Take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand

 

 "So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not" (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter.  For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.  And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, He is there!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.  

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven."

 

- Mark 13:14–27 

 

On Saturday we read that, as He went out of the temple, one of Christ's disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.  But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved." 

 

  "So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not" (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter.  For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.  And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.   We continue Jesus' discourse on end times from Saturday's reading.  Here in the middle of what is called a chiastic pattern to this prophecy.  That is, it has a kind of "X" pattern, in that the earliest statements are repeated in the last part and amplified in the second part, in a sort of reverse order of topics.  See also Saturday's reading, above, for the first half of this prophesy.  Here in this section, Jesus speaks quite distinctly about the terrible destruction that is to come in Jerusalem.   The abomination of desolation is a term known from the prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 11:31, 12:11) and was fulfilled in AD 70, when the Roman general Titus entered the Most Holy Place and had a statue of himself erected in the temple before having the temple destroyed (described in Daniel 9:27).  My study Bible says that the Lord's phrase when you see is an indication that many of the disciples would still be alive at that time.  The phrase parenthetically inserted by Mark, let the reader understand, is understood as an encouragement to the early Christians who may have witnessed this event.  The first warnings here denote the immediate terror of the sacking of the city and destruction of the temple.  My study Bible comments that the severity of winter weather would prevent many from fleeing quickly in a time of desperation.  His warnings enforce the need for quick and immediate flight.

"Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, He is there!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand."   These warnings repeat the beginning of the discourse:  they are against false christs and false prophets, and they repeat the emphasis on resistance to the attempts by the evil one to deceive, as He has told them all things beforehand.

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven."  In the Scriptures, the end times are described in a variety of ways, and done so that no precise chronology can be determined (in addition to this chapter in Mark, see Daniel 7-12; Luke 21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, and the Book of Revelation).  Here there is a reference to Christ's own return.  His emphasis throughout the discourse is on watchfulness, endurance in faith, and the practice of virtue rather than on constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.  My study Bible comments that the period of the great tribulation includes the entire Christian era and is not limited to the final years before Christ's return.   The return of the Son of Man will be unmistakable to the whole world.  If there is any doubt, that alone is evidence that He has not returned.  According to patristic interpretation, the sun will be darkened in relation to the glory of Christ.  Just as at the Transfiguration the divine light around Christ appeared to be more brilliant than sunlight, so it will be at His return in the fullness of His splendor.  The four winds, and the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven symbolically encompass all of the cosmos, all of creation.

The destruction of the temple at Jerusalem had to be one of the most terrifying acts of history.  Not only was the unthinkable event of the destruction of the temple part of this experience in Jerusalem, but the subsequent fire swept through the whole city.  Of the temple itself, Christ's prophecy that "not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down" (see Saturday's reading, above) would be manifestly true.  Only one retaining wall was left standing of the entire splendid and beautiful temple, known as one of the architectural wonders of the world.   That is today known as the Western Wall, and long referred to as the Wailing Wall, as it is the tradition through the centuries  to pray and mourn this event at that site.  It seems a fitting understanding that in the prophecies of the end times the destruction of the temple (and the abomination of desolation) should be tied to the return of Christ, the Son of Man, and the ultimate end of creation as we know it.  Or, it seems to me, we could truly say the ultimate transfiguration of all that is, the entire created order.  In that sense, it is a misnomer to call it "end times," because it is the end of what we understand as the world and our experience of it, but it is the beginning of something renewed and transformed -- and this is really our promise from Christ and the full manifestation of His Kingdom.  In this sense, it has always been understood in the tradition of the Church that the period of the great tribulation (and of the end times in full) includes the entire Christian era and is not limited to the final years before Christ's return.  In the fullness of our received understanding of these things, it is not surprising that the terrible destruction of the temple (and the violation of the Holy of Holies -- the "abomination of desolation" in the phrase from the prophecy of Daniel) should be tied to the fullness of the end and the ultimate coming of Christ's Kingdom.  We see this entire period as a struggle, a "war in heaven" taking place on spiritual levels we don't physically see but which manifest themselves in the events of the world that we do experience with great trauma, not only to humankind, but to the entirety of the world (Revelation 12:7, 19:11).  They are the labor pains of a new creation being born, and the struggle for its fullness (see Revelation 12).  As followers of Christ, we are born into the middle of this struggle.  We stand at its center, and we are told to each take up our own crosses daily in that struggle.   But, to quote St. Paul, "we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  We might see manifestations in these things in our experiences and understanding of the world, but ultimately this is not a battle against people (flesh and blood, as St. Paul says) but is about about hearts and minds, because it is a battle of values.  In the spiritual terms in which Jesus preached, it is a battle against the hatred of truth -- that is the truth of Christ the Logos.  Therefore it must be fought in the spiritual way we are taught, through faith, and our own willingness to endure through all things, to bear our cross in the practice of virtue He teaches us.  One cannot fight nor win such a battle for spiritual truth through conventional means of coercion, just as even God -- by God's own creation -- cannot compel us to love God and embrace God's truth.  We have a different way to walk through this battleground, and it is His way, His truth, His life He has shown us (John 14:6).  Just as the end times are mixed with wars and tribulations, with the fullness of the time from Christ's final week of human life to the present time, so the ways in which we are asked to carry our cross and live our faith will be as varied as there are individual lives and faithful people.  But let us understand the one way is through faith and through the things we've been taught.  St. Paul teaches us to fight the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), to "take up the whole armour of God" (see Ephesians 6:13-20).  Our battles will intersect with the events of our lives the world; there will be times to stand up to say "yes" to some things, and to say "no" to others, and we can't predict what that will entail.  But we are rooted in this good fight, and His way of endurance and watchfulness right through to the end.