Daily Archives: November 25, 2025

Passing Things; Permanent Things

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Today’s readings place before us two very powerful images of history. In the first reading from the Book of Daniel, is the scene in the Book of Daniel when he is asked to interpret a dream of King Nebichadnezzar. In the dream there is a statue of gold, silver, bronze, iron, and clay; understood as giant empires rising and falling. In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus foretells the destruction of the Temple, a building so magnificent that people were “admiring how it was adorned with costly stones” (Lk 21:5). In both readings, we are reminded of the fragility of earthly things, passing things – even the things we think are permanent

All earthly kingdoms pass away. Daniel interprets Nebuchadnezzar’s dream: a statue of dazzling appearance, representing the great powers of the world. But Daniel also says: “A stone was hewn from a mountain without a hand being put to it… and it struck the statue… and crushed them” (Dan 2:34–35). And then Daniel gives the meaning: “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed… it shall stand forever” (Dan 2:44).

Empires rise; they fall. New powers come; they fade. What looks permanent at the time ends up being temporary. We need that reminder today: nothing in this world—no nation, no power, no economy, no institution—is eternal. Only the kingdom of God lasts.

We are not to be dazzled by earthly splendor. In the Gospel, some people marvel at the beauty of the Temple. It was truly magnificent—one of the wonders of the ancient world. But Jesus says: “The days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down” (Lk 21:6). Even the Temple, the holiest place in Israel, would fall. Jesus is not trying to frighten us. He is trying to reorient us.  He is reminding us that beauty and power are not the same as holiness and eternity. God invites us to place our trust not in the structures or successes of this world, but in Him alone.

Because God’s kingdom is already breaking into our world. When the stone in Daniel’s vision strikes the statue, Daniel says: “The stone… became a great mountain and filled the whole earth” (Dan 2:35). The Fathers of the Church saw this stone as a symbol of Christ. The Cornerstone rejected by the builders, yet chosen by God. And so Christ’s kingdom has already begun in His death and resurrection.  And even as nations rise and fall, even as there are “wars and insurrections… earthquakes, famines, and plagues” (Lk 21:9,11), the kingdom of God continues to grow quietly, steadily, like a mountain that fills the earth. Not through force. Not through power. But through the holiness of God’s people, through the sacraments, through acts of mercy, forgiveness, and love.

What does this mean for us today? It means that the Christian life is not about predicting the end, nor about reading the “signs” with fear. Jesus specifically says: “Do not be terrified” (Lk 21:9). We don’t follow Christ to secure ourselves against worldly catastrophes.  We follow Him because He alone is the kingdom that does not pass away.

So the question for us today is simple: Where is my heart anchored? In the things that pass away—or in the One who stands forever? When our hearts are anchored in Christ, even the storms of history cannot shake us. Even when earthly certainties collapse, our hope remains firm.

The great empires of Daniel’s vision are long gone. The stones of the Temple Jesus described have long since fallen. But the kingdom of Christ endures. And we are invited to belong to that kingdom—now, today, in this Eucharist.

May the Lord give us the wisdom to cling to what is eternal, to seek first the kingdom that “shall never be destroyed” (Dan 2:44), and to live unafraid, trusting in the One who reigns forever.

The One who is King of the Universe.

Image credit: Flevit super illam (He wept over it) | Enrique Simonet (1892) | Museo del Prado, Madrid | Wikimedia Creative Commons | PD-US

Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

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The first reading today is the scene in the Book of Daniel when he is asked to interpret a dream of King Nebuchadnezzar. In the world of eschatology (the part of theology concerned with death, judgment, and the final destiny of the soul and of humankind) this is one of the passages that fascinates all manner of interpretation

Key verses in the dream are:

  • “You are the head of gold.” (Dan 2:38)
  • “Another kingdom shall rise after you… then a third… then a fourth kingdom, strong as iron.” (Dan 2:39–40)
  • “A stone which a hand had not cut from a mountain struck the iron, the clay…” (Dan 2:34)
  • “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed.” (Dan 2:44)

Summary Table of Understanding of Key Elements

TraditionFour KingdomsStone / Mountain
Rabbinic JewishBabylon, Media, Persia, GreeceGod’s final kingdom / restoration of Israel
Patristic Christian
(2nd-5th century AD)		Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, RomeChrist / Church / eternal kingdom
Modern Critical
(Protestant & Reformed)		Babylon, Media, Persia, GreeceGod’s intervention after Antiochus IV
Dispensational Futurist
(Evangelical etc.)		Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome → revived Roman empireChrist at Second Coming, millennial kingdom
CatholicEither traditional (Rome) or historical-critical (Greece)Christ’s kingdom, both present and future

These verses and its elements form a basis of a “dispensational” view of time. In this context, the “dispensations” are times in history vis-a-vis the Kingdom of God. When considered from an eschatology perspective there are some basic questions, whose answers means that “dispensationalism” is not monolithic. Differences appear when when discerning if the “Kingdom” is now, even if only partially revealed; does the visible Church on earth represent (or even part of) the Kingdom; what are the four empires; what is the relationship of kingdom of the 2nd Coming of Jesus; and the list goes on…

Within Dispensationalism there are distinct schools of interpretation of Daniel 2 (and prophetic texts generally). They agree on certain basics—the four kingdoms end with a revived Roman empire, the stone is Christ at His Second Coming, the Church is not the kingdom of Daniel 2, etc.—but there are real differences.

Dispensational ViewStone = Christ’s Kingdom?Is It Already Present?Ten Toes?Church in Daniel 2?
ClassicalSecond Coming onlyNoLiteral 10 kingsNo 
Revised/ModifiedSecond ComingNo (or partial)Literal or symbolicNo
ProgressiveInaugurated now, fulfilled laterYes (but not fully)Symbolic for final rulersNo
Apocalyptic LiteralistDramatic Second ComingNoLiteral 10-nation confederacyNo
Two-Phase Roman EmpireSecond ComingNoLiteral or flexibleNo
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A view of Matthew’s End Time

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This coming Sunday is the first Sunday in Advent. In an earlier text from today, we introduced the two-fold character of Advent. In this post we consider Matthew’s perspective of the End Time.  The post is on the longer side and deals more with the text in a larger context and less so about its use in Advent.

Eugene Boring (Matthew, 457-58) notes Matthew 24 is not an “eschatological discourse” that presents Matthew’s or Jesus’ doctrine of the end, but is part of chaps. 23-25, whose aim is pastoral care and encouragement. Although he has included the “little apocalypse” of Mark 13 into this larger framework, Matthew (affirms but) reduces the significance of apocalyptic per se, subordinating it to other, more directly pastoral concerns. Matthew’s focus is judgment and warnings on Christian discipleship oriented toward the ultimate victory of the reign of God represented in Christ.

Matthew focuses on this by a variety of pictures that are sometimes at odds and sometimes in agreement. No one picture can do justice to the transcendent reality to which it points. There are basically two types of pictures: 

  1. In the first of these, the risen Christ is present with his church throughout its historical pilgrimage and mission. Matthew affirms the transcendent lordship of the living Christ. This is expressed in pictures of Christ’s continuing presence with his church through the ages, a major theme of Matthean theology (see 1:23; 28:20). In such a framework, there is no need or room for an ascension in which Christ departs, a period of Christ’s “absence,” and then a “return” of Christ, for the risen Christ never departs (cf. the last words of Matthew’s Gospel). 
  2. In a second type of picture, the transcendence of the living Christ is pictured in a different way that had already become traditional in early Christianity—that of the departure of Christ at the resurrection/ascension and his return at the parousia. 
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