Mark 13:24-37 (Scriptural Focus)
13:24 “But in those days, after that suffering, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light,
13:25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
13:26 Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.
13:27 Then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
13:28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.
13:29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
13:30 Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.
13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
13:32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
13:33 Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.
13:34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch.
13:35 Therefore, keep awake–for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or at dawn,
13:36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly.
13:37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.”
This chapter in Mark focuses on the future. It resembles what is known as “apocalyptic” literature. It seems to be talking about the “end times,” when God will wrap things up once and for all. The book of Revelation is pure apocalyptic – its name in Greek as well as some English versions is the “Apocalypse of John.” Most of the book of Daniel, when you get past the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the fiery furnace, is apocalyptic.
Many literate Jews in the couple of centuries before and the century after Jesus were familiar with this kind of literature, though we find it hard to understand and even confusing. It uses vivid imagery and heavy symbolism to convey a meaning that’s hidden from those who don’t have the interpretive key. Deeper meaning is hidden in language about the end of the world. It’s not surprising that Mark’s gospel would include a bit of apocalyptic thinking.
Unfortunately, apocalyptic literature like the book of Revelation is open to extreme misinterpretation by those who aren’t familiar with apocalyptic literature. The Left Behind series is an example of this. Many people today take their messages as gospel truth, but there are very different – and to my way of thinking, superior – ways of understanding Scripture. I myself have heard at least two preachers predict the year when the end times will happen. That’s not so unusual; preachers have been making such predictions for centuries, even though Jesus plainly said that not even he knew the schedule for the end times. All of the preachers who have predicted the end of the world have one thing in common: they’ve all been wrong!
More important than trying to guess the date of the end times is the message Jesus is getting across to his listeners: be ready! You can’t know when it will all come crashing down. You can’t know when you will face your next challenge in life, so stay alert! Keep ready! Mark has Jesus repeating this message three times in our short passage.
Jesus isn’t trying to play a celestial game of “gotcha” so that God can catch us unawares. When Jesus says, “Stay alert,” he’s telling us to be spiritually awake in everyday life, to have “eyes that see.” To do that, we have to focus on opening ourselves to God’s presence. Paul told his readers to “pray without ceasing,” and I think that’s what Jesus had in mind. If prayer is learning to be aware of God’s presence and love in all of life, then praying without ceasing is something we can do. It does take some discipline on our part, especially at first.
Prayer doesn’t have to begin with an “Our Father…” or some formal address, and it doesn’t have to end with “…in Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.” We don’t even have to close our eyes. Those are all social conventions that people invented somewhere along the way.
Prayer can be noticing things as we go through our day: the troubled look on the face of the person in the grocery line or behind the cash register. Prayer can lead us to offer an understanding smile or a kind word, maybe to reach into our wallets to help. Prayer can help us become more aware of our own reactions – realizing that we’re angry or sad rather than acting on those feelings unknowingly, or convincing ourselves that those feelings don’t exist. Being spiritually aware means that we can recognize emotions like anger or jealousy and choose to act lovingly even if we’re not feeling it at the moment.
Keeping alert means that we don’t allow despair to take over. There have been times recently when I have felt despair over our national politics. I just wasn’t sure things would ever get better. To be honest, there’s reason for concern; battle lines are being reinforced every day.
But we are called to hope and trust. That’s pretty much what faith is. We will all go through difficult times in life, but we trust that we will come through them and come out the other side. It’s important not to miss God’s presence along the way.
Tony Hsieh (“shay”) founded the company Zappos.com that sells shoes and clothes online. Mr. Hsieh felt that his business would thrive if he could figure out what made people happy. After a lot of research, he came up with four things that made his company a huge success:
People assume that achieving a certain goal or winning the lottery will bring lasting happiness, he said, but it rarely does. “Most of the frameworks for happiness conclude that there are four things required: perceived control, perceived progress, connectedness (meaning the depths of relationships) and being part of something bigger than yourself.” (New York Times, November 28th, 2020)
I would argue that spiritual maturity involves all four. Through prayer, we have a sense of connectedness to God and to other people. That’s a primary goal – seeing other people being as special as we think we are. On the way to spiritual maturity, we learn that the world is not about us. We become aware that we are in Christ, as Paul put it; part of something bigger than ourselves. If we take our spiritual journeys seriously and make ourselves available for the Spirit to transform us, we will have a sense of progress over time, though we’ll surely have days when it seems that we’re losing ground.
As for perceived control, healthy spirituality doesn’t turn us into control freaks – quite the opposite. But there’s a sense that we can be comfortable with not controlling the world around us – and that in itself is a kind of perceived control. Our faith and hope in God lead us to do what we can and trust in God for the rest.
Paul wrote to the church at Corinth that they were:
1:7 “…not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 1:7-8)
Now in this season of Advent, we also wait, and while we wait in prayer, God strengthens us and transforms us so that when we face trials, we’ll respond as he would have us respond. Come, Lord Jesus, as we wait and pray.
Prayer
Lord, we long for the light of your presence. Guide us from the night of our hopelessness, and transform us into the hope of your coming. Lead us with joy to the dawning of your new day. Amen.
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