Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple

 

 Now great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  

 

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple. 

"Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

- Luke 14:25–35 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus was invited to dine in the home of a ruler of the Pharisees, teaching about humility, and addressing the guests in a parable.  Yesterday, we read that He continued to teach him who invited Him, addressing hosts.  He said, "When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they also invite you back, and you be repaid.  But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind.  And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you; for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just."  Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"  Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'  But they all with one accord began to make excuses.  The first said to him, 'I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it.  I ask you to have me excused.'  And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them.  I ask you to have me excused.'  Still another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.'  So that servant came and reported these things to his master.  Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.'  And the servant said, 'Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.'  Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.  For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.'"

 

  Now great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple."  My study Bible comments that this command to hate one's kindred and one's own life also isn't to be taken literally.  Instead, we are to hate the way our relationships with others can hinder our total dedication to the Kingdom of God -- which takes precedence even over family ties. 

"And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."  This is a repetition of a similar teaching found at Luke 9:23.  Perhaps, now that great multitudes went with Him, the teaching is a bit more emphatic:  one must bear one's cross and come after Christ -- or one cannot be His disciple.  My study Bible comments on the earlier passage that each person must take up one's own cross.  It notes that the burden in this world is different for each person, and each has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and the salvation of those around oneself.  In that earlier passage, Jesus emphasizes that this must be done daily.  In other words, commitment to Christ isn't simply a one-time event or proclamation.  It is the continual practice of faith and obedience, even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world. 

 

"For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple."  With reference to this parable of building a tower, my study Bible cites St. Paul's letter at 1 Corinthians 3:10-15, in which St. Paul speaks of himself as a master builder who lays a foundation which another builds upon.  In that passage, St. Paul speaks about his fellow workers, and how they will build upon that foundation appropriately   This passage in today's reading shows us that St. Paul follows Christ in so teaching, for Christ's teaching here once again enforces the kind of loyalty He commands as required for discipleship.  Jesus Himself forsakes all he has, and so he asks of us as well.  As God's fellow workers, my study Bible notes of St. Paul's passage, we cooperate with the Lord to do His will.  As He so often tells parables of discipleship using the illustration of servants, we consider that He is the Lord, and we are His servants who are called to participate obediently in His work.  

 

 "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  Here is another emphatic teaching on the requirement for discipleship.  This saying is also found in the Sermon on the Mount, in which Jesus couples this teaching on the image of disciples as salt, and also as light (see Matthew 5:13-16).  My study Bible comments that because of its preservative powers, its necessity for life, and its ability to give flavor, salt had both religious and sacrificial significance (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with someone meant to be bound together in loyalty.  As the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), my study Bible says, Christians are preservers of God's covenant and give true flavor to the world.  

