Proper 28: Malachi 3: 13 – 4: 2a, 5 – 6; Psalm 98; II Thessalonians 3: 6 – 11; Luke 21: 5 – 19
A sermon by Fr. Gene R. Tucker, read by Mr. Barney Bruce, Licensed Lay Worship Leader, at Trinity Church, Mt. Vernon, Illinois; Sunday, November 18th, 2007
“Some things pass away, others endure.”
That seems to be the “bottom line” for Jesus’ teaching, heard in our Gospel reading for today, Luke 21: 5 – 19.
Let’s remind ourselves that Jesus is in the Temple in Jerusalem, and as He walks its grounds, some of His disciples look around and notice how splendid a structure it was.
Notice that word: “was”….For by the time Luke was writing his Gospel account, that magnificent Temple no longer existed….it had been utterly destroyed by the Roman army in the year 70 AD, and not one stone rested on another, just as Jesus had predicted some 40 years before.
So the Temple had passed away, but Jesus’ words endured.
What might Jesus be saying as he strolled across the Temple’s grounds that day?
As I ponder that question, more and more I think one answer might be : some things pass away, and some endure.
So, let’s look at today’s reading from that perspective, noting those things that were – and are – no more, and those things that continue to be.
But before we consider the two, let’s remind ourselves about the Temple….
King Herod the Great began the building of the Temple in the year 20 BC, when he had been king for 18 years. Its building extended almost until the time of its destruction (beyond Herod’s lifetime). By the time Jesus walked through its courts, it was complete enough to grasp its monumental nature, and its grandeur. The Jewish historian Josephus (who lived from c. 37 – 100 AD) tells us that 1,000 priests labored on it, supplemented by tens of thousands of others.
It was ornate: Josephus describes it this way (in his volume The Jewish War):
“The sacred edifice itself, the holy temple, in the central position, was
approached by a flight of twelve steps. The façade was of equal height and
breadth, each being a hundred cubits (roughly 150 feet!); but the building
behind was narrower by forty cubits (60 feet), for in front, it had as it were
shoulders extending twenty cubits (30 feet) on either side. The first gate
was seventy cubits (105 feet) high and twenty five (40 feet) broad, and had no
doors, displaying unexcluded the void expanse of heaven; the entire face was
covered with gold, and through it the first edifice was visible to a spectator
without in all its grandeur, and the surroundings of the inner gate all gleaming
with gold fell beneath his eye.
The exterior of the building wanted nothing that could astound either mind or
eye. For, being covered on all sides with massive plates of gold, the sun
was no sooner up than it radiated so fiery a flash that persons straining to
look at it were compelled to avert their eyes, as from the solar rays.”
Even if Josephus was exaggerating a little (and some scholars think he might have stretched the truth a bit here and there), the magnificence of the Temple comes through to us, even considering his archaic writing style.
No wonder the disciples were awed by its grandeur and its size…it seemed so permanent!
After all, the Temple Mount, upon which the Temple itself stood, was enormous, with walls 50 to 80 feet above the surrounding streets and the Kidron Valley on the eastern side. Its walls were made of gigantic stones, some of which weigh 20 tons. (I often wonder how they moved those heavy stones!).
The Temple Mount can be seen today, the stones of its walls bearing the distinctive edging that Josephus describes as being a mark of construction projects that Herod undertook.
And yet, the Temple itself was utterly destroyed….its permanence disappeared, its significance had passed away. Today, an excavated street on the western side of the Temple Mount bears silent witness to the stones from the Temple that were thrown down, crushing the paving stones 50 feet below.
Some things pass away, others endure.
And so, we return now to the text, and to the things that have passed away, and to the things that endure:
We’ve already considered the Temple’s passing.
Yet Jesus’ prediction endures….
In fact, in verse eight, Jesus warns of the false prophets who will be present during the time of the destruction of the Temple. He says, “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.”
Josephus’ words seems strikingly similar to Jesus’ prediction. In The Jewish War he says, “A star resembling a sword stood over the city; a comet continued for a year; a light as bright as the day shone around the altar for half an hour; a cow gave birth to a lamb in the Temple; the great brass gate of the inner court swung open of its own accord; chariots appeared in the air and armed battalions hurtled through the clouds; and one Jesus, son of Ananias, stood up in the Temple and pronounced woes on Jerusalem.”
Now even discounting the symbolic language that may be a part of Josephus’ description, we can still come to the conclusion that the awful times that Jesus predicted did, in fact, come to pass.
But Jesus’ prediction goes on. Now, He turns His attention to the hardships that His followers will face: They will be:
- arrested and persecuted
- handed over to synagogues and prisons
- brought before kings and governors
- betrayed by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends, and
- some will be put to death.
And so, this part of Jesus’ prediction had already taken place by the time Luke set his account to writing….the first organized persecutions took place under the Emperor Nero about the year 64 AD. These hardships followed the imprisonments, trials, and martyrdoms of people like James, Peter and Stephen (see Acts chapters four through eight, particularly).
Jesus’ words endured.
And yet, before we leave today’s text, we ought to note two statements that don’t seem to go together….They are:
“And they will put some of you to death.” (Verse 17)
-and-
“But not a hair of your head will perish.” (Verse 18)
How can those two statements go together?
Maybe the answer lies in things that are passing away, and things that endure….
Here is a possible explanation:
If some of Jesus’ followers would be put to death, then their earthly life passes away, it ceases to exist. Returning to the image of the temple, their earthly temple passes away.
And yet, if “not a hair of their heads” will perish, then their eternal existence with Christ endures, just as Jesus’ words endure. For we read in Matthew 10: 28 – 30, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
And so, Our Lord encourages us, concluding with these words, “By your endurance you will gain your souls.”
Some things pass away, and others endure.
Thanks be to God!
