Worldly Magnificence

Yesterday Notre Dame burned. Shock rippled through the world, the world watching pictures and videos as the spire collapsed into the building. Some people cried. Others stood in utter shock. Everyone vowed to rebuild. 

That night the passage in my Scripture reading was Luke 13:

There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

I don’t discount that the fact that Notre Dame has stood for over 700 years is amazing. But not so amazing that we should stand in shock when a portion of it is burned. Yes, it’s a beautiful example of Gothic architecture. Yes, it has survived wars. Yes, it is a Catholic church. But that doesn’t mean it’s indestructible. And when a part of it crumbles, we should not be surprised. Because, at the end of the day, it is just a building. And despite the billions of dollars now being tossed at it to rebuild, it will always be a part of this crumbling, sin-cursed world. And while it may not be April 15, 2019; one day it will not be there.

This passage reminded me of another during Christ’s ministry on earth when His disciples were trying to point out to Him the glorious architecture of the Temple in Jerusalem: 

And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. (Matthew 24:1-2)

Today, that glorious Temple is gone. Every stone was thrown down by the Roman Empire in 70 AD, leaving the Jewish people without a building in which to worship. Although another Temple was rebuilt, an earthquake destroyed it in 363 and no further attempts have ever been made. Perhaps an even greater irony? Today on that site stands an Islamic shrine. 

Christ knew the future of that building. The fact that it was glorious did not matter to Him. The fact that the Jewish nation centered its worship on that building did not matter to Him. For it was just a building. As He told the Samaritan woman in John 4, “Woman, believe me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet in Jerusalem, worship the Father.”

Notre Dame still stands. With all money people are throwing at it, it will never be more glorious. But it remains just a building. A beautiful, historical, architectural triumph of a building, certainly, but it, too, will one day cease to exist. A day when the saints of God will worship in the very presence of our Savior in the new heaven and the new earth.

Now that will be truly glorious.