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42. Proclamation of
the Destruction of Jerusalem and the Last Judgement.
As they went out of
the temple and looked again at this great building, the disciples said
to Jesus, ‘Lord, behold, what stones and what a building this is!’ They
rejoiced that they also belonged to a people who had such a temple, just
as people today still rejoice and almost imagine something when they
have a beautiful and clean church. Jesus said to them: ‘Do you see all
this? Truly I tell you, there will not be left here one stone upon
another that will not be broken. You will hear of wars and rumours of
wars. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and
there will be plagues and calamities and earthquakes from time to time.
- They will persecute you and deliver you to their synagogues and
prisons. They will bring you before kings and rulers, and you will be
hated by everyone for my name's sake. - But when you see the city of
Jerusalem besieged with an army of war, then realise that the time of
its desolation has come.’
On this occasion, Jesus also spoke of the final consummation of all
things and of his return for judgement at the end of the world.
He spoke of his return to judgement thus:
‘When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: and all
nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats;
and shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on the left.
Then the king will say to those on his right: Come, you blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world. For I was hungry and you fed me. I was thirsty and you gave me
water. I was a stranger and you gave me shelter. I was naked and you
clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was a prisoner and you came
to me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we
see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty, and gave you water? When did we
see you a stranger and shelter you, or naked and clothe you? When did we
see you sick or imprisoned and come to you? The king will answer and say
to them: Truly I say to you: Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least
of these my brethren, you did it to me. Then he will also say to those
on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared
for the devil and his angels! I was hungry and you did not feed me. I
was thirsty and you did not give me water. I was a stranger and you did
not give me shelter. I was naked and you did not clothe me. I was sick
and imprisoned, and you did not visit me. Then they will answer him and
say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked
or sick or imprisoned, and did not minister to you? Then he will answer
them and say, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do to one of the
least of these, you did not do to me. These will go away into eternal
torment, but the righteous into eternal life.’
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