Signs of the times

 

Now as soon as the army had no more people to kill or plunder...Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple...this was the end which Jerusalem came to.  --Josephus, War of the Jews

Greek philosopher Heraclitus said, "The only constant in life is change."  Every time I drive through my old home town I notice something is different.  The theater or restaurant where we used to hang out is closed or torn down.  New shops and restaurants are popping up all around.  The intersection that once had a stop sign now has a traffic light, or even a traffic circle.  The whole skyline of the town seems different, as does the soul.  Although the changes may be good for the community, they never seem as good as our memories of the way things used to be.

In the book of Mark, the thirteenth chapter begins with Jesus and the disciples coming to Jerusalem and describing the Temple, the most important landmark there, as if they were tourists.  Surely these men had seen the Temple before, but they were still in awe of it. "Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, 'Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!' " (Mark 13:1).  This exclamation is not as strange as it may seem.

History tells us that Herod's temple took over 80 years to build.  Construction began in 19 BC and wasn't totally complete until 63 AD, and the finished product was almost 500 yards long and 400 yards wide.  Historian Josephus said that the temple was covered on the outside by gold plates that were so brilliant that when the sun shone it was blinding.  Where there wasn't gold, there were blocks of marble of such a pure white that from a distance, strangers thought that there was snow on the temple.  So when this unnamed disciple was visiting the temple with Jesus in 32 or 33 AD, it was still under construction.  Perhaps construction workers had just set a slab of marble so white it was blinding, causing the disciple to marvel at the stonework as if he were seeing it for the first time.

Jesus' response, however, was unexpected.  Mark 13:2 says, "And Jesus answered and said to him, 'Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  Jesus prophesied the utter destruction of the temple, which we now know occurred in 70 AD.  It is said that at the fall of Jerusalem, the last surviving Jews of the city fled to the temple because it was the strongest, most secure building remaining.  Roman soldiers surrounded it, and one drunken soldier started a fire that soon engulfed the whole building.  Ornate gold detail work in the roof melted down into the cracks between the stone walls of the temple.  To retrieve the gold, the Roman commander ordered that the temple be dismantled stone by stone.  The destruction was so complete that today researchers have some difficulty learning exactly where the temple stood.

Almost 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, I'll bet that the disciples looking at the building's construction and materials actually thought the temple would last forever.  If Jesus was prophesying the destruction of this massive building, with stones too large for modern machines to lift, then He must have been talking about the end of the world.  So four of the disciples approached Jesus and asked Him about the end times.  "Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, 'Tell us when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?' " (Mark 13:3-4)

Signs and symbols were very important in Jewish history and religion.  Many signs or symbols were kept as a remembrance of what God had done for His people.  Moses was commanded to build the Ark of the Covenant, and inside it were placed a jar of manna, to be sign that God provided for them in the wilderness; Aaron's rod that budded, to be a sign of God's direction to them in setting up the priesthood; and the two stones on which God had written the original ten commandments.  Joshua was commanded to take twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan river, where God had parted the waters so that the people could cross into the Promised Land on dry ground, and set them together as an altar as a sign of God's leadership (see Joshua 4).

Throughout Jewish history, too, God had sent prophets to give signs of things to come.  In 1 Kings 13 an unnamed prophet spoke words against the evil king Jeroboam, saying that another king, Josiah, would be born in the line of David and defeat Jeroboam.  "And he gave a sign the same day, saying, 'This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.' "  Sure enough, the altar was split and the ashes poured out, just as God had said.  Perhaps more familiar to us is the passage from Isaiah 7:15, "Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel (God with us)."  That was a direct prophecy to Ahaz, king of Israel, but was ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:22-23, "For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."  The disciples were Jews, and they asked for a sign to watch for, something that might signal the end of the world.  Jesus responded over the next 30 or so verses, which we will study in more depth in the coming weeks.  

However, I think it is important that we heed Paul's advice when people ask for signs: we should look to Jesus.  Yes, the miracles He performed were signs that He was divine.  The greatest sign of all time was the resurrection of Jesus, because it signals God's love for us--the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus is foundational to our faith; the bodily resurrection is our hope of heaven (see 1 Corinthians 15:17).  

As we wade into the answers that Jesus gave in Mark 13 to the disciples' question about signs of the end times, some of His statements may be hard to understand.  Jesus only gave them as much light as they needed--remember, this was before His death and resurrection, which they could not fathom at the time; how, then, did they think that they could comprehend end times prophecy?  It is the same with us: we have the benefit of 2000 years of history and hindsight, and although Jesus' words are as true today as they were when He first spoke them, we have no more clue what they mean than did those four disciples.  We should preach what we do know: that Jesus is God's Son, that He came to earth to dwell among us, that He died in our place, and that He rose again and ascended to the Father.  That is all we really know, and all we need to know.

