St Matthew 24: 1 – 8
As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, ‘You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’ When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, “I am the Messiah!” and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars; see that you are not alarmed; for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places: all this is but the beginning of the birth pangs.
Reflection
A tutor at college once said that one wonder of Scripture is how, like a communion loaf, it breaks open differently every time. This time this text sparked two images into my brain, the first of which was a dramatic reading from Roots. It had one disciple poking fun at another for remarking at the ‘Large Stones’ on the Temple Mount which was a refreshing and humorous take on the humanity of the disciples.
The second image flashing into my mind was when I was on a Holy Land pilgrimage, standing there in front of the Western Wall in Jerusalem and indeed marvelling at the undeniably large and impressive stones in that place, the nearest one to the site of the former Temple and as in our text, pretty much absolutely destroyed by the Romans, just as Jesus predicted.
And yet, what remains is still incredibly powerful both physically and theologically. Celtic spirituality talks of ‘thin places’ and that spot, where millennia of prayers have been shared, was palpably ‘thin’ indeed!
I had assumed that as a non-Jew I would have to observe it from a distance but was informed that if I approached reverentially and wearing a kippah on my head I would be able to do so.
Being reverential wasn’t a problem as I became totally overawed by the wall and the number of folk simply standing and praying either in gentle chants or in silence. I walked right up to stare at one huge stone with hundreds of hand-written prayers on pieces of paper stuffed into the joins.
Emotionally overwhelmed I reached out, held that ancient rock and prayed for peace.
Peace hasn’t yet come and nations still “rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, with famines and earthquakes” but my prayer continues to be prayed both there as I left it, and here, passionately repeated daily.
Prayer
Put peace into each other’s hands
and like a treasure hold it,
protect it like a candle flame
with tenderness enfold it.’
(Fred Kaan – 1929-2009)
May we continue to pray fervently, passionately and in hope for the peace that our world, which desperately needs it. Amen