As some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, Jesus said, "As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." And they asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?"
- St. Luke 21:5-7
Our Lord is standing with His disciples before the great Temple in Jerusalem. This was the Temple begun by Herod some forty or so years before. It wasn’t yet finished, but already – with its immense wealth – it was on its way to becoming one of the wonders of the world. Its huge blocks of marble were in beautiful shades of green and white. The eastern front and part of the side walls were covered with gold leaf, brilliant in the sunlight. In fact, the whole Temple gleamed, which made it an amazing site even from a distance. Within the Temple, it was highly ornamented with votive offerings. Surely the disciples must have thought, “This is none other than the House of God; and this is the Gate of Heaven!” when they said to Jesus, “Look, Master!”
But what they saw wasn’t what Christ saw when He looked. What they saw in all its glory, He saw in its destruction, which would happen some forty years in the future. And He saw also another temple which was even then being fashioned – a temple “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” Even before the old Jerusalem was laid waste, the walls of another city were rising, which would be that new Jerusalem seen by St. John the Divine in his vision, “coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”
So as Christ speaks of this destruction, the disciples ask, “When will this be?” If it was just idle curiosity which prompted their question, Christ certainly wouldn’t give them a satisfactory answer – after all, He wasn’t about to act like a soothsayer or fortuneteller, pulling aside the curtain of the future for a momentary glimpse of things which were hidden by God.
Christ’s purpose was much more serious than that. As Scripture records, “No man knows the day nor the hour...” His answer to them was really a warning: “There will be many who will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘the time is at hand.’” “Do not go after them,” He instructs them. How often people seem to be willing to give themselves over to other allegiances. The tragedy of Israel’s history is the tragedy of a people given to running off in pursuit of other gods; indeed, the long history of mankind is exactly that – a record of man’s blindness, of his fickleness, of his willingness to run after the latest thing, as though salvation can be found there.
Christ goes on: “You will hear of wars and tumults…nation will rise against nation; there will be great earthquakes, famines, pestilences… but do not be terrified.” All that would come to pass, even before the end of the century in which Christ lived on earth. In 63 AD Vesuvius erupted, destroying the city of Pompeii; there were earthquakes in Greece and in Asia Minor and even in Judea and Samaria; under the Emperors Claudius and Nero there were pestilences and famines – and there have been such things throughout history – as we know all too well, even in our own day.
How could Christ have said, “Do not be terrified”? Because in the rising of nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, Christ wants us to see not the forerunner of ultimate disaster, but of the breaking through of the Messianic age – just as the pain of a woman in childbirth isn’t the harbinger of death, but rather of life. These signs spoken of by Christ are, in reality, promises. “You will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake...you will be delivered up…some of you they will put to death…you will be hated by all for my name’s sake...but not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.”
This is the point of Christ’s words: that in the midst of the uncertainty and danger of this world – even with its pain and problems and persecution...even in the midst of confusion and calamities...God is in control.
Unfortunately, people tend not to learn the lesson that life is at its most insecure and dangerous when we’re trying to handle it by ourselves, and that life is most safe and secure when we leave it in God’s hands.
As Jesus warned His disciples, “The days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” In other words, every one of us will experience times of darkness and confusion and difficulty: a beloved spouse dies; a child goes off in a direction which causes great distress; a body becomes racked with pain; a job is lost. But Christ makes a promise: “By your endurance you will gain your lives.” He’s not talking about mere human stoicism here, where we simply face the odds and outstare them. No, He’s talking about real Christian heroism in the face of adversity – that heroic spirit which is ours in Christ, when we know God really is near, when we place our faith in Him, and give Him real control over our lives. That’s why it’s so important for us to turn ourselves over to Him – to give Him ourselves – our souls and bodies, our resources and all we hold precious – knowing that when we do that He will always bring good out of evil, light out of darkness, healing out of pain.
By Christ’s sacrifice, we have been made whole. Let’s return that to Him, by giving back to Him all that we are and all that we have, as an acknowledgement that we want Him to be in control of our lives. Giving ourselves to Him is our act of love to the God Who truly loves us.
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Image: "Christ Enthroned"
from the Westminster Psalter, c.1200
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