and the moon will not give its light,
25 and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
Mark 13:24-37 contains sayings on the coming Son of Man.
Passages such as this sound strange to us. An emphasis upon the end time or the end of the world leads some persons to otherworldliness, passivity in this life, and acceptance of the status quo. Yet, for all that Christian faith means to everyone who embraces it, the church cannot continue to permit, much less endorse, a subjective captivity of the gospel. Not even the community of faith is adequate as the arena of Christ's saving work. The whole creation stands at the window eagerly awaiting the arrival of the day of redemption for the children of God. Further, such passages remind us that human effort will not bring us to the desired end. It rests upon the assumption that human history will not be a genuine story unless we think in terms of ultimate ends. A proper estimation of eschatology will help the church avoid the danger of always adjusting the church to the needs and anxieties of the culture.
Yet, we need to face the truth that rumors of the end of the world as we know it have been around for a long time. Apocalyptic elements in the Bible can become fads in the hands of some theologians and preachers. I think of the Anabaptists of the 1530s in Munster, Germany, the Millerites of the early 1840s, the early 1970s publication of The Late Great Planet Earth, and the Left Behind books and movies. Such language also gained attention in the secular world with the turn of the millennium. A thorough study of such movements would be a long book. Harold Camping studied the Bible and concluded the world would end May 21, 2011. He placed his message on 5,000 billboards. He estimated 7 billion people would die. He used millions of dollars to convey his message. When the date came and went, he amended the date to October 21. By then, the fad had subsided. In our time, we are naturally and justly skeptical of such language. A well know story from colonial New England says that during an eclipse panicked several state legislators. They moved to adjourn, thinking the end of the world must be near. However, one of them said, "Mr. Speaker, if it is not the end of the world and we adjourn, we shall appear to be fools. If it is the end of the world, I should choose to be found doing my duty. I move you, sir, that candles be brought."[1]
At the same time, if you pray the Lord’s Prayer regularly, you are praying apocalyptically: Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. If you recite the Creed, you are affirming your connection to the apocalyptic hope of the early Christians: “And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end. … And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” Martin Luther King Jr., in his sermon shortly before his death, said, "I fear no man. Because my eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." This is the world changing, apocalyptic vision that gives us both freedom and boldness. When we ask God to interfere with our affairs on this world, we are asking for an end to the world, as we know it. When the author walks on the stage, the play is over. The world as we know it, says apocalyptic hope, will melt away like a dream and something else that never entered our heads to conceive arrives, something so beautiful to some and terrible to others.[2]
I see another dimension of such language in the Bible. People are ready for apocalyptic speech when they are desperate. Do we really want such earth-shaking occurring among us? Would such an expectation be a threat or promise to us? Our lives stretch between the times. Many people have good reason look at their lives with a sense of enjoyment and satisfaction. They are at peace with the world. Apocalyptic expectation in the Bible challenge present arrangements of society and look forward to something more and better. For those who experience this world as painful and tragic, the shaking of heaven and earth would be welcome. In fact, we need to take to heart the notion that Christianity is completely and restlessly eschatological.[3] One sign of the church adjusting its message to its contemporary setting too much is the loss of its apocalyptic speech and therefore its eschatological dimension. Regardless of our current setting, we need to know that the future of humanity and a concern for its destiny is not so much a matter of how or when, but a matter of who. Thus, dreadful things happen in this world, but do not despair. God has not given up on us. We must not give up on God or ourselves. The future is not in the hands of beastly powers. The future belongs to the Human One. The future has the human face of Jesus Christ, the one who died for us so that we might find life.
