And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop

 

 And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught the many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that 

'Seeing they may see and not perceive,

And hearing they may hear and not understand;

Lest they should turn,

And their sins be forgiven them.'"

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."

 

- Mark 4:1–20 

 

Yesterday we read that the multitude came together again, so that they could not so much as eat bread in the house.  But when Jesus' own people heard about this, they went out to lay hold of Him, for they said, "He is out of His mind."  And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, "He has Beelzebub," and, "By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons."  So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables:  "How can Satan cast out Satan?  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.  And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.  And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end.  No one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man.  And then he will plunder his house.  Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation" -- because they said, "He has an unclean spirit."  Then His brothers and His mother came, and standing outside they sent to Him, calling Him.  And a multitude was sitting around Him; and they said to Him, "Look, Your mother and Your brothers are outside seeking You."  But He answered them, saying, "Who is My mother, or My brothers?"  And He looked around in a circle at those who sat about Him, and said, "Here are My mother and My brothers!  For whoever does the will of God is My brother and My sister and mother."

 

  And again He began to teach by the sea.  And a great multitude was gathered to Him, so that He got into a boat and sat in it on the sea; and the whole multitude was on the land facing the sea.  Then He taught the many things by parables, and said to them in His teaching:  "Listen!  Behold, a sower went out to sow.  And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it.  Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.  But when the sun was up it was scorched, and because it had no root it withered away.  And some seed fell among thorns; and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.  But other seed fell on good ground and yielded a crop that sprang up, increased and produced:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  And He said to them, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  As in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Luke, here in St. Mark's Gospel the first parable told by Jesus is the parable of the Sower.  Let us note that by now a great multitude is gathered to Him by now, and this is the context in which He begins to speak in parables.

But when He was alone, those around Him with the twelve asked Him about the parable.  And He said to them, "To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but to those who are outside, all things come in parables, so that  'Seeing they may see and not perceive, and hearing they may hear and not understand;  Lest they should turn, and their sins be forgiven them.'"  My study Bible comments that, according to St. John Chrysostom, Isaiah's prophecy does not mean God causes spiritual blindness in those who otherwise would be faithful.  This is a figure of speech, it says, common to Scripture, which reveals God as giving people up to their own devices (as in Romans 1:24-26).  Jesus is quoting from the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 6:9-10).  

And He said to them, "Do you not understand this parable?  How then will you understand all the parables?  The sower sows the word.  And these are the ones by the wayside where the word is sown.  When they hear, Satan comes immediately and takes away the word that was sown in their hearts.  These likewise are the ones sown on stony ground who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with gladness; and they have no root in themselves, and so endure only for a time.  Afterward, when tribulation or persecution arises for the word's sake, immediately they stumble.  Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.  But these are the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit:  some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred."  Here Jesus explains to His disciples that in the parable of the Sower, He reveals Himself as the promised Messiah, the sower who had been foretold in Isaiah 55:10-13.  My study Bible asks us to note that contrary to the belief some hold that a person is permanently saved at the moment one professes faith (a view never held by the historic Church), Jesus' teaching is clear in the parable that it's possible to receive the word in gladness, but to endure only for a time in that faith.

