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Jesus in Matthew 24:35 says, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” Well, if nothing is left but Jesus’ words, then who will be around to hear them? Will Jesus and his words be all that is left, floating around in a void of nothingness? Or, to really take that Passage literally, will only Jesus’ words, without Jesus himself, be swirling around in that void, with perhaps the words in different languages for all of nothing to see and hear? Is there anything in the Bible to support such an assertion? Is it really true that ALL things must or will pass? If many people were asked if the Bible calls for the end of things, some may believe it’s like Harvard President Claudine Gray being asked by congress whether calls for genocide constitutes harassment under Harvard’s policy. Is the answer to the question posed here in reference to the Bible the same as the Harvard President, that is, does it depend on the context?
Logically, what’s the sense of Jesus’ words remaining if no one is left to benefit from them? SO right there, doubt could be cast about Jesus’ meaning Heaven and earth will just pass away. And since the Bible makes no reference to other life forms, we can center our attention on Heaven and earth. But what if someone says our belief in God is based on faith, which supersedes all logic and all knowledge, except what might be found in the Bible since it consists of God’s Words? Well, then, let’s see if there is some clue of what Jesus means.
In the Chapter before, in Matthew 23:1-8, Jesus rants against the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus says the following: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they clove the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.”
Does this talk sound familiar to those who know their history? Replace “scribes and Pharisees” with, say, “The Roman Empire,” or “Russia under Czar Nicholas II,” And you can see the similarities. Like the scribes and Pharisees, the Romans and the Czar did nothing for the majority of the people they presided over. Instead, they spent their time flaunting their wealth and keeping the common people away from them. How did the people react, including those in the far-off provinces presided over by the Romans? They revolted, and in the process the Roman Empire and the neglectful government under the Czar are no more. BUT, the lands that the Empire and the Czar presided over, still exist. And for that matter, the Temple still exists, but not the way it did in the days of the scribes and Pharisees. To put it in CONTEXT, what if Jesus in the midst of the Roman Empire were to say that the Empire will pass away, but the lands and the contributions to mankind that the Empire will be noted for, will not pass away?
I tell you that what Jesus meant in Matthew 24:35 is that people like the scribes and Pharisees, and the Empire and the Czar for that matter, will pass away, but Jesus’ words will continue to be in the ears and on the lips of the people. The Heaven and earth the Jesus refers to, is the one that was dominated by those factions; but Heaven and earth for all the rest remains.
So, not all things will pass, neither must all things pass. One final point: What’s the good of having a Heaven, duly described in the Bible, with everyone populating it, when it will disappear? What remains?
Logically, what’s the sense of Jesus’ words remaining if no one is left to benefit from them? SO right there, doubt could be cast about Jesus’ meaning Heaven and earth will just pass away. And since the Bible makes no reference to other life forms, we can center our attention on Heaven and earth. But what if someone says our belief in God is based on faith, which supersedes all logic and all knowledge, except what might be found in the Bible since it consists of God’s Words? Well, then, let’s see if there is some clue of what Jesus means.
In the Chapter before, in Matthew 23:1-8, Jesus rants against the scribes and the Pharisees. Jesus says the following: “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they clove the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.”
Does this talk sound familiar to those who know their history? Replace “scribes and Pharisees” with, say, “The Roman Empire,” or “Russia under Czar Nicholas II,” And you can see the similarities. Like the scribes and Pharisees, the Romans and the Czar did nothing for the majority of the people they presided over. Instead, they spent their time flaunting their wealth and keeping the common people away from them. How did the people react, including those in the far-off provinces presided over by the Romans? They revolted, and in the process the Roman Empire and the neglectful government under the Czar are no more. BUT, the lands that the Empire and the Czar presided over, still exist. And for that matter, the Temple still exists, but not the way it did in the days of the scribes and Pharisees. To put it in CONTEXT, what if Jesus in the midst of the Roman Empire were to say that the Empire will pass away, but the lands and the contributions to mankind that the Empire will be noted for, will not pass away?
I tell you that what Jesus meant in Matthew 24:35 is that people like the scribes and Pharisees, and the Empire and the Czar for that matter, will pass away, but Jesus’ words will continue to be in the ears and on the lips of the people. The Heaven and earth the Jesus refers to, is the one that was dominated by those factions; but Heaven and earth for all the rest remains.
So, not all things will pass, neither must all things pass. One final point: What’s the good of having a Heaven, duly described in the Bible, with everyone populating it, when it will disappear? What remains?
