Jesus Teaches about the Fall of Jerusalem

Collect for Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Lent

Almighty God, through the incarnate Word you have caused us to be born anew of an imperishable and eternal seed: Look with compassion upon those who are being prepared for Holy Baptism, and grant that they may be built as living stones into a spiritual temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Jesus Teaches about the Fall of Jerusalem (Matthew 24: 1-35)

Writer Kathleen Norris reminds us that “the Christian faith asks us to put our trust not in ideas, and certainly not in ideologies, but in a God who was vulnerable enough to become human and die and who desires to be present to us still in the ordinary circumstances of our lives.”

In recent times, things that we have thought to be indestructible never quite seem to live up to their billing.  No matter if the best plans for nuclear power plants are devised and operational schemes are followed, all it takes is an act of nature to shock us back into the reality of who we really are as fragile human beings. The same is true as any of us might be confronted with an illness we never expected.

In Matthew 24 Jesus speaks of the Temple’s destruction as he returns to the Mount of Olives. The disciples come to him privately, asking when the temple will be destroyed and what will be the sign of the coming age. It is appropriate that they ask the questions about time on the Mount of Olives because the Mount of Olives is identified in Zechariah 14: 1-5 as the mount on which “the Lord will stand to save his people” from the nations. Zechariah describes an apocalyptic time of Israel’s existence. Jesus himself is this new age and time in which we are involved. While the text in this chapter alludes to both the proximate destruction of Jerusalem and a future apocalyptic event, none should be wrapped up in the particulars of how and when, but must stay in the present, being alert and ready. We are called to engage our lives knowing our own vulnerability, being attentive to God in the present and truth of our lives.

I think that is part of what Lenten journey invites – our being present to where God is leading, an engagement that doesn’t put our security in things that will not last, but in the one who has saves us still even from ourselves.

The Rev. John Crosswaite
Priest
Diocese of Milwaukee