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