Looking at Christ's explanation of the parable, we read among other things what my study Bible notes, that it's possible for people to believe for a while, and then fall away (Luke 8:13).  But perhaps at this time for modern audiences and the world we live in today, it's important to examine the next category in Jesus' explanation of the parable.  That is, the ones who are sown among thorns.  These thorns may easily represent the state of our world for so many today.  As Jesus puts it, the thorns form all kinds of temptations and distractions that take us away from the course of faith, and challenge us to put so many other things first in terms of what we devote ourselves to, and where we focus.  If we note the first two places on which the seeds fall, the first belongs to those fallen by the wayside, who are easily affected by Satan and have the word taken from their hearts.  The second (stony ground) belongs to those for whom Christ's word is not deep-rooted, and so in tribulation or persecution fall away.  We should note that this was a very real threat and presence for the early Christians, as they lived in places where Christianity was persecuted or outlawed, and where simply trying to be a faithful Christian was difficult as it easily conflicted with the practices of the community and the state power which was officially aligned with pagan practices and loyalties.  There are still many places in the world where Christians suffer persecution and tribulation for their faith.  But for today for most in the West, we are beset by the things which Jesus calls thorns.  Jesus says, "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."  Perhaps we could say that in a world where we are all interconnected through social media, and so advertisement and consumer culture permeates so much of what pervades our lives all the time, these thorns are ever-present to us.  They constantly present themselves as things in which everyone else is participating, and so we need to keep up and participate as well.  Social media magnifies our images of ourselves and of one another, inviting constant comparison and competition.  Whether that be for "Likes" on any media platform, or followers, or any set of those whom we might call friends by the frequency and type of their association, these thorns become the "cares of this world" that are seemingly always with us wherever we turn.  What house do we live in? What do we look like?  What clothes are we wearing?  What social engagement are we going to, where have we been seen and with whom -- these things become the stuff of constant consumption on social media.  It's likely that many of us never consider how far outside the norm of historical human society it is to live in such a constant bubble of comparison and evaluation on such social terms, but this is yet another sign of Christ's perception about human life and the things which distract us from the real place we need to be in His sight.  Social media invites us easily to be precisely what Jesus criticized the most:  hypocrites who pose as one thing which is virtuous on Christian terms, but while the contradictions we live never make it to that picture on social media, we easily delude ourselves and others about what we're doing, and lose the place where our focus should be.  We also easily lose our humility, and can get caught up in our image in the sight of others instead, even unwittingly, for the pull of such life is strong upon us.  We fall victim to the hypocrisy and cowardice of the religious rulers of Christ's time, described in John's Gospel as an error produced in those "who loved the praise of men more than the praise of God" (John 12:42-43).  Jesus describes the thorns as the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things, and we can concern ourselves forever with all the things we think we need, with false promises seemingly held by acquiring wealth and more "things," and with our envy of others who always seemingly have what's "more" and what's "better" than we do.  All of these things have clearly always been with us, for Jesus says them to His contemporary audience.  But with modern communications and social media, they become even more magnified for us.  Let us learn to focus on His word, and to label these things the thorny distractions that they are, for the word "deceitfulness" that Jesus uses here is important.  Such distractions turn our values upside down from where they need to be, and they take away our humility before God, making other things so much more important than our inner lives, our prayer before God, the place of the heart that knows God's love and grace and mercy.  Let us remember that we easily make anything commodified, an idol, turning even virtue into something we sell or declare to others, tempting us to repeat what pass for popular "truths" that are no such thing at all, tempting us to lie about who we are simply to avoid popular censure.  All of these things are deceitful as well, and they become one more aspect of a sense of progress that is all about what we can acquire, what wealth produces, how the cares of this world work within us and flood even our most important relationships.  Let us remain valiant in our prayer, hearing the word and accepting it, and bearing the fruit such a life can bear, if we endure in our faith and its practice, despite the thorns. 

 

 

 

Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?

 

 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying:  "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.  Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.'  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard men, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'"  Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said.  And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily.  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"

 

- Luke 18:1–8 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."  Then He said to the disciples, "The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.  And they will say to you, 'Look here!' or 'Look there!'  Do not go after them or follow them.  For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day.  But first He must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.  And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man:  They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.  Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot:  They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.  Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.  In that day, he who is on the housetop, and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away.  And likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.  Remember Lot's wife.  Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.  I tell you, in that night there will be two men in one bed:  the one will be taken and the other will be left.  Two women will be grinding together:  the one will be taken and the other left.  Two men will be in the field:  the one will be taken and the other left.  And they answered and said to Him, "Where, Lord?"  So He said to them, "Wherever the body is, there the eagles will be gathered together." 

 Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart, saying:  "There was in a certain city a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.  Now there was a widow in that city; and she came to him, saying, 'Get justice for me from my adversary.'  And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, 'Though I do not fear God nor regard men, yet because this widow troubles me I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me.'"  Then the Lord said, "Hear what the unjust judge said.  And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them?  I tell you that He will avenge them speedily."  My study Bible sets this parable in the context of the teachings in yesterday's reading (see above).  Jesus has just finished teaching the disciples about the "end times" to come; that is, the whole of the period from the time of the Incarnation (and when He will no longer be with the disciples after His Ascension), until the present day.  ("The days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.")  It is a time of tribulation that He described in yesterday's reading (Luke 17:22-37; see also 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  The remedy for such a time, Jesus teaches in today's parable, is persistent and faithful prayer.

