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

 

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

 

- Mark 13:14–27 

 

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

 

"So when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not" (let the reader understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains."  The abomination of desolation was a prophecy of Daniel (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11), fulfilled in the Siege of Jerusalem (AD 70), when the Roman general Titus entered the Most holy Place and had a statue of himself erected in the temple before having the temple destroyed.  My study Bible says that the Lord's phrase when you see indicates that many of the disciples would still be living at that time.  The phrase let the reader understand is an encouragement to the early Christians who may have witnessed this event.  

 

"Let him who is on the housetop not go down into the house, nor enter to take anything out of his house.  And let him who is in the field not go back to get his clothes.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  And pray that your flight may not be in winter."  My study Bible comments that the severity of winter weather or respect for the Sabbath would prevent many faithful from fleeing quickly in a time of desperation.  Jesus' sympathy for nursing mothers is reinforced in Luke 23:29, when He blesses the barren in preparation for the time He describes.  My study Bible quotes commentary on that verse from St. John Chrysostom:  "Mothers are held by the tie of feeling for their children, but cannot save them.  How can one escape the bonds of nature?  How can she who nurses ever overlook the one she has borne?"

 

 "For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be.  And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days. Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, He is there!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand."   My study Bible points out that, here in St. Mark's Gospel, the account of the end times is given in a reverse or mirrored parallel form, often called chiastic (from the word "chi" meaning X in Greek).  That is, the topics He mentions in the first half of the passage are repeated and amplified in reverse order in the second half.  Taking the beginning of this discourse from Saturday's reading (see above), we begin to see the parallels.  He began (in Saturday's reading) with a warning to take heed about false christs, which is repeated here and amplified.  The second warning was about wars which He then described in detail just above these verses in today's reading, and includes the abomination of desolation.  The second-to-last warning is about tribulation here, which amplifies His warnings in Saturday's reading of being delivered up to councils, and betrayed and delivered up by family members.  Today's reading gives us the second half of that X shaped prophecy, the center of which was that "the gospel must first be preached to all the nations" in Saturday's reading (see above), which my study Bible calls the heart of the apostolic ministry and the mission of the Church.

 

"But take heed; see, I have told you all things beforehand.  But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken."   My study Bible says that, according to patristic commentary, the sun will not be destroyed, but will be darkened in relation to the glory of Christ.  In other words, it will appear to be dark by comparison to the fullness of Christ's splendor.  Note that when Christ says that the powers in the heavens will be shaken, this can't be separated from the spiritual powers in the heavens, and the things described here are in response to that transition and glory in spiritual battle, the victory of Christ described in the next verses.  

 

"Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.  And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven."   Note that at Christ's first coming, He came in humility and mortality, (as signified through His entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey's colt; see this reading).  But at Christ's return, His second coming, He will be revealed with great power and glory.  My study Bible refers us to 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 on the gathering of the elect, from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.  

 

What is the farthest part of heaven?   This seems to affirm that the elect include those on earth, but also those of the great cloud of witnesses, who stand in the resurrection.  This vast and incomprehensible number of souls is impossible for us to calculate, and I daresay, to even imagine.  In fact, much of what Christ has to say in this end times prophecy is to us, unimaginable.  That would include even those terrifying events of the Siege of Jerusalem, documented for us in history books, so vividly told here in Christ's forewarnings to the people.  These warnings -- such as to pray that their flight may not be in winter, or of the woe to those who are pregnant and those who are nursing babies in those days -- carry with them the terror of such a calamitous and disastrous time.  They don't soften the sense of desperation and fear; quite the opposite.  Christ does not seek to minimize the dangers and harm that may exist for us in this world, particularly as His followers.  But He does warn us about them, and about the things we will be called upon to face for His name's sake -- and He also gives us His solemn promise and assurance of His return, and the gathering together of His elect from the four winds, and from the farthest part of the earth to the farthest part of heaven.  Let's consider once again the depth and breadth of what these words mean, and the unimaginable number of souls gathered in Christ's power and glory and His return.  "From the four winds" indicates all the directions of the earth, not a single soul overlooked from anywhere in the world.  That even the powers in the heavens will be shaken should give us a sense of the shattering of our present reality in exchange for another one at the end of the age, and in the fullness of the coming of His Kingdom.  None of these things can be glossed over or de-emphasized, for all of it is important to us, and none of it is sugar-coated for us.  It all comes as part of the package of our faith in Christ.  Often we get the impression that there has been so much progress in terms of medical science, or technology, or a host of other modern developments, that we have great control over our lives and our world.  But Christ tells us something quite different, which perhaps we discover in our own lives through time and experience, that despite all of these innovations and modern wealth and productivity, we still have unforeseen circumstances to deal with.  We remain with wars and rumors of wars (perhaps more destructive, violent, and frightening than ever); we remain with natural disasters we can't seem to fully control or explain; and we certainly remain with evil in our world and political machinations and hardships of all kinds.  While we have news reported and available to us with 24-hour availability, it does seemingly little to reassure us that all things are stable and cared for; quite the opposite, in fact.  But with Christ, we have something more.  We have His reassurance that not a hair on our heads goes uncounted by God (Matthew 10:30), not a sparrow drops to the earth apart from God's knowledge and will (Matthew 10:29), and that God knows the things we have need of (Matthew 6:31-33).  Let us first seek the will of God, to know God in prayer and communion and to build up our faith, to find the things that Christ has for us to do in the world.  For ultimately we are dependent upon God, from whom every good and perfect gift comes -- and who gives us warnings about our world and knows the dangers and fears we live with; for He has been with us as one of us, and offers us the Kingdom and our discipleship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?

