Daily Devotional • December 9
A Reading from Luke 21:20-28
20 “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then those in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those inside the city must leave it, and those out in the country must not enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, as a fulfillment of all that is written. 23 Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress on the earth and wrath against this people; 24 they will fall by the edge of the sword and be taken away as captives among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the times of the nations are fulfilled.
25 “There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves.26 People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Meditation
My husband had six teeth extracted earlier this year. It was a very painful process, but the after-visit summary was exceedingly useful. In my opinion, the expectation-setting parts were the most helpful. The instructions normalized face swelling and bruising even days after surgery, but perhaps the most beneficial piece of information was that the pain would be worse on the second and third day after surgery. The patient knew that more pain on days 2 and 3 of recovery was not a cause to feel worried but rather a sign that healing was taking place.
I see a lot of parallels with our text from Luke 21. It’s as if Jesus is saying, “Things will get worse before they get better.” The city of Jerusalem, once the sign of God’s presence with his people, will lie in desolation. People will die. After that, foreboding celestial signs and the roaring of oceans will lead people to live in fear. The very “powers of the heavens will be shaken.” But those who follow Jesus need not fear because the Son of Man is “‘coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory.” Despite all this, in so many words Jesus tells his followers not to fear. His sentiment: “Don’t hunch down in fear, but straighten up and look up, because these are signs that you will be redeemed soon!”
Our world can be a terrifying place. Jerusalem was destroyed long ago, but the Son of Man has not come back yet, and although we do not know the exact timing of Jesus’s return, we can live with hope even on the darkest of days. In the moments of our fear perhaps Jesus speaks to us: “Stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
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Melissa Amber Patton is a Pittsburgh native, a writer, and an M.Div. student at Trinity Anglican Seminary. She is currently the music leader at Mosaic Anglican Church in Imperial, Pennsylvania and is pursuing ordination with the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina
The Diocese of Kobe – The Nippon Sei Ko Kai
