'Mark 15:39 'Surely this is the Son of God'

 

this is a message Preached at HopeWhangarei on November 24th 2024. It acts as a final message in a year long series on Mark... You can listen to the audio recording on this link. https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/hope-whangarei/episodes/Surely-this-is-the-Son-of-God---Howard-Carter-e2rdhjp 

Over the past year and a bit we’ve been S L O W L Y working our way through Mark’s fast paced gospel what Mark calls ‘the beginning of the Good News of Jesus the messiah, the Son of God. the series has been called ‘the way of the Cross’ as against all the expectations of Jewish society in Jesus day as to what the messiah would be like, Mark portrays Jesus primarily as the suffering servant, the son of man came not to be  served  but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. This is God’s upside down kingdom, which would not be achieved by earthly might or political and military power, but through loving self-sacrifice. And Mark invites those who would follow Jesus to walk the same way the way of the cross. As one commentator put it… to be an army who realizes our only weapons are service and self-sacrificing love.

It may seem strange as Mark’s gospel now slows down its pace from a quick-fire journey through Jesus ministry, to a slower walk through his last week and then as we come to the crucifixion down to three hourly blocks: they crucified him at nine o’clock, at midday the sky turns dark, for three hours then Jesus cries out and dies, with the resurrection forming a epilogue, that we are skimming over much of this material. While it may not be ideal, we’ve done it because we used Mark’s gospel as the basis of our Good Friday and easter Sunday celebrations this year.

I want to just focus for a few minutes on what is seen as the climax of the gospel narrative. As Jesus dies accompanied by  signs of Divine judgement, the sky being dark from noon to three, as if the light had gone out, and the curtain in the temple being ripped in two from top to bottom, like divine hands have wrenched it asunder, the last word, the summing up, is left to  a roman centurion who when he sees how Jesus dies says  “surely this is the Son of God”.

I want to look at that in three way and then like Mark finish with a resurrection epilogue.

The first is how this fits with the whole of the Gospel narrative.

We are not told what it is about the way Jesus died that made this centurion reflect in such a way. A centurion was a low-level military officer, possibly more like an NCO in the roman army, he was in charge of the crucifixion detail, he was an expert in crucifixion, hardened to the cursing and pleading and cries of anguish from those he executed in this slow vicious cruel way. But there is something here something in Jesus, which impacts him in a profound way. Mark is silent as to what it is. We have no way of knowing if his understanding of what the Son of God means was as fully developed as you and I with an understanding of the nature of Jesus as totally divine and totally human, as the second person of the trinity. We don’t know who he is speaking to either all we know is that he says “surely this is the son of God’.

It's as if at this very moment this most unlikely of characters, looks out from the pages of the gospel, looks the reader in the eye, and invites us to come to the same conclusion. If we were talking of in cinematic terms. The camera would pan down from Jesus last breath on the cross with the brooding dark clouds behind, to a close up of the centurion, and he would break the fourth wall and look and speak to us directly as those viewing the scene. Surely this is the Son of God.

In Mark scholar talk of the messianic secret, Mark reads like a mystery. It is a mystery which you and I are let in right at the beginning in the tile “this is the beginning of the good news of Jesus the Messiah, the son of God. We are allowed to eaves drop at Jesus baptism to God speaking ‘this is my son, in who I am pleased’. Then we are left along with the crowd and the religious authorities and the disciples to realise who is  Jesus? The one who heals, the lame, the deaf, the blind, who has authority to forgive sin, who commands the waves and wind to be still, who feed the multitude in the wilderness, who has authority over unclean spirits, speaks in parables, overturns the tables in the temple. Along the way we are given hints, the unclean spirits know that Jesus is the son of God, Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah. But he and the disciples really don’t understand what that means. They rebuke him when he talks of his death and resurrection, they focus on their own status and position. But now as the whole story has unfolded. The centurion, the first human to acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God, looks at us and says ‘surely this is the son of God’. This is what Mark has been leading us to all along. Calling us to be convinced. Jesus is God’s own son and he that he died for us… to bring us to repentance and reconcile us to God, the Father,  as we put our trust in Jesus and his death as a ransom for us.

The second thing is that the centurion is an outsider and it is this outsider that asks the question surely this is the son of God, to Mark’s original audience which would have been believers probably in Rome.

