November 18, 2012 25th Sunday After Pentecost

Mark 13:1-8

1 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.


Let me pass on to you these words of Mark E. Wegener which put this text in a healthy perspective.
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“If you are tempted to decipher Jesus' apocalyptic predictions and discover their fulfillment in current events, remember this: Over thirty years ago a popular volume entitled The Late, Great Planet Earth (1970) was published. It predicted that the end of the world would occur soon. It sold millions of copies and can still be found on the shelves of some fundamentalist, "evangelical" bookstores. Its author made three predictions: (1) things will get a lot worse, (2) the end of the world will come soon, and (3) most people will make fun of these predictions. So, of course, as soon as responsible theologians contradicted the first two predictions, the third one automatically came true! Most amazing was the fact that this book "interpreted" dozens and dozens of biblical passages, except the clearest single statement on the subject, namely, Mark 13:32, where Jesus says, "Concerning that day or hour nobody knows."

All that we know is that Jesus will be there at the end and no matter what, it will be good!  So watch, keep awake, stay alert, and don’t worry about it!

Also these words from David F. Watson, New Testament professor at Union Seminary, Dayton, Ohio.

“These are complex (words), deeply rooted in Old Testament language, history and theology.  Yet, despite the difficulties that they present, they are also powerful (words) that teach us not to follow false messiahs and prophets.  The dangers of overzealous nationalism and reactionary violence are clear in this  passage.  Violence begets violence.  (Amen to that!)  Followers of Jesus are to trust in God’s providential care even if the world around them seems to be falling apart before their eyes.”

And that takes a lot of  faith courage!