Vital Signs

You wouldn’t believe how many internet sites are devoted to Biblical prophecy about the end times. Or maybe you would. Some of them focus on natural disasters, some identify various world leaders as the Antichrist, others see events in Israel and the Middle East as key. One site highlights UFO’s, others concentrate on trends toward world government, from the Kyoto accords to the WTO. What are we to make of it all? How are we to interpret the signs? Are we to ignore them, saying it’s all metaphor, or should we search them for a detailed road map to Armageddon? Should we consider this stage in our history to be a wake-up call from God or just a bump in the road toward universal peace and prosperity?

Jesus begins this passage in Luke with an observation about one of the great structures of the ancient world, the temple in Jerusalem. In Jesus’ day, Jerusalem’s temple was in the midst of a grand rebuilding program. Herod the great started it in about 20 BC and the building wasn’t complete until forty years or so after Jesus’ death. It was decorated with gifts from most of the surrounding countries and had received notice around the entire Roman world. And it was also the center of worship for the Jewish people, not only the sign and symbol of their source of power and meaning, but also its very dwelling place. It’s tempting to think of the Twin Towers, and draw explicit parallels, isn’t it? Of course there are parallels. But which ones are legitimate?

All three of the synoptic gospels - by the way, synoptic means “look-alike” and the term refers to Matthew, Mark and Luke - deal with this set of Jesus’ teachings. Now both Old and New Testament prophecy typically points to a near-term event and an end-time event. Sometimes the prophet deals with both short- and long-term at the same time, and sometimes he moves back and forth between the two; sometimes it’s hard to tell which, since the events mirror and echo one another. Mark’s account has the greatest ambiguity in the time references, Matthew focuses on the long-term realization, while Luke highlights the short-term, in particular the destruction of Jerusalem. The discourse is both prophetic and apocalyptic. The prophecy part comes as Jesus speaks about Jerusalem, and the temple, and what his hearers can expect from this life. Prophetic promise frames itself in terms of everyday history. God works - and will continue to work - through agents already present. The next part of the passage, which we are not going to look at today, is more apocalyptic - that word means an opening up - because it speaks of God’s breaking into history in an unexpected and marvelous way.

The time frame Jesus is dealing with begins with persecution in the early church and ends with the Lord’s return, a time frame we now know represents centuries, even millennia. When the God’s people come to the final showdown between good and evil at the end of time, God will step in through the Son of Man to deliver them. In the meantime, in the short term, the disciples will face persecution. Israel will be overrun. And some aspects of that destruction will be repeated toward the end of time as well.

Jesus gets their attention by declaring that the building which is the heart and soul of their identity is not permanent. “The days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” [v. 6] This was an absolutely devastating idea. How could God allow his very own sacred place of worship to be reduced to rubble - especially after so much effort had gone into its building? But this is Jesus, not just their rabbi, but the Messiah, who ought to know about these things, and so the disciples ask - sort of gingerly, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” [v. 7]

So Jesus gives them a list of things to expect. It is, in effect, a chronology of coming events - but in reverse. There will be messianic pretenders. There will be wars. There will be earthquakes and famines. There will be signs and portents. But before any of that happens, there will be persecution. It starts almost immediately after the crucifixion. Enemies will lay hands on the disciples, persecute them, and confine them to prisons. Some of this persecution will come from their own people, the Jews. The disciples will testify before kings and governors. Throughout all of this, the most important role for the disciple is that of witness. As we have seen in the centuries since Jesus first spoke these words, the most effective witnessing usually takes place in the presence of the most intense possible pressure to renounce one’s faith.