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 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 religious leaders who were questioning Him in the temple in Jerusalem, "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."  Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, during the Siege of Jerusalem, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  There were rumors that there was gold between the stones of the magnificent temple, which had been rebuilt and refashioned with many architectural additions by Herod the Great, who was also known as Herod the Builder.  The temple was meant to be preserved, but in the fury of the fighting and midst a great fire that resulted in Jerusalem, the temple -- then considered one of the architectural wonders of the known world -- was leveled.  All that remained was one retaining wall, long known as the Wailing Wall, 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."    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; Matthew 24:3-31; Mark 13, 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  As we can read here, and we will read in the continuation of this discourse on Monday, Jesus' emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue, rather than on constructing timetables of things that haven't yet happened.  Jesus here first gives warning about deceptions:  false Christs and false reports of His return.

 

"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."  His emphasis is a warning of wars and violence to come on many levels and involving many places and times; this also involve natural disasters of different types, including fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  All these the world has experienced since.  My study Bible says that the wars here refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also include subsequent wars.  Wars are not a sign of the imminent end, but the opposite -- "these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately" (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). 

 

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."   Finally, Jesus turns specifically to the persecution of the Church, which will come "before all these things."   His emphasis is on endurance and reliance upon God, through hatred and persecutions, even the falling away of friends and family.  But, He says, not a hair of your head shall be lost, meaning that even death cannot destroy the life in Christ that is promised.  My study Bible says that the period of the great tribulation includes the entire Christian era, and is not limited to the final years before Christ's return, as is witnessed by history.  But, it notes, all these calamities and all this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel.  Indeed, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted.  It notes that St. John Chrysostom marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they could not prevail over twelve Jews unarmed with anything except the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Jesus teaches the disciples, "By your patience possess your souls."  These are words not only for the disciples standing in His immediate presence at the temple in Jerusalem twenty centuries ago, but the words apply to us today as well.  Can we understand what He means, that "not a hair of your head shall be lost," even though "you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death."  How do these two things go together?  The key is in His teaching, "By your patience possess your souls."  There is something that the world cannot take away from us, because it is the thing guaranteed by our communion with Christ, and that is the power of the soul to endure and to remain one's own.  There are always things guaranteed to take our attention away from this primary concern of possessing our own souls, of choosing what we will worship, and where our life is fastened and held.  If we find our lives in Christ, if this anchored mooring is the place in which we thrive as faithful, then to have patience is to forbear all the things that want to take us away from that deep place of refuge, the rock of Christ to which we are to cling.  For it is patience we need to put up with all the temptations that come to simply be unanchored from our purpose, to lose track of what is most important in the moment when calamity hits, or when fears of destruction and violence overtake our lives.  In times of a natural disaster or emergency we are distracted with every new piece of news or need.  When we face adversity, it is easy to think of compromise, with the loss of support or with antagonism from those whom we trusted or loved ones, we find ourselves facing a deep choice.  But it is the patience of forbearance that keeps us in that place where we can remember who we are and focus on finding where Christ wants us to go.  In our next reading, on Monday, Jesus will warn the Church of events to come in Jerusalem even in their immediate lifetimes, and so by tradition we understand they were able to flee at the signs He names.  But for now let us consider with what patience we will continue to possess our souls, even through death and persecutions.  For life is more than just physical survival only, more than immediate events and distractions, more than the sadness we endure of witnessing suffering, or the heartbreak of losing those we love because of our faith, even enduring the hatred of others for His name's sake.  The soul thrives on something deeper and something more, and its sovereignty is linked firmly to the sovereignty of God over all, even over death.  It is there we must take root and remain, there we rely on God for testimony, there we find a real mission that encompasses and eclipses everything else.  For in anchoring ourselves to Him and His truth we find ourselves, and there we find the sense in which we lose not a hair of our heads. 

Rejoice!

 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.  But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you."  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."

- Matthew 28:1-10

Yesterday we read that, at Jesus' crucifixion, many women who followed Jesus from Galilee, ministering to Him, were there looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.  Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus.  This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him.  When Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid it in his new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb, and departed.  And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary, sitting opposite the tomb.  On the next day, which followed the Day of Preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees gathered together to Pilate, saying, "Sir, we remember, while He was still alive, how that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise.'  Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, 'He has risen from the dead.'  So the last deception will be worse than the first."  Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go your way, make it as secure as you know how."  So they went and made the tomb secure, sealing the stone and setting the guard.

 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.  And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.  His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.  And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.  My study bible calls this earthquake a sign of our Lord's great victory over death, which foreshadows the general resurrection of all humanity.  It notes that the angel does not roll back the stone to let the Lord out.  In His glory, Christ could pass through solid rock (John 20:19).  Instead, rolling back the stone allows the witnesses in to see that He is already risen.

But the angel answered and said to the women, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here; for He is risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.  And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him.  Behold, I have told you."  So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.  These women are the first witnesses to the supreme event in all history:  the Resurrection of Christ and the destruction of death.  My study bible notes that the angel refers to Christ as the One who was crucified, which teaches us not to shy away from His death, but rather to glory in the Cross (1 Corinthians 2:2; Galatians 6:14) -- as it is the weapon Christ used to destroy death and the trophy of His victory.  St. Paul tells us, "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile" (1 Corinthians 15:17). 

And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"  So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid.  Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me."  The first word of the risen Christ is "Rejoice!" followed by "Do not be afraid."  These women are called "Apostles to the Apostles" as it is they who are sent to give Christ's brethren the message to go to Galilee where they will see Him.

"Rejoice!" is the first message of the risen Christ.  The second is also important for us, "Do not be afraid."  Together these messages make up the gist of our faith, and what it is to live the faith of Christ.  In Greek, this word -- this command, really -- is used also for formal greetings.  Indeed, it is the first word of the Annunciation, the first word in the story of Christ.  The first word of Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1:28)  is often translated as, "Greetings"  or "Hail."   It is "Ave" in Latin.  But in Greek it quite literally is a command to "Rejoice!"  It is the identical word Christ says to the women here; the one difference is that to Mary at the Annunciation it is singular, and here to the women it is plural.  In Greek, it is also linked to the word for grace, as is the word "charism."  Even the word Eucharist ("give thanks") has this root at its center.  We rejoice for the gifts of God, for God's grace -- and remember that this is literally a command to be joyful.    If we think about it, each of these commands come from a sense in which the reality of this world is stood on its head.   Jesus, their Teacher, has just been crucified.  But His followers are commanded to rejoice and to not be afraid.  This is the word of our faith to us.  We are to take joy in the grace that fills our lives through faith, and to reject fear in the face of the courage to live that faith in our worldly lives.   In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that we are the light of the world.  He tells us, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  But light, or illumination, also comes through this command to rejoice, or to "be joyful."  The joy-infused life of faith is truly a gift of grace.  At the Last Supper, just before His crucifixion, John's Gospel tells us that Jesus says to the disciples, "These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full."  And then, in His next sentence, He says, "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you" (John 15:11-12).  To bear this joy and this love is how we shine the light of illumination into the world for all to see.  We are not to be afraid, but to live our faith, to live that joy and allow it to reflect God's light into the world.  It is ours by grace; let us follow as He commands!