So Jesus emphasizes covenant with His comparison of disciples to salt.  This is made clear by my study Bible's exposition on salt in the commentary on the reference in the Sermon on the Mount, as referenced above.  This "fixative" and preserving power of salt was ubiquitous in the ancient world, before refrigeration was possible; many foods were treated with salt to prevent the growth of bacteria so they would remain fit for consumption and nourishment.   This preserving power is referenced as a kind of binding, like taking an oath, with a long history in Israel, as my study Bible says, of association with covenant and friendship.  So Christ is emphasizing the nature of discipleship, not simply as something which is good and helpful, but which is necessary for life, for the thriving of the world.  If we wonder how salt can lose its flavor, the ancient world's salt crystals indeed could leach sodium chloride through exposure to water and thus lose its saltiness.  But to really get the "flavor" of today's reading and Jesus' words, we have to take it as a whole, and to recognize that what He's calling for is a rigorous determination on the part of His disciples, to be ready -- like good soldiers or a king going out to meet an enemy, or a man preparing to build a tower -- to commit to seeing the project all the way through, no matter what it may ask of them.  It is in this spirit that Jesus teaches us what it might mean to carry a cross.  In this season of elections here in the United States of America, many comment here and around the world regarding the phenomenon of both friendships and family relations being broken and severed over political affiliation or opinion.  In a modern democracy we are ostensibly aware of many opinions, and also conditioned to accept such differences as a matter of norm in our societies.  But if these common differences are now causing such disruption in relationships, one only need to consider for a moment what something as momentous and deep as one's commitment of the soul to Christ can carry in terms of our own loyalty, and others' response to that commitment.  A deep and dedicated devotion to Christ may ask of us to make commitments that offend others whom we love, differing on matters of conscience, or even opinions about Christ Himself.  As we know, Jesus sets the pattern that He will voluntarily go to the Cross, to His Crucifixion, in obedience to the Father's will for Him.  This voluntary sacrifice remains a scandal for some, perplexing for many, and a point of contention in terms of its effects and power among different denominations and theological perspectives.  But one thing is clear, if Christ Himself was asked to undertake this Cross and this sacrifice for all of us, then none of us can refuse a cross of our own.  In our modern affluent societies, it might be offensive in and of itself to some to suggest that sacrifice is something we will all encounter as disciples of Christ, but nonetheless it remains truth and a part of Scripture.  We might separate from a friend (or even relatives) because we don't like the practices of gossip or scapegoating we consistently find.  Perhaps our criticism of such habits alone is enough to create rage in others.  What we perceive as unjust or unfair is another possible point of difference that can spark separation, and the Cross that Christ undertook has everything to do with injustice, in which the innocent suffer.  We ourselves may undertake that role, as did Christ, and suffer for telling the truth when others would prefer convenient and less disruptive lies instead.  Whatever way our cross comes to us, we can't ignore Jesus' emphatic and repeated teachings here.  In Matthew's Gospel, when Jesus sends out the apostles on their first mission, He speaks about this division in families, adding, "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake."  He reminds them that "a disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!" (see Matthew 10:16-25).  If disciples remain today as "sheep among wolves" then how are we to avoid conflict?  Jesus' call for believers to be like salt that does not lose its flavor is a call to steadfastness even in the face of what we might lose that we hold precious for the sake of the gospel.  Let us consider how this mission today might include our own cross, and what we put first in life. 

 

Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?

 

 Now great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.  For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.  

"Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"

 

- Luke 14:25-35 

 

On Saturday, we read that Jesus was casting out a demon, and it was mute.  So it was, when the demon had gone out, that the mute spoke; and the multitudes marveled.  But some of them said, "He casts out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."  Others, testing Him, sought from Him a sign from heaven.  But He, knowing their thoughts, said to them:  "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and a house divided against a house falls.  If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand?  Because you say I cast out demons by Beelzebub.  And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out?  Therefore they will be your judges.  But if I cast out demons with the finger of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.  When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.  But when a stronger than he comes upon him and overcomes him, he takes from him all his armor in which he trusted, and divides his spoils.  He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters."  

 

  Now great multitudes went with Him.  And He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.  And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."  The lectionary jumps ahead from where we left off on Saturday, skipping over Luke 11:24-14:24.  We know that Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem, and here we're told that great multitudes went with Him.  Just as in Monday's reading of last week Jesus spoke of the rigors of discipleship, here the question has come up once again.  My study Bible comments that the command to hate one's kindred and his own life also is not to be taken literally. Instead, we are to hate the way our relationships with others can hinder our total dedication to the Kingdom of God, which takes precedence even over family ties (as can also be read in last Monday's reading).  Moreover, this is put in the context of bearing one's own cross.  Once again, we review that each person must take up one's own cross.  My study Bible says that one's particular burden in this world is different for each person, and that each has been chosen by God to bear certain struggles for one's own salvation and the salvation of those around oneself.  In Luke 9:23, Jesus tells us we must take up our particular cross daily.  The commitment to discipleship is not a one-time event.  It is a continual practice of what has been called "faithfulness."  That is faith and obedience to Christ's commands, even to the point of being shamed and persecuted by the world.

For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it -- lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'  Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?  Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace.  So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.  Again, Jesus makes bold claims about the cost of discipleship.  My study Bible refers us to the sense in which disciples work together with God in carrying out ministry.  Jesus gives us a metaphor, to build a tower, and thus we think of ourselves as God's fellow workers, who cooperate with God's will.  By cooperation -- or what is called synergy (from the Greek word for "fellow workers") -- with God, we do not  work together as equals or in a kind of half-and-half arrangement.  Instead God is the Lord, and we are God's servants who are called to participate obediently in God's work.  Here, Jesus implies, our lives are in the hands of God, we in our commitment to discipleship, we should count that cost and be prepared for it.

