Tuesday, February 22, 2005
The Martyr Anthusa
1st Vespers of 1st & 2nd Discoveries of the Head of Forerunner: Isaiah 40:1-3, 9; 41:17-18; 45:20-21; 54:1 LXX
Epistle: 2 Peter 2:9-22 Gospel: St. Mark 13:14-23
St. Mark 13:14-23, especially vs. 14: "....let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains." In the face of
threatening circumstances, wisdom often dictates rapid departure, or in plain terms, fleeing. In today's reading, the Lord
Jesus says quite plainly that life will occasionally suggest good reasons for taking flight, and He gives an example of an
appropriate time to withdraw. Furthermore, He counsels that, when circumstances dictate a quick retreat, we should not
just leave, but really flee - get away as fast as possible. Most important, the Lord suggests the basic reason for choosing to
flee.
What constitutes a genuinely threatening circumstance according to what the Lord teaches in this passage? To appreciate
His words fully, some background is helpful: first, He uttered His counsel about flight during the final days before his
arrest, while He was teaching in and around the Temple precincts (Mk. 12:35,41; 13:1,3). Also, His mention of the
"abomination of desolation" (Mk. 13:14), made reference to prior events well-known to His first-century listeners, events
with allusions involving the Temple. Subsequent events after the Lord's own Crucifixion and Resurrection add even
greater weight to the Lord Jesus' teaching.
The Lord warned the disciples that they would "see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the Prophet,
standing where it ought not" (vs. 14). In the sixth century BC, the Prophet Daniel had prophesied that a time would come
when "the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up" (Dan. 12:11). Centuries later, during
the time of the Seleucid king, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-169 BC) , a desecration of that sort occurred when the king
"erected a desolating sacrilege upon the altar of burnt offering" (1 Macc. 1:54) in the Temple and generally sought to
eradicate every trace of Judaism in Judea.
Since those acts of profanation were past history, the Lord was warning of a future act of sacrilege, one so appalling that the
Temple would be abandoned by God. At the beginning of the revolt against the Romans in 66 AD, Jewish forces led by the
Zealots at first were successful against the Twelfth Legion of Rome. Still, many knew that the Romans would return in
force.
The Zealots, in the flush of victory, took over the Temple and permitted outlaws to carry out all sorts of terrible crimes
within the Temple, including murder and dressing up in mockery of the High Priest. A former High Priest said at that time:
"It would have been far better for me to have died before I had seen the house of God laden with such abominations." Most
Jewish members of the Church saw these events as the signs of which the Lord had warned and they fled to Pella across the
Jordan River. Wisdom from the Lord's prophecies taught them to flee. There clearly are times when withdrawal is
indicated, and flight by God's People is fully warranted.
When it is clear that flight is appropriate, one should not hesitate, as the Lord urges (Mk. 13:15,16). By God's mercy, flight
will not be necessary for nursing mothers nor during harsh weather (vss. 17,18). The early Christians who heeded the
Lord's prophecy during the Jewish wars fled Jerusalem without grave difficulties. As Eusebios says in his Ecclesiastical
History: "those who believed in Christ migrated from Jerusalem. Once the holy men had completely left the Jews and all
Judea, the justice of God at last overtook them [the Jews], since they had committed such transgressions against Christ and
His Apostles."
One should flee to hold fast to Christ and to reject "false christs and false prophets" (vs. 22), and many Christians rightly
have fled when social darkness threatened the Faith.
O Thou Light of those lying in darkness, O Christ our Savior, enlighten us with Thy radiance that we may know and serve
none other gods beside Thee.