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s3rdlast03
Countdown to Eternity:
Signs of the End
Text:
Mark 13:1-13
Date: The Third-Last Sunday in the Church Year
11/9/03 remove pretty.ru
As we come to the end of our liturgical year, the lectionary
turns to the subject called eschatology or the last things and our
great and certain hope of the return of our glorious Lord for the
final judgment and the deliverance of his Church. In the Gospel
according to Saint Mark, the Olivet Discourse of chapter thirteen
is the bridge between Jesus’ public ministry and the narrative of
his Passion. In one breath Jesus speaks, first, of the judgment
of God against Israel for rejecting her Messiah and the coming final
destruction of the temple and, at the same time, the patient endurance
called for on behalf of his followers in the very dangerous times
that will mark their days all the way up until his final return.
Because he says no one can know the day or hour of his return his
words concern the main issue of remaining faithful to the end. In
these last Sundays we hear this discourse under the theme, “Countdown
to Eternity:” “Signs of the End,” “Clouds of Judgment” and the warning,
“Stay Awake.”
Maybe it was just a side comment, just the small talk
of a tourist commenting on the magnificence of the Jerusalem Temple
buildings as Jesus led his disciples over to the mount of Olives
down through the little Kidron valley to the east. And maybe it
was because the comment was considered just an innocent observation
that Jesus’ reply sounded so shocking, unbelievable! “Do you see
these great buildings? There shall not be left here one stone upon
another, which shall not be cast down.” Allow a few moments for
them to reach the western slope of the Mount of Olives in confounded
silence where they could plainly see the whole picture—the Temple
set on the crest of the western ridge of the city, looming over
the valley, it’s huge, white stones perhaps gleaming in the sunlight.
Finally, the four fishermen, the first ones Jesus had called to
follow him, broke the silence and asked, “Tell us, when shall these
things be? And what shall be the sign when these things are all
about to be accomplished?” Perhaps the disciples recalled the ancient
prophecy of Micah, “Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall
become a heap of ruins” [Micah 3:12 (ESV)]. Though the destruction,
which happened in 70 a.d. took place at the hand of the legions
of Rome, it was to be understood that they were but the instrument
of God’s judgment on the rebelliousness of his people for rejecting
their Messiah. In addition, it is significant that Jesus would now
speak of the coming judgment from the pulpit of the Mount of Olives.
For the prophet Zechariah spoke of the Mount of Olives as the place
of redemption in the last days when he wrote, “Behold, a day is
coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided
in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem
to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered….
Then the Lord will go out and fight…. On that day his feet shall
stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east….”
[Zechariah 14:1-4 (ESV)]. In the phrase “these things” is included
both the fall of Jerusalem and the final consummation on the Last
Day of judgment.
What are the signs that the end of the world is approaching?
The first thing that must be said Jesus says, “Take heed that no
one lead you astray.” In these words Jesus sees the future Thessalonians
and Corinthians beginning to explain away or mythologize or even
just deny the whole idea of the resurrection of the dead and the
life of the world to come. He sees the heresies of millennialism
perpetuated to our day in teachings and books like the “Left Behind”
series. He sees all the fanatical predictions of the end from the
1914 prediction of the Jehovah’s Witnesses to the hysteria of the
Y2K change of a major digit on our calendars from 1999 to 2000.
“Take heed,” watch out “that no one lead you astray” on this issue.
“For many shall come in my name, saying, I am he; and shall lead
many astray.”
What are the signs of the end? Wars and rumors of war,
nation rising against nation, earthquakes, famines and persecution
of Christians. All these have already and continue to happen. All
the signs have been fulfilled but one. There have always been wars
and rumors of wars, various disasters like Pearl Harbor or the attack
on the World Trade Center that call to mind the end of all things,
and persecution of Christians by both religious and governmental
institutions alike. The point is, though we are to live each day
in the awareness that it could be our last day, a false sense of
the imminence of Christ’s return may lead either to a letting down
of our guard or a falling away from the faith.
“These things are the beginning of travail.” In the Old Testament
the pangs of childbirth is a recurring image of divine judgment.
“We have heard the report of it; our hands fall helpless; anguish
has taken hold of us, pain as of a woman in labor” [Jeremiah 6:24
(ESV)]. That these trials are but the beginning of travail implies
an extended period of time before the appearance of the Messiah
in triumph. The point is that this is a turbulent world in which
we are called to an ever more firm confidence and unwavering faith
in Christ, vigilant so as not to be led astray, to refuse to be
disturbed by contemporary events which are all, after all, under
God’s control.
So Jesus says, “Take heed, watch yourselves,” because
of the prospect of suffering, rejection and abuse you will run into
because of your association with Jesus. Indeed, in our lifetime
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