Keep watch!

Pentecost 27 year A Sermon  Are you a wise or foolish virgin? How on earth would you know?  

When Jesus tells this parable in Matthew’s Gospel…

it’s just two days before his triumphal entry into Jerusalem…as thousands of Jewish pilgrims…

make their way into the city for the Passover…when Jesus comes through the gates on the back of a donkey…there’ll be no mistaking his intentions…

to claim his identity as king and messiah…

Ecstatic crowds will greet him

But for now…Jesus and his disciples are tired and dusty…overwhelmed by a day taking in the sights of Jerusalem…never have they seen anything…as massive and majestic as the Temple…yet Jesus warned them that very morning… of its destruction

‘…not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’And now they’re anxious to know the signs of the end of the age… and they demand Jesus tell them…when and how it will happen.

So in Matthew’s story…Jesus leads his disciples outside the gates once again…And up to the top… of the Mount of Olives…where as the sun sets….they can look out across the valley… at the majesty of the Temple Jesus knows… they still don’t understand…

the enormityof what’s about to happen…how long it’s going to take…and the part they’ll play …and so as they settle in for the night…Jesus speaks to them about signs of the end of the age.

 

Slide words

"Watch out no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming 'I’m the Christ,' and deceive many. 

You’ll hear of wars and rumours of wars, but don’t be afraid. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 

Such things will happen…but all these are just the beginning of the birth pains. The end of this age is still to come. [pause] "Then you’ll be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith…and betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but those who stand firm to the end will be saved.

And the good news of the kingdom will be preached to the gentiles…

and then the end of the age will come.

And as Jesus disciples look out across the valley…

trying to imagine how such a great Temple could be brought down…Jesus reminds them of the messianic prophesies in Isaiah and Daniel… And tells them all this is going to happen in their life time…[pause]

 

Just hours before what’s supposed to be Jesus’ greatest triumph

…his grand entry…signalling the victory of Israel’s God…

over all the powers and principalities of Rome and Caesar…

Just hours before this…Over and over… in prophesy and parable… Jesus urges his friends to keep watch…

to keep the faith… to remain wise and faithful servants

no matter how long they’re left waiting on their own [pause]

 

But Jesus disciples are ready now! Bring it on Jesus…

bring on the kingdom right now! Jesus talk about waiting and his dire predictions… aren’t what they want to hear.

But without them Jesus followers might not understand the parable he tells them next…about the wise and foolish virgins…

a story full of ancient messianic imagery… the bridegroom and his wedding banquet… the coming of the kingdom of God…And…please guys…Jesus insists… no one knows the time…even I don’t know it…but I promise you

‘At that time… the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.’ 

Five were foolish and five were wise. 

The foolish ones took their lamps but didn’t take any oil

The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming,

and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

Finally…at midnight the cry rang out:

'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!' [pause]

There’s a scramble of activity as all the virgins wake up and prepare their lamps. But the night’s been a long one and the lamps of the foolish virgins… start to sputter 

Our lamps are going out. They cry to the wise virgins

'Give us some of your oil.

 'No way say,' the wise ones, 'there may not be enough for us all and we don’t want to miss anything… go buy your own. And so the foolish virgins wander off

into the darkness in search of oil…

I mean how foolish is that…the Bridegroom’s already there! The party’s going to start. And the foolish virgins wander off. The Bridegroom’s already there. Only the wise virgins who stay put…go in with him to the wedding feast.

 The foolish virgins miss their opportunity…because at the last minute…they lose their focus… [pause]

 So don’t get side tracked…Jesus warns his disciples

because no one knows the day or the hour.

Keep your eye out for the bridegroom…If you believe I’m the anointed one of God…no matter what happens keep your focus on me…Remember…

how I’ve taught you to live and to love…and you will enter the kingdom of God …you will enjoy the wedding feast of the lamb [pause]

Now it’s clear Jesus isn’t offering us… a series of signs …that precede his return to earth many centuries in the future…No…Jesus is speaking of real events about to unfold in the life of his disciples… in the history of Israel and Jerusalem…

events that will bring an end to the age …

the age of Mosaic Covenant…

Not only is Jesus is warning of the ordeals his disciples will face after his death… but the suffering and destruction of all Jerusalem and its holiest place…

the Temple…at the hand of the enemy…

Israel refuses to love…

 

The religious system which rejects Jesus’ message of shalom…and seeks his execution…will fall…

And Jesus does’t know the time table…

"No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.’

So remain faithful… keep your focus on me

Jesus is telling them. [pause]

Seven years after Jesus death and resurrection…the Jews were still rioting against their occupiers…

In retribution… Caesar Caligula would raise a statue of himself in the Temple… to the horror and disgust of all Israel…Jesus followers reading Matthew’s Gospel…would see this event in Jesus words from the prophet Daniel… about the abomination that causes desolation being raised in the holy place…

Over the next twenty years… the Jews would fully rebel against their Roman masters. General Vespasian would be dispatched from Rome to restore order. By the year 68 AD, Jewish resistance in the north will be wiped out and the Romans will turn their full attention...

to the subjugation of Jerusalem.

 That same year, the Emperor Nero will die by his own hand, creating a power vacuum in Rome. In the resulting chaos, General Vespasian will be declared Emperor and return to the Imperial City. The final assault on Jerusalem will be lead by his son, Titus. [pause]

 

Our only first-hand account… of the attack on the Temple … comes from the Jewish historian Josephus ….a former leader of the Jewish Revolt …Josephus writes that the Roman legions surrounded Jerusalem for months…slowly squeezing the life out of her.

 Finally in AD 70… the Roman army breached Jerusalem's outer walls and began to ransack the city. The soldiers finished their assault by destroying the Temple. In victory, the Romans slaughtered thousands of men women and children.

 Many thousands more are sent as slaves to the mines of Egypt, others are dispersed to the gladiators arenas throughout the Empire…to be pitted against wild animals for the amusement of the public.

The Temple's sacred relics are taken to Rome...to be paraded in celebration of the victory. [pause]

 

And after the Temple falls…though a remnant of Jesus followers remain in Jerusalem…the others will have scattered to the ends of the earth…

They will have passed through the crushing disappointment of Jesus’ crucifixion…

only to be inspired and energised by an encounter with the bridegroom they could never have expected.

Yes Jerusalem and the Temple will fall…the end of the age of the Mosaic covenant will come…but a new people of God will already be continuing Jesus’ work across the Empire…ushering in God’s Kingdom on earth…

Reconciling all nations to God…and gathering a people of a new covenant.

 

Those people of peace would keep their focus on Jesus as they face persecution and the jaws of lions in Jesus name…

Of course many who will call themselves Christians will take their focus off him as the centuries unfold…

But here we are today worshipping in his name…

facing uncertainty and anxiety over the future …

will we keep our focus on Jesus…and the way he taught us to live and to love…will we look for him in the people and signs of Shalom around us…or will we rush away into the darkness

…and miss him when he comes?

 So even when your strength and faith are running low… may you keep your focus on Jesus…

may you keep watch for him …may you remain his faithful servant