2[nd] Sunday before Advent:  Hollowell 17[th] November 2019. 

Luke 21: 5  -  19

The context of this passage from St. Luke is the return of Jesus to Jerusalem and the events leading to his death.  He has entered the city riding on an ass and has been warmly welcomed by the people. But there is sadness about this apparently triumphant entry as Jesus looks ahead and sees the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem in ADS 70 by the Romans. 
It seems this gospel was written sometime after AD 70 many years after the crucifixion . In predicting the destruction of the temple built by Herod, Jesus is echoing similar prophesies, by Isiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel about previous temples.  The first temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, Herod pulled down the second one built after the Jews returned from exile and the third one built by Herod was destroyed by the Romans following the revolt.  Thus Jesus' prophecy about not one stone being left on to p of another, had come to pass.  
This prediction is also mentioned in Mark and Matthew's Gospel. And at the time this was written many of the disciples had been persecuted of like St. Stephen martyred.  
Bricks and mortar are attractive to all of us as a sign of earthly wealth and power.  One thinks of the pyramids, or of the ruins of the cities in the Cambodian Jungle, Angkor Wat or the Inca ruins at Machu Pichu in Peru.  In our own day Versailles remains a symbol of the extravagances of the Bourbon monarchy in France, that triggered the Revolution of 1789.  
In the end all these earthly symbols of power will be destroyed. They become a burden: Henbury, Castle Drogo. 
And what will remain is the Kingdom of God.  But to create that Kingdom is going to be tough Jesus says and there will be all kinds of obstacles, persecutions and natural disasters.  Its going on todays with persecution of Christians  in the Middle East, China and North Korea. 
 Hang in there and all will be well is the message.  "By your endurance you will gain  your souls. 