At the cross we see all the insiders, the people who should know, not realise what is going on, not realise who is on the cross. The disciples had fled and left him, peter had even denied knowing Jesu three times. Others come and mock Jesus. The Jewish people “ He said he was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days. He can’t even save himself”.  The teachers of the law mock him… he saved other but he couldn’t save himself. There is real ironey in what they say even Pilates sign which reads ‘king of the Jews’ speak real truth about who Jesus is and what he had done, Mark as well as painting Jesus as the suffering servant, also paints his crucifixion as a coronation, as a victory . However it’s shows they are blind and deaf to God’s messiah. Mark writing to his original audience wants them to come to realise that following Jesus is about the cross, the cruciform lifestyle. We want Jesus, we want new life, but are we prepared for the cross.

We started off this series with a quote from Timothy Gombis. I don’t expect you to remember it but he said

 “Mark is a subversive Gospel because it overturns expectations and assumptions. His narrative addresses Christian audiences who know Jesus’ teaching and who have made Christian confession but who are failing to grasp the character of the gospel as thoroughly shaped by the cross of Christ…”.

Thirdly, this series has been called the way of the cross. I can’t help but think that the centurion words ‘surely this is the son of God’ as he saw how Jesus died don’t also apply to us. To follow Jesus feels a whole lot like death. People will see Jesus as the son of God, in our lives as we to are prepared to lay down our lives.

In two ways. Jesus first words his core message is for people to repent because the kingdom of God is at hand. We often see that as a one of thing as we come to faith in Christ. However it is an on going process, of turning away from our own sinful lives, our own sinful heart desires as tim Keller puts it the idols in our lives, that fight for dominance of our time and worship and priority with Jesus and allow those things to die, as we hand them over to Jesus, ask for his forgiveness and receive new life. The theological word for that process is mortification, dying to self… the upside is sanctification, becoming more like Christ. It’s a willingness to be open to God changing and transforming us, convicting us and then also of allowing us to know that Jesus’ death means we are forgiven and we stand in his righteousness not ours. As people see that process they will see Jesus the Son of God revealed in us.

But it is also as we die to ourselves and learn to serve not to be served and to give our life for others, in service that Jesus will also be seen as the son of God. In John Jesus says they will know you are my disciples if you have love one for another.

That’s quite heavy and I want to finish with a resurrection epilogue. The crucifixion finishes beyond our reading today with the women watching from a distance, going and seeing where Jesus was buried, and going to tend to his body after the sabbath. They find the amazing truth that he is not there he is risen, and they are given the privilege of going and telling the disciples. That Jesus will meet with them. In Mark the resurrection serves as a vindication of Jesus as the Son of God. It confirms what the centurion is telling us asking us to know believe and trust. Surely this is the son of God.

But it is also the hope we have as we are willing to die to ourselves that as we share in Jesus suffering and his crucifixion that we will also share in his resurrection. As we allow the Spirit to put to death those things within us that are opposed to the gospel of Jesus, he replaces that with resurrection life. As we die to ourselves and give ourselves in  service and love we do so knowing that we will receive the resurrection to eternal life in and with Christ.

Scholars believe the gospel of Mark originally finished at verse 8 of chapter 16 with the women not telling anyone as they were afraid. It leaves us with our cross shaped lives to assume the role of the centurion and point to Jesus and his death, to assume the role of the women and proclaim ‘ he is risen’… with the assurance of the resurrection and say ‘surely this is the son of God’.

Mark 10:32-45 Not to be served but to serve

message recorded at HopeWhangarei August 25th 2024  https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hope-whangarei/episodes/Sermon-Howard-Carter-25th-Aug-Mark10-32-45-Not-to-Be-Served-But-to-Serve-e2nirbs/a-abgc4iu 

A rider on horseback, many years ago, in colonial America, came upon a squad of soldiers who were trying to move a heavy piece of timber. A corporal stood by, giving lordly orders to "heave." But the piece of timber was too heavy for the squad.

"Why don’t you help them?" asked the quiet man on the horse, addressing the important corporal. "Me?” he replied, “Why, I’m a corporal sir! I’m in charge"

Dismounting, the stranger carefully took his place with the soldiers. "Now, all together boys - heave!" he said. And the big piece of timber slid into place.

The stranger mounted his horse and addressed the corporal. "The next time you have a piece of timber for your men to handle, corporal, send for the commander-in-chief." The horseman rode off and it was only then did they realise it was George Washington, the first American president.

Jesus said to his disciples ‘don’t lord it over each other as the rulers of the gentile do… rather whoever wants to be great amongst you must be your servant. The son of man did not come to be served but to serve, and give his life as a ransom for many.”

We are working our way S L O W L Y through Mark’s fast paced account of the beginning of the Good news of Jesus the messiah, the son of God.” The series is called ‘the way of the cross’ because against the cultural expectations around what the messiah would be like, Mark portrays Jesus primarily as the suffering servant who came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many, and we are invited to see that to follow Jesus calls us down the same path of service and self-sacrificial love. The way for us to be a flourishing Christian community is to walk the way of the cross.

The reading this morning starts with a brief travel log. For the first time we are told the destination of the journey we’ve been on. We are told that they are heading up to Jerusalem. We are literally on the way to the cross. It is a journey, in Mark, bookmarked by narratives of Jesus healing two blind men, one at the start in Bethsaida and the other Bartimeus in Jericho. Along the journey Mark shows us how Jesus is trying to deal with and heal the spiritual blindness of his disciples.  Jesus predicts his suffering death and resurrection, three times, this is God’s salvation plan being worked out in Jesus, this is what it means for Jesus to be the Messiah. Each prediction is followed by the disciples not getting it: Peter rebuking Jesus, there is heated discussions about who is the greatest and now jockeying to get the prized positions when Jesus establishes his kingdom, comes in his glory.  Each time Jesus then teaches his disciples about what it means to truly follow him: pick up your cross and follow me, welcome even a child in my name,  to be great you must be the servant of all. Even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

 You know as I have read and studied and wrestled with this passage that last line of Jesus is the one that has stuck in my mind… I hear it over and over again, a line that both spoke to me, delighted me and challenged me. ‘The son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many’. So today I want to look at that verse and the whole passage and see what it says about Jesus, what it says to the disciples and then what it says to us today.

What is says about Jesus?

Here it acts as a rounding off of all Jesus teaching and ministry up to this point and it points us forward to what is to come. It makes sense of the crucifixion and the resurrection.

We are told in verse 32 that Jesus was out in front, he was leading the way, as Timothy Gombis puts it he is resolutely heading to Jerusalem to carry out the divine agenda. His disciples are following with a mix of astonishment, they are hoping Jesus will establish his kingdom, but their understanding of that is that is based around the cultural expectations of a military  and political messiah, and fear, that Jesus and they are heading into trouble and conflict with the religious leaders and power structures in the city… and its not going to end well. So Jesus turns and again give them a prediction of what will happen when they get to the city.

He talks of his suffering death and resurrection. Of the three predictions in Mark this is the fullest and most detailed. It could almost act as a table of contents for Mark’s account of the passion of Jesus. One of the most shocking things in this list is that the son of man will be handed over to the gentiles. Jesus would have understood that for him to be executed it would have had to be done with Roman approval, but also this was a total rejection by Israel of their messiah.  The use of the title ‘the son of Man’ from the Old Testament show that Jesus understanding of what is to come is very much based on his understanding of the scriptures of what the messiah will face.  Scriptures like psalm 22, that Jesus quotes on the cross and Isaiah 53…

But not only in this passage do we have Jesus understanding of what will happen, and that this is God’s divine plan, but in the son of man came to give his life as a ransom for many we have Jesus understanding of the why as well. The word ransom in the Old Testament has the idea of deliverance by purchase, buying one free. A ransom was paid for a prisoner of war or a salve or someone who had forfeited their lives under the law, and so they were then set free. It came to represent in the Old Testament the idea of God’s redemption, liberation from an imprisonment from which humanity could not free themselves. Jesus as God’s messiah as the exalted son of man freely offers himself in our place. He pays the price that should have been ours. This is the ultimate service that Jesus offers. Underlying this is very much the words of Isaiah 53 the servant song, which speaks of the servant of God, suffering and dying and presenting himself as an offering for the sins of many. Taking on himself our punishment, our guilt, the price of all we have done wrong. That we would be reconciled with God and know freedom and new life. This is the profound truth of the Gospel, Jesus God’s anointed one, his son would give his life for you and I, to win our freedom, in his death the price is paid… and in response to this gift we are called to live our lives follow Jesus.  

