Eternal Sight
The disciples are amazed at the temple structures as they leave
the temple area for the day. Jesus
recognizes what is going on inside of them.
He subtly chastises them. He
tells them that everything that currently draws their amazement will eventually
pass away.
How true is this about humanity?
We are so easily impressed with monuments of human engineering:
architectural feats, technological feats, charismatic speeches, etc. But how many of those things will stand the
test of time? How often are we amazed at
the simple working of the Holy Spirit within our heart? That will not only last the test of time, but
beyond! Jesus is telling His disciples
that they need to learn to look at the world through eternal eyes and not
worldly eyes.
The End Times
This chapter is one of the favorite chapters in the Bible for
those who love to talk about the End Times {which
is increasingly becoming not me}.
There is much hype these days about the coming end of the world. I think we should take a page out of Jesus’
book and talk about it when it needs to be talked about and how it needs to be
talked about. But it shouldn’t be the
major thrust of our ministry or focus.
So, what exactly does Jesus say about the end? Surprisingly, very little. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “I’m not giving
you much to go on because I want you to focus on ministry, not having the
answer to the end of the world.”
Seriously. Look at what Jesus
says:
- There will be wars, geopolitical stress, and violent geographic trauma. But this is just the beginning. These don’t mark the end, they mark the beginning.
- Following the wars and natural disasters there is going to come a time for religious persecution. But let’s look really closely. What makes this time of persecution special is from where the persecution comes. Persecution will always come from the outside. But in the end, Jesus says many will “fall away.” Those who once considered themselves to be God-followers will hand over those who still do follow God. One of the signs that will mark the end is people falling away from Christ and then persecuting those who remain. False prophets will rise up and lead people to pursue things that are not really of God.
- As a result of the persecution, the Gospel will be proclaimed to the ends of the earth. This should actually make sense. What drove the original disciples out of Jerusalem and into the surrounding area? Persecution from the Jews. What drove the early Christians outside the Roman Empire? Persecution from the Romans. When people get comfortable, we get complacent. Christians are no different. So what will have to happen in order to truly drive Christians to the ends of the earth in earnest? Persecution.
- Then the end will come.
Perhaps you noticed something.
Jesus doesn’t give us a timeline.
He doesn’t give us a road map. He
doesn’t care about telling us some sort of step-by-step flow chart. No.
Jesus says, “You’ll know the end when persecution comes. Don’t focus on it. Make sure you don’t get led astray and focus instead
on proclaiming the Gospel.” Now that is
sage advice about the “End Times.” Don’t
get hung up on it. It’ll come soon
enough. Until then, we’ve got work to
do.
Nobody Knows the Day or Hour
Yes, I skipped over the coming of the Son of Man. I’ll get to that at the end of this blog
post. For now, let’s learn about the fig
tree and the lesson that follows. The
fig tree is an easy lesson. Jesus tells
us that while we cannot know exactly when it will happen, we can know the
season. We can be on the lookout for
religious persecution. We can be on the
lookout for an increasing desire for the world to reject God. We can look for people falling away from God
and turning on those who still follow God.
We can see the season even if we don’t know the day.
As for knowing the hour, there is something really cool that comes
out of this passage if we read it closely.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “the Son cannot know the hour.” Jesus says, “The Son doesn’t know the hour.” I’ve heard people argue that Jesus must not
be God if He doesn’t know when the end of the world is going to take
place. But you see, it isn’t an issue of
Jesus being incapable. It is an issue of
Jesus submitting to the authority of the Father.
Jesus doesn’t know. Jesus
has allowed that piece of information to reside in the hands of the
Father. It is enough for Jesus that the
Father has that piece of information under control.
At first this might be strange.
But think about it for a second and it makes sense. Did the Father have to come to earth and
atone for our sins? No. The Father let the Son handle that
detail. Did the Father have to come down
and dwell within us personally? No, the
Father left that to the Holy Spirit. You
see, the image we have of God is a perfect unity of being while each one submits
to the authority of the other in certain dynamics. Jesus doesn’t need to know the time and
place. The Father knows it, and that is
enough.
Of course, that speaks volumes into my life. How many times do I worry? Am I following the lead of Jesus when I
worry? Should it not be enough for me to
know that God has my future in my hands?
How many people in this world attempt to make a profit off of figuring
out the timing for the End of the World?
Are they following the lead of Jesus?
No, it is enough for me to focus on being ready. It is enough for me to focus on obediently
following the Father through the example of the Son and being empowered by the
Spirit. I do not need to know the mind
of the Father or His timing. I simply
need to focus on being open to it.
Son of Man
In the end, Christ will come back.
He will return. When He returns,
His followers will be gathered up from the ends of the earth. It’s as simple as that. God knows which people are His. We aren’t going to have to justify it or make
a case for it. God knows. God’s angels know. As I’ve said before, we’re either all-in or
not-at-all-in.
This is actually a really neat passage into which we can read
justification. How will the angels
know? By our works? Is God weighing out our good and our bad
deeds and if we do enough good we’ll overcome our bad? No way!
Justification comes through the cross.
Justification is a gift that we receive from God. If we have received it, you will be able to
tell in our works and our speech and our thoughts. But justification isn’t something that can be
“proven” in a record book. Justification
is a state of being. A person has either
received justification from Christ or they have rejected it. God knows who is who.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment