Catastrophe!

 

"Later Jesus sat on the slopes of the Mount of Olives across the valley from the Temple.  Peter, James, John, and Andrew came to him privately and asked him 'When will all this take place?  And will there be any sign ahead of time to show us when all this will be fulfilled?'" Mark 13:3-4 (NLT).

 

Imagine someone telling you that your church, the White House, the Capitol Building, the Pentagon, and the Supreme Court were all going to be destroyed on the same day never to be rebuilt again.  Imagine this, and you might begin to understand the reaction the disciples had to Jesus' announcement that the Temple was going to be destroyed.  It was an unthinkable, unimaginable catastrophe of epic proportions!

 

The Temple was the center of Jewish political life, similar to our Capitol.  It was where the equivalent to our President, the High Priest resided, like our White House.  It housed the Temple guard and military minds of the Jewish nation, the equivalent of our Pentagon.  It also served as headquarters for the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Supreme court equal to our U.S. Supreme court in Washington.  Add to this that, despite the fact that there were synagogues in which people read the Bible, prayed and worshipped, the Temple was still the absolute center of all Jewish spiritual activity - like our local church.

 

When you think about it in light of these facts, Jesus' prediction of the absolute and total destruction of the Temple was a catastrophic event that literally blew the disciples' minds.  It shook them up - badly.  It rocked their world.

 

Basically, Jesus was telling them that life as they knew it was going to cease to exist.  Their culture, their world, their patriotism and spirituality all centered around Jerusalem, and in particular, the Temple.  Now all of that was going to be destroyed.

 

Peter, James, John, and Andrew were so shook up by the prospect, that they thought about Jesus' prediction all the way to the Mount of Olives and sought him out privately to find out when all this would happen.

 

Most of the rest of Mark 13, and its parallel scriptures in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 deal with this phenomenal event of the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the Temple.  We must keep this in mind as we approach the interpretation of the rest of this chapter.  Too many people have read only the second coming of Christ into these verses and have missed the main thrust of Jesus' words which deal primarily with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple, not with Jesus' second coming. 

 

Jesus makes this crystal clear in verse 30 of this chapter when he says, "I assure you, this generation will not pass from the scene until all these events have taken place. " (NLT).  Clearly, Jesus says that all that he speaks of was to happen in the time of his listeners, not in our time.  Why?  Because the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was so monumental and so colossal that Jesus had to prepare his disciples for it.

 

As we shall discover in the days ahead, all that Jesus predicted in the next verses of Mark 13, came to pass.  But the application for us today is seen in the fact that even though the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple was coming in the near future of the disciples, it was part of God's plan.  Even though it was catastrophe, God was in it.  In fact, in this particular case, he planned it and it came to pass in 70 a.d.

 

Sometimes catastrophes come upon us.  They are so huge and so overwhelming that we are completely demoralized.  We are shaken to our heels and our world collapses around us, just as the Temple would collapse around the disciples.  Our lives are in such disarray that there isn't one stone left sitting upon another in our physical or emotional or mental banks.

 

Our spouse leaves us; we lose our job; bankruptcy envelopes us; we are given shocking health news; marital or family conflict is tearing us apart; a loved one is taken from us; bad news sours our outlook on life or destroys our hope - such things can be catastrophes of epic proportion to our world.

 

I remember the despair and emptiness I felt when I received the news that I would be sent to war in the Persian Gulf when I was in the Army years ago.  The thought of leaving my family, maybe for the last time, was overwhelming and numbing.  After arriving in the Gulf, I moved mechanically like a robot through the long days and nights to do my duty.  Sometimes I thought I would never make it.  I grappled with depression and homesickness and feelings of despair.  All I wanted to do was go home, but I couldn't.  The journey was dark and the months were long, but in the end, God brought me through and my family too.  He will do the same for you.

 

During such dark days we may be tempted to believe that God no longer loves or has abandoned us.  But this is a lie straight from the Prince of darkness himself.  God has not abandoned us and he loves us more than we will ever know - - just as he loved his disciples even though catastrophe loomed in their future.

 

Take courage in knowing that God is well aware of every catastrophe that has come upon you or that may come upon you in the days or years ahead.  He is with you and will guard you if you listen to and follow his words.  For just as he warned his disciples about how to recognize and respond to the catastrophe that was coming, so he warns and teaches us.  Through his word, the Bible, other Christians and the Holy Spirit, God leads us on through the worst that this life has to offer to emerge victorious on the other side.

 

Darkness may come.  Catastrophe may loom.  Difficulty may surface.  Trouble may materialize.  Conflict may arise.  But God is there.  He knows.  He cares.  He leads.  Open your heart to his voice and follow where he leads.  And if you ever doubt that he loves you, close your eyes and picture the bloody, brutalized body of Jesus on the cross, and lay your doubts to rest.

 

Most of all, as you survey the rubble of your circumstances or anticipate the destruction that lies ahead, do not be afraid.  Instead, take Jesus' hand and keep walking.