Mark 13:24-37
A. INTRODUCTION
One of the facts of life is that nothing is permanent. Eventually, everything will come to an end. The clothes that we wear will wear out; the furniture we sit on will at some time need replacing. And us? Well our bodies will age, and nobody knows when their time will be up.
Life is fragile. And I can’t help being reminded of that every time I drive around, and see the number of dead animals on the road: animals that have been run over and killed by passing motorists; animals that have suddenly had their lives dramatically cut off. But, then of course, there are those periodic adverts about the need to make a will, offering kits for sale so that people can detail their wishes on how they wish their property to be distributed after their death. And there are a number of other reminders besides.
Reminders of the fragility of life are all around us. And, as a consequence, the importance of how we live, as well as how we prepare for death, is very important.
It should not surprise us, therefore, that the topics of ‘how we should live’ and ‘how we should prepare for death’ were topics that were close to Jesus’s heart too. Indeed, they are the topics at the heart of Jesus’s speech recorded in this passage from Mark’s gospel. And to me, these words of Jesus are important, because they represent a kind of deathbed wish: a farewell speech sandwiched between the story of Jesus’s public ministry and the story of his crucifixion and death.
As a consequence, they are words that Jesus wanted to pass on to all of his disciples. They are instructions on how to live life, as well as how to prepare for death. In other words, what to do, and what to expect after he’d gone.
Jesus’s words, then, are very significant. Because if we acknowledge that it is important to carry out someone’s death-bed wishes, then, how much more so, should we consider these words coming from none other than the Son of God himself.
B. CONFIDENT FAITH AND VIGILANCE
1a. Confident Faith (24-27)
Particularly, as Jesus’s wishes and instructions revolve around a very graphic prophecy of the end of the world—a prophecy which included the destruction of all that the disciples held dear. Jesus said that there would be wars, earthquakes, and famines; there would be the persecution of Christians and much suffering and distress. The city, Jerusalem—that the disciples loved so much and was at the heart of their religious faith—would be flattened, and the Temple destroyed. And all the time that this was in progress, there would be people who would try to lead them astray. (And it was a prophecy that was fulfilled in its entirety by 70 AD with the help of the Roman Empire.)
But the prophecy didn’t end there. Because, after all these things—and without giving a time frame—Jesus said the end would be foreshadowed by a change in what happened in the sky above. ‘The sun will be darkened, and the moon will fail to give its light. The stars will fall from the heavens, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’ (24b-25). At which point, Jesus said, he would come again in great power and glory, and his angels would gather all Christians together (both those who’d gone before with those who were still alive).
It’s quite a graphic picture. But Jesus’s intention, in describing what was going to happen, was not intended to scare or unsettle. No! Rather his intention was to give his people hope. He wanted his people to live their lives confident in their faith, knowing that everything would be resolved in the end.
Now, at the time that Jesus spoke these words, there were plenty of people claiming to have all the answers. But then suffering and distress, for many, was the order of the day. And, with the coming persecution of the faithful, it was evident that things were going to get much worse. However, Jesus wanted his people to look beyond all that, and to live their lives knowing that with all the tensions and paradoxes of existence, in the end all such tensions and paradoxes would be resolved.
In regard to the changes to the sun, moon, and stars, this wasn’t an image that was intended to scare. Rather its purpose was to indicate an important turning point in history: the significant intervention of God in history, pointing to the fact that the end was near. As a consequence, any talk of the Second Coming of Jesus was not intended to cause distress, but was to remind the faithful just where their eyes should be constantly focussed. Because the purpose of the coming of the Son of Man, this time, would not be to reveal God, but to gather his people up and give them the inheritance they’d been promised.
1b. Summary
The message of the first part of Jesus’s speech, therefore, is that believers should live confident in their faith, because no matter what happens to us in this world, as people of faith, we will be redeemed at Jesus’s coming again at the end of time.
1c. Application
Now, the disciples may have lived in uncertain times, in a country that had been overrun, and the risk that their land would be flattened by their invaders was very real. And yet, when we think of our own worldwide situation, has anything really changed?
We see wars and the results of wars daily on the news. The fear of terrorist attacks seems often at fever pitch. We hear about Christians around the world being persecuted for their faith. And those are just the big things. And, on top of that, there are all the other more local things that we have to contend with as well.
Now, for sure, we live in a country that, relatively speaking, is a much safer place to live in than some of the other countries of the world. And we are free-er to express our faith than many peoples of the world. But, even so, our small part of the world is still full of tensions and paradoxes.
