Sunday Night: Not One Stone
Place: BLCC
Date: 3/12/17
Text: Luke 21.5-6; Mark 13.1-2; Matthew 24.1-2
CT: Jesus is not impressed with our earthly temples, He seeks our heart.
FAS: In his book Rust: The Longest War, Jonathan Waldman takes us chapter by chapter into the world of oxidation and the problem of rust. He tells the story of how America almost lost the Statue of Liberty to corrosion, the constant struggle needed to maintain oil pipe lines, the development of stainless steel and rust resistant paint, how aluminum cans are treated to deter oxidation, and of the enormous cost and effort needed to beat back rust in the military—especially the navy's ships.
Rust isn't just annoying; it's expensive and dangerous. But rust happens and we can't stop it. For instance, on August 1, 2007, a bridge spanning the Mississippi in Minnesota suddenly collapsed during the evening rush hour. The bridge, identified as Bridge 9340 in official records, was rated as the second busiest in the entire state, with 140,000 vehicles crossing it every day. One hundred eleven vehicles rode the surface of the bridge down as much as 115 feet to the surface of the water and riverbank, with 13 people killed and 145 injured. A school bus with 63 children returning from a field trip ended up resting on a guardrail at the bottom.
The collapsed bridge over Mississippi had one cause: oxidation. Iron (in the soil and the bridge gussets) reacted chemically with oxygen and the result is a reddish product that eats and destroys that we call rust.
LS: Jesus told us that the same thing would happen to our possessions—as beautiful as they look now, everything we own will be subject to the power of rust.
Let’s go straight to the Bible tonight. As we head toward Easter I am going to work through the gospels and visit parts of the passion narrative. This passage is actually before the passion but Jesus has predicted his death and resurrection three times so far but the disciples are still confused on what he is talking about.
I read from Luke 21.5-6, 5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
Wow. What a downer. Jesus just said that the greatest building most revered by all Jews was going to be destroyed with not one stone being left unturned.
Why would Jesus say this?
Let’s look at what Jesus and the disciples were doing right before Jesus made this statement to help us understand.
Luke 21.1-4, 1 As Jesus looked up, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. 2 He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. 3 “Truly I tell you,” he said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others. 4 All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”
This passage gives us an idea of why some of the disciples were talking about how marvelous and magnificent the temple made by their people was. They were probably impressed with all the rich people were putting in the treasury. But Jesus was not impressed with the rich and their gifts; he was seeing the heart of the poor widow.
But the disciples still had to be shocked and maybe even dismayed at what Jesus was saying about the temple. Not one stone left unturned?
Think about what had being going on up until this point. Jesus had been consistently speaking out against the leaders of Judaism and their practices yet at the same time Jesus did respect and follow Jewish law as given in the Scripture (The Scripture being the O.T. since that was all that existed at that point).
Try to put yourself into the shoes (or sandals) of the disciples. They grew up in Judea, they were Jews, they were familiar with the teachings in the synagogues, they still clung to their traditions etc…
It’s all they knew and Jesus on the one hand reaffirmed much of what they were taught, yet Jesus also had new teachings. He pretty much flipped their world at times. He also rebuked much of what they heard from the Rabbi’s. Other than Jesus’ own words what could they depend on? Where could they find stability? What could possibly summarize and/or symbolize their faith as they had known it? They still looked to the temple.
I don’t think we can ever really appreciate how much the temple meant to the Jews and therefore the disciples.
Let’s try. Visiting the Nation’s capital is a unique experience. It is the seat of Federal Power. The United States is the most powerful nation on earth and it is ruled from Washington D.C. The city is therefore unlike any other city in the nation. When you walk around the city you see the history, you see the power and you see the tradition. The Capitol dome, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln memorial, the White House.
As Americans who were brought up and raised in a patriotic atmosphere (not everyone is anymore it seems) but as a youth we can remember saying the pledge of allegiance, National Anthems before ball games, American History classes in school even the Lord’s prayer in school etc… to see the city of Washington and to see all the sights, all the sights that are the symbol of freedom and democracy, it truly is amazing!