 

"Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"  My study Bible comments that Christ often uses this form of question when speaking of characteristics that are rarely found (see Luke 11:11; 12:42). 

In Matthew's chapter 24, Jesus teaches the disciples about the end times, as in the reading from yesterday.  The entire chapter is taken up with this same subject.  In the midst of the chapter, and speaking about the tribulation the Church will experience, He says, "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" (verses 12-14).  To endure, then, becomes the byword in all the warnings we're given from Jesus for the end times, and especially for the times of tribulation that might come to the ranks of the faithful in the Church.   What does it mean to endure?  Surely the picture of persistence is in endurance, just as it is in the parable we're given today.  In the story of the Persistent Widow, Jesus speaks of a judge who did not fear God nor regard man.  This is a person unpersuaded by God or man.  But simply through her persistence, she would effectively get to him in a way that nothing else could, from his fear of being wearied by her.  Comparing God to this judge, Jesus suggests that if even such an unmovable judge, with disregard for both God and man, could be persuaded by persistence, just imagine how God will respond, who loves God's own elect,  who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them.  This suggestion of the word "avenge" by Jesus indicates that this isn't just about prayers on our part like a laundry list of things we'd like to have, but a response to genuine pleas for justice, responding to the tribulations that come, from harm to the innocent, and endured for the sake of our faith.  This picture of persistence and endurance is one of forbearance and unflagging faith that sparks continual effort and prayer.  Perhaps what we need to remember in the light of Christ's parable is that this era of "end times" followed the giving of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and is all about preparation for judgment which will occur at Christ's return.  Jesus taught the disciples at the Last Supper, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:  of sin, because they do not believe in Me;  of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged" (John 16:7-11).  This era of end times in which we live is one in which the Spirit is at work discerning sin, righteousness, and judgment:  ultimately those acts of injustice and tribulation which fall into the desires of "the ruler of this world," the devil, become the things about which we pray for justice, for the vengeance that is God's (Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30).  There are so many ways we look for justice in the world, but let us not forget Christ's words about endurance, persistence, and faith.  Let us remember whose justice we pray for, and the one place true justice is found. Many will say in exasperation that this challenge is hard, and the bar is set high.  Still others will ridicule, and say that it makes no sense.  Perhaps knowing this, Jesus asks, "Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?"  Let us endeavor to endure, and persist, and be present in our faith at His return.  For we each have a cross to bear, and we follow Him.

 

 

 

 

So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened

 

 Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  So He said to them, "When you pray, say:

Our Father in heaven,

Hallowed be Your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us day by day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

For we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And do not lead us into temptation,

But deliver us from the evil one."

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.  

 

"So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"

 

- Luke 11:1–13 

 

Yesterday we read that it happened as they went that Jesus entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."  And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."   

 

  Now it came to pass, as He was praying in a certain place, when He ceased, that one of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples."  My study Bible comments that "teach us to pray" is an expression of a universal longing to be in communion with God.  

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  My study Bible comments that the Father-Son relationship within the Trinity is a revelation to us of our own potential relationship with God.  Christ is the Son of God, but grants us the privilege of calling God Our Father by the grace of adoption.  As a "son of God," then (and therefore heir), each Christian is called to love, trust, and serve God as Christ does the Father.  This relationship for us comes not because God is our Creator, but because of a communion that comes by grace of faith and adoption (John 1:13; Romans 8:14-16). 

"Give us day by day our daily bread."  My study Bible comments that "daily" is a mistranslation of the Greek word that appears both here in Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer and also Matthew's (Matthew 6:11), and seems to have been coined solely for use in this prayer.  This word is ἐπιούσιον/epiousion.  It literally means "above the essence," or "supersubstantial."  So, daily bread indicates not simply bread for today, for our earthly nourishment; it is the bread for the eternal day of the Kingdom of God, my study Bible says, for the nourishment of our immortal soul, for true life.  This living, supersubstantial bread is Christ Himself.  In the Lord's Prayer, we're not asking only for material bread for physical health, but, as my study Bible puts it, for the spiritual bread of eternal life (John 6:27-58).  

"And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us."  This request to be forgiven is plural (and the prayer is communal; we pray to "Our Father").  So, my study Bible says, it directs us to pray always for the forgiveness of others.  To be indebted refers to spiritual debts (see Matthew 18:21-35).