In God we trust, not the almighty dollar

 

Though her words are simple and few, Listen, listen, she's calling to you: "Feed the birds, tuppence a bag, Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag."  --Mary Poppins

The one and only time I was in New York City, I took my daughter to see a Broadway play.  Of all the musicals that were showing at the time, she wanted to see Mary Poppins.  The Disney movie had been released in 1964, but we saw it on Broadway over 40 years later.

One scene in particular stands out in my memory.  Jane and Michael accompany their father, George Banks, to the financial institution where George works.  His boss, Mr. Dawes, discovers that Michael has a coin worth two pennies, commonly called a tuppence.  Dawes urges young Michael to invest his two cents in a savings account, where it can draw compound interest over his lifetime, and over time could amount to "a tidy sum."  Michael, on the other hand, sees a poor woman outside selling birdseed for tuppence a bag.  Perhaps realizing that the woman's present livelihood is worth more than his own hope of riches, Michael demands his money back so that he can give it to the woman outside.  Michael's father George warns him that this is a waste of money, but more importantly could be putting his future in jeopardy.

Over my lifetime, I have interpreted this scene differently depending upon my own financial state at the time.  I have seen it as communist propaganda (urging people to share their profits with the poor for the good of society at large); as an encouragement to "buy local" and reward small business (whose markups are very small); and as a plea for charitable giving (two cents may mean "tuppence" to you, but to someone else it may be all that they have for that day.)

I thought of that scene in that musical when I read Mark's story (found in Luke 21 as well) about the widow's two mites.

Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."  --Mark 12:41-44

 Jesus had just spoken of the Scribes loving to show off their wealth--their long robes, their best seats in the synagogue, their being invited to the best parties and being given the most prominent seat at the table, perhaps because they "devoured widow's houses" (Mark 12:38-10).  Maybe they profited from holding debt, and then calling in that debt when the primary earner died (leaving widows destitute).  Maybe they made a pretense of helping the widows by buying up their family property at pennies on the dollar, and selling at a profit.  In any case, Jesus watched them put great sums of money into the Temple treasury, knowing that this was for show--it was not a sacrifice for them to give this money away, because they would never miss it.

Contrast that with the two mites that the poor widow threw in.  We think in terms of our currency, that a penny is the smallest unit of money.  In Jesus' day, this was worth even less than that.  Some translations says that the two mites made up a penny. That's not even accurate.  In Roman times the penny was divided into four quadrans, like out dollars are divided into four quarters.  That lowly quadran, a quarter of a cent, was divided into two pieces, called mites.  This is what the poor widow gave: two coins worth a quarter of a cent.  (Dividing money this way was not uncommon--if you read pirate stories, you have heard the term "pieces of eight", which was an eighth of a gold coin.  In fact, prior to 2001, the US Stock Exchange traded in 16ths of a dollar; it was not until April 9 of that year that the Stock Market was converted to decimals.)

Dividing pennies into eighths showed just how poor this woman was, because Jesus said it was all she had.  This offering showed her great faith.  If the Scribes and rich people were "all in" to the treasury the way she was, they would be giving up all of their riches.  The poor woman gave all she had as an offering because she had nothing else to give.  What an act of faith!

In 1 Kings 17, verses 7-16, we read of Elijah testing a certain widow's faith:

And it happened that after a while that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land.  Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, "Arise, go to Zarepath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there.  See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you."  So he arose and went to Zarepath.  And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks.  And he called to her and said, "Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink."  And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, "Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand."  So she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I do not have any bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die."  And Elijah said to her, "Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son.  For thus says the Lord God of Israel: 'The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth'."  So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.  The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke by Elijah.

We don't know if the widow that Jesus saw was thinking of this Old Testament story when she brought her two mites into the Temple treasury.  What we do know is that in giving all she had, she was putting her trust fully in God alone to sustain her.  We also know that Jesus noticed; the woman was not flashy like the rich Scribes who came with buckets of money to put into the offering box.  Her two little mites did not make as much noise in the box as the clinking of many gold and silver coins would have made.  Nevertheless, Jesus noticed.  If Jesus noticed, we know that God knew of it.  I believe that God met this woman's needs because of her faith as expressed by her going "all in" with her offering.

In Psalm 37 David wrote, "I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread." (Psalm 37:25)   God takes care of His children, who come to Him in faith and pursue Him with their whole heart.  And lest we be deceived, and think that His followers are all meant to be wealthy in this world, we only need to go up a couple of  verses, to Psalm 37:23-24 which says: "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; for the Lord upholds him with His hand."  What of those who reject Him, who are not part of the elect?  Again we look to Psalm 37, this time verse 22: "For those blessed by Him shall inherit the earth, but those cursed by Him shall be cut off."