Ok Jesus saying the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many also rounds off Jesus teaching his disciples about what following him means after they again don’t get it.

Right after Jesus prediction James and John come to Jesus with a request. They ask Jesus to grant them whatever they desire. In one sense this is an act of faith, it is the sort of request you’d bring to a monarch as they are about to ascend their throne, So James and john are aware that Jesus is about to establish his kingdom. As a negative example you may remember Herod Antipas offering to do anything up to half his kingdom to Herodias’ daughter. Jesus isn’t an unwise monarch, so he asks them what they are wanting, he is not prepared to issue a blank cheque. James and john ask that Jesus allow them to have the places of privilege at his right and left when he comes into his glory. At a victory feast the privileged positions to the triumphant king were at his right and left. After all they were part of Jesus inner three, just like David had had his three mighty warriors, they had been on the mount of transfiguration. But  James and John are not thinking in terms of Jesus suffering or death or what it means to be a disciple rather only their own status and position.

Jesus response is not to scold them, he responds in terms of looking at what is in front of him. In Mark, Jesus crucifixion is portrayed yes as suffering but also as a coronation, of him coming in his glory, so he asks James and John if they can drink the same cup or be baptised in the same baptism. These were terms that Jesus used to speak of his coming passion as messiah. Of course James and John, still not understanding but with some sense of courage say they can. 

Jesus does admit that they will indeed share in his suffering for the gospel. We know from Acts 12;2 that Herod has James executed by the sword, and John suffered imprisonment on Patmos where he wrote revelation. But to give the right to sit as his right and left is not for Jesus to assign, he acts as God’s servant it is in God’s hands. There is double irony here as when Jesus was crucified, came into his glory he was crucified between two thieves.  

Then of course we have the other ten being indignant with John and James, you could imagine them all thinking… why didn’t I think of that… I wanted that place… that indignation has very much to do with their thoughts on prestige and status and importance. That word indignation is used t speak of Jesus reaction to the children being sent away, he was indignant for those with no status, here the disciples are indignant about their own status. So Jesus again has to teach them about the idea of being a true follower. So he contrasts the rulers of the gentile who laud it over each other, who seek power and prestige with what it is supposed to be like in the kingdom of God. That whoever wants to be great must be the servant of all, and who ever wants to be first must be the salve. And for emphasis gives himself as the example. The son of man came not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many. In the kingdom of God service and sacrifice comes before glory, and it is God who lifts us up, not ourselves. As William L Lane explains it there is a difference between the rulers of this world who serve their own interests and those of servants and salve, all their activities are directed to the interests of other people. “the order of life for the common dealing of the disciples is to be love expressed in the form of service.” For this Jesus is their and our example.

Let’s move to look at what ‘the son of man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many has to say to us today.

Over the past few years one of things that has really saddened me has been the public scandals around leaders and pastors in the church who seem to have focused on their own interests and wellbeing, wealth and prestige. We’ve seen it in places like the United States, Australia and in our own country. In one pod cast I listened to they talked of the creep of expecting more and more amongst in particular mega church leaders. There was the expectation of lavish life style, expensive gifts, big love offerings as a sign of appreciation, being put in positions of authority where they couldn’t be challenged, people being used and abused for the leaders vision and dreams. Much of it undergirded by what is called the prosperity gospel, that this lavishness is a sign of God’s blessing, a kind of baptism of greed. It saddens me because it shows that we like Jesus first disciples are still in danger of being blind to the cultural expectations of prestige and status and position and power that are so much part of our world, as opposed to Jesus teaching on service and sacrificial love. Maybe that is that tendency writ so big that it makes the headlines of our papers, but it underlines how easy it is in our everyday life to find ourselves influenced by that… maybe to find ourselves amongst the indignant, or wanting an open cheque kind of relationship with God.

