Body

There are 2 slightly different sermons on this page...

Year B : 2 Before Advent Mark 13:1-8

Mark 13:1 As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!" 2 "Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.": 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?" :5 Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, `I am he,' and will deceive many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

CLICK HERE FOR POWERPOINT (8MB) OF PICTURES/MODELS OF THE TEMPLE AND SURROUNDING AREA

Introductory Talk:

What is the most impressive building you have ever seen?

Get congregation to discuss and feedback.

I would imagine that anything any of us has ever seen would pale into insignificance if we could have seen the temple in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. With its beauty and massive stones it looked the embodiment of permanence. According to Josephus (Antiquities, 15.11.3), some stones were 37 feet long, 12 feet high and 18 feet wide.

GET PEOPLE/CHILDREN TO MARK THIS OUT USING A TAPE MEASURE

Main Talk:

Feel the world is out of control and we can do nothing to influence it? E.g. Global warming; wars in Iraq, Afghanistan etc. People starving in Africa. Unfair trade.

In our own lives we may feel out of control. With the busy-ness of jobs, families, preparations for Christmas.

Today's gospel reminds us that God is in control.

The magnificemnt Temple that Jesus' disciples were admiring would be a pile of rubble forty years later.

King Herod became king when Jerusalem was captured in 37 BC. Midway in his reign, he launched the project of rebuilding the temple on a grander scale. The building started in 20-19 BC. The temple itself, was finished in a year and a half, but it took 8 years to complete the courts and cloisters. Herod died in 4 B.C., so Jesus could not have been born after 4 B.C. ! The total work of rebuilding was not entirely completed till 64 AD. So, around 30 A.D. Jesus' disciples would have seen the completed temple, some of it nearly fifty years old and it's surroundings, some of which had yet to be completed.

Built of white marble, covered with heavy plates of gold in front and rising high above its marble-cloistered courts, themselves a succession of terraces, the temple was compared by Josephus to a snow-covered mountain. It was a conspicuous and dazzling object from every side. "Whatever was not overlaid with gold was purest white" (Josephus, Jewish War, 5.5.6.).

After this prophecy by Jesus in 30 A.D. (or 29) there were earthquakes in Crete ( A.D. 46 or 47), Rome ( A.D. 51), at Phrygia ( A.D. 60), and Campania ( A.D. 63). There were four famines during the reign of Claudius 41-54 A.D. One of them was in Judea in 44 A.D. and is alluded to in Acts 11:28 Tacitus describes hurricanes and storms in Campania in 65 A.D. See verses 7-8.

In A.D. 70 Jesus' prediction about the destruction of the Temple was fulfilled when the Romans under Titus completely destroyed Jerusalem, its inhabitants and the temple buildings. Stones were even prized apart to collect the gold leaf that melted from the roof when the temple was set on fire. Excavations in 1968 uncovered large numbers of the stones, toppled from the walls by the invaders.

There were few if any Christians in Jerusalem because they knew of Jesus' words in verses Luke 21:20-24. 20 "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then 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. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 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. 24 They 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.

The Christians escaped from Jerusalem before, or during its siege. Many of them went across the River Jordan to a town called Pella.

Jerusalem was punished by God because it had rejected Jesus whom God had sent to save them. He was the Messiah that they were so eagerly looking forward to, but they rejected him.

This pattern, of salvation for believers and judgement for those who do not accept Jesus, will be repeated when he returns. This is probably included in Mark's gospel to encourage believers who were being persecuted for their faith.

We need to be aware that there are brothers and sisters in Christ being persecuted for their faith in many parts of the world. We can pray for them and we can support organizations who help persecuted Christians and who lobby for justice. e.g. The Barnabas Fund, www.barnabasfund.org, and Right to Justice, www.righttojustice.org.

We think of the how Jesus' disciples' felt on Good Friday after he had been crucified. They were afraid, powerless, without hope. Yet two days later they encountered the risen Lord Jesus and this, together with the power of His Spirit transformed them.

