The Invitation - Day 23

5 Some of his disciples began talking about the majestic stonework of the Temple and the memorial decorations on the walls. But Jesus said, 6 “The time is coming when all these things will be completely demolished. Not one stone will be left on top of another!”
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will all this happen? What sign will show us that these things are about to take place?”

“The believer becomes essentially one who hopes. He is still future to “himself” and is promised to himself. His future depends utterly and entirely on the outcome of the risen Lord’s course, for he has staked his future on the future of Christ.” —-Jurgen Moltman.

Why is it important to talk about the future of things? We call these conversations “eschatological,” meaning we study the end of things in theology. Whether it is life, the end of the world, or anything else, we engage in eschatological conversations when we recognize that the end of things is the focus. We need to talk about these to fully understand what it is that Jesus was doing here on earth, to grasp with a tighter grip onto what is ahead for us as believers, and also to find a deep assurance that we are saved by what Jesus came down to do when he was here so long ago.

Jesus leads into this discussion by letting his disciples know the things they were looking at were nothing but temporary. He leads them to a greater understanding that not everything will be around forever, and as it should, this bothers them a bit.

In verse 7, we see them asking for specific signs to know where we are on the timeline of the end.

Have you ever felt this way? Coming from the SDA tradition, we have been fascinated and focused on the end of everything. If you were like me, when you were a little child, these thoughts of eschatology and what would happen to us were tattooed on my consciousness in a less-than-healthy way. I worried that things were getting worse and worse and that the world was going to be thrust into a war that would end all wars.

I remember watching “The Day After” on television and being frightened at seeing a nuclear winter we would all have to live through. Coming from a faith that affirms most of those ideals as truth, announced in scripture and prophecy, was a frightening time. All this assembled in my heart to create fear and trepidation for what was coming next.

Before this happened, I didn’t think I would graduate high school. I figured I would never be married, make it out of college for sure, and we would see Jesus come in that hand-sized cloud that we were taught about. I can remember sitting on a branch of a big tree at recess, not wanting to go back into the classroom because I swore I saw that cloud that would bring Jesus back.
Maybe I was a weird kid, but some of you have had that same experience growing up.

So what do we do with eschatology, and how do we teach it to those we are studying with? That is our task this week!
 
JOURNAL

1. Have you had any experiences like the one mentioned above?
2. How often do you think about the end of all things? 
3. How do you reconcile that fear with all that is happening today?