Here we go again!?

Reflecting on Mark 13:14-23

"So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time." (Mark 13:23)

These are disturbing words to hear, not inspiring.
Jesus is using apocalyptic language to describe what is about to happen.
If He said these things around AD 30, they came true in AD 70.

After a 4 year rebellion in Judea, Rome hit the city hard.
It began with a seige, leading many to die of starvation.
Then the walls were breached, and violence and destruction ensued.
The most fit were taken as slaves, and the rest were slaughtered.
Many who happened to be there when Rome came were not from the city.
They had gone for the Passover, and became victims of the seige and slaughter.
Jesus is warning His audience to flee the coming impending catastrophe.

What is the ‘abomination that causes desolation’?
In Matthew Jesus mentions the prophecies in Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11.
According to these prophecies, someone or something will defile the temple.
This defiling thing or person is the abomination.
It could be a non-ordained priest entering the holy of holies.
Or an unclean sacrifice (pork) being offered on the altar.
Whatever it was, Jesus suggests it would be obvious to the people.
Jesus tells them to keep watch for strange things happening in the temple.
When something in the temple is not right, not appropriate for the temple.
That will be your warning sign that desolation is at hand.

Does Jesus know what is coming because He is God?
No, Jesus was fully human, and limited to what any human could know.
But He knew the signs, He read the circumstances well.
Tensions were rising between Jews and the Romans, and between Jews and Jews.
In their fear, many were becoming aggressive, ready for a fight.
Many were waving their swords, but would soon experience the sword!
The religious leaders were mixing greed with faith.
The religious leaders were also mixing politics with faith.
The temple was more a den of theives than a house of prayer.

For many years I could not relate to these kinds of tensions.
Jesus’s warnings seemed abstract, theoretical and unimaginable.
But living when we do now, I feel we are in similar times.
It may take 40 years, but the tensions are rising in North America.
The polarized state of politics and religion feels ready to ignite.
If the church is the modern day temple, it feels compromised as well.
Jesus read the signs in His day; what do the signs tell us today?

I am no prophet, but I do sense abomination and desolation.
I feel it in how both politics and christianity are going.
The religious leaders are still mixing greed with faith.
The religious leaders are also mixing politics with faith.
Something in the church is not right, not appropriate for the church.
There are more verbal swords flashing and slashing within its walls.

“Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” (Mark 13:14)
Is now the time to flee, and how exactly do we flee?
For me it means stepping back from church as I’ve always experienced it.
Stepping back from current churchy arguments and tactics.
Stepping back from the polarization and politicization of the church.
It means reminding myself of the purpose of Jesus’s church.
And joining Jesus in that purpose and mission.

Jesus assures them, and us, that it will not last forever.
It will not be easy, in fact it will be horrific.
But God will shorten the time, and end the desolation.
I do not know how our current times will develop.
I do sense something abominable, something desolating.
“So be on your guard…” (Mark 13:23)
I sense that we need to be on guard, to not fall in with that something.
Now more than ever we need to discern Jesus and the Jesus Way.
We need to follow His Way, even if the temple chooses another way.

I am not predicting the end of the world, or Jesus’s imminent return.
History has had many moments like these, and they will continue.
May He is coming soon, or maybe we’re still in the birth pangs.
But as I read these words of Jesus, I can’t help thinking:
Here we go again!

PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I don't know if I am reading the signs right, but something does not feel right in the church today. You are not just calling me to flee for my own life, but to flee to You and join You in living and loving as You did in Your tense, polarized time. 

If we are going here again, I want to go with You!