The Widow's Offering
Many rich people were putting money in the offering box, and an old poor lady put in 2 copper coins. Jesus said she gave more than the rich people because she gave from poverty while they gave from abundance.
This makes sense of course. If you gave less money but it is a large percentage of your wealth it is a bigger offering. It is the same reason we have tax brackets. I'm not sure how I feel about encouraging poor people to keep giving. I guess it depends on how poor the person is and how rich the church is.
Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple
Many were talking about how awesome the temple is, and Jesus said it would be destroyed to the last stone. They ask when, and he said many will claim to be him, and there would be many wars.
Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution
Jesus says there will be wars, pestilence, earthquakes and Christians will be persecuted. This is your chance to witness to them. You will be hated and killed for my name.
Jesus Foretells Destruction of Jerusalem
Jerusalem will be surrounded and destroyed
The Coming of the Son of Man
Various things that don't seem that spectacular to me will happen. Then Jesus will come riding a cloud
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
Look at the fig tree, as soon as it has leaves you know the summer is near. When these things I have described happen, you will similarly know the kingdom of God is near.
Watch Yourselves
Jesus said to always be on the lookout for these signs, you never know when they will come.
I don't find the prophecy stuff that interesting so I didn't have much to say today, oh well
The Widow's Offering. I like the moral here. Give what you can. It shouldn't be based on a dollar number amount to buy your way into heaven, but just giving what you can give.
ReplyDeleteJesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple. This was written about the destruction of the temple in 79 AD I believe. (that's based on memory). But this book was written after that so I've been told, so I'd hardly call it a prophecy.
Jesus Foretells Wars and Persecution. These prophecies are so vague. I could make this prophecy today and I guarantee that it will come true. There are always wars and persecution. I think its interesting to note the difference between these verses. They seem to be so contradicting that it doesn't even really feel like a prediction. Here it seems to say that the second coming will be visible to everyone, but here it will only be visible to a few.
Astrology?
He also seems to be pretty bold here saying that generation would not pass away until all the second coming took place.
Will heaven last forever?
That is always the thing with prophecies isn't it? If the bible was written before the destruction of the temple it is interesting, if it was written afterwards it is just writing the past to make it seem like a prophecy. My understanding is that historians generally think it was written after 79AD (that number also sounds familiar to me, but I'm not sure exactly), but some say it was earlier than that. Not being a historian, I don't really know how to tell the difference. I guess that is an area I should look into a bit more. What is the Christian perspective on when the bible was written and what is the evidence? Sounds like a neat little project for the near future.
ReplyDeleteI like the "will heaven last forever" link. Hard for both of those to make sense.
ReplyDeleteNot sure I agree with the visible invisible link you have. They are so vague, I feel like it could be only visible to his friends first and later on a cloud for everyone to see or something.