A day will come when this world will be no more: when Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. This is a central tenet of the Catholic faith. We profess this belief when we recite the creed. As we near the end of the liturgical year the readings for Mass provide us with an opportunity to reflect upon the end times. It is important for us to do so: to be reminded of the fact that ultimately we will either be in heaven or hell for all eternity. We can either turn towards Jesus and heaven or we can turn away from Jesus and approach hell. The choice is ours.
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold & Signs and Persecutions
And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, “As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” And they asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?” And he said, “Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives. Luke 21 : 5-19
Scriptural Analysis
This passage opens with Jesus encountering some people who were admiring the beauty of the temple. Indeed, the historian Josephus records how Herod the Great worked to adorn the temple like none before him had done. The temple had massive white stones which made it look snow-covered from a distance. The facade of the sanctuary was covered in gold. It was truly a sight to behold.
In response to their admiration of the temple Jesus, who had been teaching in the temple, shifts his teaching and addresses the future of the temple. He foretells of the impending destruction of the temple in a similar way that Jeremiah had prophesied about the fall of the first temple, “Therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.” (Jeremiah 7:15) He speaks about days to come when not a stone will be left standing. Josephus again details the destruction of the temple during the Roman siege of Jerusalem by Titus in AD 70. The temple and the surrounding courts were cast on fire on the same day and month when the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. What remained after the fire was demolished.
Jesus is asked when these things will happen. That starts his second major discourse on eschatology, on the end times. Once again he includes prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem as well as the judgment of the world at his second coming. The first is a sign of the second, that is to say, the destruction of the temple foretells the end of the world. Each part of the temple was viewed to represent part of creation. The entire temple was considered to represent the universe, the Holy of Holies represented heaven, the menorah represented the known planets, and the twelve loaves of the bread of presence represented the months of the year. Hence, events like those that preceded the fall of the temple will precede the end of their world.
Jesus tells of persecutions that must occur and warns people not to follow or be deceived by the false prophet who purport to come in his name. One such Egyptian Jew did so in AD 56 leading thousands in a rebellion that was put down by Rome. Jesus warns about wars and insurrections that must also happen. History records the revolt of the Zealots in AD 66 as well as the turmoil that occurred in Rom in AD 68 upon the death of Emperor Nero and the ensuing power struggle.
Jesus uses Old Testament language to express divine judgment: natural disasters such as earthquakes, “you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise” (Isaiah 29:6) as well as famines, “famine and sword.” (Isaiah 51:19) Jesus also mentions mighty sights and signs that will be visible in the sky.
Those in authority will persecute the disciples before the fall of Jerusalem. In God’s plan, such persecution will give the disciples an opportunity to give testimony about Jesus. In the Acts of the Apostles, we will read about the persecution that the disciples undergo as well as their rejoicing for having undergone such persecution. In this way, the last of the Beatitudes is realized in them, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” (Luke 6:22-23) This persecution will divide families as disciples are handed over by relatives and friends.
For some, this persecution will lead to death by martyrdom. However, God promises that not a hair on their head will perish, “even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Luke 12:7) Through their martyrdom they will receive the ultimate crown on top of their head. Perseverance on earth will produce much fruit in the eternal life.
Daily Application
There are two overriding themes that one should take away from these end-time predictions of Jesus: unfaithfulness to God will be punished and one day, the world will end. These are not comfortable themes to talk about. We like to envision God as a loving and merciful father, which he is, but just as a human father has to discipline his children when they step too far over the line, the same holds true for God. Additionally, the world will not go on forever. At some point in time, it will end. Furthermore, even if that is far in the future, at some point our life will end and we need to be prepared for that.
The destruction of the temple was ultimately the result of the Jewish people turning away from God. In Jeremiah’s prophecy regarding the destruction of the first temple we read, “And now, because you have done all these things, says the Lord, and when I spoke to you persistently you did not listen, and when I called you, you did not answer, therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shilo.” (Jeremiah 7:13-14) The people turned their back on God and it cost them: it cost them the great temple of Solomon. Likewise, the destruction of the second temple is a result of that same turning against God.
The Bible tells us over and over again about the devastation that befalls the people of God when they turn from him. Yet, we somehow think we are immune to this. We somehow think that as a people, as a culture, we can turn from God and not suffer the consequences. Now, I am not here to predict when and what those will be however, I am certain that if we continue to drift further and further away from him, we will suffer a similar fate.
Second, the world will come to an end. That is an absolute certainty. There will be a point in time when Christ returns in all his glory and a final judgment occurs. Furthermore, even if that happens after our lifetime, we know there is a point in time when our life will end. Humans are really bad about acting as if there will always be time: time to make amends: time to change our lives. The fact of the matter is, that is not the case. At a point in time in which none of us can predict, we will either pass from this life or the world will end.
When combined, these two themes point us in a definitive direction. They point us toward God. Regardless of what the world as a whole is doing, individually we can turn to God, and we can get closer to him. Furthermore, we should not delay but do that now. We need to get to confession and repent of our sins. We need to live each and every day as if it is our last. Not in the sense of forgoing your responsibilities and checking items off of your bucket list. Rather, we need to ensure that our soul is always ready, ready to be called home at any point in time.
This life is but a blink of an eye. Our true life is our eternal one. It will either be spent in heaven or in hell. There is no other option. Let us decide where we want to spend eternity today. Then let us also live our lives always focussed on that choice so that no matter when we are called home we are always ready to face judgment confident we did all we could to follow the Master.
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