Lest Any Deceive You: A Meditation on Mark 13 for the Season of Pentecost

And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him,

Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!

And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings?

there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple,

Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign

when all these things shall be fulfilled?

 

And Jesus answering them began to say,

Take heed lest any man deceive you:

For many shall come in my name, saying,

I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars,

be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be;

but the end shall not be yet.

For nation shall rise against nation,

and kingdom against kingdom:

and there shall be earthquakes in divers places,

and there shall be famines and troubles:

these are the beginnings of sorrows.

 

But take heed to yourselves:

for they shall deliver you up to councils;

and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten:

and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake,

for a testimony against them.

And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up,

take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate:

but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye:

for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son;

and children shall rise up against their parents,

and shall cause them to be put to death.

And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:

but he that shall endure unto the end,

the same shall be saved.

 

The times in which the disciples walked with Jesus in Judea were turbulent, and about to get more so.  The Jewish people at this time lived under Roman occupation, which meant their freedoms were severely curtailed, and Roman leaders both local and distant, with the reinforcement of foreign troops and opportunistic Jewish vassals, set the terms of everyday life.  The Jewish people were broken up into ideological factions both religious and political, and all along the spectrum from quietist to fanatical.  The Pharisees and Sadducees angled for political and religious influence under the authority of Roman governors; zealots fomented rebellion from Rome and yearned for national autonomy; religious non-conformists established the remote desert Essene community as a repudiation of both Rome and the corrupted Jewish temple system under Roman domination; the average daily people wondered what all this turbulence was precipitating, and the disciples of Jesus wondered how the Messiah was going to set everything right.

 

It is in this unsettled context that Jesus taught His disciples not to look for stability in this broken and convulsing world.  Jerusalem would fall, and with it, all the grand artifice of Israel’s history up to that point.  There would be wars, famines, plagues, and persecutions, with intrigue and betrayal shedding blood within governments and even within families.  This beginning of sorrows would not be the specific sign of the end of the age, but they would be indicative of the movement of the world toward the end of the age.  As turbulent as the disciples perceived their current times with all the fractiousness of political and religious controversy, Jesus’ prophesy of the fall of Jerusalem would be realized within a generation, as would the persecution of His people from the martyrdom of St. Stephen down to the modern day.  And indeed, what Jesus foretold has absolutely come true for the Church in every age, with ebbs and flows in various times and places.  These wars, famines, pestilences, and intrigues of centuries past have rocked local villages to whole continents, and in the last century enveloped the globe not once, but twice.

 

Our times and places are experiencing similar turbulence, even if the characters and details differ.  Politics local, national, and global bring conflict and calamity; intrigue mars our institutions both secular and ecclesiastical; there are wars and rumors of wars, plagues and pestilences, and malevolent opportunists taking advantage of people everywhere they can.  But the message Jesus offered His disciples so long ago, and which He speaks to us today, is not a message of fear or despair, but rather of hope and grace.  The storms of life in a fallen world would rise and fall, with broken people doing awful things to each other, even as God would work throughout history to call all people to saving faith and repentance by His Word.  Some would accept this saving Gospel in Jesus Christ unto everlasting life, and others would reject it in order to embrace the deadly lies of the evil one.  This dynamic of fallen people free to respond to the grace and mercy of God would result in a world full of conflict and calamity, as the darkness struggles vainly to overcome the light of Jesus.  The devil and his demonic horde can do nothing but wail, threaten, and deceive others into destructive paths, while the Eternal Word of the Living God continues to seek and to save all who will trust in Him.

 

This is the comfort of the saints, even as our tumultuous world moves inexorably toward its end with the final return of Jesus.  The saints are not preserved from the pain and suffering of this fallen world, but instead are saved through and in the midst of it.  Jesus did not flinch in passing through the suffering and death of this world that He might secure our salvation through His Cross, and He encourages His people not to be cowed by the ravings of evil in their own times or places.  Jesus has already conquered sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil, and freely given to us forgiveness, life, and salvation by grace through faith in Him.  While the saints may continue to suffer in this world even as our Lord suffered, we persevere in the certain hope that Jesus has the final Word in all things, and that the dark voices of deception will eventually be silenced forever in the fiery prison of hell.  Until that Day when Lord returns, it is our calling to remain faithful to Him and His Word, even as Jesus prayed to the Father not to remove His people from the world, but to preserve them from the evil one.

 

Here is the peace which passes all understanding even as the world around us convulses, and faithless people scramble in fear desperately clinging to one lie after another.  The saints, enduring hardship and strife in the certain hope of redemption in this world and eternal life in the world to come, become living testimonies to the power and love of God which no evil can destroy.  Everywhere the love of God reaches down and transforms a heart into one of faith, He fills it also with hope and love that shine brighter than any darkness can overcome.  Each soul born from above by Water and Spirit, grafted into the Vine of Jesus Christ by grace through faith, is another victor over all the powers of darkness, made one with the whole Church of Christ, and becomes part of the bullwork against which the gates of hell cannot bear to resist.  The followers of Jesus are not taken from this world until their work here is done, and their testimony in their own time and place against the devil’s lies is complete.  Each Christian will indeed bear their cross, but each Christian will also shine forth in the borrowed light of their Saving Lord, in each place made a reflective beacon to all who would come to eternal life in Jesus.

 

So be of good cheer, dear Christian, no matter how wild or crazy the world may seem.  There’s no disease, deception, or malevolence than can separate us from the love of Jesus in this world or the next.  And beyond our mere preservation, we are made to be living witnesses to the redemptive love and mercy of God, shining forth in the darkness, and sending the forces of evil skittering away as they see in us the image of Jesus—who to us is our unconquerable Savior, yet to the hosts of evil their inescapable Judge.  And though we be hated by all kinds and types of wicked men for the sake of Jesus’ name written upon us, we know that He is working in all His people to sustain them through the trials of this life, with a salvation that never ends.  Glory be to God our Savior, whose Word cleaves the darkness, and secures in Himself all who put their trust in Him.  Amen.