Second Sunday before Advent Mark 13:1-8 Daniel 12:1-3
‘This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.’ The last sentence in today’s reading from Mark’s gospel is where we shall have to start, in order to make sense of what has come before. Jesus’ answer to the question of the disciples about the Temple led him to speak, not in agreement to their admiration for the building, but rather of what lies beyond it. This, as in the event of Jesus clearing the Temple, is to draw people’s attention to something – or someone – much greater than the architecture. Also, as usual, Jesus uses imagery that everybody at the time would be quite familiar with, in this case the image of birth. In those days, perhaps more than in later times, the physical agony of a woman in labour was part and parcel of life. The beginning of life, and its end, were close accompaniers. We have often interpreted Jesus’ words about the destruction of the Temple and what was to happen afterwards as indicators of the end of time only, but that is not necessarily the case. As we know, the Temple itself, that magnificent structure that the disciples adored, was to be destroyed in AD70, but as Jesus also indicates, ‘the end is yet to come’. So he is referring to the near future as well as the far-off future in the distance of time. The events that he talks about are signs of the ‘beginning of the birth pangs’.
Birth pains can take a while; nature has to take its course. The moment of birth is not immediate but at a pre-determined time. Before then, it has to be endured; you can’t go around it, you have to go through it. The good thing is that once the child is born, the pain is forgotten and – in most cases – the new-born is held and watched with delight. So what about the birth of a new era, as referred to by Jesus?
The birth of a new age, a time when justice and peace are to be restored, had been announced by the prophets for a long time. For God was always intending to renew creation and to bring in his Kingdom of mercy and truth. The Temple – in its previous forms as well as the new structure of the day – had had a particular function: to help the people focus in the right direction. But one day that function would no longer be necessary, as all would be drawn closer to God through Jesus, the living Temple of truth, love, mercy and peace. It may be that idea that astonished the disciples most. They had grown up with the rituals of sacrifice in the Temple and could not yet see how they could ever be replaced. A new Kingdom, they might have thought, fine! But it would not be the kind of Kingdom that God had in mind.
What comes in the following verses in Mark’s Gospel, is the way Jesus explains how things will be for the disciples: they will be handed over to councils, beaten for their faith and hated because of Jesus’ name. Not an easy prospect! But, as Jesus also says, ‘the one who endures to the end will be saved.’
Do we like that picture? Possibly not. The disciples also would not have relished the idea of persecution, any more than a woman is looking forward to her labour pains. But the way to salvation and the final fulfilment of God’s Kingdom has to come through many a conflict. We may be tempted to panic when we hear rumours of war, natural disaster and false predictions making us afraid. But we do not need to; they are only the beginning of the birth pangs. And, at least they are the beginning. The world will go, and is already going, through a difficult time. All the more reason to hold on to faith, or, perhaps more accurately, to let our faith hold us. And continue to announce the Good News of Jesus Christ. For in the face of adversity, one person with God is always a majority. Amen.