Transcript
This gospel story picks up where last Sunday’s story finished. If you remember last week, Jesus was sitting in front of the Temple watching the treasury, and he pronounced a judgement on the Temple system as the poor widow gave all she had. And now, this week, we hear what Jesus says after he leaves the Temple. However, we miss the bridge of the conversation in between last Sunday’s readings and this Sunday. This is the bit that we miss, one of the disciples, who obviously hadn’t been listening to Jesus all that well, says, “Wow! Look at this marvellous building! Isn’t this terrific!” To the shock of his disciples, Jesus replies, “See all these buildings, there will come a time when they won’t exist. No one single stone well be left standing.” The disciples realise that it would be best not to be in the vicinity of the Temple with this happens, so a few of them ask, “When will this be? What is the sign that this is about to happen?” What we hear today is Jesus’ answer to that question.
We constantly seem to be living in times of great transition and instability. Like the disciples, this can produce a certain level of nervousness, anxiety and fear. Human history is full of times of change and transition. A few decades after the time of Jesus, the Temple would be gone, left in ruins by the Romans. This fundamentally changed Judaism but, unlike the Temple, Judaism itself wasn’t destroyed. At the heart of Christian faith is the conviction that within every person, in the core of our very being, lies a deep and permanent connection to the One who has made us. This is unshakeable, inalienable and absolute. This is why, in a Christian understanding, we talk about the dignity of the human person because every person is endowed with the gift of God’s divine spark.
No matter how much uncertainty we face, no matter how many endings we go through in life, no matter how many times things fall over, the one great and lasting gift is the gift of Divine love and companionship that is planted in each of us. And it is this bond, this communion, that is the word which will not pass away. And this word, which God speaks, simply says, “love”. This gift, this choice, this love cannot disappear or vanish because it is God’s choice for us. And God’s choice is never revoked or changed. In a world which seems full of things which are ready to crash down at any minute, we are gathered by God to hear the promise of God’s eternal word. We can trust this gift because, through Jesus, we have God’s word, and God’s word will never pass away.