The Second Sunday in Advent

Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen.

In this chapter, in Luke 21, Jesus predicts the fall of Jerusalem and he makes the claim that his death and resurrection are not only someone pivotal for the fall of Jerusalem, but have universal repercussions and will be his vindication as the Son of God.

The chapter opens with Jesus stating that the “goodly stones and gifts of the Jerusalem temple will be thrown down; there shall not be left one stone upon another.” At this, his disciples ask him when this shall be and what sign there will be when these things come to pass.

Jesus replies, “Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and great earthquakes shall be in divers places or diverse places, and famines, and pestilences: and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”

“Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” This is none other that the continuing rise of the kingdom of the Roman empire which swept into Jerusalem in 70ad, destroying the temple and all before it. The language of earthquakes can be misleading but it is a metaphorical way of talking about an earth-shattering event.

That Jesus is speaking about an event which will happen in the lifetime of the disciples, i.e. 70ad, is evident from the way he speaks to them: “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, he says to his disciples, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.” “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies,” he continues, “then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let them which are in the midst of it depart out, and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.”

The horrific events of the sack of Jerusalem are recorded by Josephus in brutal detail; more than a million people were killed, nearly one hundred thousand people taken captive, and in the long months of the siege the famine was so extreme that the inhabitants resorted to cannibalism (Jewish War 6.201–13).

Jesus’s speach continues, “woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days, for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations, and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles”.

Jesus carries on describing these events in catacylismic language, “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

The powers of heaven shall be shaken. The temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in the Roman onslaught and, for the Jewish people, the temple was the place where heaven and earth came together. Psalm 78, for example, “He built his sanctuary like the high heavens; like the earth, which he has founded forever.” The temple was destroyed and the powers of heaven were shaken. Jesus then draws some kind of connection between the destruction of the temple as described in these events and his death and resurrection: “And then, at the fulfillment of these events, they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh.”

In the phrase, “they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud,” the word translated, “coming,” is a Greek word which can mean both “coming” and “going.” It is therefore difficult to know whether Jesus is here talking about some kind of future second coming, or whether he is talking about his being lifted up on the Cross and his resurrection, “they shall see the Son of Man going in a cloud with power and great glory.” Given the whole chapter has been about the fall of Jerusalem, the city where the living temple that is Jesus is raised up on the Cross, I’d argue that Jesus is here talking about his own crucifixion and resurrection. This is why Jesus says, “Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.” “Heaven and earth shall pass away, he says, but my words shall not pass away.”

The temple was destroyed, heaven and earth did pass away. But the words of Jesus have not passed away. They are present in the temple that is the church. The transcendent grace found in the words, “Do not worry;” “I forgive you;” “The Lord is with you;” “This is my body, given for you.”

How can we, this Advent season, find a little bit more of the word of grace that is the life of Jesus?

How can we bring that grace to those whose temples are collapsing around them?

Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, amen.