Whatever system of government may currently be in power, God's Royal Proclamation comes as a Word that evokes an accounting from - and possibly a confrontation with - earthly rulers. And as Jesus simply observes: don't be led astray, earthly rulers never accept accounting kindly. There will be resistance.
Pentecost 25
November 18, 2012
Proper 28, Ordinary Time 33
Sunday Between November 13 and November 19 Inclusive
Click here to read the complete Holy Textures background commentary on Mark 13:1-8.
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Sermon by the Rev. Dr. George Hermanson, "."
Zowie, Christmas music has already been playing in the malls for weeks now, and the Lectionary gives us a dire warning about not being led astray - not being deceived by the many who will say, "Here is your salvation." Try preaching that in those malls.
Chapter 13 is what is commonly called a "Final Discourse." As Malina and Rohrbaugh comment (page 206, see footnote below):
What is distinctive about final words before death in the Mediterranean world (and elsewhere) is that the person about to die is believed capable of knowing what is going to happen to persons near and dear to him or her.
These are not predictions about a far distant future, but a reading of the signs of Jesus' present times that is heightened by the dying person's approaching the humanly unknowable realm of the divine. Indeed, Jesus' words about the destruction of the Temple are stated as a simple fact.
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Click here to read the complete Holy Textures background commentary on Mark 13:1-8.
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