As a consequence, we need to take the words of our saviour seriously. For while we can acknowledge what’s going on around us, we shouldn’t dwell on what’s happening and allow it to get us down. Rather, we should live as people with hope. We should live that confident faith, knowing that despite all that’s going on, in the end all will be resolved, all tensions gone, and knowing that in the final triumph we will be gathered together with all of the redeemed to be with the Son of Man.
2a. Vigilance (28-37)
Now, that’s the first part of Jesus’s (kind of) death-bed wish. However the second part is just as important. Because Jesus was concerned not just about giving people hope, he was also concerned that his people should be vigilant, to keep in contact with what was going on.
In regard to his prophecy, while Jesus provided no time-frame of either the destruction of Jerusalem or the end of all things, he did tell his disciples that they needed to keep in touch.
He suggested to his disciples, that in regard to the destruction of Jerusalem, they would be able to see it coming, and that it would happen during the time of their own generation. The signs would be there, plain for them to see. However, in regard to the end of the world, no such hints would be available. The time of the end would be unknowable. Indeed, not even he, Jesus, the Son of God, knew when it was going to be. And, because of that, it was even more important to be vigilant.
And why did he want his disciples to remain vigilant, even if the timing of the end of the world was unknowable? Because, for Jesus, it was not enough for Christians simply to live in hope. It was important that they continue to exercise their God given ministries in the world too. And for that they needed to be alert to what was going on.
Indeed, so strongly did Jesus believe that his disciples should continue their ministries, that he told a story, a parable, emphasising that any true servant would want to be actively engaged in his master’s service, even in his master’s absence. And that any servant who was found sleeping, on his master’s return, was not really a faithful servant at all.
2b. Summary
So the message in the second half of Jesus’s speech, spells out the need for followers not to just rest confident in faith, but to be ever vigilant in the things that are going on around them. And, therefore, to continue to exercise the ministries to which they have been called.
As far as Jesus was concerned, both the believer and, as a consequence, the wider church community, had ‘work’ to perform, and being vigilant was the responsibility of every believer. And by completing the ‘work’ that God had entrusted to them, believers would fulfil their obligations to God.
2c. Application
Now, obviously, in regard to being vigilant, we no longer need to concern ourselves with the levelling of Jerusalem. That is now an historical event. However, the end of the world has not yet arrived. And although the time of the end is still unknowable, we need, as believers as well as a church, to be ever vigilant. We also need to continue to perform the ‘work’ that we’ve been given by God.
In general terms, as a church, that means we need to go out and share the good news of the kingdom of God with all people. But, as individuals, we may have tasks that are much more specific. But then we all have different roles to play.
Living in a world, seemingly keen on self-destruction, may mean that, as Christians, we live in the hope that, in the end, all wrongs will be righted and that we will receive the inheritance we have been promised. But that does not mean we can exempt ourselves from playing our part, in the here and now. The consequences of having a confident faith, mean that we cannot ignore what is going on. Rather, we are to observe what’s going on, and remain faithful anyway, being called to continue to practice our Christian faith and to do our part for the glory of God.
3. Comment
But a warning! This particular passage of scripture is one of many that describes the end of the world and what will happen at the end times. And yet, sadly, despite Jesus’s claim that the timing of the end of the world is unknowable, people continue to come up with different theories and dates of when the end will come to be. Now some of those dates have passed, some are still to come. However, to even try to work out the end date is a futile exercise, and is not a trap in which we should fall into ourselves.
The point of Jesus’s message was not to let us know when the end would come (so, in a sense, some could live their lives recklessly and repent at the last minute). Rather, his intention was to promote faith, and a faith filled with confidence. His intention was to make it easier for Christians to cope in times of distress and upheaval. But, at the same time, it was also to prepare his disciples for the future—for a time when he would no longer be physically with them, and a time where the mission of his church needed to continue, with his people out in the world exercising their ministries.
C. CONCLUSION
So, yes, life these days continues to be fragile and, in our world, we are not short of a tension or too. Jesus’s (kind of) death-bed wishes therefore are a reminder to us that no matter what goes on in this world, and no matter how long we have left to live, there is a way that he wants all of his followers to live. He wants us to be confident in faith, vigilant in what is going on around, and keen to exercise the God given ministries that we have been given.
In the meantime, exactly when the end should be, and when Jesus will come again, we just don’t know. And, according to Jesus, we cannot know. But we have been given the grounds on which we can live until then.
Being people of faith, and living on the grounds that he has given, then, is the challenge which is before us, and it will continue to be before us every single day.
Posted: 9th February 2024
© 2024, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