Perhaps the best way of looking at what ‘the son of man has come not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many has to say to us is to look at one of the two disciples in the passage. It gives me hope that I and we can learn and grow, as followers of Jesus. As I said before James was martyred very early on, but we have John’s writings, and  you can see how this incident and Jesus words and example and love had a profound effect on him… In 1 John 3:16, easy to remember the reference… it’s the other John 3:16… John says this “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.’

We could finish this off right there or with examples of great sacrifice from Christians for other people. Two came to mind Bonhoeffer in prison in nazi Germany comforting his captors during bombing raids. Richard Wurmbrand a Romanian pastor imprisoned under both the right wing and communist regimes in that country, caring for men wiping their brow and cleaning them up, as they lay in the room put side for the dying in prison… leading them to Christ, men who had imprisoned him, and had him tortured, who later fell out of favour with the regime. we could remember the small acts of service we receive like someone taking the time out of a busy day to talk with us and share in a moment of need. But I thought it best to leave it open for you… and to simply finish by going back to that opening illustration. If I may if your life is under a burden too hard for you to bear, the burden of sin, like you are under a heavy piece of wood… know our commander and chief, Jesus son of man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. That he was nailed to a piece of wood and can lift it off you and set you free. As you see others around you who are struggling under burdens don’t stand back and holler heave… rather join your commander and chief and get alongside to serve and give your life. The son of man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many…

Mark 13:1-13 Certainties following Jesus in a world of change and turmoil

  A recording of this sermon is on the HopeWhangarei website 

 https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/hope-whangarei/episodes/3-11-24-Howard-Carter---Certainties-of-following-Jesus-in-a-world-of-change-and-turmoil-e2qfnqu 

When we were young one of the ways we were certain Christmas was coming was at the start of December mum would put an old cardboard advent calendar up on our kitchen wall. Each morning my sister and I would take turns opening the appropriate door on the calendar. It would reveal a picture that was relevant to the nativity or Christmas in general, and a bible reference, which we would read together from the bible. It was a great way to build up the expectation of Christmas and celebrating the incarnation.

 

When I went online to find images of advent calendars I was confronted by a whole array of different versions. Some beautifully crafted wooden ones, real heirloom sort of things, fitting for family traditions…but also a whole array of others associated with consumer good… Lego Star Wars, barbie, milky bar chocolate, Swarovski crystal and kiwi craft beers. Part of the pressure to make Christmas simply a celebration of consumerism and consumption.

In November we are working our way through Mark Chapter 13. What is known as the little Apocalypse, where in response to a question from his disciples about the destruction of the temple Jesus speaks of future events. Many people have used this and similar passages like an advent calendar, a count down a tick box to Jesus second coming, his second advent. As they associate world events with Jesus teaching it is like they open one more ‘last days’ door. There is almost a commercialization
of it as well, with books and novels written, film series made, and speakers making a living by claiming special revelation to how it all fits together. There is a heightened sensitivity in people’s minds to Jesus second coming: In 1948 for the first time in almost two thousand years Israel appeared again as a nation, We have been through a millennium. We live in uncertain times, there are wars, particularly the one in the middle east, we’ve had a global pandemic, significant environmental issues, and we are facing incredible social and technological changes. If we simply try and treat Jesus teaching in this chapter like an advent calendar, we will miss its very relevant and encouraging message for Jesus disciples, for Mark’s first readers facing growing hostility to the gospel in Rome, and for us. A message of certainties not idle speculation as we follow Jesus in a world of change and turmoil.

We are working our way S L O W L Y through what Mark calls ‘the beginning of the Good News of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God’. The series is called ‘the way of the cross’. As against the cultural expectations of what the Messiah would be like, Mark portrays Jesus as primarily the suffering servant, the key verse being ‘the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many” and the call is for those who would follow Jesus, amidst world changing events and trying times, to walk the same road of service and self-sacrificial love, trusting God.

Before we look at the reading today, we need to look briefly at the whole of chapter 13… Mark chapter 13 contains what is Jesus longest section of uninterrupted teaching in the gospel.  It comes at the end of his ministry time and bridges into the narrative of Jesus passion, his betrayal death and resurrection. This is symbolised as the chapter starts with Jesus leaving the temple for the last time. He had entered it with the pilgrims come to celebrate Passover, looked around and left. The next day had cleansed the temple, tipping over the money changers tables. Then the day after that, after an enacted parable cursing the fig tree, passing judgment on the religious system of the temple, he had had a series of confrontations with various factions of the religious authorities. This resulted in their final rejection of him. Now he leaves the temple.

