The best fairy tales come from the worst fears…
Most of them were written in a time where poverty, famine and childhood abandonment were common.
All three of those are mixed into a story about kids getting lost in the woods and eventually meeting a cannibalistic witch in a children’s story you may have heard of the story named Hansel and Gretel.
Brothers Grimm also wrote…
Rapunzel dealt with fears associated with unwed pregnancy… You heard me correctly.
Remember the nice prince who rescues the princess by climbing in the tower? “Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your golden hair”. That’s not why he climbed in the tower in original tale.
“The witch knew nothing of these rendezvous until one day during her visit with Rapunzel she was asked very innocently “Why don’t my cloths fit me anymore?” it was then that the witch realized what Rapunzel had been doing so she cut off all of Rapunzel’s hair and sent her to a different tower in the dessert far from any civilization.
The prince not knowing the danger that was laid before him went to the tower to see his beloved but found the witch there waiting for him. After a struggle the prince fell out of the tower into a bed of thorns that gouged out his eyes so that he could no longer see. He wondered the forest for years blind.
In the meantime Rapunzel lived in the desert, her hair grew back and she gave birth to a set of twins. The prince eventually made his way out of the forest and into the desert. While there he heard Rapunzel singing and went towards the voice. When he found her she fell on him weeping tears of grief, these tears healed his eyes and allowed him to see again. He rescued his family and brought them back to his castle to live happily ever after.
From: http://www.suite101.com/content/rapunzel-a13216
We all love Disney’s version of “The Little Mermaid”. That’s a tamed down version of what kids in Hans Christian Anderson’s day got.
In that version, the mermaid gives up her fins to meet the prince of her dreams. There’s a few drawbacks though: not only is she mute, she also constantly feels like she is walking on knives. Yeah. In the end, the prince ends up marrying the neighboring princess anyway, breaking the poor mermaid’s heart. However, she is given a way out when she is given a magical knife that she is to kill the prince with, once that happens, she can become a mermaid again. Even after all that, she cannot bring herself to kill the prince, instead turning the knife on herself.
Childhood mortality is dealt with in …. Rock-a-bye baby…
Ring around the rosies…
This rhyme comes from England in the time of the Great Plague, in those days the Plague was so rife that people would carry around with them a ‘posy’ (which is a small bunch of flowers) that they held under their noses to help stop them catching the plague. A tishew, a tishew, (sneezing, ie caught the plague) we all fall down (as in we all fall down dead).
Which leads us to Tim Lahaye’s Left Behind series… the fear that we would be ready for God when he shows up with the big stick.
Today we are going to look at a very scary story that’s been made into good fiction over and over again because we are having a hard time handling the truth of it.
Luke 21:5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said,
It was more than twice the size of the Acropolis in Athens. Its perimeter was almost a mile long. One of the stones of the temple complex still remaining measures 45 x 11.5 x 12 feet and is estimated to weigh 570 tons.
6"As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down."
The days will come refers not to the second coming but to a time in history before that. The literal destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.
7"Teacher," they asked, "when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?"
Jesus can be pretty tricky in his responses to questions. He’s really good at getting to the heart of the matter before you even realize it. Their question is about predicting God. Jesus’ response is about God predicting them.
Let me unpack that…
What would you do if you knew when God would return? The same thing you do with library books, wait till the last minute. Or a better example is the amount you pay to those Red Box movie machines for just one movie because you waited so long to return it!
These people are trying to read God like a game of poker. Jesus flips the tables around before they even notice. His answer to their question seems to be straightforward, but it’s not. Instead of addressing what they are asking, he addresses what they should be asking.
What they are asking is, “when do we have to get serious about our obedience?” For some it was “how long do we have to remain obedient before we can kick back and take it easy?”
What they should be asking instead is, “how should we equip ourselves for this war we’re walking into?” Jesus is not going to just describe an event, he’s going to describe a state of being.
That’s the scary part.
Luke 21 and Matthew 24 are two of the most debated passages of scripture. Everyone wants to know when this stuff Jesus is describing will happen.
History tells us that the destruction of Jerusalem occurs in a.d. 70.
We also know that this destruction of the city is used by Jesus as a pattern or a “type” (a typological example) that points to the ultimate destruction that will come at the end of the age when Christ returns.
I wish we didn’t know this. Now all we want to figure out in this chapter is which verse is talking about AD 70 and which verses are talking about the big show at the end. So we debate these finer points and miss the big point.
(eye chart: today we will focus on the big E)
8He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. 9When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away." 10Then he said to them: "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
Heard of any wars lately? Know of any diseases that have been giving people problems lately? How about food shortages?
