a VERY different question and it changes the meaning (and translation) of the answers Christ gives in the next section. Out of this chapter, you can get the idea of a second coming, but Christ is talking generally about how his presence then leads to the end of an era, specifically, the end of the Old Testament era, the fall of the temple, and the scattering of the Jewish nation.

Do these statements also apply to the end of the world? Perhaps. More to the point, they also apply to end of any civilization or era. They also apply (in a way that is clear to me, anyway) to the end of every life. There is a greater meaning here, especially in terms of Christ's presence at culmination of these events.

The original translation of this specific verse makes this sound like others will claim to be Christ and lead people astray. However, this interpretation contradicts the first part of this verse that clearly says that these people come in the name of Jesus. While some have come in Christ name, claiming to be his reincarnation, there is a second reading of this line, which describes a situation common everyday in our lives: people claiming to represent Christ for their own benefit.

In terms of the historical end of Israel in Roman times, others, some following Jesus, others claiming to be the Christ, did lead the Jewish people astray, into a revolution against Rome. Many didn't believe that Jesus was the Christ because their expectation was the Christ would be a political leader, recreating the power of Israel under David and Solomon, an religious empire to take the place of the Roman empire.

Looking at the Greek, the way to read this and to apply it to our everday lives (which is the purpose of this blog) is to take take it as face value. Christ is saying that not everyone who claims to represent him are truly acting in his name. Even people who preach that Jesus is the promised Christ can mislead us for their own purposes. As Christ makes abundantly clear in the previous verse and previous chapter: there is a different between outward appearance and inner desires.

Remember, Christ spent the entire last chapter telling us about the shortcomings and deceptions of religious leaders. His recurring point in that chapter was the self-serving people always claim the prophets as their own once those prophets are safely dead. Christ starts this chapter in the same vein, pointing out the the Jewish temple, built of solid stone, will be torn down. Christ's view of the politics of a larger society was that it was inherently corrupt and that adding religion to it did not reform it. Instead, it corrupted the religion leaders involved, seducing them with the power of the state (the last of the three temptations).

It is very hard to find a place where Christ says anything good about a public, as opposed to a private, relationship with God. He certainly approves of religious custom and traditions both within the community and the family. But he consistently has a problem with people who make a public display of religion to enhance their social image. His instructions for his apostles was for them professing their faith publically and speading his teachings, but he makes it very clear that he didn't like it when people tried to control the dogma to enrich themselves, especially since they do it "in his name."

From the apostle's question:
"Coming" is from parousia, which means "presence," "arrival," "occasion," "situation," "substance," and "property." It is not the word consistenly used to describe something coming or "on its way," which is erchomai.

"World" is from aiôn, which means "lifetime," "life," "a space of time," "an age," an epoch," and "the present world." It is not the word that the Matthew uses when Christ is referring to the world or the earth. It is only translated as "world" in the phrase "end of the world," which is more directly translated as "end of the era."

"Sign" is from sêmeion, which means "mark," "sign," "omen," "sign from the gods," "signal," and "indication."