 

 "Salt is good; but if the salt has lost its flavor, how shall it be seasoned?  It is neither fit for the land nor for the dunghill, but men throw it out.  He who has ears to hear, let him hear!"  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus uses salt as metaphor, with a similar statement, calling His disciples the "salt of the earth" (see Matthew 5:13).   My study Bible comments that salt illustrates the role of disciples in society.  Because of its preservative powers, its necessity for life, and its ability to give flavor, salt had both religious and sacrificial significance (Leviticus 2:13; see also Numbers 18:19; 2 Chronicles 13:5).  To eat salt with someone, my study Bible further explains, meant to be bound together in loyalty.  As the salt of the earth, Christians are preservers of God's covenant and give true flavor to the world.  Here Jesus speaks of the value of salt, affirming His earlier words about the rigors and cost of discipleship.  A lack of adherence to discipleship is here compared to salt which has lost its flavor.

What sacrifices have you made for your faithfulness, for your choices to follow Christ?  Here Jesus says that discipleship will ask of us the entirety of what we have:  "So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." What this seems to suggest is not that God demands of us extraordinary or inordinate sacrifices in some sense of payment or requirement, but rather that the love which God asks from us is a love that will take in all.  As we grow in discipleship, we will find a love that asks of us a whole heart, and as such, our whole lives as dedication to Christ's way ("I am the way, the truth, and the life" - John 14:6).  In other words, the cost of discipleship is a type of love that may ask us to change the very foundation of what it is we think we know about ourselves and our goals in life.  Where once one may have cherished a family as one's greatest possession or goal in life, the foundation of faith shifts us to the perception that family life -- and all relationships -- should be based within the framework of the love of God, who teaches us what it is to be in right-relationship.  It is from God we learn righteousness.  God, who is love, teaches us what it is to love.  Where once we might have considered possessions to be our greatest values, the love of God asks us to shift that perception instead to the values we carry with us, within us, and practice among us, in following Christ's commands and learning from Him ("Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light" - Matthew 11:29-30).  Where once we pursued goals we're taught are good -- such as a successful career, or a good name among our peers, or even a particular social standing that would make parents proud -- we might instead pursue goals that please God.  Such goals might flip our own priorities upside down, because they would include care of "the least of these" (Matthew 25:45), and our time devoted to practices of prayer, spiritual disciplines, or our wealth to help those who are in need.  None of these "sacrifices" of time, energy, devotion, money, and so forth, preclude good goals in life or a healthy life of well-being.  But we place our judgment for priorities in God's hands, and as Christ says, we will no doubt be called upon to carry our own crosses, and like Him, say, "Not my will, but Yours, be done" (see Luke 22:42).  For discipleship will call us from places we thought were sacrosanct, to places we never thought we'd go, while nonetheless giving us prizes to cherish, even love we didn't think was possible, all given through grace.  To find ourselves as disciples is to find God's love for us as well as that love in the others to whom we're brought by God.  Let us count the cost and cherish the gifts we're given, including the elation true service can bring us.

 

 

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

 

 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 religious leaders in the temple, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best 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."  We have to imagine how extraordinary the beautiful and magnificent temple was at Christ's time.  It had been refurbished and expanded under the rule of Herod the Great (the father of Herod Antipas).  Herod the Great was also known as Herod the Builder, and the temple was his most ambitious project.  In its time it was known as one of the wonders of the world, not only for its grandeur but also the architectural beauty employed to adorn it.  Jesus' prophecy, "not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down," would manifest within a generation.  To be specific, in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  It was rumored that there was gold between the stones, and although the plans for the Siege of Jerusalem specifically excluded an assault on the temple, a fire began and eventually the temple was entirely destroyed and sacked.  Only one retaining wall remained, today 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.  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."  My study bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; the Book of Revelation; and this entire chapter of Luke).  Christ's repeated emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue, as opposed to constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.  Here Jesus' first warning is about following false prophets, those who will claim to speak in His name.  Secondly He warns against fear, even midst rumors of wars, and other violent calamities.  But first He warns them that persecutions are coming.  The emphasis here, however, is that persecution becomes an occasion for testimony.  And here Jesus begins to give instructions under these extremely difficult circumstances.  There is a sense of complete reliance upon God, just as when He sent out the Seventy, and told them they would be as lambs among wolves (Luke 10:3).  But it is Christ who will give those under persecution "a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist."  This is "a mouth and wisdom" such as Jesus has been displaying throughout His time in Jerusalem during this Holy Week as He disputed with the religious leaders in the temple.  And yet, the promise is for persecution, betrayal even by one's closest family members, and being hated by all for My name's sake.  What then can He means when He says that "not a hair of your head shall be lost"?  Here is the answer:  "By your patience possess your souls."  

