Death Will Knock At Your Door
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Nov 22, 2022
- 5 min read
Benjamin Franklin famously once quipped, “nothing is certain except death and taxes.” You can probably debate the certainty of taxes but definitely, one day, death will knock at your door. There is no escaping that fact. Given that, we need to spend time thinking about it. Not in some macabre way but from the perspective of the state of our soul. If I was to die today, is my soul in a state of grace? As we read this Gospel, let us pray for the wisdom to be able to answer that question truthfully.
The Destruction of the Temple Foretold & Signs and Persecutions
And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, “As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” And they asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?” And he said, “Take heed that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. Luke 21 : 5-11
Scriptural Analysis
This passage opens with Jesus encountering some people who were admiring the beauty of the temple. Indeed, the historian Josephus records how Herod the Great worked to adorn the temple like none before he had done. The temple had massive white stones which made it look snow-covered from a distance. The facade of the sanctuary was covered in gold. It was truly a sight to behold.
In response to their admiration of the temple Jesus, who had been teaching in the temple, shifts his teaching and addresses the future of the temple. He foretells of the impending destruction of the temple in a similar way that Jeremiah had prophesied about the fall of the first temple, “Therefore I will do to the house which is called by my name, and in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I did to Shiloh.” (Jeremiah 7:15) He speaks about days to come when not a stone will be left standing. Josephus again details the destruction of the temple during the Roman siege of Jerusalem by Titus in AD 70. The temple and the surrounding courts were cast on fire on the same day and month when the first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians. What remained after the fire was demolished.
Jesus is asked when these things will happen. That starts his second major discourse on eschatology, on the end times. Once again he includes prophecies about the fall of Jerusalem as well as the judgment of the world at his second coming. The first is a sign of the second, that is to say, the destruction of the temple foretells the end of the world. Each part of the temple was viewed to represent part of creation. The entire temple was considered to represent the universe, the Holy of Holies represented heaven, the menorah represented the known planets, and the twelve loaves of the bread of presence represented the months of the year. Hence, events like those that preceded the fall of the temple will precede the end of their world.
Jesus tells of persecutions that must occur and warns people not to follow or be deceived by the false prophet who purport to come in his name. One such Egyptian Jew did so in AD 56 leading thousands in a rebellion that was put down by Rome. Jesus warns about wars and insurrections that must also happen. History records the revolt of the Zealots in AD 66 as well as the turmoil that occurred in Rom in AD 68 upon the death of Emperor Nero and the ensuing power struggle.
Jesus uses Old Testament language to express divine judgment: natural disasters such as earthquakes, “you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise” (Isaiah 29:6) as well as famines, “famine and sword.” (Isaiah 51:19) Jesus also mentions mighty sights and signs that will be visible in the sky.
Daily Application
As the liturgical year closes out, we continue to wrestle with these end-time predictions of Jesus. These are challenging readings to apply to daily life because, on a day-to-day basis, we are not usually confronted with the end of the world or even our own mortality. Our focus is on our family, raising our children, our jobs, and our friends. How do the end times impact any of that?
The reason the Church sees fit to close out the liturgical year with a focus on end times is precisely because we don’t focus on it, yet it is the most important thing for all of us to wrestle with. This life, this time we have on earth is short and it is temporary. However, it has the hugest of impact because how we live this life will ultimately determine how we spend our eternal life. To be more precise, the unrepented mortal sins we carry can be the cause of our not being in a state of grace and spending eternity in hell. We need to be aware of that, think about that, and take action. Unfortunately, the day-to-day business of life can keep us from contemplating the state of our soul, but the Church, in her wisdom calls us to ponder that as our liturgical year ends.
As you prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving in the United States and start the new liturgical year with the season of Advent, take some time to stop and reflect on your mortality. Pray for the grace needed to understand the state of your soul. Go to confession, and repent of your sins. Then pray for the strength to sin no more so that this life will lead you to paradise in the eternal life.
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