Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away

 Then He spoke to them a parable:  "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.  When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.  So you also, when you see these things happening; know that the kingdom of God is near.  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.  For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."

And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet.  Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

- Luke 21:29-38

In Luke's gospel, we are now in Jerusalem.  He has entered the city in His  Triumphal Entry, and wept over the city, lamenting its lack of peace.  He has cleansed the temple, and already run into confrontations with the leadership, as they asked Him, "Who is he who gave You this authority?".  He told a parable against them, warning them of the times of the Gentiles and of Judgement.   The leadership has tested Him regarding payment of taxes to the Romans, and life in the Resurrection.  He has spoken against the hypocrisy of the scribes and tested them about Scripture,  He pointed out the poor widow, who gave all she had to the treasury.  He has spoken of the future destruction of the beautiful and magnificent temple, and the persecutions to come for the Church.  In yesterday's reading, He spoke of what is to come:  "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.  Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.  For these are the days  of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.  And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations.  And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars, and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

  Then He spoke to them a parable:  "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.  When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.  So you also, when you see these things happening; know that the kingdom of God is near.  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."  My study bible says of Jesus' phrase, "this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place":  "This difficult verse may be interpreted in two ways:  (1)  this generation refers to Jesus' contemporaries and all things pertain to the  capture of Jerusalem; or (2) this generation is the new Christian generation and all things include the return of Christ.  The latter is the preferred interpretation of the Church Fathers."  Considering the eschatological tone of "heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away," we can see the preference of the Church Fathers for the interpretation that this generation refers to the generation of Christians, to time in which we now live.  Perhaps, as in all of the passages in which we read of Jesus teaching of both the destruction of the temple and the end of the age, it is a mixed prediction.  One thing is certain:  heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will by no means pass away.  In the transition from our concept of time to that of eternal time (see yesterday's reading), all things as we know them may change and pass away, but His words and teachings remain firmly in place; God's Kingdom remains when life as we know it will not.

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly.  For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth.  Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."   My study bible notes, "Jesus concludes His discourse with a final admonition to vigilance in the face of the unpredictable time of His return."  The emphasis is on preparation, awareness, alertness to who we are in His name and to what we must be about.  Jesus repeatedly emphasizes the unknown and especially the unexpected quality of the time of His return.

And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet.  Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.  A note here reads:  "Olivet is the Mount of Olives, a hill on the east side of Jerusalem where pilgrims stayed with the city was overcrowded during festivals such as Passover."  Jesus stays with the pilgrims on the mountain.  Although He teaches daily in the temple and all come to hear Him, He is an outsider, a sojourner.  It is another kind of emphasis on the temporal nature of our lives, and His life as He lived it as a human being.

In today's lectionary reading, also included is Psalm 39.  Its final verses read, "Surely all mankind is a mere breath!  Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear to my cry; hold not your peace at my tears!  For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.  Look away from me, that I may smile again, before I depart and am no more!”  Christ stays with the pilgrims, as so many of His "fathers" have done before Him.  The journey to Jerusalem has been filled with many things, but it is this journey that has been His ministry, His gift to us.  He teaches in the temple daily, and all come to hear Him, but it is the time "before He departs and is no more" in this world as incarnate Jesus of Nazareth.  As Jesus Himself is a pilgrim and sojourner, so in this respect we can look upon our own lives as the Psalm seems to suggest when it tells us, "surely all mankind is a mere breath."  We are pilgrims with Him, on our way somewhere, to a holy place.  Jesus, in today's verses, in His words that will not pass away, would have us look at our lives and understand that all that we see and experience is not the be-all and end-all of life, that there is something more, that heaven and earth will indeed pass away, but that there will be more -- something else, something Other, the Kingdom and His words of eternal life.  In this emphasis, we're to understand that that time of the end can come anytime, transforming, transfiguring, and changing all that we know so that we are face to face with Him.  In that place, we will possess our souls, or we will not.  We live our lives moment to moment in the awareness that His return is unexpected and that His words will not pass away.  Whatever it is that we don't know, this is given us as a promise.  It is unavoidable, inescapable in the teachings of the Gospel.  So how does this awareness strengthen and inform your life and your choices?  What does it do to give your time meaning?  to shape your perspective on your life?