It was about this time of year, springtime. The weather was, no doubt, fine. It was evening, and the Apostles were climbing the Mount of Olives with Jesus, on their way to lodgings in Bethany. Before they crested the hill, they looked back at the sun setting behind the temple – the warm, apricot-glow, embracing the beautiful structure like the loving arms of God – and asked Jesus about the Apocalypse. It is not that they had the apocalypse on their minds particularly – really not at all. And why would they? They were a bunch of Galilean fishermen in the Great City. Jesus had entered that city in Triumph, and had occupied the Temple as its uncontested moral force. They were his men. It was a heady time. They were talking about the beauty of it all. Then Jesus said: “That building you’re looking at…the days will come when not one stone will be left on another that will not be torn down” (Matthew 24:2, Luke 21:6). Jesus was the one who brought the Apocalypse up. If there’s one thing we seem to agree upon in our culture, it is that there will be an apocalypse. Writers, film-makers (both theatrical and documentary), biologists, cosmologists, seismologists, virologists, ecologists, futurists, back-to-naturists, vegans, etc…etc… all agree that we are due for an epoch-changing, day of reckoning. Maybe it will be world war (conventional), world war (nuclear), class war, financial melt-down, global warming, a meteor, a comet, a pandemic, the rise of intelligent computers, starvation caused by loss of potable water, starvation due to pollution, starvation due to the extinction of bees, alien invasion, permanent alteration of the human genome, earthquake, a new ice age, rising ocean levels etc…etc… There is nearly universal agreement that human excess and hubris will be at least partially responsible for the apocalypse – so that, however severe, it is somewhat deserved.
Apocalypse is a New Testament word, and apocalyptic a genre that originates in the Bible. The word apocalypse gives its name to the genre largely because it is used by John to describe what he is about to share in the last book of the Bible (Revelation 1:1). All the way back to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah et al. the Old Testament prophets used apocalyptic to describe a variety of events as diverse as a locust plague (Nahum), Babylonian Captivity (Jeremiah), The Coming of the Messiah (Zechariah), and the end of time (Isaiah). The Greek word “apocalypse” means “to uncover, reveal” which is appropriate to the genre because, in the Bible, apocalyptic describes a cataclysmic event that ends one era, begins another, and in so doing reveals God’s plan, and God’s will.
On that evening in spring, two thousand years ago, the disciples assumed that the destruction of the temple must mean the destruction of the world (Matthew 24:3). Jesus made clear, however, that the destruction of the Temple, and the end of time are two separate apocalyptic events (Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:24, Luke 21:28), one of which can be recognized ahead of time (Luke 21:20-24), and one which cannot (Matthew 24:36). That first apocalyptic event, the destruction of Jerusalem, will happen in their lifetime (Luke 21:32). So it is important that they know about them both, that they are prepared for both, and that they know the difference.
What I want us to consider in this brief space is the survival guide Jesus gives for surviving an apocalypse. After listing the main ingredients of a real apocalypse (nation rising against nation, earthquakes, plague, famine…) in Luke 21:10-12, he gives them these instructions (Luke 21:13-15):
It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony. So make up your minds ahead of time not to prepare to defend yourselves; for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.
We should view an apocalypse as an opportunity. This is the case because our goal is the success of the Gospel. Thus, we don’t assume a bunker mentality, form militias, or hire crack legal teams to defend and protect our belongings, or our persons. The preparation we have is the irresistible message of God, as delivered to us by Jesus.These guys learned this lesson well. Peter before the Sanhedrin, Paul before Agrippa, and later, both of them before Nero were not concerned with their personal safety – only the message. The message survives, as do those attached to it.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. (Luke 21:33)The world is passing away, and also its lusts, but the one who does the will of God abides forever. (1 John 2:17).
This is how we survive THE (or any) apocalypse.
