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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to Him to call His attention to its buildings. “Do you see all these things?” He asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Matthew 24:1-2

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

Mark 13:1-2

Some of His disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

Luke 21:5-6

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

We live on a planet where there is no shortage of grandeur, sites that are awe-inspiring and memorable to witness. In fact, we have even ranked and labeled significant places, calling them “The Seven Wonders of the World”.

There’s only one problem with our habit of doing this. We misguide our amazement. Let me explain.

For starters, just ask yourself, “Did these wonders simply emerge on their own or did the Lord have a hand in creating the things I am marveling over?”

The truth of the matter is that all natural things have come through the work of the great Creator and there is glory and wonder to be found in all created things, not just a select few. In fact, there are astonishing works that occur every day that we too often take for granted like a baby being born. From a single fertilized egg, a human being is formed in the womb of a woman, emerging into the world after nine months of development. It’s an absolutely incredible work of God and yet we so often fail to give Him the credit. We do so because we fail to have the proper focus, giving the creation more homage than the Creator.

This isn’t just a present day problem. For as we see in today’s scripture passage, Jesus’ disciples were completely captivated by a man-made structure, more so than the God who made the structure possible. Look again at these words here found in Mark’s Gospel:

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”  Mark 13:1-2

Note here how the disciples were proclaiming their amazement at the temple construction, praising its outstanding features. They used words like “massive” and “magnificent” in Mark’s Gospel. In Luke’s account, they comment on the “beautiful stones”. Their complete focus was on the edifice and not the Edifier.   

Well, Jesus intervenes in this scene of worldly admiration to bring what must have been received as bad news by the disciples. For as we see, He tells them that the temple would one day be destroyed. All the massive stones would be thrown down as the temple structure collapsed. The great buildings that once inspired wonder and awe would end up in a pile of rubble.

Such is the cycle of worldly things. They exist for but a season and then they are no more. This is why we shouldn’t worship them but the Lord who endures forever. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and He, the great Originator of all things, is the only One worthy of our praise.

So how do we carry this out? How do we direct our admiration to the Lord at all times?

It’s easy if we have the proper focus, a focus that is centered on Him and Him alone. For example, the disciples could have just as easily said to Jesus, “Look how great our God is, for only He could play a part in building such a majestic temple for us to worship Him!” Note how the emphasis is on the Lord and how it was by His will that the amazing temple was made for His people to bring their adoration and praise to Him.

We should make every effort to be intentional in giving our Lord all the honor and glory for the things of life, big and small, that speak to His creative greatness. It will come easy when we put Him first and see that everything astounding in creation originated through the work of our great Creator God.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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