 In John we have Jesus teaching at the last supper but in Mark Jesus teaching on the mount of olives acts as a farewell speech to his disciples. Like in John Jesus prepares them for what is to come. The emphasis is very much pastoral… Watch out… do not be deceived… do not be alarmed… be on your guard do not worry… the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

The context of Jesus speech is the disciples coming to him after his prediction of the destruction of the temple and wanting to know what are the signs and the times of this happening. Jesus gives some general warning of what is to come in the passage we read out today, then in 13-23 speaks of the destruction of the temple and Jerusalem, but is very clear that this is not the end. However they can look forward to the coming of the son of man and then in 27-34 finishes by giving two parables to encourage watchfulness and faithfulness. William Lane sums it up well when he says  “the primary function of chapter 13 is not to disclose esoteric information but to promote faith and obedience in a time of distress and upheaval…”  a future of both suffering and mission, as they and we await Jesus return.

Ok let’s look at the reading this morning and what it has to say to us and I want to do that by looking at the certainties that Jesus gives his disciples and us.

The first  is the certainty of the destruction of the temple (1-4).

As they leave the temple an unnamed disciple comments on the grandeur, splendor and that permanent feel of the temple. Look at the stones and the magnificence of the place. The Herodian temple was amazing. The massive stones covered at the front in gold. But Jesus simply says that not even one stone will remain on top of another. When the Romans did come in 70ad burned and Jerusalem, the gold melted on the temple and to retrieve it the romans literally pulled the temple apart stone by stone.

But the destruction of the temple was also a certainty because just like in the Old Testament times when the people of Israel were taken into captivity in Babylon, they had not keep there side of the covenant relationship with God. Now the authorities had rejected Jesus and shown that they too did not keep God’s law.  

I don’t think that certainty speaks only to the downfall of Jerusalem. Which for the disciples would have seemed like the end of the world. But the church and we have faced times when there have been life and world changing events. When institutions that seem permanent and give meaning to life change. Our own time is one such era. In fact it seems the only way to describe where we are at the moment is by saying what has gone before… We are postmodern, post-colonial, some say post Christian, I would say post Christendom, even moving towards being post human, it may be a bit of a humorous illustration, but amidst all this post stuff the only thing you can’t find is a post office, and you can no longer say the cheque is in the mail or the post. Empires and world systems institutions rise and fall and change… It may feel like it sometimes… but it is not the end of the world.

The second certainty that Jesus talks of is that the disciples and we will face three great spiritual dangers.(5-9)

Firstly deception because of false prophets and messiahs. Jesus warns his disciples to watch out and be on guard unless they be deceived. Jesus teaching in chapter 13 relies heavily on the Old Testament. As Jerusalem was facing destruction by the Babylonians, Jeremiah confronts many prophets who say everything will be all right, no need to worry no need to repent, God is blessing us with peace.  In 152 ad as the romans final destroyed Judea, Bar Cocba on of the leaders of that time, said he was the messiah.

Down through history there have been people who claimed to be the Messiah and even claimed to be Jesus come again. It is a spiritual danger we always face, people who would draw our allegiance from Jesus to themselves, who would each another ‘gospel’ rather than the one of Jesus. We live in a time when the internet gives people a platform and way more influence than they may deserve, and as a friend of mine said every heresy there ever was alive and well and living on the internet. The desire to find someone or something that will be the answer is very alive: Political Messiah’s economic messiahs as well as religious ones.  We can be susceptible to the cult of personality. To be on guard means to be focused on Jesus, to know his teaching, to be discerning people of the word and prayer.

Secondly being distracted by world events. Jesus said there would be earthquakes and rumours of wars and wars and nation would rise against nation. We are not to be alarmed these thing swill continue to happen. These things are not to draw our attention away from following Jesus and being agents of the Kingdom of God. In the first century it may take months to hear of a war, unless it was happening at your door step, today it seems that every conflict is caught on camera and ever tension between nations is broadcast nightly to our homes. Yes there is a Kingdom of God way of responding to these things… with lament, that this is not the way it should be, with compassion and generosity to those who suffer from natural disaster and war, and prophetic voice, Jesus said blessed are the peace makers.