Often today we seem to be drawn into the idea that if God truly favors us, if our faith is on the right track, we will be validated in some sense by success, by things going our way in the world.  But we have to stop and pause when we read these words of Jesus, and consider that, in fact, His promise does the very opposite.  He's saying that what is in store for His followers is persecution.  And not only is it simply persecution  because of His name and their faith in Him, it is so much more than that.  He describes it all here in vivid detail:  betrayal even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends;  some put to death; and hated by all for His name's sake.  That is not success, applause, and all the rewards in the world one can get.  Moreover, persecution -- even being delivered up to authorities and to prison -- is an opportunity for testimony.  And here is a great sense of what is important in Christ's view that should put us all at attention.  Testimony is a cherished opportunity, a place that is exalted in His view expressed here.  We are to be entirely dependent upon God (again, just like the disciples when they were sent out on their first missions).  We don't need to meditate beforehand on what we will say; it is He who will give us a mouth and wisdom with which to testify, which our adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  Imagine that in this world in which so many seek to be validated through worldly success our greatest opportunity is instead an occasion to testify, and that under persecution.  How do we reconcile these points of view?  I find that in thinking in a worldly sense, that of the person who will childishly demand some sort of "proof" of the wisdom of our faith, we lose all sense of what is actually of great importance to Christ, at least as is reported here in the Gospel.  We can spend lots of time debating how these seemingly anomalous attitudes evolved in Christianity, but that is a long and complex history, I fear, that isn't all-that-easily sorted out as many people think.  What we can say for certain is the unmistakable emphasis that Jesus gives here that it's not really our social status or standing in the society that matters most, when all things are considered.  Neither is it even our good standing in the eyes of our neighbors, or even relations with our closest friends and family members.  Even the worst of persecutions -- the possibility of being put to death -- do not amount to a higher importance than the blessed opportunity Jesus speaks of here:  that of offering testimony, of expressing not necessarily the dogmatic assertions of theology in their loftiest forms nor even the most learned defense afforded by higher education, but of a humility that relies instead fully on Christ and therefore on faith.  It is at this moment of a great test that Christ finds our best opportunity that He speaks of here.  And we should not forget that.  It doesn't matter whether or not we are under formal persecution, or life offers us great wealth with which to endow or help our faith and its expression in the world.  If we are blessed to live in peacetime, and not within the chaos and persecutions and wars that Christ speaks of here, we still should not forget His words.   Because it is my belief that persecutions and betrayals might come to us in all sorts of forms, and opportunities for testimony do not simply come at times of formal persecution by state authorities.  There may be times when we have to choose between friends, even relationships with relatives.  We might have to consider giving up a job or even changing a career, because times come to us even in the most personal of ways that will ask for our testimony.  We may even have to testify by "voting with our feet," so to speak, and walking away from something that seems good but which conflicts in that place where the deepest convictions of our soul rest, where it is Christ who gives us a mouth and wisdom with which to speak, one way and another.  No, it really doesn't matter whether or not we can see around us the nominal signs which Christ speaks of here, because there will always be persecutions of faith, and wars seen and unseen, even an inexplicable hatred which we may incur simply for His name's sake.  In times of seeming peace we should not be surprised if there are occasions for testimony afforded by circumstances in our lives, simply because we have faith in Christ even if only openly expressed in a place deep in our hearts.  One way and another we must keep in mind what He teaches, even if it comes in forms we don't easily recognize and that are all too personal.  Let us always recall what He says is most important, including the humility in those times when we are simply to rely upon Him, without great preparation in advance, for our response to the world.  His greatest desire is that by our patience we possess our souls.

