"Be On Your Guard, Don’t Be Fooled”

In Jesus Holy Name November 17, 2024

Text: Mark 13:1-2 Pentecost XXVI Redeemer

“Be On Your Guard, Don’t Be Fooled”

What a week it’s been for all of us! This has been one of those rare moments when time, which had been rolling smoothly along with election results pouring in many were wondering if there would be rioting in the streets. We wondered if there would be a smoot transition of power.

Naturally, the war in the Middle East, Ukraine are on everyone’s mind. How many news anchors have said “It seems the world is on fire.” Television has enabled us to sit at home and watch the Scud missiles attacking Tel Aviv. Will the Suez Canal ever be safe for travel. We see it instantly as it happens, and that’s never been possible before. Satellite technology gives us a ringside seat.

For many years the Middle East has been a tinderbox, with its warring factions and desert sheikdoms armed to the teeth, waiting, hoping and praying for a chance to be rid of their ancestral enemies.

Civilization began in the Middle East. Perhaps that is where it will end. War is always frightening, but this war could become something much worse. It could lead us to Armageddon. And that could happen quicker and easier than we think. I Peter 4:7, “The end of all things is at hand.” That verse seems a lot more relevant today than it did just one year ago. Can there be peace?

Wars come about because of the sinfulness of humanity. Warfare comes from the fallen nature of man. Whenever two nations go to war, sin is always involved somewhere. There may be sins of pride and oppression or there may be sins of brutality and naked aggression, but sin is always part of the equation. It is useful to remind ourselves that God often sent his people into war in the Old Testament in order to secure their new promised land. There were also times that God even used war against His own chosen people because of their failure to worship Him and their failure to seek justice.

There was time when Jeremiah prophesied about the coming destruction of

Jerusalem by the Babylonians. The Babylonians, under King Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem in 897 BC and carried into exile Daniel, Meshack, Shadrack and Abednego. Jeremiah is very clear about the coming destruction because false worship in Jerusalem (Read Jeremiah 7:1-11)

Listen again to verse 11. “Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? I have been watching declares the Lord.”

The days of war are not yet past. In Mark 13 Jesus tells about the future destruction of Jerusalem. The story of the widow’s mite last Sunday was not about stewardship but about the coming judgment against the “Pharisees” and the entrenched religious corruption in the Temple. This is why Jesus threw out the money changers who were “defrauding” God’s people who simply wanted to worship God in the Temple. We know from last weeks message our the prophecy of Jesus in Mark 13 is part of a larger verbal exchange that is happening in the temple during Holy Week.

The triumph of Palm Sunday is over. Day two. Jerusalem. Jesus “The King of kings”, “The Son of David” has entered His temple and quotes Isaiah 5 by telling the parable of the owner of the vineyard who came to His vineyard looking for “justice and righteousness”. Jesus is pointing a finger directly at the “teachers of the law” who were gaining their wealth by “devouring widows’ houses” and then claiming to hide their unrighteous behavior with lengthy prayers meant to impress. Jesus said: “Beware of the teachers of the law who devour widow’s houses.”

This is why

Jesus enters the Temple complex and began driving out the people buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He knocked over the tables of the money changers and the chairs of those selling doves, and he stopped everyone from using the Temple as a marketplace. Jesus said, “My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nation, but you have turned it into a den of thieves” (Mark 11:15-17, NLT).

Mark 13 begins: “As Jesus was leaving the temple,….” It’s now Wednesday before He was crucified. He and his disciples are on the Mt. of Olives. Under the shadow of the temple, He told them what the world would be like after He was gone. In that message, He included these famous words: “You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.” (Matthew 24:6)

J. B. Phillips translates it this way: “The time is coming when you will hear the noise of battle near at hand and the news of battles far away; see that you are not alarmed.” That certainly describes this past and present year, doesn’t it? “The news of battles far away.” (from a sermon in Matthew 21 by Ray Pritcuard.)