Fast Fridays: 30 Minutes for God: Difference between revisions
→Friday, Nov 22: Good News? The Destruction of the Temple & the Tribulations
| Line 49: | Line 49: | ||
[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/19:40 Lk 19:40-44] presents the destruction of the temple as part of "The Lament for Jerusalem" (not Luke's title), <blockquote> | [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/19:40 Lk 19:40-44] presents the destruction of the temple as part of "The Lament for Jerusalem" (not Luke's title), <blockquote> | ||
As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”</blockquote>Jesus weeps not for the temple, but for what makes the Temple irrelevant following the Cross -- "what makes for peace" is | As he drew near, he saw the city and wept over it, saying, “If this day you only knew what makes for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. For the days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides. They will smash you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another within you because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”</blockquote>Jesus weeps not for the temple, but for what makes the Temple irrelevant following the Cross -- "what makes for peace" is he, not the Temple and faith in God, the substance of the Old Covenant which had been replaced by ritual form. Additionally, we see that [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/19?45 Lk 19:45], which follows immediately, "The Cleansing of the Temple," which summarizes everything Jesus was telling the Pharisees and about them,<blockquote>but you have made it a den of thieves.</blockquote> | ||
Continuing the Olivette | So the Temple will have to go -- not that Jesus wanted it to nor made it happen. I'm of the view that much Old Testament natural and political destruction is allowed rather than initiated by God; and when he intervenes it is a reward for faith or in keeping a Covenant: Jesus is the new Temple and anyone who leaves himself behind in the old Temple is there without God's protection. | ||
Continuing the Olivette Discourse, Jesus explains to the inner crew, Peter, John, James and Andrew, "The Coming Persecution" of famine, earthquakes and war, and "the beginnings of the labor pains" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13?7 Mk 13:7-8]) and his warning to get out of Dodge in order not to be caught up in "The Tribulation" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13?14 Mk 13:14-23]). He then says that more will follow, "after that tribulation" ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13?24 Mk 13:24]), with the sun and the moon darkened and<blockquote> | |||
And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather [his] elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13?3 Mk 13:26-27]</ref></blockquote> | And then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in the clouds’ with great power and glory, and then he will send out the angels and gather [his] elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13?3 Mk 13:26-27]</ref></blockquote> | ||
[[File:Second_Temple.jpg|thumb|Herod's Temple as imagined in the Holyland Model of Jerusalem. It is currently situated adjacent to the Shrine of the Book exhibit at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. (Wikipedia)]] | [[File:Second_Temple.jpg|thumb|Herod's Temple as imagined in the Holyland Model of Jerusalem. It is currently situated adjacent to the Shrine of the Book exhibit at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. (Wikipedia)]] | ||
| Line 58: | Line 60: | ||
But only John would survive through the destruction of the Temple. So how is it during "this generation"? | But only John would survive through the destruction of the Temple. So how is it during "this generation"? | ||
Aquinas quotes the 11th century Byzantine thinker, Theophylact of Ohrid, <blockquote>'''THEOPHYLACT'''. | Aquinas quotes the 11th century Byzantine thinker, Theophylact of Ohrid, who understands the "generation" to be the overall "generation of Christians", thus the Tribulations are signs of a distant end of times (at least until the present): <blockquote>'''THEOPHYLACT'''. Or else, This generation shall not pass away, that is, the generation of Christians, until all things be fulfilled, which were spoken concerning Jerusalem and the coming of Antichrist; for He does not mean the generation of the Apostles, for the greater part of the Apostles did not live up to the destruction of Jerusalem. But He says this of the generation of Christians, wishing to console His disciples, lest they should believe that the faith should fail at that time; for the immoveable elements shall first fail, before the words of Christ fail; wherefore it is added, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.<ref>[https://www.ecatholic2000.com/catena/untitled-53.shtml Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aquinas]</ref></blockquote> | ||
Our friend The Venerable Bede is less certain,<blockquote> | |||
'''BEDE'''. (ubi sup.) By generation He either means the whole race of mankind, or specially the Jews.<ref>[https://www.ecatholic2000.com/catena/untitled-53.shtml Catena Aurea by St. Thomas Aquinas]</ref></blockquote>Perhaps there's another way to look at it. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible<ref>Ignatius Catholic Study Bible, Ignatius Press, p. 52</ref> suggests a way to harmonize the Coming of the Son of Man and the darkening of the sun and the moon and the falling of the stars, as well as the earthquakes with the First Coming of the Son of Man, not the second. | |||
Indeed, all that Jesus describes happened in less than a week from the Discourse. Matthew chronicles it in Chapter 27:45-52, "The Death of Jesus":<blockquote>From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And about three o’clock Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “''Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?''”* which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” | |||
Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” | Some of the bystanders who heard it said, “This one is calling for Elijah.” Immediately one of them ran to get a sponge; he soaked it in wine, and putting it on a reed, gave it to him to drink. But the rest said, “Wait, let us see if Elijah comes to save him.” | ||
But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.</blockquote>The Temple housed the Sanctuary which [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/78?69 Psalms 78:69] describes for us,<blockquote>He built his shrine like the heavens, | But Jesus cried out again in a loud voice, and gave up his spirit. And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.</blockquote>The Temple housed the Sanctuary which [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/78?69 Psalms 78:69] describes for us,<blockquote>''He built his shrine like the heavens,'' | ||
like the earth which he founded forever.</blockquote>Jesus is describing the end of the Old Testament worship, as the sanctuary was a replica of the God's creation the universe, and the sanctuary and Temple worship were to be eclipsed at his death upon the Cross. | ''like the earth which he founded forever.''</blockquote>In this view, Jesus is describing the end of the Old Testament worship, as the sanctuary was a replica of the God's creation the universe, and the sanctuary and Temple worship were to be eclipsed at his death upon the Cross. The Destruction of the Temple fits in better with Tribulations as a connected event. Only John will live to see the Destruction of the Temple (as far as we know), but they all, even Judas, who killed himself after Jesus' death, lived through the Tearing of the Veil, God's sign that the Old Testament, as Jesus said in [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/19:30 Jn 19:30],<blockquote>“It is finished.”</blockquote>The one missing element is the Son of Man coming down from the clouds, but who knows. Maybe the Centurion, by tradition, Saint Longinus, as part of "all that was happening," saw Jesus on a surfboard, riding the clouds in his glory, when he said,<blockquote>The centurion and the men with him who were keeping watch over Jesus feared greatly when they saw the earthquake and all that was happening, and they said, “Truly, this was the Son of God!”</blockquote> | ||
---- | ----A final thought on Mark 13, from [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13:32 Verse 32], which is at first glance confusing:<blockquote>“But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.</blockquote>Why does the Father but not the son know? (Soon we'll discuss harmonizing contradictions in the Scripture) | ||
First of all, God is not going to tell us when the Second Coming is -- as that would violate free will, so he cannot tell us. Imagine that God announces the world will end next Thursday -- there'd be a Fat Week celebration through Tuesday, then impossibly long confessional lines through Wednesday night. No, our faith must be in the now, which is why Jesus teaches over and over not to wait. If you ever wondered, or felt a little uncomfortable about [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9?57 Luke 9:57] and the "The Would-be Followers of Jesus" who would love to find the kingdom of God... but not right now, that's what the Lord is talking about. Parables of the lurking thief, the return of the boss, and so on, are all about this same point, which he makes quite literally. | First of all, God is not going to tell us when the Second Coming is -- as that would violate free will, so he cannot tell us. Imagine that God announces the world will end next Thursday -- there'd be a Fat Week celebration through Tuesday, then impossibly long confessional lines through Wednesday night. No, our faith must be in the now, which is why Jesus teaches over and over not to wait. If you ever wondered, or felt a little uncomfortable about [https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/9?57 Luke 9:57] and the "The Would-be Followers of Jesus" who would love to find the kingdom of God... but not right now, that's what the Lord is talking about. Parables of the lurking thief, the return of the boss, and so on, are all about this same point, which he makes quite literally. | ||
There's no parable or allegory here about the Son of Man coming down on a cloud and "gather [his] elect" (sic)<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13 Mk 13:27]</ref>:<blockquote>What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13:37 Mk 13:37])</blockquote> | There's no parable or allegory here about the Son of Man coming down on a cloud and "gather [his] elect" (sic)<ref>[https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13 Mk 13:27]</ref>:<blockquote>What I say to you, I say to all: ‘Watch!’” ([https://bible.usccb.org/bible/mark/13:37 Mk 13:37])</blockquote> | ||
---- | ----Today we focused our discussion upon the limits of our understanding of the words of God and his meaning. He won't just plainly tell us -- because he wants our faith (just so that he won't say when the 2nd coming will be, as that would annul faith). We looked at the descriptions of the darkening of the sun and the moon and the stars falling from the heavens, and decided that we just don't know. We know, for example, that the stars are not stationary, so are they "falling"? But it doesn't matter so much as our faith and our preparedness for God. Great buildings fall -- the Twin Towers -- and God persists. The lesson is to focus on God and not things of this of man. | ||
A couple other points discussed in and out of the topic: | A couple other points discussed in and out of the topic: | ||