"Many will come in my name saying 'I am he' and lead many astray." This verse never made a lot of sense to me attached to the end times discourse unless it was something to be fulfilled in the future . In the last 50 years there has not been any serious contenders that I heard of who would qualify and few after the 1st century.

Recently I have been reading and listening to Jesus's discourse on the last days over and over - all 3 of them. I began to realize that a different application of the meaning of this saying makes a lot more sense and it is very vividly understood that way.

Jesus is saying false teachers and religions will come saying that "He (I Jesus) is the Christ" and lead many astray. eg they build their foundation and hook around Him, His name, but add false teaching that leads many astray.

There were many of these in the first 3 centuries and then 1260 years of Holy Roman Empire Catholicism, then the sects and the cults - right up to today. In fact there has always been those doing this kind of thing. Understanding His warning this way we can see how this fits perfectly into the real life fulfillment of his prophecy, from the beginning of Christianity.

Even today mainline fundamental "Christian" church denominations of all flavors preach a different Gospel than Jesus and His apostles did - leading many astray. Many are now telling their members to take the "jab" - that this is the "christian" thing to do. These are typically church organizations founded on the teaching of "clergy" overseeing "laity". eg only those trained and educated in their doctrines and teachings are qualified to speak and "guide". They have very structured services and only they are allowed to speak. The laity is looked down on as "uneducated, unqualified and dangerous".

Many years ago I was told as a new christian that the passage in Revelations that refers to Jesus saying "Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate" was referring to the teaching of Nicholas who divided the assembly into what we now call "clergy" and "laity". This was the fundamental error of the Roman "Catholic" church that led them farther and farther away from the true gospel of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately the "protestant" denominations carried this practice into their assemblies with a few exceptions and this is where we are at today 500 years later.

This clergy / laity teaching in itself runs counter to Jesus clear commands of "call no man your teacher, or father or master - for you are all brothers" and to the experience of the first believers who all came to worship, speak and share their gifts within the body as equals, servants of one another.

Many churches have volunteered to be "vax stations" lending the name of Christ to promote that action and decision. What I see ahead is these types aligning with the "man of sin" ( the one many call the anti-christ) much as the churches in Germany aligned with Hitler and the Nazi agenda - staying silent, co-operating and even participating in the genocide of the Jews, Poles and any others who resisted Hitler.

This may be why we have to go outside "church" to find discussions and information like this site and others are publishing. Never let anyone shame or bully you into making a decision that your heart and conscience is telling you that you should not make. It is ok and historically "normal Christianity" to stand up and say "no". Just expect to be expelled in time and persecuted. That too is "normal Christianity" - Jesus told us that!