Mark 13:1-13 NIV
13 As Jesus was leaving the
temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones!
What magnificent buildings!”
2 “Do you see all these great
buildings?” replied
Jesus. “Not one
stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
3 As Jesus was sitting on
the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and
Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will
these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be
fulfilled?”
5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out
that no one deceives you. 6 Many will
come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. 7 When you
hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen,
but the end is still to come. 8 Nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be
earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth
pains.
9 “You must be on your guard.
You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the
synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as
witnesses to them. 10 And the
gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought
to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given
you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “Brother will betray brother
to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and
have them put to death. 13 Everyone
will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will
be saved.
Look At Dat!
So, we are on a trip to Branson Missouri. I think we were taking the
grandchildren to drop them off with their parents. Anyway, Bubs, Daemien (I
call him Bubs because his sister, Kaiya called him Bubba when she was a baby) …
anyway, Bubs is in the car with us as we were driving down the strip of
Branson. Bubs, looks up and sees this big King Kong on a building and shouts
out, “Look at dat!”
I think of the passage of scripture above and have to wonder if the
disciple would have shouted out the same… “Look at dat!” Perhaps, maybe… the
stones of the Temple in Jesus day were very impressive to any human of that
time.
This passage of scripture is often referred to as the “Little Apocalypse.”
But, as I studied this scripture this week, I became a little annoyed by this rendering
or title given by some religious scholars. Let me explain why…
Last week we looked at the passage of scripture when Jesus was watching
the widow offer all she had at the Temple. Now in this passage today, we hear a
disciple exclaim the “Look at dat!” It made me stop and think. Where was the
disciples’ “Look at dat!” when the widow offered all she had to live on to the
Temple treasury?
You see, last week, Jesus looked on as the poor widow gave her all to
God. Jesus’ “Look at dat!” is far different from the “Look at dat!” of the
disciple in the reading above. Jesus’ “Look at dat!” is far different from mankind’s
“Look at dat!”
In Jesus’ “Look at dat!” there is the suggestion of the quality of Life.
Like the quality of life in eternal life. Yet, by contrast, for most of
mankind, man’s “Look at dat!” seems to point to stuff. To material stuff, to
earthly stuff, like money, power, prestige, you know… stuff.
Jesus “Look at dat!” is ethical and spiritual. Jesus “Look at dat!” is of
an eternal nature.
So, I pause and think. I think I need to be sure to look at the quality
of my life, at the spiritual nature of my life. If I don’t “Look at dat!” here
first, perhaps the “stones” of my life will tumble down, one on top of the
other.
So, as Jesus and his disciples leave the Temple area, they move across
the way to the Mount of Olives, and Jesus begins to teach. Two questions arise
due to what Jesus had said earlier…
2 “Do you see all these great
buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one
stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
Jesus words show Jesus the Prophet… I mean, after all… Jesus IS God too!
Yes, the Temple was destroyed about 70 AD, but that’s not really the
point here, as I studied it.
Two very common questions, in my mind. When will this happen and what
sign will be seen to signify when.
Jesus’ answer seemed to be more of a warning than an answer to the
questions.
Even today, this warning applies. Today’s church should take this warning
from Jesus from the early church. Don’t be led astray to too much focus on “End
Times.” The “This is it!” Rather, we
should focus more faith and trust in God to act when He chooses the “This is
it!”
We must be aware in our time to not be taken off the path of following
and Pointing to Jesus. Don’t lose focus and look away from Jesus towards the
worry of the “End Times.” Really, as I’ve heard this expression before… “Ain’t
nobody got time for dat!”
Instead of focusing on the “End Times,” focus on loving God and all those
God gives to you each and every day of your life. God will take care of the “End
Times.” You take care of the NOW as your respond to all God has done for you. That’s
the NOW of today.