This saying contains references to the Old Testament that some scholars think are more likely from an early Jewish-Christian prophecy rather than from Jesus. The prophecy begins by referring to an end of the natural order. 24 ‘But in those days, after that suffering referred to in verses 14-23, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, In Revelation 8:12, one third of their light becomes dark. Such celestial orbs have a routine presence each day and night, conveying a sense of constancy and reassurance. Yet, in context, this does not mean the darkness of creation reasserts itself.[4]While this description could refer to a literal darkening of the heavenly spheres, it more likely alludes to a time of tremendous upheaval. Isaiah 13:10 refers to the darkening of the stars, sun, and moon. Ezekiel 32:7 refers to the darkening of the stars, a cloud covering the sun, and the darkening of the moon. Joel 2:10-31 refers to the earth quaking and the heavens trembling. The light of the sun, moon, and stars darken. The Lord “will show portents in the heavens and on the earth.” It alludes to the darkening of the sun and the reddening of the moon “before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes.” II Peter 3:7 refers to “the present heavens and earth” as “reserved for fire” on the Day of Judgment and the destruction of the godless. Didache 16: 6-7 refers to “the sign of the appearance in heaven.” Our passage also says and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Such powers in antiquity governed everyday affairs on earth. 26Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in clouds’ with great power and glory.[5] Daniel 7:13-14 shows that such an event will be disconcerting for political entities. In that case, one “like a human being” personifies the Jews as the people of God. Joel 2:10-31 refers to the Lord heading up a large and obedient army. Such a Day of the Lord is “great” and “terrible.” For the disciples, the event will be a time of rejoicing, while others will experience it as a time of fear and terror. We now reach the point of this passage. Scholars have generated an enormous body of scholarly literature concerning the “Son of Man,” which is Jesus’ favorite self-designation in the gospels, occurring some 72 times in the synoptics. In the New Testament, Jesus uses this term to describe himself in two contexts: his earthly life, mission, and fate (e.g., Mark 2:10 and parallels), and his role as risen, exalted and returning savior and judge. The two roles have a close relationship, symbolized by the fact that Jesus always uses the expression to refer to himself in the gospels. We cannot fully understand either role without reference to the other. In the New Testament, the accepting, rejected and crucified savior is also the risen, exalted and judging savior. The basis of the New Testament figure is the divine being seen by the prophet Daniel (chapter 7, one “like a human being”), an exalted angel personifying the Jews and perhaps to be identified with the archangel Michael.[6] Revelation 1:7 refers to the crucified as the one “coming with the clouds.” Didache 16:8 refers to the world seeing “the Lord coming on the clouds of heaven.” Early Christianity proclaimed the risen Lord as the end-time messianic King whom Jewish expectation hope for and whom God will send. In so doing, it merged expectation of his return with Jewish expectation of the Son of Man who will come on the clouds with great power and glory to judge the living and the dead. Based on this passage, the First Council of Constantinople (381) added “with glory” to the original Nicene Creed (325).[7] 27 Then this Jewish figure will send out the angels and gather his elect, those not led astray, from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. In this case, this figure will play favorites. However, the basis of such favoritism is not nationality. The uniting of the Son of Man with the elect will be a joyful gathering. Yet, clearly, the Son of Man will disrupt the natural order and shake the oppressive forces on earth. II Thessalonians 1:7 refers to the revelation of “the Lord Jesus” from heaven and with mighty angels. Didache 16:8 refers to the Lord coming, with the saints joining him.
Mark 13:28-29 contains the parable of the fig tree. 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. They are attentive and insightful enough to detect a change in the seasons. Jesus used images from nature, but the use here is not bold or unusual. It is proverbial or common-sense wisdom. The fig tree is a deciduous tree that thrives in the dry Mediterranean climate, and in the summer, its foliage is bright and seems to lend a bit of a “tropical” feel, sharply distinguishing between winter and summer. Therefore, using this parable and the knowledge of the identity of the Son of Man, the disciples have no reason to fear the end times. If they are able to interpret the signs as easily as they can interpret the seasons, and they realize that they know the One who is coming to bring their redemption, their fears should abate. The image may refer to the nearness of the kingdom. The lesson they must learn is that 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. They need to develop attentiveness and spiritual insight to discern a change of the times. When trees regain their leaves, the disciples will be able to interpret that as a sign that signals the changing seasons. In the same way, the disciples will also be able to interpret the signs of the end to show the change of the times.
