Jesus Speaks about the Future

Meditations of the Gospel of Mark

October 2, 2020

Jesus Speaks about the Future

Jesus replied, “Yes, look at these great buildings. But they will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”

Mark 13:2

Read: Mark 13: 1-13

Jesus was talking about the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Romans destroyed the Temple around 70 AD, just a few decades after Jesus has this conversation with his disciples. Even so, Jesus used cosmic hyperbole to describe the fall of Jerusalem.

All of chapter 13 will be about the destruction of the Temple. As I read today’s passage, one word comes to my mind: patience.

Patience was centrally important to the early Christians. Christian writers called patience the highest virtue.

Patience brings to Christians the life of the Beatitudes and the life of love that Paul celebrates in 1 Corinthians 13. This patience is rooted in God’s character. God is patient and is working across the centuries to accomplish his mission. The heart of patience is revealed in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. Jesus’s life and teaching demonstrate what patience means and beckon those who follow him to a patient lifestyle that participates in God’s mission.

(I am indebted to Alan Kreider and his book, The Patient Ferment of the Early Church: The Improbable Rise of Christianity in the Roman Empire for this understanding of Christian patience.)

My Takeaway: Patience is hopeful; it entrusts the future confidently to God.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2020 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.