 

 Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.  And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.  But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!'  Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" '  For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"

 

- Luke 23:26-31 

 

Yesterday we read that Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, "You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people.  And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and release Him (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).  And they all cried out at once, saying, "Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas" -- who has been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.  Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them.  But they shouted, saying, "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"  Then he said to them the third time, "Why, what evil has He done?  I have found no reason for death in Him.  I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go."  But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified.  And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.  So Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested.  And he released to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.

 

  Now as they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, who was coming from the country, and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus.  And a great multitude of the people followed Him, and women who also mourned and lamented Him.  But Jesus, turning to them, said, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children."  My study Bible comments that weeping is not appropriate for the One who redeems the world through the Cross, but is suited for one's own sins and for the sufferings of others.  

 

 "For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!' "  The blessing on the barren women is an acknowledgement of the overwhelming pain a mother endures seeing her children suffer (illustrated by the "woe" in Matthew 24:19).  Let us once again observe Jesus' particular sympathy with women, so often given us in St. Luke's Gospel.  My study Bible quotes from the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who writes, "Mothers are held by the tie of feeling for their children, but cannot save them.  How can one escape the bonds of nature?  How can she who nurses ever overlook the one she has borne?"

 

"Then they will begin 'to say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ' "   Jesus is quoting from the prophesy of Hosea.  See Hosea 10:8.

 

 "For if they do these things in the green wood, what will be done in the dry?"  My study Bible explains that the green wood is Christ, full of virtue and truth.  The dry stands for those who have rejected Christ for their corruption, barren of all life and of all righteousness.  If the Romans eagerly destroy the righteous, it asks, what horrifying things await the unrighteous?  

 

 Jesus speaks with a warning to the women of Jerusalem in particular, about what is to come at the Siege of Jerusalem.  We note the deeply sympathetic tone that distinguishes Jesus, perhaps particularly in His addresses and interactions with women.  His empathy extends to maternal feelings that make it impossible to separate from a child being nursed, with an understanding that is striking.  As Jesus quotes from Hosea 10, He's making allusion through analogy to the similar circumstances, because the people have rejected their God.  They have rejected the Christ, and so the same scenario, by interpretation of His quotation, plays out.  That is, it will play out to its terrible, fiery, fierce combustion in the Siege of Jerusalem one generation hence.  A murderer and rebel has been chosen for release over Jesus the Christ (see yesterday's reading, above).  False accusation and lies have claimed the day, at the hands of the religious leadership of of the nation, and carried out through the Roman authorities by such persuasion as was mustered.  Those acts are hallmarks of what it means to reject God and to embrace the works of the spiritual enemies of God.  However, the main story here is precisely and simply what Jesus has said as He wept over Jerusalem in chapter 19, saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes . . . because you did not know the time of your visitation" (see Luke 19:41-44).  It is really the rejection of God and God's way, when there has been enormous preparation for the coming of the Messiah, that constitutes not knowing the things that make for the peace of Jerusalem.  Today, and in all times, it is up to us to consider what remains "the things that make for our peace."  For we are always offered this choice.  Do we choose our Messiah, the Christ?  Do we seek to follow His way for ourselves and in our lives?  Do we choose to seek His will?  Will we also miss the time of our visitation, and it come upon us like a snare?  (See Luke 21:35).   Will we be conformed to the world or to Christ?  In a time when the world is bent on consuming every new thing technology can afford to us, let us consider what Jesus tells the disciples about the food they don't know.  Let us learn our own lesson, and seek first the kingdom of God and God's righteousness, and remember what manner of spirit we are of.  For behind all things is a spiritual battle that rages for our hearts and our minds, and it truly matters where our treasure is.  In today's reading, Jesus alludes to the opposite of what makes for our peace, the spirit of rage, if you will, that responds even to the green with crucifixion.  And what will it do in the dry?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations

 

 "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.  Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.  For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.  And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations.  And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 

"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

 

- Luke 21:20–28 

 

On Saturday we read that, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, Jesus 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."

