He who endures to the end shall be saved

 

 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

 

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"  And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved.  And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."

 

- Matthew 24:1-14 

 

 Yesterday, we read Jesus' last words in His final public sermon, which was a great critique of the scribes and Pharisees.  This takes up the whole of chapter 23 of St. Matthew's Gospel (for the first two readings in this chapter, see the readings from Monday and Tuesday.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.  Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  Because you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous, and say, 'If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.'  Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers' guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers!  How can you escape the condemnation of hell?  Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes:  some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.  Assuredly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!  How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!  See!  Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'"

 

Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  My study Bible explains that Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  

 

 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"  And Jesus answered and said to them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will deceive many.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars."  Thus begins Jesus' discourse on what are often called "end times," which in tradition began with Christ's Incarnation and continue through the present age as we await His return and judgment.  My study Bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7 - 12; Mark 13; Luke 21: 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  Our Lord's emphasis through this discourse is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue, rather than on constructing timetables of things which have not yet happened.  Here in St. Matthew's account, the end is described in several stages, which encompass the initial sorrows (described in today's reading), the great tribulation (verses 15-28), and the coming of the Son of Man (verses 29-31).   The period of the great tribulation, my study Bible teaches, includes the entire Christian era and is not limited to the final years before Christ's return.  Here in these beginning teachings on the end times, Jesus has given the most emphasis to warnings against deception.  Of particular emphasis, my study Bible says, is the warning against following a false Christ, which Jesus will stress again (verses 11, 23-27).   

 

 "And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."  According to my study Bible, the wars here refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but they also include subsequent wars.  It notes that wars are not a sign of the imminent end, but rather the opposite.  As Jesus indicates, it tells us that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).  

 

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."  My study Bible comments that all these calamities and all this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel, and indeed, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted.  It cites St. John Chrysostom, who marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed except the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

 

Jesus gives us a kind of arc of history in speaking about end times; that is, the time of the whole Christian era.  Certainly we understand wars and rumors of wars, and we know about persecutions.   Jesus says, "And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows.  Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake.  And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another.  Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.  And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold."  Jesus describes a world in which increasing conflict takes place at all levels, from the international ("nation will rise against nation") to the individual and within communities.  Betrayals, offenses, hatreds will take place.  And the deceit of false prophets continues a kind of violence against the kingdom of heaven and to natural order that would be the way of God.  And in that vein, a key phrase is when Jesus tells us that "lawlessness will abound" and "the love of many will grow cold."  These things are antithetical to the order established by God, the aims of our faith, the intentions of God we understand from the whole of the Holy Bible.  Lies and deceptions form yet another kind of violence in the midst of the other violence we understand, and famines and pestilences and earthquakes show that even the natural physical world is disrupted from its proper order, a kind of interior violence even affecting the world which was created to sustain and support human life in which God established a garden for the first human beings.  Without love and righteousness there can be no peace.  We may not have experienced in our lives such levels of total breakdown of norms which are necessary for human flourishing, nor experienced a universal kind of war of all against all such as is depicted here.  Fr. Stephen Freeman refers to this process of "breakdown" as a kind of entropy in this article, and one must conclude that this seems correct.   But many people at this time are certainly wondering where the world is headed, and we can observe what often seems to be a breakdown of natural order, even rational behavior.  Jesus speaks with a prophetic understanding of the effects of such chaos when He tells us that "he who endures to the end will be saved."  For in the midst of the evil of chaos and this breakdown of the true natural order of things (that is, the desired order established by God in creation), we are taught that it is faith that makes the difference, and it is in our faith we must nevertheless endure.  For Jesus says, "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come."  In the midst of whatever difficulties we find in the world, whatever chaos or violence, or deceptions and lies, we have something important to do.  We have been given a mission from Christ to witness His gospel.  If things sometimes feel overwhelming and we cannot understand where they are headed, we need to recollect who and what we are, and find this place in prayer where we're given the grace of God to know what we are to be about.  God gives us the grace not to despair, but to continue in faith and in the mission of the Church.  For He has told us all ahead of time, and He teaches us to endure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By your patience possess your souls

 

 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 to 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 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 sets 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."  My study Bible notes that Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans in the Siege of Jerusalem.  Literally not one stone was left upon another.  Only a retaining wall remained, known today as the Western Wall (and for many centuries as the Wailing Wall, a place of prayer and pilgrimage for Jews).

