This week's gospel: Mark 13:1-8
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold
13 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” 2 Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
3 When 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?” 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’[a] and they will lead many astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For 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.
The message:
Woowee! … Man has the entertainment industry made a killing off apocalypse theology … hasn’t it?
I mean we humans … we like a good scare now and then, and what better scare is there than the end of the world? … Am I right? … Nations warring. Demons and spirits appearing from the underworld. … Angels donning war gear.
It all captures the imagination very easily doesn’t!
Does anyone remember the Left Behind book series? … The rapture and all that. … And then there are all of the disaster movies … volcanoes and earthquakes and tidal waves that end life on this planet as we know it.
Or animal disaster movies like King Kong and Godzilla and Planet of the Apes.
All of that entertainment, Faith Family, is designed to frighten us right down to the bone. … All of those movies and those scary books are designed to harken our imaginations back to this apocalyptic scripture found in the Bible … of which we get a heavy dose in today’s lectionary.
You know … the Book of Daniel and Michael the great prince and the dead rising from the dust of the earth. … And of course Jesus’ caustic warning about the temple’s destruction in our gospel today.
There is plenty of other apocalyptic scripture throughout the Bible as well. … Probably most famously in the Book of Revelation. … And in the wrong hands I think it’s the kind of scripture that can be very dangerous.
And so I think it’s vital that we take a step back and learn a little bit about the apocalyptic scriptures and what their intended purposes were for. … Once we have a better grasp on that, then I think we can make a little more sense out of Jesus' dire warning today. … Amen?
So, while the apocalyptic verses of the Bible surely are attention-getters, it’s a bit difficult for those of us living in the 21st century to truly grasp the origins of such texts.
In fact, it is absolutely imperative that we as a faithful people understand the context of apocalyptic writers in the first century to understand our Bible today.
And so … it’s vital to remember that apocalyptic writing is very often full of strange visions and symbolism.
You want examples, just take the Bible off the shelf tonight and read through the rest of Daniel. But leave the lights on. … You’ll thank me.
So if what I’m saying is that apocalyptic scripture is metaphorical … just another tool in storytelling. Then what is its actual purpose?
Well, that can only be answered if we look through the prism of first century Jews who by this time have been oppressed by conqueror after conqueror. … Right?
Remember that up to this point in the first century, Israel had been conquered and subjugated by first the Assyrians starting about 800 years before Jesus was born, and followed by the Babylonians about 200 years later, soon after by the Persians another 60 years later, then by Alexander the Great about 300 years before Jesus was born.
Then finally, there were the Romans, who conquered and commanded most of the known Western World at the time, including all of Israel and the Middle East, about six decades before Jesus’ birth.
And so … by the time Jesus was born … the Jewish people had been ruled by other nations for about 800 years.
Which I have to imagine breeds a fair amount of despair. Amen?
So what did the Jewish religious writers turn to to help them cope with century upon century of ruthless rulers lording over them?
Well, they turned to the Kingdom of God. … Of course.
Being faithful people, despite hundreds of years of subjugation … the Jewish people knew in their hearts that despite their pitiful plight here on earth, that when God did come -- as the Hebrew scriptures promised he would -- God would then wipe out the evil ones on earth and vindicate all of those who had been righteous and who had been persecuted.
Well … In their minds … there was no question who the evil ones were … and also who the people were that had been sleeping in the dust of the earth and who should awake to everlasting life. … Right?
The Book of Daniel says: “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like stars forever and ever.”
Well, the Jewish people knew in their minds who those people were. … Of course, they were the ones who would rise and shine! … And everyone else -- all of their conquerors -- would to perish.
And if you were a member of a Jewish nation that had been afflicted with 800 years of occupation by brutal foreign leaders … well, this kind of scripture probably sounded pretty darn good to you, now didn’t it?
Which now brings us to today’s gospel text.
“As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left her upon another; all will be thrown down.’”
And to the disciples gathered around Jesus … This must have sounded horrifying and unbelievable. Right?
After all, the temple was holy and constructed under God’s guidance.
And the Jews believed that God actually resided in the temple. … God’s physical presence lived there, and that is why the temple was so central to Jewish faith.
So … if God actually lived in the temple, what earthly power could possibly destroy such a grand building? … It must have sounded preposterous to the disciples!
For comparison, Faith Family … this passage makes me think of the morning of 9/11 when we all witnessed what we thought was the impossible. … How in the world could two mammoth structures like the World Trade Center Twin Towers fall out of the sky? … Preposterous! Right?
And for the generations born before that, I think it must have felt like the day we learned that Pearl Harbor was bombed. … Wait, what? … Someone actually attacked the United States? … Also preposterous! Right?
Faith Family … that is what apocalyptic literature does. It helps our human minds wrap around the thought of living in dangerous and calamitous times.
The Jewish people had the apocalyptic Bible texts. … And we in more recent memory have had disaster movies and end-of-the-world books … and all of it is a natural outcome of us humans trying to understand the violence and injustice of this earthly world … in contrast to the fairness, justice and mercy of the kingdom of God.
So, given all of that context, just exactly what is that we should take away from the gospel text today?
If all of this apocalyptic scripture was designed to help a helpless people -- the Jewish people -- make sense of very large universal forces they could not control -- wars, natural disasters, pandemics, etc. -- then what comforting word does Jesus offer the disciples … and therefore us?
Well .. he warns us not to allow anyone to lead us astray from the gospel. … That is how he tries to comfort the disciples spooked by the very thought of the God-inhabited temple being torn down.
“Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.”
Faith Family … what Jesus is telling us is … that during times of extreme peril, during times of discord and distrust -- sound familiar? -- that we need to be wary of whom we follow in the name of God.
Because there are going to be a lot of people who will try to take advantage of the situation.
Which means for us … we as faithful people … must be careful about whom it is we follow in God’s name … and what it is they are preaching to us in the name of the gospel.
Faith Family … in times of dire turmoil, it’s even more vital to us as Jesus’ disciples to ask whether our leaders are actually ascribing to the gospels as we know them to be … or if they’re just one more leader who is leading us astray.
We have to ask, are these earthly values really the values that are expected in the kingdom of God … or are they designed to distract us from the actual values of fairness, righteousness and mercy expressed in heaven?
And it will not be easy, Faith Family. … Jesus tells us it won’t be.
“For 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.”
Be wary, Faith Family … It is exactly times like these that feel so perilous that we should be concerned about. … And we should be very careful about who it is we look to to be our truth.
And that is the Good News for the 26th Sunday after Pentecost, Nov. 17, 2024 … Amen.
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