The One We’re Waiting For: Renovation & Reconstruction
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We wrap up our look into Jesus’ caution about the imminent destruction of the Jerusalem temple (Luke 21) and bridge ahead in this first week of Advent. When the Temple falls down, the New Testament writers reveal a startling twist in the story of God’s presence in the midst of his people: the temple is now in us! With zeal for his father’s house, Jesus is invested in the work of renovating and restoring our inner reality, that we might become a more-Christlike Church for the sake of the world.
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Key Scriptures
Isaiah 2:1-5 – The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. In days to come the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; all the nations shall stream to it. Many peoples shall come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
John 1:1-5, 14, 18 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it… And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth… No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.”
Luke 19:45-48 – “Then he entered the temple and began to drive out those who were selling things there; and he said, ‘It is written, “My house shall be a house of prayer”; but you have made it a den of robbers.” Every day he was teaching in the temple. The chief priests, scribes, and the leaders of the people kept looking for a way to kill him.”
Luke 21:5-6; 20-21 – “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…’ When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it.“