When you see the "abomination of desolation"

 "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place"  (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down 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 or on the Sabbath.  For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be.  And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand.  Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.

"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.  Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.  And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."

- Matthew 24:15-31

Yesterday, we read that after giving His final sermon, Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings in 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."

  "Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place"  (whoever reads, let him understand) . . . "  My study bible explains that this refers to the prophecy of Daniel (see Daniel 9:20-27;  11:31; 12:11).   The "abomination of desolation" was fulfilled in AD 70, when the Roman general Titus entered the Most Holy Place and had a statue of himself erected in the temple before having the temple destroyed.   It says, "The Lord's phrase when you see indicates that many of the disciples would still be alive at that time.  The words whoever reads, let him understand are commonly understood to be inserted by Matthew into Christ's address as an encouragement to his early Christian flock, who may have witnessed this event."

". . . then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.  Let him who is on the housetop not go down 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 or on the Sabbath."  In Luke's Gospel, it's reported that Jesus gives a blessing here, "Blessed are the barren, wombs that never bore, and breasts which never nursed!"  St. John Chrysostom has commented, "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?"  Also, my study bible comments here:  "The severity of winter weather or respect for the Sabbath would prevent many faithful from fleeing quickly in a time of desperation.  A spiritual interpretation given by the Fathers sees the Sabbath as symbolizing idleness with regard to virtue, and winter as indicating fruitlessness with regard to charity.  Thus, the person who departs this life in such a spiritual state will suffer judgment."

"And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened.  Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There!' do not believe it.  For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  See, I have told you beforehand.  Therefore if they say to you, 'Look, He is in the desert!' do not go out; or 'Look, He is in the inner rooms!' do not believe it.  For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be."   My study bible asks, "In what manner will Christ come back?  The event will be unmistakable to the whole world.  If there is any question or doubt, that alone is evidence that He has not returned.  As Christ's return will shine from the east, so Orthodox Christians [and many others] whenever possible worship facing eastward in symbolic hope and anticipation of His second and glorious coming."

"For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together."  There are many interpretations to this statement.  Some have said that the "eagles" gathering are symbolic of the Roman army.  However, my study bible notes here that "the body refers to Christ, while the eagles refer to the angels and the saints."

"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."  A note reads:  "According to the Fathers, the sun will not be destroyed, but darkened in relation to the glory of Christ.  In other words, the sun will appear to be dark by comparison when Christ returns in the fullness of His splendor."

"Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory."  My study bible says here:  "The sign of the Son of Man is the Cross, which will be revealed as the standard for Christ's impending judgment.  While at His first coming, Christ came in humility and mortality, at His second coming, He will be revealed in power and great glory."

"And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."   My study bible refers us here to St. Paul's teaching in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

It is hard to study prophesy, in the sense that quite often they are rather unintelligible, except perhaps in hindsight.  We have a body of work from the Fathers of the Church, as well as those men and women who continue to study the Scriptures today and build upon what the Church has already come to recognize.  I speak of the entirety of the Church in diverse communities, for today scholarship is a great shared enterprise, as well as, of course, Hebrew and Greek scholarship from all kinds of communities, scholarly institutions, fields, and departments.  I once had a priest comment to me that in terms of bible scholarship, we now have far more resources than were ever available to our ancestors in studying Scripture (of course, this can apply to both the Old Testament and the New Testament).  So, when we think about it, we have a situation that, through time, actually increases its capacity to inform, to help us to think and to study, and thereby to better know our faith.  Therefore, modern scholars and clergy whom I respect enormously teach that the Body of Christ is one, even in our currently fragmented diversity -- and of course, it was long ago that St. Paul taught that there may be found the work of the law written on the hearts even of those who haven't heard it (Romans 12:12-16).   Taking all of that into consideration, the prophecies of Judgment and End Times teach us about living our lives in the here and the now.  They are statements about the eventual Judgment Day, and also they were mixed with warnings about what was to come in Jerusalem, the end of the temple and the sacrifices, and even the results of sin in the world.  (Let us understand clearly that we cannot extrapolate from any and all misfortune anything about Judgment or about sin.)  But we can see clearly the results of our behavior toward others, whether we are speaking about individual to individual or community to community or even nation to nation.  We know what cruel behavior results in -- and we can see all around us, even in the news, what violence in the excess and unnecessary can create.  We can see the tragedies when we fail to help others, and the good that comes from following Christ's teachings.  I do not believe the world to be exempt from the spiritual consequences of our behavior nor from the rejection (by those who know better) of the gospel and its teachings available in all kinds of forms.  Let us consider then, how we live in the here and now, what we do to our world and in our own lives, and how Christ reminds us that Judgment, any way you look at it, is never far off.  Let us take these words seriously, as those who heard them 2,000 years ago.

