Great 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 13:2 (NIV)

Walking along with Jesus someone comments on the magnificent and beautiful structures of the House of Worship.  Impressive stones and architecture make the buildings marvelous works of art.  We live in such an incredible environment surrounded by such wondrous sights.  Yet Jesus´ response seems to go in another direction.  The Son of God did not deny the beauty in what we see.  But did His words lead us beyond?

When Jesus said these words, was it true that the building of the Temple in Jerusalem would one day be destroyed?  Was it also true that Jesus would be crucified for the sins of the world?  Would His earthly body soon be put to death?  Was that building which housed the soul of the Son of God thrown down and destroyed.  Was Jesus merely talking about the physical external world of buildings and structures?  Would our Savior stoop to leading our attention onto the external things we can see?  Is He ever focusing us onto our lower earthly scene?  Or does Jesus lift our gaze to more lofty and eternal themes?  Does Jesus point us in the direction of the Spirit of God?  Do the efforts of our Lord move toward a kingdom made of hands?  Or does He forever work to show us a Kingdom NOT made of Hands?  Is He consistently directing us to His Father and His amazing Kingdom shining just beyond what we see here?

Do we remember when it was first brought to our attention that Jesus was referring to how they would put Him to death?  What was our reaction?  Did it make us stop and think?  Did we wonder if Jesus was letting us know that things are not always as they seem?  Did we take the time to look around us at the buildings and our environment in general?  Did we let our thoughts run with the words of Jesus?  Did they let us wonder if there was something grander happening around us too?  Did we think that perhaps Jesus did not direct us to those things or even our own short lives on earth?  What did we draw from the words of Jesus?

After the Disciples witnessed Jesus´ betrayal, His crucifixion, and His resurrection they began to realize the weight of our Lord´s words.  It began to dawn upon them the reality of our situation.  Did they learn a very vital lesson about God and His shining Kingdom?  Did they begin to see the urgency and proximity of the Spiritual World?  Did they realize that Jesus uses words and terminology we are familiar with, to help us understand what is going on in a much larger scale?

What about us?  Now we have had time to see what the Disciples learned.  We have walked a little more with our Savior?  How are we interpreting His words today?  Where do they direct our attention?  Do we focus on the beautiful buildings or wonderful sights that we see around us?  Do we look at our surroundings or dwell on the aspects of our lives?  Or has Jesus´ words sank in?  Are we pausing to ponder where He is going with all this?  Is there something mighty happening right now?  Could we misinterpret His terminology by looking at the physical or common understanding? Or do His words lift us up beyond all that?  Do we rise to a mystical land with His teachings, where a magnificent building could be His body?  Do we float where the tearing down and building up are actually Spiritual in nature?

Dear Jesus, our Great Teacher, please continue our instruction.  Forever help to lift our understandings.  The urgency and importance we place on things would for sure change were we to realize that You are working on a larger scale.  Please assist our hearts, our minds and our souls to lift their gaze higher than the world we see today.  Lift our attention to the movement of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit we pray!

Amen