“Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,
you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates. 
Amen, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place. 
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

“But of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Mark 13:24-32

Today’s Gospel passage is part of a conversation between Jesus and the apostles in the Temple. It began with the apostles walking through the city of Jerusalem and being amazed at the beauty of the Temple. They said to Jesus, “Look, teacher, what stones and what buildings!” (Mk 13:1)

It is no wonder that they were in awe as they saw the Temple. The temple compound, originally rebuilt by Zerubbabel and Ezra and then greatly expanded and improved by Herod the Great, was one of the magnificent structures known in the ancient world and the center of Jewish life for almost 1,000 years. Herod began work on the building in 19 B.C. and completed it in A.D. 63, seven years before its destruction in 70 A.D. by fire at the hands of the Romans.

So what did the apostles see that was so overwhelming in its beauty and grandeur? Josephus, the Jewish historian, documents that the temple was covered on the outside with gold plating, and when the sun shone it was blinding. Where there wasn’t gold, there were blocks of marble that were pure white. The stones used in building the temple were massive. The limestone blocks used in the retaining wall for the temple compound alone are enormous and can still be seen today. Some of them are 50 feet wide, 25 feet high, and 15 feet deep.

Jesus responds to his closest followers with the disconcerting statement that not one of these stones would be left on a stone. In the eschatological discourse that followed, Jesus exhorted his disciples and the church to faith and obedience through the trials that would confront them before Jesus’ return in great power and glory. No one but the Father knows the precise time of the Parousia.

This Gospel passage about the coming tribulation was particularly unsettling, and for us could even seem terrifying. For those apostles who up to that time had experienced their life with Jesus filled with teaching, healing the sick, and prayer, this may have seemed to them like a sharp turn in the road. We ourselves when we hear this Gospel proclaimed may wonder with alarm if we are seeing the signs of the end actually occurring in the world as we know it.

Should we focus our attention on the books and podcasts and websites predicting the end times, the three days of darkness, or the chastisement?

Notice that Jesus didn’t advise his followers to be worried and terrified. He exhorted us to be vigilant, to watch, and to have faith. His words will not pass away, and he will return in glory to gather to himself those who have believed in him.

I think it would be best to take our cue from Peter who wrote in his first letter:

“Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Like obedient children, do not act in compliance with the desires of your former ignorance but, as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in every aspect of your conduct, for it is written, ‘Be holy because I [am] holy’” (1 Pt. 13-16).

Image: Petra Österreich from Pixabay

Praying with this Passage of Scripture

Image: Myriams-Fotos; pixabay.com