By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
“False messiahs and false prophets will come and work miracles and signs. They will even try to fool God’s chosen ones. v23But be on your guard! That’s why I am telling you these things now.” Mark 13:22
While our commercial surroundings are abuzz with the Christmas mood and advertisements, the church is prudent and consistent in its liturgical tradition and context. This Sunday is the second to the last in the liturgical calendar of Pentecost Season. The last Sunday of November as the last in this season is also celebrated as the Christ the King Sunday. The lessons of these last two Sundays are focused on the portents of the things to come when the Messiah shall come again to judge the living and the dead. These are described in the 13th chapter of the gospel of Mark and could also be found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke in the 24th and 21st chapters respectively. These signs of the coming of the Messiah are revealed by Jesus himself and made the accompanying warning as contained in the verse cited above. The first Sunday in December ushers in the new liturgical season that is Advent. The warnings and omens revealed and foretold describe what Advent is all about – the season of preparation for the Second Coming (and celebration of the birth and first coming of the Messiah). In order for us to have a meaningful and relevant celebration of the birth of the Messiah I invite everyone to appreciate first what Advent is all about. This corner will dwell more on the meaning and call of Advent on that Sunday.
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Judgement Day: The Second Coming of the Messiah. This will be the “last day,” the end of the present world, when God or his agent will preside over a final, universal judgement and the resurrected dead. A definitive assessment of human actions will be made, and each person rewarded or punished accordingly. The importance of this event is indicated in by articles and adjectives: the day, that day, the great day, the last day. The fearfulness of God’s judgment released an array of surreal images: lightning, thunder, earthquake, tidal waves, famine tumults among nations, arrests and torture among believers all intended to express how terrible it is to fall into the hands of the living God. But the expectations of doom should be reversed to surprising mercies, v15I’ll plant your roots deep in the land I have given you, and you won’t ever be uprooted again. I, the Lord God, have spoken! (Amos 9.15)
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In biblical as in later times, false prophets and false messiahs exploited desires to know in advance the signs of the times (Mark 13:6) but others stressed divine secrecy, ‘v32No one knows the day or the time. The angels in heaven don’t know, and the Son himself doesn’t know. Only the Father knows.’ (Mark 13:.32) It is therefore wrong either to spread panic because of the day’s nearness or to counsel despair because of its distance. Over the years many people have speculated about the end of the world and the end of times. And as we witness some of the omens like wars among nations, earthquake happening in all the continents and terrible storms causing deadly tidal waves and other planetary phenomena we have become susceptible to these so-called false prophets and self-proclaimed messiahs. Let us always remember Jesus’ assurance that it will come yet only the Father knows when it shall come.
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Even Jesus’ first disciples wanted to know. One day as they were leaving the temple, one of them remarked on the great stones of the temple buildings. The original temple built by King Solomon had been destroyed centuries ago. A second temple had been re-built. But for Herod that wasn’t enough, so he began expanding and rebuilding the temple before Jesus was born, and the construction continued even during Jesus’ adult ministry. It was a massive project, but Jesus replied, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” That was enough to arouse the curiosity of Peter, James, John, and Andrew, but they waited to ask Jesus privately. “When will this be?” they asked, “What will be the sign?”
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Our text for today is just the first eight verses of Jesus’ much longer answer. For the rest of Mark 13, he described various signs — wars, rumors of war, earthquakes, religious persecution, the betrayal of family members, false prophets, false messiahs, and much suffering — but he said that all these things are only the beginning of the end. Throughout the chapter, he also made it clear that no one knows when the end will be. He couldn’t fully answer the disciples’ questions because even he did not know. As he said in Mark 13:32: “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
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“Don’t panic! It’s not the end of the world!” Those are the words I frequently say when someone has come to see me and they are in the midst of a crisis. They may have lost their job, had a marital crisis, a problem with a child, or found themselves in serious financial trouble. They are anxious. It seems like the world is caving in on them. They feel lonely and afraid. They can’t see any way out of their predicament. It has been my experience over the years as a priest that when folks are desperate they tend to run, quit or act in haste. I am not discounting their pain or minimizing the crisis, rather I am merely helping them to see that their perceptions have exaggerated the crisis. Or, they have a distorted perception of reality. This was the case with the disciples. They were being persecuted by an oppressive government. They were powerless and under immense pressure. All seemed dark and hopeless, so much so that they wondered if the “end” was near. They were desperate, blinded by their anxiety and totally unable to see into the future. They are no different than us. Whenever things are happening in the world of epic proportions, like hurricanes, wars, catastrophes or plagues there are those who believe that the world is coming to an end.
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Let us then understand that the intention of the references to the Day of Judgement and the terrible event that will usher in was thus both to warn unsuspecting rebels to watch and to assure the faithful of the nearness of their salvation. It is understandable that some Christians have grown impatient over the centuries, and have tried to speed things up a bit. I love what someone once said about the return of the Lord. “God did not put me on the Time & Place Committee; He put me on the Preparation Committee.” Our job is not to speculate about times and seasons, but to make sure that we are living as God wants us to live – sisters and brothers to one another – here and now. Some folks are “so heavenly minded they are no earthly good.”
Let us pray.
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heir of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (The ECP Book of Common Prayer, page 138)**