But that’s all national pride. A pride I have. It’s more or less secular. It’s true that God is referenced and I believe we are a Christian nation, but not all do. Was attacked for saying it was on Facebook one time.
His name is carved on stone all over the city but we understand that our faith and our government is not one & the same.
There is some level of Separation between church & state so whatever feelings you might have viewing the sites of Washington D.C. they only go so far.
For the Jew church & state were all wrapped up in one site, one symbol, one building known and beloved by all – The Temple.
What was behind the statement of the disciples? They were amazed by the temple. It would have been an amazing sight for anyone to behold! They were pointing it out to Jesus, the splendor, the glory, the size! Maybe it was in the back of their minds, that Jesus had many critical things to say about those who ran the temple. What would he say about the temple itself?
The disciples must have surely believed Jesus was impressed with the power of man displayed by the temple and its beauty.
Yet Jesus didn’t seem too impressed. He seemed much more impressed with the heart of the poor widow’s gift.
So the confused disciples asked another question.
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
They wanted to know what this talk about the temple being destroyed meant.
He answered
8 “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
(No one knows the end time but there are things, the temple thrown down, that will happen before it comes))
10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me.
18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.
Jesus is not painting a very pretty picture of what is about to happen to Jerusalem and the disciples. I’m sure they were praying he was wrong.
They wanted Jesus to conquer Rome yet he is talking about destruction and persecution because they follow Him.
When one looks at a powerful nation, it is easy to think it will always stand. Rome thought it would stand forever, but it has now relegated its power as only a part of history.
In Jesus’ day the temple seemed infallible, yet it did fall. The persecution begins right after the crucifixion. There will be persecution of the church all through Acts. It will be done in the name of Jesus. They will suffer because they follow Jesus and this in itself will be their witness to the world.
Because of this the followers of Christ will be witnesses to even those in power. Paul was put before great leaders and supposedly great thinkers who still missed it. Paul lost his life for his effort, but never lost his faith.
The temple will and did fall because the people, yes the Jews failed to see the Messiah.
The same thing happens when the church fails to see Jesus as who they follow…
There will be a final judgment after all the trials and persecution and yes it says even betrayals from our own families.
That is our part as the church. We are as the church to carry our cross, not a sword until Jesus returns again. Our calling is not to gain dominion and force those around us to conform to our way. It is rather to proclaim, reflect, and serve Jesus. We are to be the light when all around there is darkness. Only in the end are we guaranteed the rescue from pain and rejection.
Churches that preach triumph over evil without the return of Jesus as the source of our life and strength fail to present the truth.
We cannot place our hope in our nation, our president, even our own strength. We can pray for our nation. Yes we can love our country and appreciate the freedom we have by living here. We should defend the freedoms of our nation.
But just like the temple was destroyed in Jerusalem our great temples to our earthly idols will fall.
Where we place our trust and identity will have eternal implications.
There will be accountability.
God will not be interested in our earthly temples; he will look at our heart and see what we did as far as His Son.
Our world often plays down this accountability, as if no judgment day will come. Its called universalism. Universalism believes all people go to heaven. Beware of any teaching or books or movies that teach or support this. There is a hell and a day we will all give an account of our treatment of Jesus. That is the truth that has to go along with grace to appreciate grace.
But God has provided through His Son the only means by which we can gain the forgiveness for any wrongs we have done. We cannot provide this for ourselves. We cannot build a temple strong enough to stand what will come.
The Jewish people tried and failed.
We must not miss Jesus this time when he returns.
We must be ready and await the promise of deliverance no matter what this world throws at us that comes from our identification with our Savior Jesus Christ.
It says in or text today that, 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me.
18 But not a hair of your head will perish.
Jesus is our mighty priest, the lamb that saves us, the way made for us to be made holy enough to dwell with God in the new heaven and earth that will remain.
That is what Easter is all about.
There may be tough days as we follow, but the reward far outweighs the struggle.
CT: Jesus is not impressed with our earthly temples, He seeks our heart.
Life, eternal life, will only be gained through Jesus Christ.
19 Stand firm and you will win life.