All these are the beginning of sorrows

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

 Then Jesus went out and departed from the temple, and His disciples came up to show Him the buildings of the temple.  And Jesus said to them, "Do you not see all these things?  Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  My study bible has several notes on today's reading.  Here, it tells us:  "This is a prediction of the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, which sets the tone for Jesus' discourse on the end of the age (chs. 24; 25).  The New Testament describes the end time in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Mark 13; Luke 21; 1 Cor. 15:51-55; 1 Thess. 4:13-17; 2 Thess. 2:1-10; and the Book of Revelation).  Jesus' emphasis is on being prepared through watchfulness and stewardship rather than on constructing exacting chronologies.  In this chapter the end is described as a process with three overlapping stages:  (1)  the beginning of sorrows (vv.4-14), (2)  the Great Tribulation (vv. 15-28) and (3)  the coming of the Son of Man (vv. 29-31)."  It's important here that we understand the impact of Jesus' words on those listening.  The temple at this time was the grandest building project of Herod the Great, who was known as the Great Builder.  It was immense, with porticoes and porches and innovations that made it one of the wonders of the world.  Its stones were huge.  There was a rumor that there was gold between the stones, and in the siege of Jerusalem, precisely what Jesus predicted here happened.

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."  Of these verses and the rest of the reading, my study bible tells us:  "The question about the signs and the persecutions is connected in Matthew with the sign of His coming and the end of the age.  The disciples dream of the hoped-for earthly kingdom, which they expect to appear almost immediately.  Jesus knows their anticipation and sets out to prepare them for what is to come.  He warns them to take heed not to (1)  be seduced by any deception (v. 5), (2)  be overpowered by the violence of afflictions which will come (vv. 6-9); or (3) stumble because of the false brethren (vv. 10-12)."

"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."  My study bible tells us that here "Jesus and the disciples are sitting on the Mount of Olives looking out over Jerusalem.  The immediate reference here is not to the wars of the world over the centuries, but to wars in Jerusalem."  The word translated here as sorrows (in "these are the beginning of sorrows") means "birth pains" in the Greek.

"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."  Jesus speaks to them of what is to happen with the Church, but, as my study bible puts it, "all these calamities and tribulations will not prevent the progress of the gospel; the Good News will be preached everywhere (Rom. 10:18; Col. 1:6, 23)."