In another saying, 30 Truly I tell you, this generation, which could refer to his contemporaries. If so, he is referring to one generation of followers. He then says this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. The interpretive thorn in the passage occurs here. To whom does “this” refer? Commentators have proposed several answers. (a) Jesus’ contemporaries; (b) the Jewish people; (c) human beings in general; (d) the generation of the end-signs. As scholars have noted, if Jesus is referring to his contemporaries, the saying would apply only to the first generation, and would create obvious difficulties for subsequent generations. For an increasingly Christian audience, option (b) would become increasingly irrelevant. Option (c) seems too general to be meaningful, leaving option (d) as the most plausible referent, when many events would have impressed themselves upon their witnesses as the very end-signs of which Jesus spoke. From Jesus’ perspective, when they see these things unfolding before them, they are to remain steadfast, confident in their faith. These events — though disturbing on one level — should not surprise the disciples because Jesus had already spoken about them ahead of time. In short, Jesus’ words are to reassure his disciples. He is continuing to provide the disciples with reassurance. This contrasts with heaven and earth, which will pass away, but is in parallel to Jesus’ words, which will not pass away. Therefore, “this generation” should put their trust in Jesus’ words, as Jesus is a trustworthy prophet. Jesus has been depicted as a prophet whose words the audience can trust throughout the gospel; there is no reason the audience should not also trust his words about the end times. The Easter event confirms this statement of Jesus to the degree that Easter partially fulfills the intimation of the coming of divine rule. For Jesus himself, the final salvation that we find in divine rule became a reality for him in his resurrection, and a sign what will be a reality for us.[8] I should also note that such notions of the end find no support in our scientific knowledge of the world. Science will refer to a remove end of the earth and of the universe. Science can refer to certain phenomena that will end humanity with disasters for us that are beyond our imagination. Yet, signs of the end are not the end itself. They do not enable us to calculate when the end will come. No one knows the time. Yet, we can count on an end of this world and human history. We know meaning in the context of the whole song, play, movie, or novel. Such meaning occurs with the logic of historicity. We know the meaning along the way only as we know the end.[9]
In another saying, which has parallels in Matthew 24:35 and Luke 21:33, but which we can also compare to Matthew 5:18 and Luke 21:33 we find that 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. Such an oath affirms the truth of accompanying statements.
Mark 13:32-37 contains sayings on the day and the hour. The point is that the presence of the rule of God is more certain than the continuance of the physical order, but the manner of the end is in the hand of God. 32 ‘But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Such a saying reaffirms the eschatological nature of the reign of God as an act of God in the future. Yet, the saying has an odd character in the context of Mark, since the point of the entire discourse is to tell the disciples when the end will happen. The passage stresses that the Son does not know either. This Christological reference is only here in the Gospel. Such lack of knowledge shows that we are not to see in the Incarnation a mere transfer of the divine attributes to the human nature of Jesus as possible.[10] In it, we can see the distinction between the rule of God and the church as well. Johannes Weiss brought all of this to the attention of biblical and theological circles.[11] Obviously, the church and individual Christians would show some wisdom in not claiming to possess more knowledge than does the Son or the angels![12] Yet, the saying indicates that the end does have a specific day and hour. The saying is eschatological in referring to the last judgment and Parousia. In the Mark context, the Parousia is near while the precise timing remains unknown. Such an attitude is not typical of Jewish apocalyptic. The New Testament expectation is always an imminent one. The expectation in which Jesus lived and died is what he saw as the goal of his life and death. Jesus shares the human uncertainty of not knowing the moment. Yet, the revelation of the rule of God has a close link with the consummation of the life Jesus in his death and resurrection.[13] In fact, an analogy would be our experience of the importance of purpose or goal to determine meaning. The meaning of individual words or sentences has their meaning in the context of the novel that has a beginning and end. In the same way, historical beings have a purpose and goal only if the fulfillment of their history is an historical event.[14]
Verse 33 is an exhortation from Mark upon keeping alert. Be on guard! Stay alert! In fact, our tendency might be toward laziness and indifference. We may sleep due to a sense of trust in the situation, of course. We simply need the sleep. We sense no immediate danger. One may also become terrified that the mind simply shuts down, causing us to sleep. We may have deadly boredom, so much so that we sleep. Sleep is the primary posture of the world when it comes to spirituality. Occasionally, the followers of Jesus seem alert. Yet, do we not have to admit that the church seems at least drowsy? We see the disciples drowsy at Gethsemane. They had difficulty staying awake. That story reflects the normal position of the church. We find it difficult to stay awake. John Wesley wrote that spiritual sleepiness, that deep sleep of the soul, is part of our sinful nature. Sleepiness is the result of a certain type of cluelessness to our true condition. Such a sleeper is dead but is not aware of it. We believe nothing is wrong with our current condition or with the world around us. Spiritual sleepers can view sin in their lives as being a mere character flaw rather than disobedience.
