Handle With Care

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, "All that you see here– the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down."

Then they asked him, "Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?"  He answered, "See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, 'I am he,' and 'The time has come.'  Do not follow them!  When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end."  Then he said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky."

Jesus is said in Revelations to have given this warning.   Consequently, many people of faith today wait for the end, and the calamities being experienced on Earth give witness to the impending end of our world – the apocalypse. Some self-serving preachers and book writers enhance themselves by stoking this fear. 

The prediction in Revelation never came true, but the warning lives on.    The author of Revelation never intended to reach into the distant future.  He was concerned only about his current day experiences of persecution and oppression by the Roman Empire and certain emperors.

Jesus never gave those Revelation warnings tied by many interpreters to Jesus’ second coming.   Revelation was written no earlier than the 90s.  However, its message has meaning for today.   According to writer Marcus Borg in his 2012 book “Evolution of the Word: The New Testament in the Order the Books were Written:”

“…is it [interpretation] that accommodation to imperial ways is wrong.  That the struggle between the lordship of Christ and the lordship of Caesar is the great conflict.  That it is important to persevere even when it looks like the beast is winning.  That appearances to the contrary, the beast does not have the final word and is not the final Word.  In its first century context, Revelation is a pervasively anti-imperial document.  What might this mean for Christians today, especially American Christians in a time of the American Empire.   Or was the problem that it was an empire?...the final word about Revelation: handle with care.”

Yes, indeed, the struggle between the lordship of Christ and the lordship of Caesar continues, especially in the United States today.

Deacon David Pierce