Hello my friends,

In our time where trillion dollar deals are made and glamorous ballrooms are being built by the powerful, all while millions face food and health insecurity, I couldn't help but think of the profound parallels, critique, and message found in Luke 21:5-19. So, I'd like to walk with you through the similarities of the first century world in which this passage came to life and what it might mean for us today.

Recommended Resources.

-My New Advent Devotional. I'm excited to share with you that my new devotional for the season of Advent, which begins November 30th, has officially launched. You can read more about it by clicking below.

$20.00 Solace: The Birth of Hope in a Time of Longing This devotional is an ebook, crafted as a daily scripture readings and reflections that begin on the First Sunday of... Read more Get it now!

​

​-How Nature Heals Us by Hidden Brain. As an Idahoan, I grew up connected to nature and cultivating a deep love of the outdoors. As I studied theology, I also discovered that the love of God is in and through all things, including the created world. Both combined has given me a deep love for the earth and everything within it, and a desire to see it taken care of and thrive. Yet, it’s only recently that scientists have begun to identify exactly what it is about the outdoors that has such a powerful effect on our mood and our minds. In this episode, psychologist Marc Berman explores how spending time in nature can actually undo some of the harmful effects of our modern lives. I highly recommend it.

​-At least seven faith leaders arrested at Broadview ICE facility protest. by Religion Service News. An important report about the governmental response to clergy advocating for those who have been detained at the Broadview detention center in Illinois.

​

Glittering Temples and Ballrooms.

Luke 21:5-19

Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”

“Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”

He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”

Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.

“But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. And so you will bear testimony to me. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. Everyone will hate you because of me. But not a hair of your head will perish. Stand firm, and you will win life.

No Stone Unturned

When the disciples marvel at the magnificent stones of Jerusalem's temple, its scale, its beauty, its apparent permanence, Jesus responds with a jarring interruption: “These things you see? The days will come when not one stone will be left upon another.”

Context is really important here. Luke’s Gospel was written decades after the temple’s actual destruction in AD 70. It was one of the most devastating events in Israel's history, next to the Babylonian exile. It was a cultural, political, and theological tragedy. So the to the first readers of Luke's gospel, these words of Jesus cut differently. They wouldn't be read as predictions, but instead, they were seen as an invitation to process grief and understand reality through the lens of God’s kingdom rather than the illusions of human power. Luke writes to a community that has already lived through the collapse of what once looked immovable. They know what ruins look like. They know what it means for the world to change in a day..

And into that disorienting world, Jesus speaks not fear, but vital clarity. Not false comfort, but truth. Not a promise of escape, but a call to faithful endurance and a promise of provision.

Building Ego

The temple was not just seen as a building to Israel. It was seen as the place where God's actual presence dwelled. Yet for figures like King Herod, it was seen as something else.

Herod the Great ruled Judea (37–4 BCE) as a client king, installed by Rome and not welcomed by many of his people. His authority was always precarious. He was not ethnically a full Jew, but an Idumean (Edomite), which made many Jewish groups distrust him. His kingship depended entirely on Roman approval, especially from Augustus and later from powerful Roman administrators. His reign was marked by constant paranoia, with repeated purges of his own family, and violent repression.

Despite his insecurity, or perhaps because of it, Herod became a master of architectural propaganda. His buildings were meant to broadcast stability, legitimacy, and near-divine grandeur in a kingdom where he was constantly questioned.

His most spectacular project was the expansion and beautification of the Jerusalem's Temple.

The Second Temple had stood since the time of Zerubbabel (516 BCE), but Herod sought to rebuild it into one of the most stunning structures in the ancient Mediterranean world. His goal was twofold. He wanted to impress Rome, showing that he could mobilize resources like a true king. And he wanted to try to win over Jewish subjects by associating himself with the holiest site in Judaism.

The temple complex he created was enormous. He had massive retaining walls built with stones weighing hundreds of tons. He had gleaming white limestone placed that shone in the sun. He required gold plating that made the structure radiant from a distance. All accompanied by porticos, courtyards, and magnificent colonnades.

So, to any visitor, it appeared impenetrable, permanent, a symbol of God’s favor and most importantly to Herod, the king's legitimacy and legacy.

Yet as Herod carried out this project of vanity and grandeur, his "kingdom" was marked by deep instability. Judea was politically fragile. Local resentment constantly simmered, often resulting in riots. Rome’s dominance in the world was absolute. Herod’s dynasty was insecure and increasingly violent.

So, Herod’s “permanent” temple was a symbol of a world that could collapse at any moment.

This expansion project was Herod’s attempt at permanence. It was a monument built to project dominance, wealth, and unquestionable authority. The Greek verb Luke uses when describing the stones (kekosmētai — “adorned, ornamented, arrayed like a spectacle”) carries the sense of something designed to impress, to overwhelm, to bring people to awe.

But Jesus sees through the spectacle. He sees the brittleness behind the beauty. He sees the insecurity under the shine.

Herod built a structure of grandeur to hide a foundation of fear, fear of Rome, fear of uprising, and fear of losing control. And Jesus unmasks it.

Seeing Past The Glitter

The same thing is happening in our world. We live in a time when those with earthly power attempt to overwhelm us with their “stones,” with their displays of wealth, with their branded success, with their million dollar expansions, and with their palaces built to convince us that their might is eternal.

Just this week, one man received a trillion-dollar pay package while millions of Americans cannot reliably feed their families because of the upheaval around SNAP funding.

