"Not one stone will be left upon another..."

Mark 12:38-13:13 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

³⁸ In His teaching He was saying: “Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes, and like respectful greetings in the market places, ³⁹ and chief seats in the synagogues and places of honor at banquets, ⁴⁰ who devour widows’ houses, and for appearance’s sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.”

⁴¹ And He sat down opposite the treasury, and began observing how the people were putting money into the treasury; and many rich people were putting in large sums. ⁴² A poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which amount to a cent. ⁴³ Calling His disciples to Him, He said to them, “Truly I say to you, this poor widow put in more than all the contributors to the treasury; ⁴⁴ for they all put in out of their surplus, but she, out of her poverty, put in all she owned, all she had to live on.”

13 As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” ² And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

³ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” ⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁶ Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and will mislead many. ⁷ When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. ⁸ For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

⁹ “But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ¹⁰ The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹ When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. ¹² Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³ You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

Throughout today’s text there is a comparing and contrasting of the values of the earthly natural realm and what is truly valuable in the kingdom of God. Jesus first warns that the scribes, who have placed value on appearances, position and human authority, “ will receive greater condemnation.”   The scribes knew the scriptures, they studied them, memorizing and recording them. With revelation comes accountability. Each of us is responsible for the truth which has been revealed to us. We should not judge others by our own revelation, rather we should walk in the light of that revelation and : "Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.(Matthew 5:16)  James 3:1 says:   Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.  It is not that no one should teach, preach or share the truth, even the hard truth of God’s word. It is that first and foremost all who teach should practice what they preach.  Jesus says:  But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. ³⁷ For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”       Perhaps the most important words of justification for any of us are:  forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.

In the story of the widow giving all that she had, we see more than a lesson on giving our offering to God. Financial giving to churches and ministries has been distorted, manipulated  and abused in our western church culture. While our churches and ministries do count on the financial contributions of their members and supporters, God does not need our money. Yet from the very beginning He taught His people to give.  Perhaps it is because: godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷ for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹ But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Timothy 6:6-10)  It is not money which is the root of evil, but rather the love of money which is the root of all kinds of evils.  The love of money is not something  that can only be found in the wealthy. The poor widow had only those two copper coins, had she loved money more than obedience to and faith in God, she would have held onto at least one of them. Giving all that we have to live on is not a matter of what we have, it’s a matter of the heart. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul says:   I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.       The giving back to God of our finances is not the end of the responsibility we have in obedience to God, it is simply a measure of our heart. If we love God we will give completely of ourselves, offering our lives as worship to Him who offered His life for us.  

Today’s text ends with an ominous warning and a great promise from Jesus.      “But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ¹⁰ The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹ When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. ¹² Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³ You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”      Jesus says that in the end times these things will happen. We should neither be surprised by them, nor should we fear them. He says: “but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”      Jesus says that some will be put to death because of the name of Jesus. We are seeing that with increasing frequency throughout the world today. Yet there have always been those who have been martyred for the name of Jesus. So it is not those who survive to the end of the age who will be saved, but rather all who endure and stand with and for Christ until their end whether that is by natural means, at the hand of others or through a supernatural rapture.

 Jesus points out the temporary status of even the greatest accomplishments of human efforts, saying: , “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”    This world and all that is in it is only temporary. Even the greatest human achievements will be forgotten. 1 John 2:16-17 says: For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.         It is true that some will lose their lives for the name of Christ. Jesus says: For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. ²⁶ For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? ²⁷ For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and will then repay every man according to his deeds.

Colossians 3:2 says: Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  Our minds will follow our hearts.

Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; Holy Spirit, thank You for the revelation of Your love and Your truth in my life. May I be found faithful to walk in the fullness of that revelation. May I, through the power of the cross and the Holy Spirit in me hold fast to what is truly valuable, the eternal things of the kingdom of heaven not the temporary things of earth. Regardless of what my end may be, may I endure to that end with You.    Amen.