Thirdly, despondency due to persecution and suffering for the sake of Jesus. We must be on guard, not be taken unawares because these things will happen. The examples given are being called before the councils of synagogues, and before governors and Kings. Jesus also goes on to talk of families being disrupted and handing over family members.  You can read the book of acts and see this play out. The Church in Rome was about to face persecution from the likes of Nero. The church has found itself down through the ages and in many places a persecuted minority. We should not however be despondent or loose heart. In Acts we see that god used persecution to push the church out on its mission from Jerusalem, into the gentile world. In the world today some of the places where the church has faced the worst persecution is where it is growing the fastest.  The largest Christian population in the world just maybe in mainland China, now one of the fastest growing churches in the world is in Iran. There is truth to the comment that the church grows by the blood of the martyrs.

Detrick Bonhoeffer, was invited to stay in America before the second world war, and in deciding to return to nazi Germany where he would eventually be imprisoned and killed, he said that the church in the west was weak because it would do anything to avoid suffering. One of the dangers for us of suffering and persecution is that its too easy to simply assimilate into our culture and to stagnate, to lose our focus on Jesus and his call to live out and proclaim  the counter culture Kingdom of God. We must be on Guard.

Amidst these world events and spiritual dangers is the certainty of mission. Amidst the spiritual dangers Jesus mentions that even when being bought before governors and kings we will be called to bear witness to Jesus. The gospel will be preached and proclaimed to all nations. As certain as difficult times are is the mission that the disciples and you and I are called to. Jesus calls the hard times birth pangs, contractions and the time between Jesus death and resurrection and his Parousia are what theologians call an already but not yet time, Jesus death and resurrection inaugurated the kingdom of God and we await its consummation, but we live in a time when the old is passing away and we are invited to be about giving birth to the new…  Waiting for the second coming is not a passive experience it is being called to be about the mission Jesus has called us to. I’ve been using the Romans Course by the bible society a bit this year and I am really impacted by the testimonies go with each session. One testimony was of a Welsh man called Jos who felt the call to be a missionary and was prepared to go to a small town, village in Wales filled with real troubles and be willing to respond…working as a rugby officer in the local schools. I know many of you have recently moved to villages I wonder if you’ve been called there as witnesses as well… we see many kaianga ora villages being set up and is part of gods call to us to be prepared to witness there.

The fourth certainty of the presence and power the Holy Spirit with us as we face difficulties and mission. Jesus said not to worry when you are called before authorities to bear witness, because the Holy Spirit would give us the words to say. What gives us hope to endure and courage to continue is the abiding presence of the risen Jesus with us through the Holy Spirit. A quick example from my own life is almost the opposite to what Jesus said, the Holy Spirit allowing me to witness by being silent. When I was in my late teens I was involved in an outreach coffee bar. It wasn’t that effective. One night two guys came in and told us that they could prove to us that Christianity was false. They would give us all the reasons why they didn’t believe, and we’d get angry and throw them out like everyone else did. Up for a challenge I said Ok go for it. What followed was about forty minutes not of well thought out arguments but the hurling of abuse and vile language. I didn’t say much, but s I happened I felt the presence and peace of the Holy Spirit, I started to smile. After forty minutes, these guys suddenly looked at each other and said man we’d better get out of here this Jesus stuff is real.

The last certainty is that Jesus will return and with the Holy Spirit’s help those who endure to the end will be saved. We can trust Jesus at his word, and we can trust that Jesus by the Holy Spirit is able to lead and guide and bring us through the world changing events, the wars and rumours of war, the persecution and suffering. As we have put our faith in Jesus and his death and resurrection, we can trust him with our future. Writing to the church at Philippi Paul says this “ I am confident of this that the one who started a good work in you will bring it to co0mpletion by the day of Jesus Christ. Mark 13 may not act as an advent calendar, but it acts as an advent promise. Amidst the certainties of suffering and turmoil, amidst spiritual dangers, there si the certainty that  God is at work, That the gospel of Jesus Christ is bring about new creation in our world and the certainty that we can trust the Holy Spirit all the way. So be on watch… do not be deceived…be on guard…do not to be alarmed…do not worry…stand firm to the end.