Pentecost 25 – 15 November 2015 – Year B
Grace to you and peace from our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. Amen
The text for this meditation is written in the 13th
Chapter of the Gospel according to St Mark: Verses 1 – 13:
And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him,
“Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And
Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great
buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be
thrown down.” And as he sat on the Mount of
Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him
privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and
what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And
Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads
you astray. 6 Many
will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.
7 And when you hear of wars
and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is
not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines.
These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
9 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over
to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before
governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
11 And when they bring you
to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to
say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak,
but the Holy Spirit. 12 And
brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and
children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the
one who endures to the end will be saved.
We’ve heard this story before. Jesus has finished preaching and teaching in the temple. He will never visit it again. As He leaves for the last time before his death on the cross, one of His disciples points out the beauty and majesty of the buildings on the temple grounds as well the new construction in the temple area. Jesus replied that the day would come when someone would destroy the temple so that not one stone would be left on another. The fulfilment of this prophecy came in 70 AD when the Roman army laid waste to Jerusalem and destroyed the temple.
Herod the Great had started the grand rebuilding of
the temple several years before Jesus was born.
It ended up being about an eighty year project. Every time that Jesus entered the temple –
from the day of His presentation until the time of today’s Gospel – there had
always been new construction. In fact,
the builders finished remodelling the temple only 5 years before the Romans
destroyed it.
The temple had a long history that stretched back to
Mount Sinai and the instructions for the tabernacle – the instructions that God
gave to Moses. The tabernacle and then
the temple were the physical centre of the Old Testament church. It was the place of sacrifice. The sacrifices reminded God’s people of their
sin – that they were constantly offending God with their thoughts, words, and deeds. The sacrifices also reminded them of their
Saviour – the Saviour who would one day come and save them from their sin.
As we look at the temple in view of the life of Jesus,
we see that the temple and its ceremonial law were shadows that pointed forward
to the reality of Jesus Christ. Jesus
with His holy life, His innocent suffering and death, His resurrection, and His
ascension were the perfect fulfilment of the promises set forth in the
teachings and ceremonies of the temple.
This means that the temple’s job was almost over. A few days after today’s Gospel, the sky
would grow dark as the Son of God hung suspended on a cross. He would shout in victory, “It is
finished!” Then, He would die, the earth
would shake, and the curtain in the temple would be torn. Then the job of the temple would be over.
When we understand that the job of the temple would
soon be over, we can understand why Jesus was more concerned for His church
than for His temple. When the disciples
asked about the future of the temple, Jesus talked about the future of the
church. Jesus’ disciples came to Him and
asked, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when
all these things are about to be accomplished?” Instead of responding with information about
the temple, Jesus warned them about their own future: “See that no one leads
you astray. Many will come in my name,
saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.” Jesus’ words have been true for every
generation from that day until now.
We have plenty of would be Messiahs even today. In Korea, Sun Myung Moon (of the Moonies) claimed
to be the Messiah. Jim Jones claimed to
be the reincarnation of Jesus Christ and actually convinced his followers in
1978 in Jonestown in Guyana, to drink Kool Aid laced with poison. The Jehovah’s
Witnesses claim that Christ already set up his millennial kingdom in 1914. The Mormons have a living prophet as
the head of their church. L. Ron Hubbard
set himself up as a Saviour and founder of the church of scientology.
The fringe cults and sects seem to have enough false christ’s
to go around, but those fringe cults and sects aren’t the only fulfilments of
Christ’s prophecy in today’s Gospel.
Even churches that claim to be part of main line Christianity lead
people astray: An example being altering the Words of the Holy Bible to pray
the Lord’s Prayer in the feminine gender (i.e. “Our Mother who is within us
etc.) This tendency for even main line denominations to alter, misinterpret
or abandon the word of God demonstrates the spiritual decay that Jesus spoke
about in today’s Gospel.
After Jesus warned about the false christs, He warned
of persecutions. It is not enough for
the false christs to lead people away from the truth, but they must also
persecute those who remain faithful.
Jesus warns that people will turn against their own relatives: “Brother
will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will
rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s
sake.” At another time, Jesus even
warned, [John 16:2] “The hour is coming when whoever kills you
will think he is offering service to God.”
Suffering, persecution, death … why would anyone want
to deal with this? Why not give up and
go with the culture that persecutes us?
Jesus makes a short simple promise at the end of today’s Gospel: “But
the one who endures to the end will be saved.”
Today’s Gospel began with the temporary stones of the
temple. Those stones cannot save, but
there is a stone that can save us. The
Psalmist said, [Psalm 118:22-23 22] “The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvellous in
our eyes.”
The Temple authorities rejected this stone with
extreme prejudice. They arrested Him and
arranged to have Him beaten and crucified.
As He hung on the cross, it looked like His end was near. As He died on the cross, it looked like His
end had come. As His cold body lay in
the tomb, it looked like His end had passed.
His suffering and death was an end, but it was
not His end. It was the end of
our slavery to sin. It was the end of
the condemnation and guilt that our sin earned.
It was the end of death’s reign in this world. For on the Sunday after He was laid in the
tomb, He rose from the dead. He rose to
live forever. The stone that the
builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
This stone, of course, is Jesus Christ Himself, the
Rock of Ages. Those who believe in Him,
believe in the only stone that lasts forever.
They believe in the living stone who is the foundation of the New
Heavens and the New Earth. The one who
endures to the end is the one whose faith in Jesus Christ endures. That one who believes that Jesus Christ is
the only Saviour from sin is the one who endures to the end and will be saved.
All things on this earth come to an end. Today’s Gospel talks of the beautiful
buildings of the temple. They have been
replaced by a Moslem Mosque. There will
be a time when that mosque will also be gone.
Eventually, even the earth, the sun, the moon, and the stars will all be
gone. Only Jesus Christ, the Rock of
Ages will remain to preserve us. Those
who followed the false prophets of this world will remain without salvation. Those who endured in the one true faith to
the end will be saved. Amen
The peace and love of our great Triune God that is
beyond all human understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen
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