 

  "But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near.  Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who are in the country enter her.  For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.  But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.  And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations.  And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled."  While we've been reading Jesus' discourse on the whole of what is called "end times," indicating that it's meant to reference the whole of the Christian era to the present day, here Christ once again becomes very specific regarding what is to come in Jerusalem.  My study Bible comments that the phrase when you see is a clear indication that many of those disciples listening to Him speak at that moment would still be alive at the time of the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem.  The Siege of Jerusalem took place in 70 AD, at which time the temple was destroyed, and in accordance with Christ's prophecy, "not one stone" was "left upon another" that was not "thrown down" (see Saturday's reading, above).  Only one retaining wall remained standing, known in modern times as the Wailing Wall or the Western Wall.  Jesus speaks directly of His concern for those those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!  For there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.  In Luke 23:29, Jesus will warn again, as He is on His way to the Crucifixion, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.  For indeed the days are coming in which they will say, 'Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!'"

 

 "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.  Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."  Here Christ's narrative shifts from the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem (which would come within a generation), to the time of His return and the judgment.  Let us pay close attention to the fearful events He describes, and the emotions stirred in the hearts of people:  fear, and distress, and from expectations of those things which are coming on the earth -- for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

 

 There are many who seem to have a conscious idea of the world somehow becoming better and better, a sort of progress of virtue of one kind or another.  This may be due to scientific or material progress in terms of modern technologies and advances, or advances in science and education, even innovations in new sorts of time-saving or powerful capacities for the use of energies, and all manner of modern infrastructure.  But at the same time, we need to take a look at the world and ask ourselves what innovation has not also brought uses which are surely not for the better of the world or of mankind, as modern wars have been so destructive, technologies within the twentieth century bringing us massive displacement of populations and even genocides.  Today's modern warfare gives us a no man's land where a society once had an infrastructure that served people for transportation, hospitals, universities, and even attempts at a universal constitutional concept of rights for all citizens.  Human beings may create with intelligence and industry many capacities, but those capacities also become used to bring us fearsome sights indeed, as the past century has easily witnessed and continues to witness.  In this vein, let us consider what is the difference between material innovation and the spiritual understanding of the blessings of our faith.  We certainly have experience of distress of nations, and men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth.  In St. Matthew's Gospel, Jesus says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken" (Matthew 24:29).  St. Ambrose comments on today's passage in Luke, clearly seeing both physical and spiritual prophecy.  Not only will a  hostile army trample visible Jerusalem, as did the Romans, even emptying Jerusalem of its Jewish population.  But, he writes, "All Judea will be put to the spiritual sword, the two-edged sword, by the nations that will believe. There will be different signs in the sun, moon and the stars. When very many fall away from religion, a cloud of unbelief will darken bright faith, because for me that heavenly Sun is either diminished or increased by my faith. If very many gaze on the rays of the worldly sun, the sun seems bright or pale in proportion to the capacity of the viewer, so the spiritual light is imparted to each according to the devotion of the believer. In its monthly courses, the moon, opposite the earth, wanes when it is in the sun’s quarter. When the vices of the flesh obstruct the heavenly Light, the holy church also cannot borrow the brightness of the divine Light from the rays of Christ. In the persecutions, love of this life alone certainly very often shuts out the light of God."  So, therefore, St. Ambrose sees in this prophecy the pattern observed elsewhere in Scripture, that as faith is diminished, so the world becomes "darkened," a sense in which Christ the true Light is harder to see and to perceive.  Effectively, these prophecies become teachings on the importance of enduring in our faith and the practices of our faith.  For the light that we truly need is the spiritual light, and the truth we surely need to live by is the spiritual truth which Christ brings us.  The progress we make in material terms can be diminished with so much darkness that we can no longer see our path correctly without this light.  Let us not be taken in when things appear to be progress, but human suffering and the diminishing of life and of faith continue to our detriment.  At the same time, Christ asks us not to be deceived, and to persist in our faith, to watch.  As we in the developed world consider a wide array of material goods with which we may celebrate holidays, let us keep in mind our spiritual reality, and not be so dazzled that we don't keep our eyes on the true light.   There are many in the world who suffer for our faith, for Christianity, today.  Let us keep our eyes on His reality, and the teaching of the poor widow who sacrificed all she had for the love of God, for there are those who have kept and are keeping their faith in the face of violence and the swords of those hostile to Christ.  Let us keep in mind the great sacrifices as gifts to God some are willing to make and have made -- even of their very lives and security -- as we celebrate the holidays with gifts of a commercial kind.   Remember our brothers and sisters across the world in your prayers.