Are you ready?
Mal 3:19-20a; Ps 98:5-6, 7-8, 9; 2 Thes 3:7-12; Lk 21:5-19
Are you ready for the end of the world? Or are you at least ready for the end of the world as we know it?
This question, based on expectations of the imminent arrival of the second coming of Jesus Christ, has surfaced with stubborn persistence by different groups many times over the 2,000-year history of Christianity. We hear it in the early centuries of the church, throughout the Middle Ages and right up through the 20th century.
As we move toward the end of the liturgical year in the Catholic Church (the new liturgical year begins with the arrival of Advent, in two weeks), the Sunday readings invite us to ponder the radical shift in the world that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection will bring about. The old world order is about to be turned on its head and we ought to expect to find a new world that is shaken and somewhat disoriented.
We read this Sunday from what is sometimes referred to as the “mini-apocalypse,” in which Jesus warns his disciples of many dire signs and violent upheavals that will precede his appearance — presumably upon his return to Israel after an undisclosed period of time following his resurrection and ascension.
Rather than being swept up in the dramatic imagery of the apocalyptic prophecy (wars, insurrections, earthquakes, famines, plagues, persecutions, etc.), I suggest we focus on the basic outline of Jesus’ message.
He begins by noting that Israel’s hope cannot be grounded in the majesty of the great temple in Jerusalem. He is talking about much more than just a building; he is referring to the entire foundation of the Mosaic covenant that Israel has kept (or not kept) with the Lord. To disengage from such a pervasive social and religious guiding force that the temple and covenant provided would indeed be tantamount to an unraveling of the very fabric of the world as they knew it.
The temple was literally viewed as the place where heaven and earth came together. So with Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the temple, it follows that both civil society and the natural world should be expected to also soon lie in ruins.
Despite this bleak prophecy, Jesus assures his disciples that, when the time comes for them to speak out on behalf of their faith in him, he will grant them the wisdom to rebuff the false testimony that their enemies will hurl against them. Most significantly, he declares that not a hair on their heads will be destroyed.
Today we may not be so absorbed by questions about the end of the world. But we ought to pay a great deal of attention to the ending of our own personal world.
How well would we withstand the destruction of those “temples” in our lives that seem to bring the stability and permanence we crave? To answer that we should ask ourselves where the bulk of our time and investments (both material and emotional) are directed. For example, personal characteristics (our looks, health, etc.), relationships with others (friendships, political alliances, etc.), material goods (market portfolios, houses, etc.) and so forth.
We should note that many of these temples are not inherently bad for us, but Jesus’ strong language forces us into the brutally honest admission that none of them can replace the need to have him as the centering core of our life. Sooner or later, any of the foundation stones of our lives that are not from Christ will crack. The “earthquakes and insurrections” of Luke’s mini-apocalypse can appear before us in the form of betrayals in relationships, the collapse of invested wealth or the death of loved ones, for example.
In those times, when our world can feel like it’s ending, we should seek solace in Jesus’ words to his disciples on the eve of his passion and death: Persevere in holding fast to him and do not turn back to the old temples, despite their promise of safety and stability.
Jesus isn’t naive here, and neither should we be. There will be suffering and loss. That’s an unavoidable consequence of human nature. Nevertheless, “not a hair on your head will be destroyed” (Lk 21:18).