+ 26thSunday after Pentecost – November 18th, 2018 +
Series B: Daniel 12:1-3; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-13
Beautiful Savior Lutheran, Milton
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
We love watching or reading a good mystery. We try to figure out whodunit before the mystery is solved. Like journalists we read and reread searching for signs, looking for who, where, what, when, why, and how, until we come to the end. The best part of the mystery. The moment everything is revealed, like in the game of Clue: it was Colonel Mustard in the Library with the candlestick!
Jesus’ teaching on the End Times in Mark 13 has all the marks of a good mystery. Jesus’ teaching is a mystery in many ways, but with one important difference. Jesus teaches us about the End Times, the Last Day, not to hide the truth from us, but to reveal the truth to us in his cross. That’s what that little word “apocalypse” means, to reveal. Jesus’ end times teaching reveals his warning to prepare us for His return, and to give us his promise to reassure and comfort us.
Jesus uses this visit to the temple to begin to unveil and unfold the mystery of the Last Day for his disciples and for us.
“Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
It’s hard to imagine the jaw-dropping, shocking impact of Jesus’ words. For the Jews, The temple was everything: the epicenter of faith and life. It was their world. And in A.D. 70, when the temple was destroyed, stone upon stone. Everything turned to fear. Destruction. Death. It must’ve felt like the end of the world.
As Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
Like the disciples, we want the mystery revealed. What are the signs? When will Jesus return? How will it look? What will happen? It’s fascinating. Captivating. And sadly, confusing at times too. It’s not hard to find someone talking about the End Times. It’s popular, and to be honest, profitable too. Hal Lindsey, Harold Camping. The Left Behind books. Mayan Calendars. Everyone claims to have some secret insight, the hidden answer, the code to solve the mystery of Jesus’ return.
And isn’t it just like the devil to take Jesus’ teaching about the Last Day and mix and muddle it with discord, despair, and doubt. To distract us and draw us away from Jesus’ word, Jesus’ promises, and Jesus’ death and resurrection.
That’s a sure fire way to tell the difference between End Times rubbish and the real teaching. Any End Times teaching that points us away from Jesus words of warning and comfort is rubbish. Anything or anyone that draws our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds away from Jesus crucified is a fake, a fraud, and a false hope.
Jesus warns us about this. See that no one leads you astray.
Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
Sounds as if Jesus is reading the headlines of the Sunday morning news. If these are signs, they’re not very revealing ones. False religions. False messiahs. Natural disasters. Wars and rumors of wars. Persecutions. What’s new? That’s been happening since Jesus’ death, resurrection, ascension, and his promise to return. Exactly. That’s the point. To always be ready. The end is not yetThese aren’t signs the signs you’re looking for. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
There’s really only one sign of the end, and it’s Jesus. Everything he says about the end of the world happened to him on the cross. Jesus was delivered over to the council and beaten for us. Jesus bore the scorn of false witness for us. Jesus endured trial, betrayal, and hatred for us. Jesus was delivered over to death for us, his brothers and sisters. We need not fear the End of the world.
For the end of the world has already arrived in Jesus’ crucifixion. On a good Friday, outside Jerusalem. In darkness at Noon. On a cross. When Jesus declared, “It is finished.” The end. The completion. Fulfillment. That was the end of the world as we know it. Jesus embracing the world in His own body brings the world to its end in His death. He is the persecuted One. The Martyr of all martyrs. The Lord of lords. The King of kings.
There may be a lot we don’t know about Jesus’ glorious return on the Last Day. But we do know this. All is revealed in his death for us. The cross is the sign Jesus gives us to give us peace, comfort, hope, assurance, and his endurance as we await the Last Day. Jesus endured for you. Suffered for you. Died for you. Rose for you. You are baptized into Him. You have died to this dead world, and now live to God in Christ. For you, the end has already come in the water of Baptism with God’s holy Name placed upon you. You died. And your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
And He who endured the cross for you will return for you.
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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