"And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."  God tempts no one to sin, says my study Bible, citing James 1:13.  It says that temptations are from the evil one, the devil.  Temptations are aimed at the soul's giving in to the sinful passions of the flesh (Romans 7:5).  Moreover, no one lives without encountering temptations.  But here we pray that great temptation, or tests beyond what we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) should not come to us.  

And He said to them, "Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within and say, 'Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you'?  I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs."   My study Bible explains that this parable demonstrates God's faithfulness to those who are in need and who pray with persistence.  Midnight is interpreted in patristic tradition as both the time of our death and a time of great temptation.  The friend is Christ, who, as our only source of grace, provides all that we need.

 

 "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.    If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?  Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!"  In Greek, my study Bible points out, these verbs rendered ask, seek, and knock imply a continuous action.  They are better translated, "keep asking," "keep seeking," and "keep knocking."  It says that God responds when we persistently ask for things that are good.  Bread, fish, and an egg are all images of life.  They symbolize the gift of the Holy Spirit (see John 14:13-14; James 4:3).  (see John 14:13-14; James 4:3).  

One theme that comes up repeatedly in Jesus' teaching is this theme of persistence.  He asks those who would be His followers frequently for persistence:  persistence in faith, persistence in following His commands, and as here, persistence in prayer.  These themes grow stronger as He goes toward His Passion, and prepares His followers for the times to come when He's no longer with them as the human Jesus.  In Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus first sends out the apostles on their initial journey, He speaks of the persecutions that are to come, and says, "Now brother will deliver up 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 will be saved" (Matthew 10:21-22).  This topic of endurance echoes Christ's words about persistence.  When He tells the parable of the Sower, He explains the seed falling on stony places this way:  "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles." (Matthew 13:1-23).  Again, the emphasis is on endurance, persistence, patience.  When Jesus warns the disciples about the end times to come, He says of His return that "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only" (Matthew 24:36).  He says, "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect," and adds the parable of the Faithful Servant and the Evil Servant:  "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing.  Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods" (see Matthew 24:36-51).  The emphasis is all on persistence and endurance, and being consistent in following the Master's commands, being prepared for His return "at an hour you do not expect."  In today's reading, we're told that Christ's words mean "keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking."  In the Sermon on the Mount, these words come in the context of discipleship and the growth of holiness and discernment (see Matthew 7, verses 7-8 and context).  If we are true disciples then, this will be our constant action, our drive, our faithful endurance in following Him, His teachings, the practices such as prayer that we are given, and the persistence in living our faith.  Let us keep asking, keep seeking, keep knocking, for it is the Lord's good pleasure to help us grow in our faith, and continue in His light and love, in the life He offers to us. 

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. 

And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved

Second Coming, c. 1700, Greek.  Icon on wood, gesso, tempera (Private Collection)

Then Jesus went out and departed from 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

Recently we have been reading through Jesus' final sermon, delivered in the temple at Jerusalem, and directed in scathing criticisms of the religious leadership.  Yesterday we read that Jesus said, "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 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."  Jesus' prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  Although orders had been given not to destroy or harm the temple, in the frenzy of the battle Roman soldiers attacked the temple by setting fire to it.  There had been rumors that gold was hidden between its stones, and in search of this gold, the soldiers quite literally fulfilled Jesus' prophecy of tearing apart and throwing down the stones of the temple.  Only one retaining wall was left standing, which is today called the Western Wall (for many years referred to as the Wailing Wall as it remains to this day the site of prayers and lamentation over the temple's destruction).

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?"   My study bible notes that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no exact chronology could 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).  Rather than giving chronologies, Jesus' emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue.  Indeed, throughout each reporting of this prophecy in the Gospels, the destruction of the temple (and Jerusalem) is bound up with end times, the period in which we now live.  Matthew describes the end as encompassing three parts:  the initial sorrows (given in today's reading), the great tribulation (verses 15-28), and the coming of the Son of Man (verses 29-31).  My study bible notes for us that we should understand the period of the great tribulation as including the entire Christian era, and not limited to the final years before Christ's return.

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."  Here, Christ's warnings against deception are given the greatest emphasis.  He most stresses the warning against following a false Christ, which He will repeat again in verses 11 (below) and 23-27.  Before the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, there were several "Messiahs" or "Christs" who led various violent revolts which the Romans responded to by increasingly repressive force.  Eventually this would lead to ongoing and extremely violent civil war between the Zealots and the royal family which ruled for Rome, increasing in scope and violence as it went on.