 

 So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  and what sign will there be when these things are to 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."  My study Bible comments that, in the Scriptures as a whole, the end times are described in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  Here He warns of deceptions from false Christs (which indeed was so in the very early period of the Church).  The immediate wars and commotions, my study Bible says, apply first to the period of the first century in Jerusalem ("these things must come to pass first").  The things that follow pertain to the whole of the Christian era, in which we await Christ's return.  But as we read a little further along, Christ's emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue rather than on constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.  

 

 "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."  Here Christ gives warnings of the tribulation to come.  Note the emphasis on persecution as an occasion for testimony.  Christ promises the Holy Spirit as Helper and Advocate ("I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist").  Persecution entails betrayals and death, and hatred for His name's sake.  "But," He says, "not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."  This is the promise of eternal life, of the life of the Kingdom for those who follow Him steadfastly.

 

 Jesus begins His discourse here on end times, and it will continue through tomorrow's reading also.  There, He will delve into more detailed predictions which clearly portray the Siege of Jerusalem that is to come even in the lifetimes of His hearers at that time.  But today, Jesus begins with essentially a couple of points which He illumines with great color and urgency to impress upon His followers how they are to live through and bear the times He predicts.  The first point that He makes, as my study Bible points out, is a warning about deception, about being deceived.  He says, "For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them."  This was quite true.  As we read in Acts 4:35-37, Gamaliel relates some of this history when he speaks to the Sanhedrin about how to proceed with Christ's followers and the nascent Church.  He mentions a man named Theudas, and another named Judas of Galilee, both pretenders to a messianic role at that time.  Then Jesus speaks of wars and commotions, which must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.  Following this, He embarks on what sounds like a summary of the entire age of the Church to this day:  "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."  This is a description of the age, but then Jesus begins to speak of the immediate persecutions to come to His Church and His followers.  He begins with an admonition to take heed and watch that the believers not be deceived by false Christs, and ends with a powerful prompting not to fear the persecution to come, but to consider it an occasion for testimony.  Moreover, there is a great gift in the midst of tribulation.  He promises, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist."  And herein is the secret of the great struggle for faith.  That God lives -- or to use the language of the Scriptures, is enthroned -- in our hearts and minds, and that it is with our hearts and minds, and our mouths that speak wisdom that God lives and dwells with us in the world.  God is truly everywhere present, but Christ has made God known to us (John 14:9).  And we are those who will profess and proclaim God, keeping ourselves as temples in which God dwells (1 Corinthians 3:16).  While the reality of God and God's presence is not in doubt, it is up to us to receive God, and to live our faith through all things.  Jesus speaks clearly of dire persecutions and tribulation, but we are encouraged to testify, to proclaim wisdom.  The time of tribulation, my study Bible explains, includes the whole of the Christian era, and not just the immediate times faced by Christ's followers at that time, nor a period of time just before His return, as some suggest.  Let us keep our own wits about us, understanding our role as those who follow and are faithful. By our patience let us possess our souls. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No man ever spoke like this Man!

 

 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  

 

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."   But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?   Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.  

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."

 

Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."

 

- John 7:37-52 

 

Yesterday we read that about the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone will to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as he taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and he sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?" The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"  

 

 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.   The last day, that great day of the feast was the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles.  The ceremony of the drawing of water (in which water was drawn from the pool of Siloam to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar) provides the context for the Lord's words, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink."  Christ's living water is the gift of the Holy Spirit and the new life which accompanies this gift.  

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."   But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?   Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.   My study Bible explains that the Prophet is a reference to the expected Messiah, the Savior foretold by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15-19.  Bethlehem was the town from which the Christ was expected to come, according to the prophecy of Micah 5:2.  

