THE READING
for many congregations on the final Sunday after Pentecost comes to us
from the latter chapters of the Gospel According to Saint Luke. Often termed as
an end times revealing, this lesson provides a view of conditions that certainly
have occurred in the past and we as Christians predict will yet occur.
And as some spoke of
the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he (Jesus)
said, "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there
shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown
down."
And they asked him, "Teacher, when will
this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?"
And he said, "Take heed that you are not
led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is
at hand!' Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not
be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at
once."
Then he said to them, "Nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes,
and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and
great signs from heaven.
But before all this they will lay their hands
on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and
you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake.
This will be a time for you to bear testimony.
Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer;
for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be
able to withstand or contradict.
You will be delivered up even by parents and
brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you
will be hated by all for my name's sake.
But not a hair of your head will perish. By
your endurance you will gain your lives.
(Luke 21:5-19)
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Be Not Led Astray…
In Luke, we find this discourse stems directly from Mark
13:1-23, and is also recorded in Matthew 24:1-3. Here Luke retells the scene from
Mark, an event that occurred on the very steps of the Jerusalem temple. On that day which
happened some 50 years before Luke’s writing, Jesus indicated to the disciples
that our wondrous earthly temples are not immune to decay… neither those we
build, nor those we inhabit.
We note that our Lord
spoke these words to his followers as he approached Golgotha, the place of the
Skull…. where upon the cross he would be mocked as “King of the Jews”. We also know
that historically, Jesus predicted the things that had already begun to
unfold before the writing of Mark’s gospel, which was made available about
65-68 A.D. The events came then as revealed truth to the fledgling churches of Mark.
They already had witnessed in part the prophecy that continued to rumble on into
later decades. The revelation thus confirmed their experiences, and the Church later became heightened in knowledge when the writers of Matthew and Luke also penned
their gospels.
You see, after the
crucifixion and Resurrection of our Lord, the first sign of widespread prophetic
fulfillment occurred in the continued rise of political tensions. These became so boisterous that about 68
A.D., the Romans finally made war against Jerusalem.
The war was set against
Israel's governmental and temple powers. Conflict raged in struggles concerning Jewish national
identity, military control, flow of Imperial money, and Jewish religious zealotry. These thorny issues brought the Romans to stamp very hard
on the nation of Israel. For the Christian Church during the midst of this time frame, historical
rejection of Christ by the Jews had resulted in such as the death of James and other apostolic leaders. For
the early Church then, this added to the drama of a very turbulent time. Other earth shaking fault lines widened tensions in both Jewish and Gentile Christian cultures as dramatic Roman persecutions
of both began. We know that when
Rome pounced, Jews of the temple cult were assailed and zealots were killed
mercilessly.
The Jewish persecutions began with the siege of Jerusalem under Emperor Titus
as he sought sure destruction of the temple. Afterward, the Roman forces
relentlessly pursued the remnant, rebellious forces who yet wished to
throw off the mantle of Roman power.
The tumultuous time
shook the governing Hebrew culture to its core. The unrest ended with the suicidal
deaths of those partisans cornered in the fortress at Masada (70AD). Only the
religious Jews who dispersed widely throughout the Empire and became influential
escaped the purge. To save themselves from further destruction, they pointed
the Romans to the Christians as the primary cause of unrest. The persecutions
of Nero upon the Church is stark evidence of this factor.
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A Light Shines In The Night, Advent Wreath |
What Goes Around…
A decade or more after these historical and apocalyptic events,
Luke warned his churches through the rewriting of Mark’s gospel message. Though
likely a Gentile himself, our author maintained the language of Jewish apocalyptic
prophecy in his witness. In the retelling of the Markan divulging of Jesus’ conversation, Luke
emphasized that the “end times” were yet echoing hard upon his contemporaries. Luke
pointed out firmly that Jesus, the Christ of God… had prophesied to them of the
hard things. They as Christians would suffer for his name's sake.