Let's consider what Jesus is saying here.  Its impact on the disciples must have been stunning to the point of numbness.  How can they take in what He is saying?  They are expecting the manifestation of a kingdom.  They trust and know He is Messiah.  But He has warned them of what is to come to Him in Jerusalem, and they scarcely take it in.  Imagine this news hitting them.  But Jesus prepares them for what is to come knowing that the birth pains of His Church will go through all of these things.  It's simply astounding to consider the kind of faith that understands both the calamity, betrayal, and tribulation coming to the disciples (including the siege of Jerusalem) and also the success of the Gospel, that it will go to all the world.  How can they, the disciples, possibly take this all in?  They cannot, but because of His prediction to them the Church did escape the great destruction that came to Jerusalem in A.D. 70, heeding the warning signs that had been told to them.  But when we imagine the difficulties of the birth of this Church, we have to understand what He calls on us to do.  Many people seem to believe that success as a faithful person is a life in which everything goes perfectly smoothly.  I daresay that if these people of the founding of the Church believed that, then there wouldn't be any Christianity.  Jesus' life itself would form simply a stumbling block, rather than this symbol of the Cross that has come to stand for transcendence and so much more.  Jesus here teaches them resilience, endurance, a kind of peace that is not dependent upon "the world," but rather on the reality of God's love and the role they play in manifesting God's kingdom in the world.  And then, beyond all this, there is the assurance of "success" -- that the gospel of the kingdom will go out to all the world, as indeed it continues to do.  As faithful, the great impact of Jesus' message here enforces the understanding of the portrait of the world at this time in which we await His return, the one given us in the parable of the wheat and the tares, in which all grow side-by-side, even within the Church itself.  Let us consider, then, what triumph and success really mean on Christian terms.  It may mean we go through many difficulties.  It may call on us to learn humility, to value the things of the kingdom beyond what amounts to success in "the world."  And yet, it is a realistic idea - an understanding of what we can control and what we cannot control.  We can choose our faith.  We can be strengthened through a faith in God's love, a kind of a joy that is not dependent on whatever picture the rest of the world might see, a peace that comes from reconciliation to that which supersedes everything else, and a knowledge that we are called upon to endure.  This is life beyond what the world presents us with, a life that takes in the reality of the world, and knows that there is more to this picture than meets the eye.  How do you find your place in the gospel of the kingdom?  What does it teach you in difficult circumstances?   When Jesus speaks of "birth pains," let us remember that difficulties, in the life of faith, are a labor toward something new, a growth, a harvest toward something we can't know until it's with us.

He who endures to the end shall be saved

 Then as He went out of the temple, 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."

- Mark 13:1-13

In yesterday's reading, Jesus responded to His questioners with a question.  He answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord,  "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  Then He said to them in His teaching, "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."  Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much. Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury, for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

  Then as He went out of the temple, 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."    My study bible tells us of this entire chapter in Mark's Gospel:  "This passage has two points of focus:  (1)  the destruction of Jerusalem and (2)  the end of the age.  These points converge in Jesus' teaching and guide our interpretation.  The temple had been rebuilt by Herod the Great, including porticoes, courtyards and colonnades, covering about sixth of the area of Jerusalem -- an architectural marvel dominating the Holy City.  some of the stones were about 10x40x20. . .  The grandeur of the buildings made Jesus' comment about their destruction very dramatic.  It would be hard for the listener at that time to imagine such great destruction.  In A.D. 70 this prophecy of Christ came true when the Roman general Titus recaptured Jerusalem and leveled everything on the temple mount.  It was rumored there was gold between the stones, so not one stone was left unturned.  Only a retaining wall remained, later called the Wailing Wall, after Emperor Trajan (c. A.D. 135) permitted Jews to come to this site once a year to mourn the temple's fate.  Jews still mourn at the Wailing Wall today."

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?"   My study bible points out that interest in the end of the age is nothing new.  "The disciples want to know when all the things spoken about the end times will take place.  Jesus obliges them."

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."  My study bible tells us that "Jesus' first word about the end of the age is a warning about deception.  Take heed is a dominate note throughout the discourse.  Do not fail because of deceit by impostors, speculation about dates, political upheavals, natural catastrophes, or persecutions.  Today, popular preachers contradict one another with novel doctrines which are at odds with the historic interpretations of the Church.  Take heed that no one deceives you!"  Sorrows here reads literally "birth pangs" in the Greek.  My study bible tells us that they are applied to the "world-renewing events and crises at the consummation of the Kingdom."

"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."  My study bible says that "such experiences are recorded in the Book of Acts and Paul's Epistles.  Until the return of Christ in glory, His followers will suffer and people will fall into apostasy.  Discipleship produces martyrs and confessors (those injured or maimed for confessing Christ before men).  Jesus tells His disciples plainly what will happen to them.  Tradition holds that of the Twelve, all but John died a martyr's death.  The promise that the Holy Spirit will speak through us is not intended to discourage preparation for Christian teaching.  It refers primarily to crises."

