As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?”
Then Jesus began to say to them, “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs. (New Revised Standard Version)
In my undergraduate college days, decades ago, springtime brought a regular staple of sidewalk preachers calling for people to repent, because the end of the world is imminent.
That was in the days of the Cold War; the specter of a nuclear holocaust was a real fear among many. The outdoor preachers got a serious hearing with some.
Although religious end times preaching gets little attention anymore, the idea of a cataclysmic apocalypse is still very much a part of the culture. Dystopian novels are widely read; and stockpiling for a zombie apocalypse is a real thing.
End of the world stuff is, at the least, interesting and/or fascinating to many; and, at the most, there are folks fully prepared for an apocalypse of the world to happen in their lifetime.
Christ’s disciples asked him a question. And Jesus went directly to talking apocalypse.
In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus takes on demons and all sorts of other-worldly opposition. Christ is certainly presented by Mark as one who discerns there is much more going on – and will go on – in this world than what it may seem on the surface of things.
The disciples saw large and wonderful stones which were part of the temple. They marveled at what their physical eyes perceived. But Jesus saw further, into the future, and was not at all impressed; he saw a time of apocalypse. All of those stones in a heap. No one marveling over the temple.
Christ’s disciples wanted to know when such a time would happen. As was often the case with Jesus, he didn’t answer their question, at least not directly. He used it as an opportunity to teach about things to come.
The gist of Christ’s words to his disciples was to communicate that things are going to get worse than what they already are. The Roman occupation they were experiencing is nothing compared to what’s coming.
The apocalyptic language had been around in ancient Judea for a long time. There had been centuries of people talking about the world’s end.
Apocalyptic stuff is nothing new to contemporary folk, as well. Just mention the Book of Revelation and heads pop up, eyebrows raise, and imagination goes to seed.
We as biblical readers, however, need to observe that Jesus didn’t answer the question of his disciples. Which is perhaps something we must become more alert to.
Nobody knows when the end of the world will come. Not even Jesus. But that doesn’t seem to stop folks from asking anyway. Perhaps we need to ask a different question. Instead of asking “When will these things happen?” maybe we ought to ask, “What must I watch out for?”
The change of question orients us in a different way. Rather than end times speculation, we begin watching for things which are dangerous to humanity, things that bring upheaval to our world.
We start valuing awareness and observance, listening and contemplating. We learn to place our energies wisely into the things we believe truly matter in this life for the common good of all.
God is up to all sorts of kingdom business that is beyond our purview, and frankly, even beyond our ability to perceive or understand.
When we accept the exhortation of Jesus to “beware,” then we watch and look for things that are already here among us, and not get lost in a future we cannot predict. That type of future orientation only produces the kind of worry and anxiety that leads to fear.
And when fear takes root, it spawns the evils of hate and injustice. We become vulnerable to selfish incompetent leaders who make promises to take our fears away. We end up doing terrible acts against others, like imprisoning political opponents, denaturalizing and deporting citizens we don’t like, and creating fascist states that oppress others.
But if we will wake up, hear the call of Jesus to beware, and awaken to our true commitment to the kingdom of God, we will then forsake fear-based tactics, and courageously help others in both body and soul.
It also means that, at times, we are off somewhere in centering and contemplative prayer, just like our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing that the real source of power and authority is outside of us.
A true biblical view of the end times is about God working out divine purpose on behalf of all humanity. It isn’t about us and all of our fears and anxieties getting worked out in harmful ways.
The realization of a coming apocalypse must lead us toward faith and trust in the God who holds justice, righteousness, and mercy in good divine hands.
God has no limitations because of our questions. God will be God. God is who God is. Our task is to watch, remain faithful, and persevere until Christ returns to judge the living and the dead.
May it be so, to the glory of God.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 