"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."  The revolts and civil war in Jerusalem went on for years, eventually drawing in Roman forces from Syria. In the ongoing fighting between these Syrian forces and the Zealots, the Zealots' food stocks were destroyed, and the Zealots in turn began to raid the homes of local Jews.  Thus those living in Jerusalem died from famine in great number.   My study bible says that the wars described here by Jesus refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also include subsequent wars.  It notes that wars are not a sign of imminent end, but of the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3). 

"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."  My study bible notes here that all of these calamities and all of this opposition cannot stop the spread of the gospel.  Indeed, it says, persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted.  In a commentary of St. John Chrysostom, it notes, he 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.

It is a sad fact of life in this world that it is, to a great extent, marred and even dominated or underscored by violence.  We have the violence of wars, which we can see described very well from the "beginning" in Genesis 4, in which the murder of one brother by another leads to ever-increasing cycles of retribution and violence, and in which Lamech eventually declares, "If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."  This ongoing evil and violence through the generations sets the stage for the story of Noah, who found grace in the sight of God.  In our reading yesterday, Jesus lamented over Jerusalem, tying in the violence done to all the prophets with the rejection which will now come to Him, and its eventual results in the destruction of Jerusalem.  An increasing cycle of violence ends with total destruction.  But in the midst of such alarming evil comes the Messiah, Jesus, who preaches a turning back to God, the practice of righteousness, and saves His greatest criticism for the hypocrisy of the leadership which covers their greed and selfishness, and the violence which we shall see is done in order to retain their places.  Instead, Jesus offers a cure of humility, an understanding of service as the highest calling of leadership, and a depth of self-knowledge which leads us to turn from the impulses within us which would cause abuse of power:  selfishness, lust or covetousness, violation of good conduct among ourselves, and all the possible forms that takes.  In such a world, we are given the Gospel, sent out "as sheep in the midst of wolves," taught that ultimately we are responsible to God and to neighbor, to practice a righteousness that does not exclude the heart and is not covered merely by acts designed to show our piety or righteousness as a signal to others.  Jesus teaches that it is God whose good opinion we must seek and to whom we need to answer, and this includes the possibilities and practice of an ongoing repentance, a depth of communion and prayer that keeps us walking the right road, and especially participation in His Cross.  These are the things that make for our peace.  We will always be beset by the problems that evil and its destruction pose in our world.  If we listen to Jesus, there is simply no substitute for personal righteousness and the rigorous and ongoing work of faith and of the heart.  Perhaps we, as our earliest faithful ancestors, may also see forms of violence and destruction.   Perhaps we will be spared these worst of all horrors endured in Jerusalem.  But whatever our circumstances, Jesus has a message for us in the midst of them:  "Take heed that no one deceives you"  and "he who endures to the end shall be saved."  We know what He teaches us, the word to which we cling in faith.  Each of us possesses within ourselves this capacity for faith; He calls us to awareness and endurance.  With God's help and grace, may we all encourage one another in the strength to persist in our faith and to help one another in doing so.   In the icon above, a depiction of the Second Coming, we see Christ surrounded by angels and saints from throughout the centuries, including the ongoing supplication on our behalf of the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist on His right and left.  At the top is the prepared throne of the Crucifixion.  The great circle shows us that in the Body of Christ, all is one, an eternal and great communion.  Below is an illustration of Paradise; the image on the left shows the bosom of Abraham, and on the right is the repentant good thief who enters with his cross.  Let us remember Christ's words of endurance and awareness, watchwords for all the saints of both the Old Testament and the New, in this "time of the end" in which we still live.

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

Over the past three days, we have read Jesus' final sermon, delivered in the temple at Jerusalem.  (See Monday's and Tuesday's readings for the first two parts of this sermon.)  In yesterday's reading, Jesus preached, "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."    This prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  True to the prophesy, not one stone of the temple was left upon another.  Only a small portion of an outer retaining wall was to remain, known as the Western Wall.

