They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them. “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”
Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Commentary
Last week we had the concept of resurrection to deal with. I wasn't too successful in understanding exactly what Jesus had to say on the subject. He was asked a question which I interpret as being about resurrection of the body. The question was raised by individuals who didn't themselves believe in resurrection of any kind. Jesus' answer, as near as I can tell, is that they have it all wrong because eternal life is in the spirit.
Today, Jesus starts out by telling his disciples that the temple will one day be destroyed. It is worth noting that when these words were actually put down on paper by the writer Luke, the temple had in fact already been destroyed. It was destroyed within 50 years of Jesus' death by the Romans. At the same time they destroyed every copy of sacred scripture they could get their hands on. That gets us back to the Essenes and the Dead Sea scrolls. So in terms of life as it was for Luke when he wrote this, it would be reasonable for him to be thinking in terms of “End Times”.
When Luke wrote todays reading, Jerusalem was part of the Roman empire. More exactly, the rubble remaining from the city of Jerusalem was part of the Roman empire. The Jewish temple which was the center of the Jewish faith had been destroyed. Along with it the temple centric version of the Jewish faith had been destroyed. Permanently as it turns out.
The territory that had been Jerusalem went from Roman hands to Persian hands, to Muslim hands, to Christian crusaders, back to the Muslims, and it remained in Muslim hands as part of the Ottoman empire until it was captured by the British in the first World War.
From the stand point of a Jew living when Luke wrote this, it is totally reasonable, and perhaps arguably correct that it was “End Times”.
Based on my reactions last week, it is surely no surprise to you that I went looking to find out more about “end times” beliefs held by the Jews of Jesus times. Turns out the Jews have/had extensive prophecies about the subject. In fact I have a 124 page “article” published by the National Security Analysis Department of Johns Hopkins University which reviews the “end times” beliefs of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and thoughtfully considers the implications of those beliefs to future world peace.
But I have no interest in going down that road. What I propose to do is to take the words given on face value. I will take it on faith that the words written down by Luke are in fact the correct and complete words of Jesus spoken to his disciples. I am however going to make one little change in context. I propose that these words were in fact spoken by a Jew to Jew. I suggest that even so they have much to tell us.
First, in terms of “by a Jew to a Jew”, I think it is the majority consensus among scholars that Jesus never intended to start a church. Everything that he did was within the bounds of accepted Jewish tradition. Prophets before him were persecuted and put to death. Prophets before him had disciples and had to warn about false prophets among the people. Prophets before him had raised people from the dead and been taken up into heaven.
So humor me. Listen to these words as spoken by a Jew to a Jew.
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Now we believe that God and Christ are one. So if we just rewrite the above changing the words 'because of my name” to “because of God's name”, you actually have a fairly mild description of the history of the Jewish people. Since these words were spoken, the Jewish people have been scattered. They have endured inquisitions, and pogroms, and holocausts. They have survived in unimaginable conditions and they have continued in their faith in God. Truly, “By their endurance they have gained their souls”. If we need a sign of God's love, there you have it. Written in the volumes of world history right up to today.
God will sustain you. God will preserve you. There is only one God.
Last week we had the concept of resurrection to deal with. I wasn't too successful in understanding exactly what Jesus had to say on the subject. He was asked a question which I interpret as being about resurrection of the body. The question was raised by individuals who didn't themselves believe in resurrection of any kind. Jesus' answer, as near as I can tell, is that they have it all wrong because eternal life is in the spirit.
Today, Jesus starts out by telling his disciples that the temple will one day be destroyed. It is worth noting that when these words were actually put down on paper by the writer Luke, the temple had in fact already been destroyed. It was destroyed within 50 years of Jesus' death by the Romans. At the same time they destroyed every copy of sacred scripture they could get their hands on. That gets us back to the Essenes and the Dead Sea scrolls. So in terms of life as it was for Luke when he wrote this, it would be reasonable for him to be thinking in terms of “End Times”.
When Luke wrote todays reading, Jerusalem was part of the Roman empire. More exactly, the rubble remaining from the city of Jerusalem was part of the Roman empire. The Jewish temple which was the center of the Jewish faith had been destroyed. Along with it the temple centric version of the Jewish faith had been destroyed. Permanently as it turns out.
The territory that had been Jerusalem went from Roman hands to Persian hands, to Muslim hands, to Christian crusaders, back to the Muslims, and it remained in Muslim hands as part of the Ottoman empire until it was captured by the British in the first World War.
From the stand point of a Jew living when Luke wrote this, it is totally reasonable, and perhaps arguably correct that it was “End Times”.
Based on my reactions last week, it is surely no surprise to you that I went looking to find out more about “end times” beliefs held by the Jews of Jesus times. Turns out the Jews have/had extensive prophecies about the subject. In fact I have a 124 page “article” published by the National Security Analysis Department of Johns Hopkins University which reviews the “end times” beliefs of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and thoughtfully considers the implications of those beliefs to future world peace.
But I have no interest in going down that road. What I propose to do is to take the words given on face value. I will take it on faith that the words written down by Luke are in fact the correct and complete words of Jesus spoken to his disciples. I am however going to make one little change in context. I propose that these words were in fact spoken by a Jew to Jew. I suggest that even so they have much to tell us.
First, in terms of “by a Jew to a Jew”, I think it is the majority consensus among scholars that Jesus never intended to start a church. Everything that he did was within the bounds of accepted Jewish tradition. Prophets before him were persecuted and put to death. Prophets before him had disciples and had to warn about false prophets among the people. Prophets before him had raised people from the dead and been taken up into heaven.
So humor me. Listen to these words as spoken by a Jew to a Jew.
“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. “But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Now we believe that God and Christ are one. So if we just rewrite the above changing the words 'because of my name” to “because of God's name”, you actually have a fairly mild description of the history of the Jewish people. Since these words were spoken, the Jewish people have been scattered. They have endured inquisitions, and pogroms, and holocausts. They have survived in unimaginable conditions and they have continued in their faith in God. Truly, “By their endurance they have gained their souls”. If we need a sign of God's love, there you have it. Written in the volumes of world history right up to today.
God will sustain you. God will preserve you. There is only one God.