Be on guard and stay awake

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!" And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down." And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?" And Jesus began to say to them, "See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains. "But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. "From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. - Mark 13:1‭-‬13‭, ‬24‭-‬31 ESV 

Rev. Dwight Yoo

This passage is often called the olivet discourse. Jesus is sitting at the mount of olives across from the temple of Jerusalem. One of the disciples comments on the beautiful temple. Jesus prophesies that everything around them would be destroyed. The temple was so central to their lives that they could not imagine a life without the temple. To lose the temple would be like losing the sun, it would be the end of the world. But this was not true. 75 years after Jesus, the Romans would come and level the entire city. This was an act of God's judgement on Israel. This passage is considered a very difficult one to interpret because it describes both the end of the temple as well as the end of the world as we know it. Jesus speaks of both and makes it hard to know which one he is talking about.

Brave yourselves for trouble

In response to the disciples question of the destruction of the temple and end of days, Jesus responds that we should beware of false teachers. He also speaks of warring nations and he calls these "the beginning of the birth pains." Why does Jesus tell us this? Jesus wants us to brace for trouble. He is trying to correct us. We see many troubling things this past year. Pandemic, natural disasters, rumors of war, and rioting may make us think that Jesus is coming back. Jesus calls this labor pains. Contractions come in waves. The baby doesn't come in the first contraction. It can be hours before the baby is delivered. This is how labor works. But Jesus is setting expectations for us, we should expect trouble. Not just the general suffering of this world, but trouble because we bear witness and proclaim the name of Jesus. The book of Acts speaks of this, but this trouble is not limited to just that time period. We were chosen out of the world and the world will hate us. God saves by grace through faith. This gospel message is foolishness and offensive to the world, both the religious and irreligious. Some may embrace being offensive, but we are not called to that. The message is offensive, but we need not add anything more offensive to it. Some, perhaps our congregation leans this way, tries to not offend at all. They point to other Christians as crazy. They are afraid to share the gospel in whole for fear of offending rather than concern for the souls of our neighbors. 

Be on guard & stay awake

There will be false messiahs, false prophets, and even miracles that point away from Jesus. There's even an antichrist. We think that we won't be led astray, but Jesus brings it up because it is a serious issue for believers. False teachers sound right, use the right words/phases, but are in error in serious ways. It won't be readily apparent, but a serious error will steer us wrong a little at a time away from Jesus and the way of life. We are called to understand the word and be wise & discerning.

We are also called to stay awake. Jesus is returning and we don't know when. If someone claims to know when Jesus will return, they are a false prophet. What does it mean to fall asleep? It means to live like this life is all there is. It's like getting an Airbnb then shopping for that rental and looking for landscaping for that rental. It's absurd, but that's what it means to fall asleep. We are to be about the kingdom of God. Either making new disciples or building up believers... That sums up the life purpose of a believer. Everything we do should fall under these things. This is not just the job of overseas missionaries. The church is to be fishers of men, rather than keepers of the aquarium. Reaching people for Christ and raising up believers is what we are called to. 

This may be overwhelming. On top of everything else that is going on right now. Why, Dwight, why are you piling on more? Because it is good for us. We may reach the end of our wisdom, willpower, skills, etc. We may find how much we need God for this work. It is by enduring that we will receive from God.