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."   From these verses through verse 35, which we'll read over the course of the next two readings, Jesus speaks of the end times.  My study bible says that as the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, there is 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).  But Christ's emphasis here is plain for us to understand and take to heart:  He stresses watchfulness and the practice of virtue, rather than constructing timetables of things that haven't yet happened.  In Matthew, the end is described as encompassing the initial sorrows (today's reading), the great tribulation, and the coming of the Son of Man.  My study bible tells us that the period of the great tribulation includes the entire Christian era, and is not limited to the final years before Christ's return.  Here in our passage, the warnings against deception are given great emphasis by Jesus.  He particularly warns us against following a false Christ, and He repeats this warning twice (vv. 11, 23-27).  The wars here, according to my study bible, refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but they also include subsequent wars.  Wars, it notes, are not a sign of the imminent end, but of the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).

"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."    My study bible says here 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 adds 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.

My study bible makes it clear that we still live in the era that Christ is speaking about in today's reading.  Indeed, "end times" really lives on a kind of spectrum, and is not limited to one set of circumstances at a particularly denoted time.  It is the age in which we live, initiated by Christ's Incarnation into the world, that is the true "end time."  True to God's own timetable and perspective, the age in which we live manifests its "end times" with echoes of Christ's words throughout the time of the end and the period in which we live, in which "this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations."  Jesus speaks of the difficulties of being one of His followers, the tribulations that will follow.  It's not just persecution He warns us about, but also of false prophets in our own midst, and even betrayal, hatred, offenses -- even lawlessness, and that "the love of many will grow cold."  What a terrible scenario!  One might wonder how He could preach such things to His followers and still have a following.    Quite a different perspective than market research would indicate will draw followers.  But His word to us is to endure to the end, and that takes faith.  It takes our ability to bear our own crosses, even those things that are neither fair nor just, that may be placed upon us by a hostile world that doesn't accept nor understand Him.  The cross we bear may be a kind of unjust humiliation like His.  But He calls us to faith, forbearance, and discernment.   We're to be watchful, above all else, and to live in preparation for His return. 

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves

 "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.  But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.  You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.  But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.  Now brother will deliver up 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 will be saved.  When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.  For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

- Matthew 10:16-23

Yesterday we read that Jesus sent out His chosen twelve and commanded them, saying:  "Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans.  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.'  Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.  Provide neither gold nor copper in your moneybelts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.  Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out.  And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it.  But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.  And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet.  Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"

"Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves.  Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves."  My study bible says that Jesus instructs the disciples to be wise as serpents so that they might not be unnecessarily wounded and that they might see all true opportunity in the spread of the gospel.  To be as harmless as doves is to not retaliate against those who do them wrong, and be blameless in their witness of the gospel.

"But beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils and scourge you in their synagogues.  You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles.  But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak.  For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."  Jesus warns the apostles (as they are being sent on their first mission) in a way that speaks to all subsequent missionary work.  He warns about why they need to be shrewd (wise as serpents).  They will face persecution, and also testify to the Gentiles, who rule as governors and kings.  It's quite important to note the words here:  it is "the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you."  This is the Holy Spirit, who "proceeds from the Father" and who together "with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified."

"Now brother will deliver up 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 will be saved."  Here we are given the levels of persecution that will be experienced, even brother delivering brother to death, and a father his child, or children their parents.  We should not be surprised at what history will reveal.  But the important word here is endurance; He wishes for His disciples to endure to the end.

"When they persecute you in this city, flee to another.  For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."  My study bible notes here that persecution must not cause a disciple to quit, but merely to move forward in one's mission.  According to St. John Chrysostom, before the Son of Man comes isn't a reference to the Second Coming.  But it merely means that before the disciples could visit all the cities in Palestine, Christ would rejoin them, and thereby more quickly ending the hostility they would encounter.

