Saturday, May 21, 2011

Insert REM song here

Luke 21:5-36 NASB

And while some were talking about the temple, that it was adorned with beautiful stones and votive gifts, He said, "As for these things which you are looking at, the days will come in which there will not be left one stone upon another which will not be torn down."
They questioned Him, saying, "Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?" And He said, "See to it that you are not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not go after them. "When you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately."
Then He continued by saying to them, "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
"But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake. "It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. "So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute. "But you will be betrayed even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death, and you will be hated by all because of My name. "Yet not a hair of your head will perish. "By your endurance you will gain your lives.
"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. "Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of the city must leave, and those who are in the country must not enter the city; because these are days of vengeance, so that all things which are written will be fulfilled. "Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land and wrath to this people; and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
"There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Then He told them a parable: "Behold the fig tree and all the trees; as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. "So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
"Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."


My thoughts -

The end is near. That's what we keep hearing. This time it's that the end is coming today. Or was that yesterday in this time zone? Did I miss it? Did Mr. Camping recalculate again? The rolling rapture thing didn't make much sense to me, anyway. Not that any of it ever did.

Jesus is coming back. Soon. We are in the last days. Still. We have been for the last 2000 years. Each generation of believers has some that believe that they are the last.

This chapter was part of my devotional reading this morning. I did not plan it that way, it just kind of happened. There's some stuff in here that, quite frankly, I wish Jesus didn't say. Like the prophets before him Jesus is speaking of some pretty gnarly things. There's a lot of doom, gloom, and destruction.

We've got earthquakes. We've got plagues. We've got famine. We've got wars. We've got invading armies circling and hell, death, and destruction on earth. This is not a pretty picture that Jesus paints.

Desolation is near. Head for the hills. Woe to the pregnant and nursing. Our nation is getting trampled. We will fall by the sword. We're all going to die.

Why is Jesus saying these things? What does he mean?

I wish I understood more than I do. But this I am sure of. We have had all of these things for as long as we've had people. There have been wars and rumors of wars (see Matthew 24 and Mark 13) for the entirety of human history. We have had earthquakes. We have had famines. We have had plagues. We have had destruction. We have had death.

But what does Jesus offer his followers in response to these things? Hope. That seems odd, doesn't it? Hope? In destruction? Hope? In death?
"But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."
Your redemption is drawing near. And it has been. And it will be. We have hope in Jesus even in what would seem to be the most hopeless of situations. We have hope in the face of destruction. We have hope in the face of destruction. We have hope in the face of death.

I'm not convinced Jesus was describing a particular day here any more than he was describing all days. Each and every day some disaster strikes somewhere. Horrible, horrible things happen everywhere, all the time. In the face of these horrible things we who believe know that God is still in control. We who believe know that we have hope in Jesus.

The world is probably not going to end today. (Yesterday? I'm still confused about the whole rolling rapture/international date line thing.) But we will face terrible tragedies. And in the face of them we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we have hope in Jesus.
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