timeless

A few years ago we had a chance to visit Rome. It’s an incredible city, known primarily for it’s ancient ruins. Rome was a world power for centuries, and the Coliseum and Parthenon, among other ruins, attest to the grandeur of their civilization. Comparatively, modern-day Italy is significantly less, at least in terms of influence and dominance.

Part of the Roman Empire back in the day was Jerusalem, and Herod’s Temple was another great architectural marvel. Although it was used for Jewish worship, to Herod it was a mark of his own might, and a symbol of his control over the Jews. 

Today, it too stands in ruins. Jesus told his disciples it would, in Mark 13:1-2: “As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent 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.’”

Jesus was talking about more than just the structures, of course; he was also foretelling the end of all the political and religious power symbolized by those buildings. But this morning, this passage has me reflecting on what is truly timeless.

Anything we build has a lifespan. Our greatest buildings, our mightiest armies, our most influential leaders, our most dominant nations, rise and fall. The Egyptians and then the Greeks, Rome and Charlemagne and the Russian Tsars and the British Empire, are all gone. Today the US and China, and to a lesser extent Russia, dominate but history suggests not for long, at least in historical terms.

That’s true for us personally as well. The houses we build slowly start to crumble the day we move into them. The cars we buy are wearing out every time we use them, along with the bodies we so carefully feed and tone. And our personal fortunes, those piles of wealth we hoard as our defense against life, are only useful to us while we live here on earth.

Only one thing is timeless: our relationship with God. We all have one, and they all seem to wax and wane. But that’s the only thing that will define our eternity. One day we’ll live in eternal glory, or we’ll have a different eternity. On that day none of our wealth or accomplishments will matter. The only thing that will matter is what stands between God and us.

Praise the Lord that for me, Jesus stands in that gap. Without him, my relationship with God would be eternally broken.