Jesus tells His disciples to be "wise as serpents and harmless as doves."  He warns them that they are being sent out by Him "as sheep in the midst of wolves."  We may think that in our daily lives such dire warnings and advice is not applicable.  But one might be surprised how this advice stands us in good stead.  To be faithful to Christ may often mean we're at odds with those around us in one way and another.  Our opinions may differ; we may disagree about how to approach a problem, or how we treat others.  Whatever it is, these words still hold true.  To be as "wise as serpents" is an interesting phrase.  In this case, the word for "wise" indicates a type of forbearance.  It means to be prudent, to measure one's actions before taking them, to be reticent in some sense, not impulsive.  The word for "serpents" is exactly what one would expect it to be.  Usually this is used in a negative sense, to indicate the devil or Satan.  But Jesus doesn't speak of evil here; He's telling His own disciples that they need to be equally savvy about their circumstances, not naive.  We are to be the intelligent, rational sheep, and to know what we are about.   The word for "harmless" (in the phrase "harmless as doves") means simple, unmixed, sincere.  We can't go into things with mixed motives or hidden agendas, for these surely will simply be used against us.  This is another kind of caution about the need for self-knowledge, and the rigorous application and practice of repentance, of being aware of our own flaws or weaknesses.  Thinking about the terms that Jesus uses, and His included warnings about dire persecutions to come, takes us into an understanding that His faith isn't for those who wish for an easy life, or to live in a kind of abstract fantasy.  Rather, it's a faith that asks of us a rigorous understanding of reality, of precisely what is and what isn't, where we can go and where we can't -- and a strong self-awareness and discipline that serve the Kingdom and its message.  This isn't a faith for those who live in denial of the problems of the world, but rather for those who believe precisely because its salvific impact is so precious and necessary, as is its message of love.  We must note also the type of salvation that is implied here:  human beings are capable of bearing even the Spirit of the Father and the words given by the Spirit as testimony.  Salvation isn't merely an abstract notion, but works even to illuminate the nature of human beings, and teach us what we are capable of being and becoming.  The discipline implied here is for all who will follow, in communion and individually.  The commitment necessary is another kind of comment on the rigors and transcendence such "rational sheep" are capable of.  We think of those whom He's sending out, practically none of whom have particularly exalted education or social standing.  But what is asked of them is deep and powerful.  What is promised elevates all of us.  We are each invited to participate in this Kingdom and this ongoing work of the harvest.

What will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?

 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

In our current readings, Jesus is in Jerusalem, and it is Holy Week.  He has made His Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem, cleansed the temple, and engaged in confrontation, questioning, and testing by the various parties of the  leadership, with His own challenging responses.  (See the readings from Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.)   Jesus' final public sermon took place in the temple, and our readings of that sermon began on Monday, and continued on Tuesday.  Yesterday, we read the final words of His sermon:   "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 then 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."  This is a prophecy of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem.  It was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  To really understand the impact of Jesus' statements, one would have to know what a splendid and magnificent structure the temple was.  It was considered one of the seven wonders of the world, and the product of one of the most ambitious builders in history, Herod the Great, also known as Herod the Builder.  The temple already stood, but Herod had massively expanded its base, and embellished it with many beautiful additions that made it the masterpiece of his many projects, the impressive standard he wished to leave of his rule.    At the time of its destruction at the Siege of Jerusalem, many of the stones were quite literally thrown down, as it was believed that there was gold between the stones.  All that remained was a small part of one retaining wall of the temple mount, the Western Wall.  It became known for centuries as the Wailing Wall.  It remains the holiest place Jews are permitted to pray.

