In Israel’s history the destruction of the second temple proves an irreversible turning point. It ends Judaism as a religion centered in temple worship and sacrifice.
In each of the three gospels the chapters that lead up to Jesus’ passion are much the same. Each day Jesus goes to the temple with his disciples to pray. Its outer courts provide a great public space for talking religion. Everybody brings him questions — priests, teachers, elders, scribes.
When Jesus is finally alone with his disciples, his conversation turns prophetic. He is no longer talking about the conflicts that lead to his passion but about the future beyond his death and resurrection. The temple that Herod spends 46 years refurbishing will be no more, not a stone left upon a stone.
The anguish Luke describes in Sunday’s gospel is what Jews and early Christians lived through when the Romans besieged Jerusalem. Their experience sounds very like that of refugees fleeing war today.
Jesus promises the Son of Man will come on a cloud in power and glory. This is a commanding image from the prophet Daniel, an apocalyptic book that promises good will triumph over evil. The prophet Daniel sees “one like a human one coming with the clouds of heaven” to assume kingship — “all people, nations, and languages shall serve him” (Daniel 7.13-14). Christians see Jesus in this prophecy.
Jesus insists his followers are not to worry. Rather than be afraid, Jesus recommends we stand up straight and raise our heads. Our salvation is near, our wholeness is here. In Jesus we find God incarnate among us and recognize the holy in him and in our human selves. Jesus gives us every reason to hope that the loving actions he teaches will get us through not only every day but any day.
- What suggests to you the world is falling apart?
- What suggests we can build societies that work for the common good?
Jesus predicts the end of temple worship immediately after seeing a poor widow put two copper coins into the temple treasury. Although well-off people put much bigger gifts into the treasury, Jesus says she has given the most because she gives all she has to live on. He is connecting its demise with lack of care for the poor.
This calls us to focus our attention and watchfulness on the poor as we await Jesus’ second coming. We can work so every one of God’s children has what it takes to live a full human life. Each of us can respond to this challenge.
- To whom will you reach out with your two coins?
Sunday’s gospel also challenges us to pray. Only Luke records this final admonition. Praying is not just saying prayers. Praying expresses our attitude toward and relationship with God and one another. Praying involves how we see and sense, who we notice and appreciate. Prayer engages us with all we care about in the here and now.
In pausing to stand upright before God, we breathe not only air but heartening Spirit. We recommit to the way of love Jesus traveled, the way of building community, forgiving enemies, including outsiders.
Harvard professor Susan Abraham describes prayer as “a discipline of receptivity to the sacred,” which reenchants us with the world. Prayer expects surprise and transformation. Prayer for the world puts the afflicted in our face as we open our hearts to them. In prayer we often sight a difference we can make and find strength that we are not alone in carrying it out.
Whether we see Jesus’ coming again as a threat or a fulfillment, the gospel challenges us to stay watchful and pray for strength. In living consciously, attentive to people and life within and around us, we find God already with us.
- What troubles does prayer keep in your face?
- What dulls your senses? What sharpens them? What practices help you live consciously?
- How does paying attention affect your life?