What does that mean? The end is near! These are the last days! (now buy my book and dvd for more details)
Guess what was going on for them in the 1st century. Wars, diseases and food shortages. The end was near for them too.
Everybody thinks that their times are the end times. Because they are.
Jesus isn’t just talking about what will happen to these people. He’s talking about who they will become. This isn’t just about a battle to be fought some time in the future. This is about a war that will take a lifetime.
Let me explain…
Religion causes war. The reason this is true is because your whole foundation, way of viewing life and death changes. People with different faiths are about as far from one another as they can be. Conflict is inevitable. This is why it’s so insane to marry someone with a different faith.
2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
Jesus is not just telling them the way out of conflict. This isn’t the cheat code to skip Armageddon. He’s bringing conflict on, and he knows it. He’s causing the conflict. There’s a reason why the Bible is called a sword in Hebrews 4:12.
Wait a minute. I thought Jesus was called the Prince of Peace. He does bring peace between man and God for those who want it. What those who find peace in God will quickly discover though is that peace with God will then cause conflict with people who don’t have peace with God.
The Prince of Peace himself said…
Matthew 10:34 "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Well what about what Paul wrote in…
Romans 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Here’s the thing about trouble in your Christian life. You don’t have to go out looking for it. It will be looking for you.
All these temples we build in our life hoping to escape that reality will eventually come crashing down. Not one stone of that job or house or popularity or admiration from others or addiction will be left on another.
Jesus won’t even have to destroy this temple himself. He knows people with a different belief system will do it anyways. (for the Jews it was the Romans)
He’s trying to prepare them for this battle, not between Jews and Romans or Christians and Jews, but between light and dark…
Luke 21:12 "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13This will result in your being witnesses to them.
The word for “witness” is martyrion. The same root for the word martyr.
14But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
This doesn’t mean that Jesus will give all his disciples a get out of jail free card for the rest of their lives. What it does mean is that God will do whatever it takes to glorify his name in us. When God get’s glory, we find our greatest joy, even in the midst of the most difficult times of life, like what Jesus is about to describe.
16You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.
Been there? Not the death part because you’re here still, but the betrayal? It hurts.
17All men will hate you because of me. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By standing firm you will gain life.
Death can’t even destroy a hair of your head if you are a witness for Christ.
God’s economy works in reverse. The more you give, the more you gain. You rule by serving. You rejoice in suffering. Why wouldn’t you gain life by losing it for Christ sake? The insanity of it just makes sense.
Next Jesus get’s specific as to how it will apply to Jerusalem. I think he does this because he truly feels for what they are about to go through.
20"When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near.
Jesus had already wept and described this in ch. 19.
We read of Jesus’ crucifixion and find that the Romans forced Jesus cross on a man from Cyrene named Simon. The Romans forced Jesus’ cross on more than just one man. Every Jew in Jerusalem would feel it in some way. This made Jesus weep.
21Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.
Now’s the really scary uncomfortable part where we have to take our blame off the big bad Romans for this massacre to come and realize that God’s vengeance is behind the whole thing.
It’s not that the Romans are so bad and mean and everyone was the innocent victim. Reality is God’s vengeance against sin is just that destructive.
This takes us back to a passage we read earlier. I should have finished reading it.
Romans 12:17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
That’s the easy part to square in our minds. Now read further…
19Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,"says the Lord.
This makes us uncomfortable, especially when it’s aimed at us. We love God’s grace, but we fear his justice. Unless it’s aimed at that guy who just stole our credit card or cut us off in traffic, then we call down God’s vengeance.
Can I be honest? We are just too fickle, selfish and confused to presume to be bothered by God’s ways. Who are we to know any better? Who are we do judge God?
Fear God? Absolutely. Pass judgment on him? Tell me how that works out for you.
Luke 21:23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
This is where I think Jesus makes a leap from AD 70 to the 2nd coming. But who cares? The point is that we should live today like every moment of our life is Armageddon.
25"There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
(heroes in children’s stories)
Here comes our hero…
27At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
That will make it worth it all.
29He told them this parable: "Look at the fig tree and all the trees. 30When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. 31Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32"I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Get it? The kingdom of God was near then and it’s near now. Jesus’ word to this crowd is just as appropriate for us today as it was to them 2000 years ago.
OK OK.
This is where everyone stops reading in Luke 21. All the sexy stuff is done. The stars have fallen the men have fainted in terror. The end times stuff, the scary part is done. Roll credits.
The reality is that Jesus has been teasing and baiting their attention to lead them to this conclusion.
34"Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. 35For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."
You aren’t just in training, you’re already in battle. This isn’t a place of safety and training, it’s a place of danger and doing.
Quit trying to predict God’s next move and pay attention to what he’s doing right here, right now in and through you.