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."  In the text of the Gospels, the end of the age and Jesus' second return are mingled with the destruction of the temple.  There is no precise chronology that can be understood in the entirety of Scriptural description of end times (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).  Jesus' emphasis is always on watchfulness and the practice of virtue.  His telling discourages the construction of timetables of things that haven't happened.  Here in these verses He is describing initial sorrows.  In the following verses He will speak of the great tribulation, which my study bible says describes the entire Christian era and is not limited to the final years before His return.   After this period, the Son of Man will return.  Here Jesus emphasizes in particular that His followers are not to be deceived, and gives warning against following false Christs.  There were in fact many false Messiahs who would come in this immediate period.  My study bible suggests that the wars here refer first to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but certainly includes subsequent wars.  They're not a sign of the imminent end, but rather the opposite -- that the end is not yet (see 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3).  The things He describes here 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."  My study bible points out that all these calamities and opposition can't stop the spread of the gospel.  The persecutions against the Church often increase the number of souls being converted.  Chrysostom marvels that while the Romans subdued countless Jews in a political uprising, they couldn't prevail over twelve Jews armed with anything but the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Jesus leaves the disciples not with a glorious material kingdom, but a world filled with troubles:  wars, famines, pestilences, earthquakes.  He promises betrayals, hatred, and false prophets -- and that the love of many will grow cold.  What He asks them for is endurance.  That is, the capacity for watchfulness and persistence, knowing what they are to be about, fulfilling their mission as His disciples.  This is far from the long-imagined and hoped-for Messiah who would restore the fortunes and the greatness of the kingdom of Israel.  Rather than the glorification of such a magnificent temple, Jesus prophesies the destruction of the temple -- such a destruction that there is not one stone that will be left standing upon another, but rather thrown down.  So, we need to ask this incredible question:  What kind of Messiah is He?  What is this He is promising them?  Wars, pestilences, famines, persecution, betrayal, the destruction of the temple -- and a tribulation in the midst of which His Church will expand and grow, the gospel message will go out to the world.  That's the promise.  And moreover, there is no distinct timetable here, except perhaps when He will offer (at the end of this discourse) that this generation shall not pass away until all these things have happened (24:34), truly predicting the destruction of the temple in 70 AD.  Our Messiah does not sugarcoat anything, He gives it all to us "straight," without embellishment.  We live in a world that is imperfect, where there is evil that will do what it can to withstand the gospel and deny its message.  There are troubles that will come and will abound.  Certainly for the Christians of the Middle East and in Africa, this is becoming more and more true in the present time.  But what is most important is the struggle for alertness, awareness.  That is, that we keep our minds and hearts focused on the mission, no matter what is going on around ourselves.  In the West, many people speak about a post-Christian era.  Young people don't necessarily know anything about faith, nor understand the message of Christ, or are capable of distinguishing His message from the many others that fill up the various forms of media available.  I would venture to suggest that most people may not be aware of the roots of the values of humanity and international law and human rights that are found in the message of Jesus Christ.  It is into this world that we receive His instructions about our own conduct in His absence.  We are to be alert, and to take care not to be deceived!  We are not to be troubled, for He has told us in advance that all these things must pass.  We are to endure to the end.  And we take hope and joy in His message, in the sending of the Holy Spirit, in our understanding of our faith and God's love for us.  He has preached much earlier in chapter 5 of Matthew's Gospel, in the great Sermon on the Mount, that we are the light of the world, and it is to all His disciples that He has said to "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."  (See 5:14-16.)   We have the mission, and it's a good and worthy job, though we live in an imperfect world filled with sophistry and deception.   What is the truth that makes us free?

Therefore hear the parable of the sower

 "Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."

- Matthew 13:18-23

In Tuesday's reading, Jesus taught the crowds the parable of the Sower.  See He who has ears to hear, let him hear!   Yesterday, we read that the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"  He answered and said to them, "Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For whosoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.  And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says:  'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull.  Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.'  But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it."

"Therefore hear the parable of the sower:  When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart.  This is he who received seed by the wayside.  But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while.  For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.  Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:  some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."  Today's reading is fairly self-explanatory!  Indeed, it's Christ's explanation to His disciples of the parable of the Sower.  But I think if we look carefully, we might find (as I do, anyway) that each of these things Jesus describes are things we may deal with in our own lives.  Do we understand everything that is taught?  Clearly there is always mystery -- even for the disciples.  We may be tempted to receive the word with joy, only to be disappointed when life presents us with troubles.  Tribulation and persecution are difficulties for anyone.  The cares of the world, and "deceitfulness of riches" -- a sore temptation -- are long-term problems that are all too common all around us and in our lives.  But to receive seed on the good ground, to hear the word and understand it, and to bear fruit and produce is to endure and to grow in faith.  In a sense, Jesus seems to promise that all these things will be present, but the good soil of a good heart is one in which the seed can take root and grow.  Are we drawn in by His teachings and His word?  Do we want to listen more?  Do we want to grow in relationship to Him?  All of these things draw us forward.  In my opinion, there is none of us who will not be tempted by the things He names here.  But the key is endurance.  If we really are to understand, to put things together (as the Greek word here for understand literally implies), then through all things we seek Him.  A rootedness is an image that gives us an idea that as we grow outwardly, we also grow inwardly.  The roots of the plant must grow as deep (or deeper) than whatever the plant produces.  So it is with us.  How deep do the roots go?  The inner life gives strength to the outer.  Remember it is the rootedness of the seed that gives life to the whole plant, and nourishment to the fruit for good productivity.  How does His word take root in your heart -- to see you through tribulations and persecutions, when things don't go right, when the deceit of riches may disappoint and the cares of the world drag on in our daily lives?  There is a rootedness on which we depend, a kind of growth in the heart, upon which everything rests, especially our understanding of His word.  Prayer is a key to strengthening our internal roots, to shoring up that relationship, drawing upon His nurturing and strength.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.