You will be hated by all for My name's sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your soul

 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see --- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."

So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."

Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."

- Luke 21:5-19

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to the scribes in the temple, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see --- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."   I think we really cannot imagine the stunning effect of Christ's words.  The temple had been rebuilt and expanded by Herod the Great (father of Herod Antipas).  Herod the Great was so famous for his grand building projects he was also called Herod the Builder.  The temple at Jerusalem at this time was considered one of the wonders of the world, both for the scope of its architectural ambition, and for its great beauty.  Moreover, for these who listen to Christ, we must consider that for the Jews, the temple was the place where God dwelt.  This is unthinkable, world-shattering news.  Jesus' prophecy was fulfilled one generation later, in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  Christ's prophecy became quite literally true, as the soldiers believed there was gold between the stones.  Only a fragment of one retaining wall was left, now called the Western Wall.

So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."    As we can see by Jesus' words, the destruction of the temple is inseparable from the idea of end times, and therefore of His return.  The chaos that will result from the destruction of the city itself is unimaginable.  But the first concern here is that there will be those who claim that Christ has returned, and His first warning is to His disciples not to believe them, not to be deceived.

Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake." Jesus warns of violence to come, both man-made and natural.  He also speaks of fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  All of these things, like the destruction of the temple, are extremely frightening, destabilizing, terrifying.  And on top of that, Jesus speaks to His disciples of the persecution for them that is to come, both from their own people the Jews (synagogues) and from the Romans (prisons).   They will be brought both before kings and rulers (again, authorities of both Gentiles and Jews).  Despite the fearful sights and terrifying ordeals, Christ's emphasis here is on endurance, and reliance upon their faith in Him, even through betrayal by parents and brothers, relatives and friends, and the certain threat of death for some of them.   Moreover, they will be hated by all because of their faith and association with Christ.   The main emphasis Christ's gives this scenario where all the world is shaken, and nothing is certain, is that it will be an occasion for testimony.   The word here in the Greek is μαρτύριον/martyrion, which means testimony (or in verb form, to testify).  It is also the root for witness, from which comes the word "martyr."

"But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."   Again, we must take a good and clear look at Christ's emphasis here.  It is on the transcendence and ever-present reality of the kingdom of God and their membership in it.  His emphasis is on endurance, forbearance, patience -- and the all-precious possession of their souls.

There are many interpretations of end time scenarios, from popular media and films to new theories seeming to spring up all the time.  But there are a few things we understand from the tradition of the Church and from the patristic viewpoint on all of the Scriptural references to them (Eschatology).  First of all, the end times are not simply what might "be coming" in the future.  The end times began for the world with Christ's Resurrection; they are the times in which we now live.  The persecutions and wars against which Jesus warns did occur within that generation that was to come.  The destruction of the temple most certainly occurred in AD 70.  But the warnings about wars and upheavals, pestilences, even persecutions do not apply only to that time; neither does the warning about natural disasters, or even signs in heaven.  These statements apply to the times in which we live and have been living for 2,000 years, this era in which we await His return.  So rather than focus on the prophecy (which will continue in the readings for Monday and Tuesday as well), let us consider Jesus' emphasis here.  It is not on the shock value of the prophecy, nor is it on a specific time-frame.  In fact, He avoids that altogether; we have not been given a time-table of any kind.  Jesus' emphasis is on our work, behavior, and preparedness at this time.  As we will read, He will emphasize our practice of virtue, our awareness of His purposes and commandments for us, and especially our alertness to the times.  He gives us these prophecies so that we don't sleep, so that we are always aware of what it is we are to be about as His good servants, and prepared for the challenges that may come in this time.  He gives us a clear "gameplan" -- the events we experience may present opportunities for witnessing, for testimony.  Some may even be asked for their very lives.  But by our own patience we will possess our souls, no harm shall come to a hair of our heads:  meaning by this that we are protected in that heavenly kingdom, our places and the fullness of our lives remain there.  The wars and signs, pestilences and terrifying disasters are signs of one thing:  a kind of spiritual battle that is taking place behind everything we see and experience.  They are forms of imagery used to tell us of "war in heaven" in the Revelation, and come to us from far earlier, in the Book of Daniel.  St. Paul writes frequently about this as well.  But we shouldn't let the images take over our understanding of what this means for us, where our own emphasis should be.  Nor should we forget that we are living now in the "end times" -- and that the whole of our era since His Resurrection constitutes this time.  As we await His return, consider what your life is all about.  If His return were to happen tomorrow, what is your personal emphasis today?  What is it that you wish to contribute to the world?  What gives your life purpose and meaning?  What is that precious soul that you possess, and how do you retain that possession in His sight?  These are the things He asks of us; they require of us courage, patience, forbearance, insight, understanding, wisdom, and most of all awareness.  He wants us not to go through our lives unaware of these spiritual realities, but rather living them.  Where is your witness?  Let us remember we testify simply by the ways in which we choose to live and make our choices.