The student’s heads were on a swivel, necks craning to take in the grandeur and elegance of the temple—impressed by this great work of human hands. “It’s all going to come tumbling down”, says Jesus.*
On a high place, across from this house of God, Jesus warns his friends that fake leaders will soon appear, loud and brash, claiming that they’re the chosen ones. Don’t get caught up in this drama of deceit. Everything will feel like it’s falling apart.
As someone who nearly hyperventilates over the news these days, I feel like the craziness is picking up speed. Clamoring charlatans, eager to feed the hungry mobs, seem to be on the rise. When has there ever been a time when false prophets weren’t clanging on and on?
In this liminal, threshold space, between what was and what is to come, in the midst of wars and rumors of wars, what on earth do we do? I’m dizzy from trying to sort out what it is I need to be most worried about. At the end of this passage, Jesus says that it will feel like birth pangs…a
groaning. What type of life will emerge from this? Will I recognize it? Can I trust it?
Things will get strange, Jesus warns, but hold fast. Given the gospels as a packaged deal, we are shown the recipe to do this: Seek out quiet places to listen. Be a part of an intentional and inclusive community who will try their best to know you, and who you can know in return. From this vulnerably strong place, rivers of justice and mercy can flow. Broken spirits will be healed within it. New life will be born amidst the rubble of it all. Elegantly stacked stones are no match for blood and bone, for the human life, the image of God.
In order to midwife and nurture any newborn courage to find the face of love in difficult things to come, we need a crowd of witnesses who will hold each other up as the falling apart happens. Then, as one body—a great temple of flesh—we will be liberated from clinging to our own lives, and called forth to fling wide open our unprotected hearts. To give until every stone of ours is on the ground.
*Mark 13:1-8
Questions to ponder:
- In your view of yourself and the world, what feels like it’s falling apart?
- Do you have a community, no matter how small, who truly knows you? If not, might there be someone you know who could help you find that?
- What might it mean for you to give your life away?
-Jim Marsh Jr., Bread of Life Church
