25th Sunday after Pentecost
Daniel 12:1-3
Psalm 16
Hebrews 10:11-25
Mark 13:1-8
1As [Jesus] came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
3When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4“Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.”
NRSV
The Authentic
A quote attributed to the Jewish rabbis of the first century Palestine says, “Those who have not seen the temple in its full construction have never seen a glorious building in their lives.” Their reference underscores the awe caused by Herod’s temple in Jerusalem with its massive marble stones decorated in pure gold, which may explain the astonishment of the unnamed disciple upon seeing it perhaps for the first time in his life. “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!”
The reaction of this disciple immediately reminded me of the first time the Vieira kids visited Chicago, old enough to take in all the magnificence of the magnificent mile. It was the same kind of awe. I am not sure about one of them, but the other, so much have the skyline images engraved in his brain, that until this day, he has his sights locked into to living in the city. He has the path that will take him there all figured it out. Large, tall, beautiful buildings with escalators and elevators are everything to him. I suspect that the news of a cataclysmic event that would level all of them would certainly horrify him. His life, at least for a while, would lose most of its meaning.
Back to Jesus and this exchange with his closest disciples, I don’t know about earthquakes, but pretty much everything else that Jesus is describing to the disciples, leading to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, has happened about three decades later. There were wars and rumors of wars. Peoples and kingdoms rose against each other, bearing arms when the Jewish people finally uprose in mass protesting against the abuses of the occupying Roman forces. The Roman-Jewish War then erupted around 66 AD. Some flew, some jumped to the other side, and many fought for years. Eventually, the Romans decided no longer to play games and sent enough of their legions to level the temple and kill as many people as possible. Some survived, but everything they were as the people of God was gone – for the second time around as Solomon’s temple had been destroyed by the Babylonians some centuries earlier. One more time, these would be the beginning of many pains to come.
The events involving the Jewish-Roman war and destruction of the Jerusalem’s Temple happened almost two millennia ago. It is for this event that Jesus is preparing his disciples, and they would be absolutely horrified and in disbelieve with the mere imagination of it. There is where God lives!
We have to be clear here. Jesus’ long speech through the 13th chapter of Mark is not about supernatural or exoteric events. Sure, people have made a lot of money out of that imaginary scenario, but think about it. Since then, there have been numerous earthquakes, wars, and famines all over the world.
Furthermore, many have unsuccessfully tried to lead us away from the true Christ, terrified they were of the so-called day of reckoning. Still, such a day is yet to arrive. These facts alone should give us pause. If not, my fellow heirs of the Kingdom of God, remember, God promised to Noah to no longer destroy the earth (Genesis 8: 21-22), and Jesus stated that he came not to “condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him (John 3:17).” Therefore, we can say that it is more than likely that our Savior’s message for us today is more about real-life catastrophic events.
We have seen or experienced such events. We all are one medical test result, one restructuring in our workplaces, one accident that prevents us from working, one abuser, one reckless driver, one gunman rampage, one viral mutation, one unforeseen tragic loss away of having the things we know, are, or have built no longer be when the ground is taken from underneath us. It can be devastating and disorienting, and we, God’s beloved and faithful people, are very likely not to make it without Christ. That is what Jesus, the one like a human being, warns and prepares us for our lives today.
Jesus asks out of his love for us, “do not judge,” “forgive”, “love one another,” “abide with me.” He knows that our evangelical mission as bearers of good news will crumble alongside us if we are alone, without the company of his faith, compassionate love, and bravery.
Sisters and brothers, it is here, in the deepest valleys of our existence, perhaps amid pure hopelessness, where we meet our Savior and understand what he is all about:
Protector against evil,
Provider of green pastures, still waters, and tables with overflowing cups, goodness, and mercy,
Restorer of souls,
Streamer of righteousness (Psalm 23).
It is here, not in the pains of death, but in the pains of rebirth, in the renewed hope and life ahead of us, where we find the authentic Jesus. It is here, among the ruins and the clouds that he returns to us, pull us by the hand, and tell us that he is the end and the new beginning, the resurrection and the new life.
It is here that the community of living stones, ready to reconcile with one another and with God, gathered again in support one another for the ministry of Jesus Christ, propelled by his faith alone, finds its purpose. Not in the ecstasy of apocalyptic fervor but in the courageous fellowship of disciples true to the mission still entrusted to us here on this earth:
Good news to the poor,
Healing to the broken and to the sick,
Freedom to the oppressed (Isaiah 61:1; Luke 4:18).
From Jerusalem to all the nations called, us included, God has left the ruins of the house built by human beings to walk with all God’s children. Worry not, everything and anything built on the shear strength of his Son, our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ will be OK. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 