Sermon preached for Pentecost 25, Proper 28C, on Sunday, November 15, by the Rev. Daniel Ulrich. Signs are very important in our lives. Whenever we drive, we take a look at road indicators to help us get in one place to another. In school, we take a look at signs in the form of grades to tell us how we’re doing inside our studies.
Aches and pains, coughs and fevers, are signals that reveal that we’re sick and need to see a doctor. We rely on these indications, and many more, to give us information so that we can navigate our day to day lives. Today Jesus speaks a great deal about indicators in the Gospel reading, indications that foreshadowed the damage of the temple, and symptoms that foreshadow the final end of the world. Although these signs are scary in nature, Jesus doesn’t reveal about them to be able to scare us. No, He gives us these indications to reinforce us.
The environment for our Gospel reading is the temple and the Mount of Olives opposite it. During Holy Week, Jesus went to the temple every day and trained His disciples. After coming of the temple out, one of the disciples mentioned the wonder and magnificence from it. And it was a grand building. The temple was manufactured from massive stones and it was decorated with complex platinum and engravings.
- The warm brown creamy shade P 875 goes on my eyes a lot warmer than it swatches
- The non-luxury packaging
- Aids with vertigo
- Use Hydrogel Sheet Mask
- Leave-In Cream
- How often do you change your nails? Do they actually match the NOTD
- 4 years ago from the wadi near the little river
The temple sanctuary towered 15 stories high; that day it was a skyscraper for. This massive building was the center of the Jewish life, it was the guts of the Jewish world; it was the very place where God guaranteed to dwell among His people. However, this great building wouldn’t stand permanently.
Jesus has taken care of immediately the comment by His disciple by prophesying its damage. “Do the truth is these great buildings? Hearing the prediction of the future destruction, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Jesus when it would happen, and what symptoms would foreshadow it. Jesus offered them 4 indications. The first indication would be the rise of fake educators. Second, there would be wars and the gossips of wars. Third, there would be natural disasters, earthquakes, and famines. The fourth and final sign that Jesus mentions is the persecutions of His followers. He warns the disciples, “Be on your guard.
For they’ll deliver you to councils, and you also shall be beaten in synagogues, and you’ll stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. Brother will deliver brother over to loss of life, and the daddy his child, and children shall rise against parents and have them put to death. And you’ll be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Mk 13:9, 12, 13a). This indication might be the most terrifying of all. The other signals can somewhat be observed and avoided.
However, the persecutions that Jesus mentions is inevitable, for this originates from the tactile hands of those closest to us, our friends and family. Hearing about these signs and the destruction of the temple would have been terrifying for the disciples. The temple’s damage would signify the ultimate end of life, the ultimate end of their world.
And in fact, Jesus was talking about the finish of the world. These signs that foreshadowed the destruction of the temple also foreshadow the Last Day. Before Christ’s return, before God destroys this sin-filled world and creates a fresh heaven and a new earth (Rev 21:1), we’ll see these same signs.