Mark 13:1-8
As {Jesus} 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.
This is but the beginning
of the birth pangs.
· What Jesus says sounds
terrifying: "Do you see these
great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be
thrown down." The
shock to the disciples is something we might feel to this very day. The Temple
in Jerusalem was the centre of Jewish religious and cultural life. In fact, it
was the place where the presence of God was strongest. It and Jerusalem were
sometimes called “God’s footstool.” If it was going to be destroyed, what would
become of everything?
·
Jesus explains further in private to Peter, Andrew,
James, and John. What he says to them is not altogether comfortable… except for
the last sentence: This is but the
beginning of the birth pangs. And even that could be seen as not
all that comforting.
· I’ve never experienced
giving birth. I was present when both of my children were born and I’ll always
remember those times. I have no idea what birth pangs are like. All I know is
that the pains of childbirth lead to a child being born. I’m sure the baby was
quite happy to be where he or she was, but that is not a place with a real future
for them.
· Birth pangs mean that
something is coming. More to the point, that something is imminent. A new story
is being written and a new beginning is starting.
· If all this would be the
beginning of the birth pangs, and should the Temple be thrown down
and destroyed, what would be next? What was coming to birth?
· We need to think of the
Temple. The walls and the stones that made up the walls were impressive and
huge. It was still in the process of being finished, since this was not the
original Temple of Solomon, but the Temple of Herod. Imagining the destruction
of this place would be horrifying. It would tear at the soul of an Jewish
person of the time.
· Yet it would be a new
beginning, although a painful one. Walls that serve to keep something out also
serve to keep something in. Our homes’ walls keep warmth in and cold out. If
the Temple was the place of God’s most intense presence, the walls kept that in
and the walls kept the undesirables out. If the walls fell, something new would
be happening. If the walls fell, would the presence disappear or would it be
loose in the world? Would the ones considered unworthy or unclean be able to receive
the presence of the Almighty?
· The same thing has been
said of Jesus’ resurrection. The stone closed in the body and when the stone
was rolled away, everything changed! Sorrow became joy. Despair became hope. Death
became life. And the world is changed. It wasn’t easy; it wasn’t simple, but it
was sure and it was grace.
· We know what Jesus is
telling Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Wars and rumours of wars, natural
disasters and earthquakes are the stuff of daily new reports. They are nothing
to take joy in and yet, they continue to be the “birth pangs”, heralding what
is to come. They remind us that the world is not the way God wishes it to be.
They can also distract us from the reality that God and God’s grace are at work
behind what we can see.
· This is but the beginning
of the birth pangs. The story is not over; there are chapters still to written
and a final page to be read. None of us know the exact path of the story,
except where it ultimately leads… to nothing less than the reign of God.
· I’ve been told that the
pangs of birth are forgotten in the face of the birth they herald. (Maybe I
need correction on that.) In any case, the pain does lead to something better,
greater, and full of promise. And something new is now entering our world. The
presence of God has always been there; perhaps soon that presence will no
longer be ignored or mistaken. After all, it is what we are all waiting for.
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.
W
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