Thursday, March 29, 2012

Mark 13: 1-23


By Sam Wilkinson


This is a pasage sbout sacrifice, and prepardness in our faith. As much as Jesus shares on signs of end times we could easily miss the point due to the fascinating content.


Through the beginning of chapter 13 we are reminded of how fickle our material can be, a temple built to honour the Lord, celarly a magnificent structure in its day. Jesus warns of a fate for the whole city that as residents in Christchurch we probably have a genuinely unique perspective on. “not one stone here will be left on another, every one will be thrown down”.


Prophecies of war, famine, and disasters follow. I am struck by the most improbable section as being the nucleus of what the passage is about, there is certain prophecy that Jesus tells us to pray does not happen in the winter, why? Because he does not know exacly how this end of days will play out. Attempting to disect a time line over these uncertain events is the most challenging puzzle you could ever face, and some love it. But is it the main point to this scripture?


I remember sitting in class in year 6, terrified listening to these prophecies, convinced they began tomorrow. Why I am not sure but I missed the point back then, doesn't surprise me know I think about it, it seemed like a Christian baseball bat keeping me in line through fear.


However the many different ways you study or hear this and other end times passages, it is important to remember this, if you study out of devotion and not human imposed fear and you will find the content encouraging.


We are to remember that our Lord requires not the magnificence of buildings and other material, he requires the magnificence of Christ dwelling in us to spread his goodness. If we sacrifice the material and are prepared for all eventualities in our faith, a specific time frame is irrelevant, the journey will be difficult but the outcome will be stunning.


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