Okay, let’s move on with my studies of this week. Jesus tells us that the
time then was just the beginning of suffering. Let’s look at this…
Soon, Jesus would stand before Pilate and be crucified later. Later Paul
would stand before Agrippa, later John Huss would stand before the Council of
Constance, and later Martin Luther would stand before Charles V at Worms.
The Christian church will suffer.
Right away, the Christian church did suffer…
Acts 9:1-2 NIV
9 Meanwhile, Saul was still
breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to
the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the
synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the
Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
Later on, Saul would be renamed Paul and bring the Gospel
to the Gentiles. And when Paul brought the Gospel to the world… boy did he pay
for it!
2 Corinthians 11:24 NIV
24 Five times I (Paul)
received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.
The day of Christians standing before authorities is NOT over and won’t
end until THE end.
When we, as disciples, oppose power, wealth, money, slavery, separation,
greed, public opinion and on and on, over the people God created… This becomes
the time for faith and action in the love of God and our neighbor. I mean ALL
neighbors… the people we like and those we don’t included.
Persecution ties the disciple to Jesus. BUT… Persecution also gives the
disciple the chance to proclaim the Gospel to all people. You will defend the
faith God gives to you while being persecuted.
But why? What is this Gospel that we defend?
I was always taught that the definition of “Gospel,” was God’s Love
freely given. Sounds so simple, yet it was totally costly. Notice how I
capitalized the word “Love” above. God’s Love was sent down from heaven to be
like you and me, in the flesh of Jesus. However, as mankind has been sinful
since the Fall of Adam and Eve, this Jesus’ was sinless. And in Jesus,
sinlessness, He suffered and died in my sin, to put sin to death on the cross.
Not just some execution, rather a painful death that Jesus did not deserve. And
Jesus, on that cross, took on my sin and the sin of the world. In fact, He
became sin, to let it die with Him. But, there’s more. As Jesus defeated sin, through
the glory of God, Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus rose to new life, just as His
disciples rise to new life, daily in their baptism. The significance of the water
in baptism, is that we drown, the Adam in us and all of our evil desires and
sinfulness, just as Jesus died, so that we rise again daily as Jesus rose from
the dead in God’s glory to a new life to live with God forever.
Now there’s some Love! Freely given Love but at a great price. A price
that God paid for you and me. Its Love given… see that? Given! God gives the
faith… God repents us of our sin… God raises us up… It’s all about God, not us.
The only US in this whole thing is that God loves US so much that He saves US
from ourselves and sin and death.
Will you defend the Gospel?
Don’t worry about all that.
11 Whenever
you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to
say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking,
but the Holy Spirit.
OK, sure! But…. But… But…
This is NOT brainless nonsense here! No!
When we have a living faith in God, we turn to God in Word and Sacrament.
As disciples of Jesus, we have a continual relationship with Jesus. When we are
baptized, God works on us for life. So… we don’t need to get stuck on ourselves.
The Holy Spirit acts on us and prepares us. So… put things in order and put
worry away.
In Jesus’ words…
Matthew 6:33 NIV
33 But seek first his
kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you
as well.
As, disciples of Jesus, Pointing to Jesus; apply effort and leave the results
to God.
And just as I found this week… this “Little Apocalypse”
13 Everyone will hate you
because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
The end is NOT the end of the world; rather the endurance to remain faithful.
In the words of Jesus…
Luke 21:19 NIV
19 Stand firm, and you will win
life.
Stand firm or endure. Standing firm is more than just surviving.
Surviving is just existing. Standing firm takes the faith that God freely gives
you. Stand firm in this free faith to your very last breath.
Now there is the “Look at Dat!” the “Look at Dat!” that stands firm in
faith… today… tomorrow… and forever!
Beyond space and time God delivers and saves. God shows us the path of
life, in and through Jesus.
May we provoke one another to love and good deeds, in response to all
that God has freely given to us. Let God take care of the “End Times” and
focus, yes, point, Point to Jesus!
Thanks be to God!
I invite you to enjoy this YouTube music that reminds me of my studies of this week...
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