We then have a saying regarding sudden arrival. It has parallels in Matthew 24:42, 25:13, Luke 12:40, 21:36, and Didache 16:1. The disciples are to keep alert, for you do not know when the time will come. We find a similar admonition in I Thessalonians 5:1-11. The time to keep alert is any time the disciple faces a test or trial. In other words, every day, keep alert.
We then have an exhortation in verses 34-5 to be on the alert through a parable of the servants of the absent householder. The concern is with the promise of the returning master of the household. It has parallels in Luke 12:35=38 and Didache 16:1. We can find a similar parable in Mark 12:1-11 and a Q version in Luke 12:42-46, as well as Luke 19:11-27 in the material unique to Luke. For those who think Mark was the last Gospel written, signs of Mark shortening the story are present. In the context of Mark, it looks forward to a time when the disciples will fail to watch or keep alert in Gethsemane. Thus, when it comes to the anticipated day or hour, 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his slaves in charge, each with his work as part of the household. They will have some freedom in the way they carry out their work. Their common activity is to wait and keep alert: and commands the doorkeeper to be on the watch. Such watchfulness is a non-stop activity. We need the virtue of patience in this time of waiting. The hope for the return of the master will give patience an opportunity to teach us its virtue. Patience teaches us to continue to hope, even though our hope offers little chance of its fulfillment. Without the hope for the returning master, patience will too easily accept the world and self as it is instead of what either could be.[15] The conclusion is 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. The point seems to be that followers of Jesus are to live in daily expectation of the return of its Lord. If they are not alert and attentive, 36 or else he may find you asleep when he comes suddenly. Such a follower will not have endured to the end.
Jesus concludes in verse 37 by offering to all persons a final admonition 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Keep awake.’ He is giving assurance to what he has said. He will give a similar exhortation at Gethsemane. Followers of Jesus are to adopt this simple maxim. We could also look at it as a brief exhortation by Mark to his community. The point of the community in its waiting is to watch and keep alert.[16]
Keep awake. That is one way to summarize the last lecture of Randy Pausch, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Pausch delivered his final lecture in September 2007, after doctors diagnosed him with terminal pancreatic cancer. He showed a love of life and an approach to death that many people have found inspiring, and his lecture has turned into a phenomenon, viewed by millions on television and on the Internet. He went on to write a best-selling book with columnist Jeffrey Zaslow titled The Last Lecture, a book about love, courage and saying goodbye. On Friday, July 25, 2008, Pausch succumbed to cancer at the age of 47.
He expected 150 people to attend his last lecture. It was a warm September day, and he assumed that people would have better things to do than attend a final lesson from a dying computer science professor in his 40s. He bet a friend $50 that he would never fill the 400-seat auditorium. Well, Pausch lost that bet. The room was packed, and when he arrived on stage, he received a standing ovation. He motioned the audience of students and colleagues to sit down. “Make me earn it,” he said. According to columnist Zaslow,[17] Randy hardly mentioned his cancer in the course of his 70-minute lecture. Instead, he took everyone on a rollicking and riveting journey through the lessons of his life. He talked about the importance of childhood dreams, and the stamina needed to overcome obstacles. “Brick walls are there for a reason,” he insisted, showing slides of the rejection letters he had received over the years. “They let us prove how badly we want things.” He pushed his audience to show patience toward others, saying, “Wait long enough, and people will surprise and impress you.” He celebrated his mentors and his students with an open heart and revealed the depth of his love for his family. Giving a nod to his techie background, Randy showed good humor. “I’ve experienced a deathbed conversion,” he said with a smile. “I just bought a Macintosh.” Wanting to show the crowd that he was not ready to kick the bucket, he dropped to the floor and did one-handed push-ups.