We may feel hopeless and powerless when we think of the world today, but God is in control. He has a plan. The pinnacle of that plan is those whom he has chosen to be with him forever with perfect resurrection bodies, praising and serving him forever with other all the other believers throughout history.

We should not invest in the physical & temporal but build up treasures in heaven. Nothing we own will ever compare to the temple, but it was reduced to rubble, the people of Jerusalem massacred.

In our culture there is an emphasis on the physical; people's wealth, possessions, bodies, achievements, and so on. Today's gospel reminds us that the things of earth, however grand and permanent they might seem, are temporary in the light of eternity.

We should also stand up for Christianity in our own culture. The Archbishop of York challenged us to do this at the start of this week when he referred to the way references to Christ are being omitted from Christmas celebrations.

As believers, therefore, we should concentrate on developing our own faith and helping the faith of others. This should be a priority for us. We should be committed to worshipping together and individually, spreading the good news of Jesus, learning about our faith and loving others. These are the four marks of the WELL church found in Acts 2. Worshipping. Evangelizing. Learning. Loving.

cf Have Your Say

We can be motivated by the sure promise of the return of Jesus. At Christmas we will be celebrating his first coming. One day we will really be able to really celebrate as he takes us to be with him in glory. On the day he returns everyone will see him, everyone will bow down before him because they will see his glory, majesty and power. But only those who have already bowed down before him will be united with him in glory.

Let us rejoice in the hope of glory that is ours in Christ.

Let us reject the temptations of the physical in the light of the eternal

Let us reach out to help Christians who are being persecuted for their faith today

Colossians 3:1 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

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What is the most impressive building you have ever seen? Get congregation to discuss and feedback.

I would imagine that anything any of us has ever seen would pale into insignificance if we could have seen the temple in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus. This was rebuilt by King Herod. He became king when Jerusalem was captured in 37 BC. Midway in his reign, he launched the project of rebuilding the temple on a grander scale. The building started in 20-19 BC. The temple itself, was finished in a year and a half, but it took 8 years to complete the courts and cloisters. Herod died in 4 B.C., so Jesus could not have been born after 4 B.C. ! The total work of rebuilding was not entirely completed till 64 AD. So, around 30 A.D. Jesus' disciples would have seen the completed temple, some of it nearly fifty years old and it's surroundings, some of which had yet to be completed.

With its beauty and massive stones it looked the embodiment of permanence. According to Josephus (Antiquities, 15.11.3), some stones were 37 feet long, 12 feet high and 18 feet wide.

There were few if any Christians because they knew of Jesus' words in verses Luke 21:20-24. 20 "When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then 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. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 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. 24 They 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.

The Christians escaped from Jerusalem before, or during its siege. Many of them went across the River Jordan to a town called Pella.

Jerusalem was punished by God because it had rejected Jesus whom God had sent to save them. He was the Messiah that they were so eagerly looking forward to, but they rejected him.

What is the message for us today in the Western world?

1] In our culture there is an emphasis on the physical; people's wealth, possessions, bodies, achievements, and so on. Today's gospel reminds us that the things of earth, however grand and permanent they might seem, are temporary in the light of eternity.

As believers, therefore, we should concentrating on developing our own faith and the faith of others. This should be a priority for us. We should be committed to worshipping together and individually, spreading the good news of Jesus, learning about our faith and loving others. These are the four marks of the WELL church found in Acts 2. Worshipping. Evangelizing. Learning. Loving.

We can be motivated by the sure promise of the return of Jesus. Soon we will be celebrating his first coming. One day we will really be able to celebrate as he takes us to be with him in glory. Receiving the gift of perfect resurrection bodies. Being able to serve and worship God with all the other saints in eternity.

2] We also need to be aware that there are brothers and sisters in Christ being persecuted for their faith in many parts of the world. We can pray for them and we can support organizations who help persecuted Christians and who lobby for justice. e.g. The Barnabas Fund, www.barnabasfund.org, and Right to Justice, www.righttojustice.org.

3] We should also stand up for Christianity in our own culture. The Archbishop of York challenged us to do this at the start of this week when he referred to the way references to Christ are being omitted from Christmas celebrations.