As he 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 here upon another; all will be thrown down.’
When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’ Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 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.
When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’ Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 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.
This passage, which the church sometimes labels “The New Testament Apocalypse,” appears in all three synoptic gospels. Its parallel is in Matthew 25 and in Luke 21. Mark’s language is the version of the story that is most familiar to us.
We do not gravitate to this passage often. It is a little scary on the one hand. It is uncertain on the other (‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’). The Romans destroyed the Temple – and all of Jerusalem -- in A.D. 70. But the passage carries with it not only a sense of the end of Jerusalem, but of the end of the world. The church has appropriated the imagery of this text and applied it to the greater turmoil of the End and the Judgment and the Second Coming of Christ. It stirs up in us a lot of the emotion that can accompany consideration of such events.
But these considerations are necessary. Next Sunday is The Feast of Christ the King, or the Reign of Christ. Then, we come to the First Sunday of Advent, and we start anew our consideration of the Christian liturgical year. So, this week is the last “ordinary” Sunday in our worship cycle.
It is fitting that we end with “the end.” Imagine making our way through Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter and Pentecost before ending our entire journey with the parable of the Prodigal Son. That tale is a noble one, but it doesn’t wrap up the long and emotional journey that has been ours for fifty weeks.
Jesus speaks of an end. By extension, he speaks of “The End.” Then we segue into a new season of anticipation and hope as we await the coming of Christ into human history, both in the manger of Bethlehem and in the realization of God’s long-term plan.
So, this is not merely an uncomfortable conclusion, or an awkward transition. Rather in embracing this passage we understand that God’s plan is ongoing. It is not up to us to know the times and seasons. It is up to us to endure in faith.
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