Then the officers came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why have you not brought Him?  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  The chief priests had sent officers of the temple to arrest Jesus in the middle of the Feast (see yesterday's reading, above).  But now, it is the last day of the Feast, and no arrest has been made.  These officers have been converted Lord's teaching ("No man ever spoke like this Man!").  My study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, saying that the Pharisees and the scribes who "witnessed the miracles and read the Scriptures derived no benefit" from either.  These officers, on the other hand, although they could claim none of this learning, were "captivated by a single sermon."  When the mind is open, "there is no need for long speeches.  Truth is like that."

 

 Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."  My study Bible notes that Nicodemus had spoken with Jesus (John 3:1-21), and had since increased in faith.  But his defense of Christ is still based on our law, and this was not yet a public profession of faith (see John 19:38-39).  According to the law, Jesus must be given a hearing before He can be judged, my study Bible says.  The Pharisees declare that no prophet has arisen out of Galilee.  My study Bible comments that they show their blind hatred and also their ignorance of the Scriptures here.  The prophet Jonah came from Galilee, from the town of Gath Hepher, which was only three miles from Nazareth (2 Kings 14:25). 

In Nicodemus' action in today's reading, we already see the transformation that happens through faith, and through the work of the Holy Spirit.  While my study Bible points out that this is not yet a full profession of faith, which will come later in the Gospel (John 19:38-39, as cited above), nonetheless he speaks up before the rest of the Sanhedrin to insist that they're violating the law by judging peremptorily.  The courage to begin to speak up here, his conscience not reconciled to the ways in which his fellow Pharisees are approaching Christ, is a sign of what is happening internally to change him, and cause him to speak up.  This is a beginning of separation from his fellow Pharisees and the rest of the ruling council, for we can see by their scathing and insulting response that they will brook no competition for how they must approach Jesus.  They want to do away with Him as handily as possible for He is seen as a threat to their authority and power.  But Nicodemus is not just going along with the rest of them, although he has yet to come to the decision to make the clean break he will later on in publicly confessing faith in Christ.  Let us notice the hostility of the religious leaders, even their insulting behavior toward Nicodemus for reminding them of the procedures of the Law.  They ask if he is also from Galilee, and go so far in their rash declarations as to make a fundamental mistake which they, as the experts in Scripture, are not supposed to make.  They claim no prophet has arisen from Galilee, when in fact a prophet as important as Jonah was from Galilee, from a town close to Nazareth.  What we can observe in this drama of Nicodemus among his fellow religious rulers is the start of separation, of one who is separating himself from the gathering of his own brethren, so to speak, from the important position he holds on the Council, in order to more fully follow his faith.  This is a process, but it is one that can be understood in spiritual terms.  To be holy, in the traditional sense of this word, is to be set apart.  That is, dedicated for the purposes of God.  What we see in the dynamics of the Council are men who, as John will say in his Gospel, "loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:43).  Their pursuit of and use of power has become more worldly in its practice than truly serving God, and we can see the result.  As Nicodemus' faith grows and begins to take hold, transforming him, he in turn begins separating himself from them -- in just the same sense as Christ cleansed the temple upon His visit at the first Passover given to us in this Gospel (John 2:13-22).  He does not want to simply fall in with their corruption, and so this beginning of the process of setting apart is taking shape and leading him further into the direction of faith in Christ.  We might take a moment here to consider the work of the Holy Spirit, which was the great subject of discussion in Christ's visit to Nicodemus and His teaching in chapter 3.  Jesus spoke then about being born "from above"; that is, reborn in the Spirit.  He taught Nicodemus, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit."  As in that teaching, the Spirit is leading Nicodemus where it will, and so it is in each of us in terms of this process of faith.  We are not the ones leading the journey, and we "cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes."  As we, too, grow in faith, let us not be dismayed or surprised by the separations we might come to know, even from things or people we might cherish.  For surely for Nicodemus, being on the Council and a member of the Pharisees is something absolutely central to what he feels is right about his identity and heritage.  And yet, we know that he will separate from them for a higher, better truth, for the faith of an identity given by Christ.  Let us also let the Holy Spirit work in us and follow the path of faith in Christ.  Then we can say with the officers, and eventually Nicodemus, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"

 

 

 

By your patience possess your souls

 

 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 rumors of 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 asked of the scribes, "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."  My study Bible comments that Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  This prophecy is quite literally true, that "not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."  Of the beautiful and splendid temple, an architectural wonder as it existed, only one retaining wall remained, known for centuries as the Wailing Wall (as it was the site of pilgrims' prayers) or 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."  In the places where we have Christ's prophecy of the "end times" reported to us, His greatest emphasis are on warnings against deception, particularly of following a false Christ (Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 23-27).  Here in Luke's Gospel, it is the first thing He tells the disciples, and so we understand the priority of this warning in this prominent place.  