"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."  A note in my study bible reads, "There is security of salvation for him who endures to the end, but it is not ours to say when the race is over.  the modern innovative doctrine of 'eternal security' -- once saved, always saved -- is not the teaching of Jesus; rather, He teaches the endurance of the faithful through God's strength and grace."

"End times" seem very much to be on many people's minds today, but it seems, also, that they have always been a concern and preoccupation -- especially in times of crisis.  We should remember that Jesus' stress on endurance is the key to this passage.  The word used here for endurance literally means "remaining under" as in bearing a load, a kind of bearing up, and it is also closely related to the word for "patience."  Clearly, Jesus does not promise His disciples an easy life!  Nor does He promise that the Kingdom is coming immediately, easily, and without struggle.  On the contrary, they will be the recipients of the effects of that struggle.  As my study bible points out, all but John will die a martyr of the first Apostles.  Today, "end times" are very much upon people's minds.  Not only is it that two millenia have passed since Jesus' time on earth in the flesh, but more particularly the new millenium into which we are entering now seems to be filled with threats not just to our security and our immediate well being, but in fact, threats that are -- one could say -- to the planet.  We have problems with pollution (including those possible from nuclear accidents and radiation), problems indicative of possible climate change, wars that seem to be unceasing in their frequency, weapons capable of almost inconceivable destruction, and every day seems to bring news of crime and breakdown of social behaviors that undermine qualities of life.  Human slavery, rather than ending from legal criminalization, is actually on the rise throughout the world in perhaps new forms.  Throughout the Middle East, Christianity is being threatened in its birthplace.  Worldwide, refugees and mass migration are becoming greater and greater; world populations are on the move far more than we understand from displacement through warfare and economic crises.  The internet itself -- a modern phenomenon that allows me to write this blog and send it out into the world -- can also be used for great harm, not only targeting individuals, harming children, or abusing trust in one way or another -- but as our reliance on these systems grows more and more, the internet itself becomes a security concern for nations.  Our understanding of ourselves changes as we shift into a new age of instantaneous communication, worldwide markets that interact with one another within hours, and crises that magnify one another, so that what happens in one place affects others.  The sense of who we are is changing based on these developments.  My study bible also points out Jesus' emphasis on a breakdown in family loyalties, although elsewhere Jesus says this will happen for His sake -- that His truth is that which pierces all other realities and relationships.  And there we come right back from international crises and threats and problems to the real emphasis Jesus has been placing in all of His talk in the temple at Jerusalem, which is on the affairs of the heart.  When we remember that ultimately it is the decision for each of us in the heart that really plants this kingdom in the world (see the greatest commandments dialogue from Thursday's reading), then we get down to the place that puts this all in perspective.  How do we go through crises?  How do we "bear up" as Christ teaches His disciples here, as they went through their own inconceivable crises of war and destruction in Jerusalem, and eventual persecution as apostles sent out into the world with the gospel message?  Really, the teaching is the same.  We are to endure.  We can't say when the end is, and it's not our job to do so.  It's our job to do what is asked of us, to carry on in faith, in following these two great commandments to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love neighbor in extension of such relatedness.  Jesus gives us one other great promise in His teaching today, and that is also with us in all times of crisis, a reliance on the Holy Spirit and the implication of the necessity for prayer.  We have a Comforter.  The apostles are not promised a perfect life, and neither are we.  We may see all kinds of things breaking down around ourselves in one way and another, even as new innovations that can do a lot of good also are used for bad; but that's just a reflection of human weakness that has always been with us, a reflection of our own imperfections, ambitions, pride, and frailties.  What we can rely on, however, are His words which will not pass away.  We each have a job to do to live these two great commandments in the ways in which choice comes to us in our lives.  We each have a choice to contribute to this world in the ways in which He has taught, and we can come together as community to do so as well.  We may not be able to control the world and everybody in it, we might not be able to solve all these problems of human failure and control the nature of the planet, but we can do something that is ours to do, and starts in the heart.  His words come to mind from Matthew's Gospel:  "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).  In all things, we are to endure with patience, and rely on the Comforter.  He's warned His disciples -- and us -- in advance, of the birth pangs of the Kingdom, which we still endure.  But He also gives us the Help to do so.