Will not pass away

A Wordle from the Word (Mark 13, ESV) by theguide2life

I’m not sure about you, but Mark 13 isn’t one of those passages that I grab to sit down and devour to encourage and uplift my soul. Maybe it’s just me but the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION and rumors of war and sun will be darkened, my first instincts are to read, nod, make sure I understand aaaaand move on to  Psalm 23. Okay, maybe not that severe, but I’m just keeping it real. I don’t normally see hope in this passage. UNTIL today.

I wrote and rewrote this post about five times. You’ll notice I haven’t posted in a while and now, today, you are getting two. First, some definitions and usages of these words to help us with the text.

Blepo–

Behold, Beheld:

is also used of

(a) bodily and

(b) mental vision,

(a) “to perceive,” e.g., Mat 13:13; (b) “to take heed,” e.g., Mar 13:23, 33; it indicates greater vividness than horao, expressing a more intent, earnest contemplation; in Luk 6:41, of “beholding” the mote in a brother’s eye; Luk 24:12, of “beholding” the linen clothes in the empty tomb; Act 1:9, of the gaze of the disciples when the Lord ascended. The greater earnestness is sometimes brought out by rendering “regardest,” Also used: BEWARE, HEED, LIE, LOOK, PERCEIVE, REGARD, SEE, SIGHT.

Will not pass away

2 words

Mē– no, not least

Parerchomai– to pass away, to perish

So, you have these definitions before you. Let’s now look at the text.

We find the word blepo used four times in Mark 13.

⁵ And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you.

⁹ “But ^[e]be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the ^[f]courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them.

²³ But take heed; behold, I have told you everything in advance.

³³ “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time ^[s]will come.

We are, by nature, a fearful lot, are we not? It’s no wonder that we are called sheep. We get scared. We get bogged down by worry. We read the news and fret. We see our bank accounts and wonder. We wait for a phone call that doesn’t come. We misinterpret an email, phone call, conversation and we rehearse it over and over. We WORRY. I’m sorry, but for the most part, at least for me, I fret and worry about the wrong stuff.

My focus needs not be on why hasn’t God provided a car yet. My focus should not be on any of the nonsense I just listed above. It’s not important stuff. Where is my focus? Where is my heart? You see, if I know the Scriptures. If I know His Word and the constancy of His truth in my heart, then what I know is the REAL TRUTH. That can never, ever be taken away from me. It will never, ever pass away. He promises His Word is forever. His truth is FOREVER.

My fear and worry should be have I trained my heart, my children’s heart to know the truth and to know the lies of the evil one. To know when I hear the evil one’s lies, to shake my head and walk the other way. To not be misled, to not follow teachers, bloggers, facebookers (is it a word? it should be..), whomever who make a nice meme, a nice blog, a nice YouTube video, but if it is all smoke and mirrors, to KNOW it is.

When Jesus returns, He will call for His sheep. He will call for His beloved. So, while this passage may seem very doom and gloomy and yes, it is very much a passage about the end times and what is to come, for those of us who know His name and are His beloved, this passage gives us hope.

In the dark times, in the salty tears, in the minutia of every day life that threatens to overwhelm, the potty training, the teenage drama, the whatever it may be!!! The constancy of His word can be our anchor, can be our hope, can be our truth. ( Here’s a truth about me…grammar goes out the WINDOW when I’m excited and typing…)  Will not pass away.

Notice the Greek here. Or rather up there…no, not the least. Is there any doubt?

³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. ³² But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

Oh, but there are more beautiful verses of truth. Read on.

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.

1 Peter 1:

²⁴ For,

“All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
²⁵ But the word of the Lord endures forever.”