Our author, working
consequently in the Spirit, wrote that Jesus just prior to his crucifixion had encouraged
the disciples to have courage and continue their work over against all cultural
opposition. Using the words of Jesus as provided by Mark, Luke directed the
Church forward during the latter decades of the first century. Even knowing that because of congregational infancy some would
falter… and fear would likely reign in certain places, the truth of the
prophecy had already proven decades before, that these were the "birth pangs", and they would continue across the
Roman Empire.
Luke stressed to the whole Church that the out pouring of the Holy Spirit was crucial. Evidenced by
the fall of the temple cult and its power-inebriated influence, Christian endurance
through the tumult was seen to come only by the virtue of divine wisdom and strength. The Word
which had been placed in the hands of the fledgling Christian Church was key to
its survival.
Indeed, contrary to the communal dispersal of the Jews and the decline and
disappearance of many synagogues, by Christian patience and perseverance such
churches as the audience of Luke were privileged to survive and even grow. They
did this by holding tightly to their possession of the saving faith that had
been bestowed upon them.
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A People's History of Christianity, Vol 1: From the Early Church to the Reformation |
Bear Testimony!
We find today in this reading, that we who are called now as witnesses
are also empowered by this text. We are summoned first to liken ourselves to
those scattering disciples who were with Jesus upon the steps of the temple.
Secondly, and more importantly… we are to be like those of the early Church
that received power from the Holy Spirit from on high. Our Lord’s divine power
was indeed given to them… and is also available to us through baptism, so that we may also endure
birth pains. Certainly by the
Spirit’s power and guidance we shall endure a millennia of persecutions… those of
such force as seen around the Church in the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
Know this! We the people
of God who are called forth in Christ have been tempered and proven though
Roman, European, Asian, American wars and rumors of wars. We see that today many
Christians have already fallen victim to severe persecutions in Syria, Africa. China and many other
lands. Had we not been told by Jesus that even though heaven and earth pass
away, his words do not pass away… the Church may easily fall and be covered by the dusts
of time.
However, hope lies with us as the text we
read this week reminds us to pray for a future when neither the real, nor
spiritual Jerusalem, will any longer be trodden down. We join with those who
have walked in faith before us, and inherit the divine call if we shall declare the good news of salvation
in Christ… and look forward to a future day.
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Backgrounds of Early Christianity, Third Edition By Everett Ferguson |
Certainly, As the Church we know in
faith that through times of war and pestilence, both Jews and Gentiles turned
to the Way. They prayed in the name of Christ Jesus and worshiped the Lord. In the same path, this is the sure and
certain hope that we are already delivered even as divine judgments are levied against we the
sinful of the world.
Take note that the
temple wall remnant yet stands in Jerusalem as stark testimony of divine
justice. We are shown evidentially there that corporate and personal sins do not pass
without punishment. Unfolding history proves that any church sector that invests in cultic power and
politics will not deliver us through these turbulent times. Only faith given in
Jesus Christ crucified and Risen delivers us!
Let us be drawn to realize
that we are now a remnant empowered by the Holy Spirit. Forgiveness and
strength have been given to us through the waters of Holy Baptism. In receiving
this gracious gift we often stand amid and against family, friends, and the society. Though we receive persecutions sometimes felt as great earthquakes,
either real and symbolic, that shake the very foundations of our humanly-perceived
learning... we are yet called as witnesses. Indeed, as false gods fall we are asked to tell of God’s
saving grace through Christ.
Remember that we have
been commanded to witness this truth even though we may be shunned as
antiquated, and weapons are brandished before our faces. Wars and rumors of
wars, famines in food and morality, make colliding columns of apostate church hierarchy
shudder… and they shall spill forth again and again. Facing demonic onslaught upon the earth, therefore, we
of the Christian faith must cling faithfully to the Word of God
rightly interpreted. This we must rightly do knowing that we have
been given the grace of eternal life freely from God.
Therefore brothers
and sisters in Christ, come to know in the Spirit that this is a divine gift
bought with the sacrifice of Jesus, the Father’s only begotten Son. Jesus died for us and rose again, warning
his followers of these principalities and powers. We therefore believe his words
and prepare a sure defense in the Holy Word, knowing that though crucified,
dead and buried, Jesus is yet Risen, Risen indeed.
Please be invited to view this video...
Rough Roads Ahead!
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