"But when you hear of wars and rumors of 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."  My study Bible comments that the wars refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also include subsequent wars.  It notes that wars are not a sign of the imminent end, but rather the opposite, that these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.  It's also noted that the Scriptures as a whole describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7 - 12; Mark 13; Matthew 24:3-31; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, and also the Book of Revelation).  

"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."  My study Bible comments on these initial sorrows here, which we know about from the history of the Church and especially the early period of its persecution described here by Jesus.  However, great tribulation is a part of Christ's prophecy, and this period includes the entire Christian era.  Moreover, it is not limited to the final years before Christ's return.  In the past century, we have known genocides which included millions of Christians.  Such persecution (and new threats of genocide) remain ongoing.  And yet, Jesus' emphasis here is not on the suffering, but on how we persist through the suffering:  "By your patience possess your souls."

Jesus' forewarning of suffering and end times continues to be prominent in the minds of many followers of Christ.  But it is particularly important that we understand these things are foretold, and that if we go through any form of persecution or tribulation, it should not deter us from faithfully seeking to know what Christ asks of us.  He says that betrayals and persecutions, being brought into courts and before magistrates and rulers, "will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony."  Moreover, there is a Helper who will be sent to be with us and help to guide us in that testimony:  "I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist."  Christ's followers are even told to "settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer."   It is the occasion for testimony that is important; it is the patience of the faithful that is important, even if we are 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."  In our modern lives, where so much attention is taken up in social media, it may seem quite odd that such things are not of the kind of significance to Jesus as to make a difference to our faith, but rather may offer occasion for the practice of our faith, and for our patience as faithful.  We're often told about family values and of the emphasis on family in our Churches, but here, Jesus is saying these relationships are secondary to the communion of our faith, our participation in Christ's being and truth, even those of parents and brothers, relative and friends.  He puts this in such strong language as to say that "you will be hated by all for My name's sake."   In a world in which we see all forms of social media and other ways we are socially linked to one another used to "cancel" or to harass a person, Jesus takes it all on, even if we are hated by all for His name's sake.  We are told by my study Bible that we live in this continuing ongoing period of what is called the messianic age, in which we await the return of Christ, but continue to feel the effects of the spiritual struggle that frames and forms the background to our understanding of the world.  There are persecutions, violence, wars, betrayals -- and thanks to technology, these may continue to pose risks on a greater and more frightening level than ever.  I listened to a very interesting program on eschatology the other day, in which it was emphasized that this is a period in which Psalm 110 is fulfilled.  Lest we forget, in yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus quoted from the first verse of this Psalm, quizzing the scribes regarding both the divine and human nature of the Messiah.  The second verse reads as follows:  "The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!"  Even if we understand that wars, violence, tribulations, and upheavals and calamities of all kinds continue in our world, in Christ's completion of His mission, in His Passion, in His Ascension, He nonetheless has declared His rule over this world ("I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" - Luke 10:18), and we are those who, in the endurance and patience of living our faith, "work the works of God" and therefore participate in that spiritual battle, doing our part as His servants and laborers as we await the time of His return.  And this is the picture He gives us as He speaks of testimony even in the midst of tribulation, of the patience by which we possess our souls, even if those whom we love betray us, even if all hate us for His name's sake.  We should strive to understand His emphasis on endurance, persistence in our faith, and what that means.  For spiritual battle comes not as some contest against "flesh and blood," but by faith, "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 live in this age that Christ taught to His disciples, and we must emphatically play our part, through prayer and worship, through living His commandments, through deepening our faith and understanding, testimony if the proper time is given to us, and patience.