Friend, everything you have in this world you have by the grace of God.  If you are rich, your riches are entrusted to you by Him.  If you are poor, His grace sustains you.  Do not turn your back on Him.  Do not trust in yourself, for if you put your trust in anyone or anything other than Almighty God, you will be cut off.  If your needs are met, give praise to His Name.  If you are in need, if you want for anything, call out to Him, for He will sustain you.  Even if all you have is a fraction of a penny to your name, give your all to God so that He may give you the desires of His heart.

Truth: Jesus is the Messiah

 

The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."  --Psalm 110:1

Lebanese author and spiritualist Khalil Gibran said, "Many a doctrine is like a window pane.  We see truth through it but it divides us from truth."  Reformed theologian and Presbyterian pastor RC Sproul wrote, "I hear people say, 'Doctrine divides.'  Of course doctrine divides, but it also unites.  It unites the ones who love God's truth and are willing to worship Him according to that truth."  American singer and actor Elvis Presley said, "Truth is like the sun.  You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't going away."

We have seen that there were different spiritual trains of thought among Jewish religious leaders in Jesus' day.  The four main factions--Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians, and Scribes--all came to Jesus with questions designed to trip Him up, or at least put him at odds with the masses who followed Him.  In Mark's gospel, the 12th chapter, each of these groups came at Jesus with a challenge, and He turned them all away.  The last one, a Scribe, seemed to frame his question in an honest, sincere way that showed his mind was open to the teachings of Jesus.  The question was not so much designed to trip Him up as to clarify His thinking on the subject of Scripture.  In a manner of speaking, the question was about doctrine.  When His answer was accepted, Jesus told this particular Scribe that he was not far from the kingdom of God.  Would that all our doctrine would bring us closer to God!

As if to emphasize the fact that Jesus' teaching was not in line with the teaching of all Scribes, Jesus began to preach against them generally (even after praising the one specifically).  Let's read:

Then Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool".'  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  --Mark 12:35-40

 Having been approached by four different factions of Jewish leaders with questions, Jesus turns the questions back on them.  In the parallel passage in Matthew 22:41-43, Jesus specifically raised this question to the Pharisees:  "While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, 'What do you think about the Christ?  Whose Son is He?'  They said to Him, 'The son of David.'  He said to them, 'How then does David in the Spirit call Him "Lord"?'"

The question dealt with their assumptions about the Messiah.  Having been under Roman oppression for about 90 years (Jerusalem fell to General Pompey in 63 BC), the concept of the Messiah had morphed into an image of a conquering war hero, one who would overthrow Roman rule and re-establish the Davidic kingship over Jerusalem.  That image pre-supposed a human being, a mortal man.  

Jesus was teaching them that the Messiah was immortal.  Remember that this verse closely follows verse 27, "He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living."  Where in verse 27, Jesus was referencing Moses' conversation with God at the burning bush, where God gave the I AM statement about being the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  These men had died hundreds of years before Moses, but they are still alive in heaven.  Using the same logic and similar language, Jesus referenced David saying that the Messiah was alive hundreds of years before, but the Pharisees all agreed that the Messiah (or Christ, in Greek) had not yet come.  If David spoke of the Messiah in the present tense, then He would have the same attributes as God, one of which was pre-existence and pre-eminence.  God is, was, and always will be; so, too, is the Christ.

The verse He quoted from Psalm 110 was universally understood by all Jews to be a Messianic verse.  Jesus uses it to identify Himself as the Messiah.  Remember in Mark 8:27, Jesus had put this same question to the disciples privately: Who do people say that I am?  And who do you say that I am?  Peter speaks up, saying, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  In fact, Peter used the same verse from Psalm 110 that Jesus did when he explained the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with tongues of flame and the gift of languages in Acts 2:34-36: "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool".'  Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

The Scribes (and others) to whom He was speaking would have known the rest of Psalm 110, specifically verses 3 and 4:

Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power; in the beauties of holiness, from the womb of the morning, You have the dew of Your youth.  The Lord has sworn and will not relent, "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek."

 This is the basis for Jesus' condemnation of the Scribes in Mark 12:38-40.  Volunteers, or ministers, should not seek the lavish robes or high praise in the marketplace or the best seats in the synagogues, or the best places at feasts.  They should not make long prayers, or demand tithes from widows who are in danger of losing their houses (more about this in the next passage).  Instead, they should be like Jesus, who was a Servant of all.  Hebrews 10:11-14 says, "Every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.  But this Man, after He had offered on sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.  For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified."

Jesus volunteered to preach Good News to the people.  He ministered to them freely, never asking for anything in return.  Ultimately, He freely laid down His life as a sacrifice for us, so that we who are covered by His blood can avoid the wrath of God and ultimate judgment from Him.  He was holy from the womb through His youth up to the point where the Pharisees had Him arrested and crucified.  Yet even there, He acted as our High Priest, giving a sacrifice without blemish to cover the sins of the people.

This, then, is truth.  It is doctrine.  It is our eternal hope, and should unite us all.  Indeed, all men will bow before Him, either in this life or the next.