(P)Review Bible Study: Luke 21:5-19...Mind Blowing

Political Disclaimer:  My only real political interest is in the Kingdom of God, you will probably not find a more apolitical, non-partisan person.  This Bible Study is based on the three year calendar of readings called the "Lectionary"  and as such I do not choose the texts.  As I read this in the wake of last night's election I see where some folks could construe it as political commentary and it was, but only if you are talking about first century Palestinian politics.  Otherwise, I wrote this a week ago, about a text decided on years ago, about how Jesus impacts our life.  IF you find that it applies to the world of today's politics as they apply to you, that is between the Holy Spirit and you.  Thanks.  PR.

Every act of destruction is first an act of creation: Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. - Pablo Picasso 

    To tell the truth, I never really understood Picasso.  I know he has influential and brilliant.  I just never "got" his work.  It all looks like something a six year old would draw in 1st grade art class. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying his work was not valuable or important, merely that it never spoke to me.  However, he had a remarkable philosophy and joie de vivre that has always made him fascinating to me. Of course, I was fascinated by the fact that he was still having children into his late sixties, and who could not be fascinated by his habit of paying bills by simply doodling on a piece of paper and offering it as payment (which was usually accepted as even his doodles were worth small fortunes).  More interestingly, though is the philosophical way he viewed artistic creation.   He said:

Every act of destruction is first an act of creation: Every act of creation is first an act of destruction. - Pablo Picasso 

    In placing paint on a canvas you destroy the pristine white of the negative space.  In carving a statue you chip off the stone destroying the integrity of the rock.  In creating a collage (an art form Picasso championed) you first must destroy other pieces of paper to create the work itself.  Every action comes at the cost of another action. For Picasso you could not create unless you destroyed.  In a very real way this is the way it is in all of life.  Every new thing supplants an old thing, at the very least, partially obliterating the thing that came before.  In today's gospel Jesus points to the Temple and makes a grave prediction:

Luke 21:5-8 When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said,"As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down."They asked him, "Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?" And he said, "Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time is near!' Do not go after them. "When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately." 

It is interesting to see the apostles as tourists gawking at the architecture of the temple like tourists do.  Jesus' prediction that the temple would be destroyed is not just a prediction of the end of a beautiful building, or even of the destruction of a public landmark. It all has to do with the phrase ha'aretz.

"Ha'aretz"  The phrase ha'aretz in Hebrew literally means, "the land" but it's cultural and theological significance go well beyond this.  It is used in the old testament to refer to the land of Israel, the promised land, the one and only land of God's people.  It means the land where God is...uniquely is. For the ancient Jews, the land was not just a home for the people of God, it was an earthly home for God.  In that home, God dwelt with his people and the epicenter of God's indwelling was the Temple where God took his seat in the Holy of Holies.  For Jesus to predict an end to the Temple was for him to predict the end to God dwelling with his people in Jerusalem.  Of course, just a few years later the Romans tore the temple to down to the ground ending the Temple worship and acting as the touchstone to what would eventually become the diaspora. 
    Every act of destruction is an act of creation... and God was allowing this act of destruction in order to make way for a new act of creation:  a new temple and an new indwelling.  Jesus knew that as He sent the Holy Spirit to the people of God that it would usher in a new age.  In that age a new kingdom would rise.  This kingdom would not be a fallible nation of human governments but an infallible kingdom with Christ himself as king.  This kingdom would not be bounded by earthly borders but would cross the world and back again.  This kingdom would not be vulnerable to earthly invaders but would be guarded by the very Holy Spirit of God.  In fact the citizens of this kingdom would not even be vulnerable to death itself as those who dwelt in the Kingdom of God through the gift of grace and forgiveness offered by Christ on the cross would be promised life everlasting. This kingdom would not need a Holy of Holies as the Spirit would indwell the people and live with them every day.  

    But first the old would have to be blown away.  

    The picture at the very top of the page is entitled "Every act of creation is an act of destruction" by the artist Eugenia Loli.  She is pointing out that even the act of creating a new understanding or thought involves the destruction of an old one.  In short, every thing we learn is "mind-blowing".  Jesus wants to blow our old thoughts away, tear down the temples of our misunderstandings and fill our hearts with new truth.  To do so sometimes we must undergo a tearing down. 
    I don't know if you have ever gone through a period of your life where it felt like things that mattered and were valuable were being torn down in your life.  I know I have: relationships lost, jobs lost, homes lost, cars lost, dreams lost, sometimes it seemed even hope lost.   Over the years I have realized that sometimes God allows those things to be blown away, like little temples on the mountain of my mind, in order that God might build something newer and better.  God is faithful and He has plans for our lives.  The question is, when God does allow the destruction of our little temples, can we be patient and trust that something new is coming from the very hand of God?