The Trouble with Jesus
by Constance Hastings
Jesus, what makes you think this Doomsday portrait you give here is helping? Why even talk about it? We’ve been through a hell of a lot, and this end-of-the-world talk isn’t doing us any good. Besides, who’d ever get behind you if this is where you’re going. We’re just not going to listen to this kind of thing.
Yeah, well what galaxy do you come from? If talk of apocalyptic endings bother you, why do you watch so much of it from streaming movies to video games to best sellers? Listen guy, there’s money to be made from this genre, and the makers of these stories play right into the basic fears of futurists to preppers to predictive prophets with megaphones shouting, “The End is Near.” Why is this ok for everyone else, but Jesus can’t say anything beyond Love Your Neighbor and Bless the Children? Get over that, and listen up.
Watch Out!
As Jesus describes it, the question is not if, and he never gives an answer to the disciples about when. It will happen, and it won’t be good. Wars all over the world. Earthquakes. Famines. And that’s just the beginning. (Could we add global pandemics? Fear of political collapse? Probably, but Jesus apparently was just giving examples of disasters, not an exhaustive list.) More so, he told his lieutenants to keep their eyes peeled for the worst. Expect it. It will happen.
The Big Question
So what’s behind all of this? Where does it come from, and what’s the cause? Is there anything that can be done about it? Will anyone survive? (All right, that’s more than one question but you get the idea. If you want Hollywood’s answer, read here for various viewing suggestions:
But this is Jesus you’re talking to, so you’ll have to go with his perspective and worldview understanding. Jesus speaks out of the biblical genre. Think Noah and the Flood, Moses and the Plagues, Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s dreams. Biblical proportions are massive, and you never want to be in its path. His people were well aware of these tales. Understood though in the midst of these stories God was present and working though in it. Thus, when the disciples listened to Jesus, they knew the ultimate outcome would be of divine justice. Even so, layers of perspective and position must be examined.
Cosmic Battles
This could bring to mind angels and demons fighting it out over who gets final control. Don’t like that? Substitute your favorite zombie story. Marvel has done much to make this into the mythic and legendary. It’s been said there are only seven basic story archetypes, and you’ll find all of them in this category. At its center though is a struggle of Good and Evil for power and control. The universe can’t end or have a new beginning without it. You’d expect God to be Supreme Commander in the starring role.
Survival of the Planet
Can earth sustain life or any form of life as we know it? Survivalists go deep into this one. Admittedly, a case could be made that this is pretty immanent. Factor in a mutating virus, understated nuclear threats, and wild new climate events. Lives worldwide are being rearranged. Did Jesus say this is just the beginning of horrors to come? Can human efforts really slow the inevitable? Will the outcome be “not with a bang but a whimper”? The ancient scriptures began with, “In the beginning, God.…” History concludes with, “In the end, God….”
Cultural Changes
The disciples had marveled, uh, spoke in awe that is, about the architectural marvel, no, major feat accomplished in building the Temple, but Jesus was not at all affected by it. He could only see what would become of it, demolished and flattened. Even edifices erected to God someday come down. If that’s so, political upheavals, societal divisions, racial and class demands, wealth disparities, justice reforms, name whatever you’re feeling, but it should be no surprise. Some days you have to ask if the boot of God isn’t behind it.
The Good in It All
Whether we live though it vicariously in virtual reality, feel it in strong winds fueling wildfires, or try to learn and negotiate a new kind of relational living, Jesus’ words hit in sensitive places of the soul. The Bigger Questions come up: who are we to be in the midst of this changing world, in whom do we believe, and what will be the shape of us in the practice of that belief? Whatever our answer, it affirms this much. Choice is only powered by the action behind it.
Choose to Respond
Read all of Mark 13. Jesus tells the good, bad, and ugly of end times however you view it. He also affirms it will end in fulfilling his mission of Good News for those who listen and choose to believe that coming out of apocalyptic changes will be a new world. But first a choice has to be made, to not deny him or turn away from the struggle of control for the world. He warns his disciples there will be those who give a different spin on these pressures. Fake news, conspiracy theory, whatever deception can be construed will be designed to detract from his message. Some even will claim to be God or speak for God. Worst yet, they will be successful.
Choice otherwise will affirm his work. Stand up to monuments and systems of injustice. Be sensitive to the fragility of nature. Busy your hands in work that promotes mercy. Make relationships with the marginalized and the shunned. Wash dirty feet. To do Jesus’ work is to believe in his purpose.
All this is to occur so Temples financed by fleecing the poor will fall. Even in its worst, there’s assumptions that something better founded in hope will prevail. The only ones who will protest the ultimate change will be those whose power and privilege is embedded in oppression of the least of these.
Historical Context
Many scholars believe that this writing was made about a decade or so before the Temple’s destruction. People remembered Jesus’ words about these end times and the desolation that was to come. What was the center of their faith, despite that into what it had devolved, was still the center of what had been believed about God for hundreds of years. To see it fall at the hands of one’s enemy was soul shaking.
Interestingly, after that day Jesus never returned to the Temple. Instead, he moved on to what was to come. One time he had said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” The horror of the coming days would be inflicted on himself, and from that a revolutionary world born of resurrection would be possible.
Don’t most renditions of Apocalypse end this way?
The Trouble with Jesus: Considerations Before You Walk Away by Constance Hastings
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