Keep awake. That is what Randy seemed to be saying as he invited his audience to rethink their ambitions and find new ways to look at other people’s flaws and abilities. Keep awake to what is profoundly important in life. After showing pictures of his childhood bedroom, marked up with mathematical notations he had drawn on the walls, he said, “If your kids want to paint their bedrooms, as a favor to me, let ’em do it.” Keep awake to what really matters. In this case it is children — not bedroom walls.
After the lecture, Randy’s only plan was to spend his remaining days with his family. However, a video of his talk began to spread like a virus across the Web. Randy was soon receiving e-mails from people around the world, telling him that his lecture had inspired them to spend more time with loved ones, quit pitying themselves, and even resist suicidal urges. Terminally ill people were inspired to embrace their own goodbyes and have fun with every day they had left.
His last lecture really woke people up. Then Randy gave part of his talk on The Oprah Winfrey Show, and ABC News named him one of its three “Persons of the Year.” People urged him to author a book, which he resisted at first, since he wanted to spend time with his family. However, since he needed to exercise, and had to be alone as he rode his bike, he began to use his daily rides as a time to reflect on his lecture, his life and his dreams for his family. Therefore, for an hour each day, he would talk to columnist Zaslow through a cell-phone headset, and over the course of 53 long bike rides, he shared the insights that became the book called The Last Lecture.
Keep awake. That is what Randy Pausch says to us, and what Jesus says as well.
We need to learn to live every day as if it were our last day. We need to live like we are dying. We need to live with a clear-eyed sense of the inevitable. Country singer Tim McGraw has a song with this theme: Live Like You Were Dying.
He said I was in my early forties
with a lot of life before me
when a moment came that stopped me on a dime
and I spent most of the next days
looking at the x-rays
Talking bout the options
and talking bout sweet time
I asked him when it sank in
that this might really be the real end
how?s it hit you when you get that kinda news
man what’d you do?
and he said
I went sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
and I gave forgiveness I’d been denying
and he said someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying.
He said I was finally the husband
that most the time I wasn?t
and I became a friend a friend would like to have
and all the sudden going fishin
wasn’t such an imposition
and I went three times that year I lost my dad
well I finally read the good book
and I took a good long hard look
at what I’d do if I could do it all again
and then
I went sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
and I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
and I gave forgiveness I’d been denying
and he said someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying.
Like tomorrow was a gift and you got eternity to think about
What’d you do with it what did you do with it
what did I do with it
what would I do with it?
Sky diving
I went Rocky Mountain climbing
I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named fumanchu
and then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter
and I watched an eagle as it was flying
and he said someday I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dying.
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying
To live like you were dying
[1] Lamar Williams Jr., Mark, (Louisville: John Knox Press, 1983) p. 242.
[2] C. S. Lewis, Sunbeams: A Book of Quotations, ed by Sy Safranksy (Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1990, p. 80.
[3] Karl Barth, Romans, p.
[4] Barth Church Dogmatics III.1 [41.2] 121.
[5] Some scholars think this passage could be a Jewish-Christian prophecy, a liturgical poem, or an early Christian sermon. Many scholars think the saying more likely to be a prophetic oracle addressed to Mark’s own readers. However, verse 26 does not seem to identify Jesus as the Son of Man. Could Jesus have made such a prophecy about the Son of Man as distinct from himself?
[6] See John J. Collins, “Old Testament Apocalypticism and Eschatology,” The New Jerome Biblical Commentary [Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1990], 303.
[7] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 609.
[8] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 366.
[9] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 589, 590.
[10] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 2, 388.
[11] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 621.
[12] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 621.
[13] Barth, Church Dogmatics III.2 [47.1] 498-9.
[14] Pannenberg, Systematic Theology Volume 3, 587.
[15] Stanley Hauerwas, A Community of Character.
[16] Barth, Church Dogmatics III.2 [47.1] 501.
[17] of The Wall Street Journal (May 3, 2008, and September 20, 2007)
Good thoughts
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