A billionaire president is spending hundreds of millions on a new ballroom onto the White House while 22 million Americans brace for a doubling of their health insurance premiums if ACA subsidies vanish.​

Oil and tech companies gorge themselves on expanding profits while our planet strains beneath drought, wildfire, and a collapsing ecosystem.

And so much of this, heartbreakingly, is done beneath the banner of “Christian values.”

But Jesus warns: These stones will not stand. Not Herod’s. Not Institution's. Not the empire’s.

The World As It Is

Jesus describes a world shaken by wars, uprisings, ecological disaster, betrayal, persecution. Luke’s audience had already seen such things. So have we.

But Jesus’ words are not meant to terrify, they are meant to tell the truth. They name what we painfully already know. There is no such thing as getting through life unscathed. No empire can save us from suffering. No political party can guarantee our stability. No amount of national wealth can shield a society built on injustice from the consequences of its own sin. Not even our most sacred institutions will persevere or be free from political collusion.

So Jesus teaches his disciples, including us, not to place their hope in the “stones” of empire, economy, wealth, or political influence. Those things crumble. They always have.

Instead, he calls us back to the only power that cannot be bought, adorned, inflated, or faked. Love. It is the power of love.

The Power Jesus Describes

Jesus turns the definition of power upside down. While the world celebrates domination, accumulation, and spectacle, Jesus proclaims where real power is found. It is found in witness, not in grand defenses, but in the Spirit giving words we could not craft ourselves. It is found in endurance (hypomonē, patient steadfastness, holy resistance), not victory in the worldly sense. It is found in presence, “I will give you words and a wisdom your opponents cannot withstand.” It is found in reliance on God’s provision rather than hoarded wealth.

Jesus says, “Do not prepare your defense in advance.” Not because preparation is bad, but because fear-driven self-protection is not the source of our power. Love is the source of our power.

This is a profound critique of the gaudy displays of might in our own day. Jesus does not measure power by the size of a palace, the number of zeroes in a fortune, the spectacle of a ballroom, the appearance of permanence, or the ability to dominate political opponents

Jesus measures power by faithfulness in suffering, love in a world of hate, truth spoken without fear, and endurance rooted in hope.

This is the power no empire can take and no billionaire can buy.

Faithfulness in a Fractured World

We hear Jesus’ words in a moment where so much feels fragile. Where healthcare systems breaking even further, food assistance is shrinking, ecological collapse is accelerating, Christian nationalism is rising, wealth inequality is widening, and trust is eroding.

Jesus does not promise that his followers will be spared this turbulence, he promises they will be held through it. And he sends them, and us, into the chaos as witnesses to a kingdom where no one goes hungry, no one is denied healthcare, the earth is not exploited, and no human being is treated as disposable

This is the contrast Luke wants us to see. The world’s definition of power builds monuments. Jesus’ definition of power builds endurance, liberation, and beloved community.

Possible Action Steps: Following Jesus’ Definition of Power

1. Examine your trust. Where are you tempted to trust the “stones,” wealth, political allegiance, national strength instead of what outlasts all of it?
2. Stand with the vulnerable. Support and advocate for policies that protect food programs, healthcare coverage, and environmental justice.
3. Tell the truth. Speak openly about the harm caused when “Christian values” are co-opted to justify greed, cruelty, or indifference.
4. Practice endurance. Commit to prayer, solidarity, and persistent advocacy, especially when you feel powerless. Faithfulness is power.
5. Join or support local ministries feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, and protecting creation as an act of public witness.

A Closing Prayer

God of the crumbling stones and the enduring kingdom,
You see through every illusion of power we build.
You know how fragile our world is,
how easily wealth blindfolds us, how quickly monuments fall,
how deeply injustice wounds your children.

Give us the courage to see the world as Jesus sees it.
Give us the faith to endure when systems fail,
the clarity to resist the idols of wealth and domination,
and the compassion to stand with those who suffer.

When the powers of this world exalt themselves,
teach us to bear witness to a different kind of power, the power that feeds the hungry, heals the sick,
protects the earth, speaks truth without fear,
and refuses to abandon hope.

By your Spirit, strengthen us to endure,
to resist, to love, to act,
until your justice rolls down like waters
and your kingdom, not the kingdoms of this world,
is revealed in fullness.
Amen.

Now I'd like to hear from you! Did you find this helpful? What thoughts came to your mind as you read? Feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me. I look forward to reading them. A 30 Day Devotional: I recently wrote a 30 day devotional in hopes to provide a companion for people seeking to follow Jesus in our world today. You can read more about it here: $20.00 Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires: 30 Days of reclaiming the hope, compassion, and justice of Jesus. Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to... Read more Get it now! ​ Ways to support: If you'd like to support this project, you can do so through one-time-gift of any amount you feel is right. You can also subscribe through a $5/mo, $15/mo, or $25/mo. Several others have also asked for a recurring gift option that is different from the ones offered here, like this one. If you'd like me to set up a different option for you, please just send me an email with the word "support" in the subject line. As always, I really want to thank all of you for reading and for all the ways you support me and this project every single week. I'm thankful for the ways we are building this together and hope it creates a lasting, positive change in our world along the way! I sincerely appreciate you all, Ben Remember, you can now view this and all previous newsletters as well as invite friends to join through this link: https://benjamin-cremer.ck.page/profile.

​

​