And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven.

"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near -- at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

"Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -- lest coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!"

- Mark 13:24-37

Today's reading forms all of a piece with the readings from Tuesday and Wednesday. This dialogue with his apostles follows their questions after Jesus has predicted the destruction of the temple. The destruction of the temple, and the end of the age, are inextricably linked in Jewish prophecy - and in Jesus' talk the two topics intermingle and are both addressed. The destruction of the temple would take place in 70 A.D., at the time of the fulfillment of the prophecy in the Book of Daniel of "the abomination of desolation" - the Roman general Titus "standing where it [he] ought not" in the Most Holy Place. Jesus has, in yesterday's reading, given his disciples a warning of what is to come in Jerusalem, by which the early Church in Jerusalem was saved from the destruction that was to come.

"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, the stars of heaven will fall, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send His angels, and gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven." The subject changes, to the end of the age and the Judgment that is to come, the return of the Son of Man. The title Jesus has used for himself, the Son of Man, is that of an apocalyptic messianic figure also from the Book of Daniel. My study bible notes, "In those days refers to the end of time, when Christ will return bodily. The Second Coming is neither secretive nor figurative."

"Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near -- at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place." My study bible notes, once again: "The parable from the fig tree warns us to be watchful and ready for the events of the final days. Each generation since Pentecost has looked for the Second Coming of Christ, and that is proper. Jesus' teaching is that we will know the end is near when we see these things taking place." In another note (in the similar readings from the gospel of Matthew), my study bible notes that "this generation is probably the new race of Christians. The end is always near, just ahead of us. The unexpected suddenness of Christ's coming will catch people unaware ..." I personally believe that incidents of the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the age are mixed in these prophecies, just as they were linked in the Jewish prophecies. We can see the destruction of the temple as the beginning of this period of the "end of the age" which is still with us, and this "generation" of Christians. Certainly, the audience to whom Jesus was speaking was of a generation in which "all these things will take place" -- all the tribulation in Jerusalem Jesus has warned about in the previous two readings.

The fig tree is also an important symbol. In Mark's gospel, we recall that the reading that included the story of the fig tree without fruit was coupled with the cleansing of the temple. The fig tree is a historical symbol for Israel itself. The tree putting out its shoots can also be read as a warning about the signs to come as the destruction of the City is near that Jesus has warned them against (see yesterday's reading). Remember that we also consider ourselves as Christians to be "the new Israel." This is entirely in keeping with Jesus' word to us at the end of this reading, to "Watch!"

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." I will quote once again from a helpful note in my study bible: "Since of that day and hour no one knows, believers should always be ready in watchfulness and prayer. Many Church Fathers consider that nor the Son speaks of Christ's having limited knowledge in his humanity. This shows the depth of Christ's condescension, because in His divine nature He is as omniscient as the Father. Other Church Fathers do not accept any limitation of knowledge in Christ, and interpret this as His deliberate accommodation to the disciples' weakness. Exact knowledge of the Second Coming could lead otherwise serious believers to moral carelessness, inactive faith, and lack of daily perseverance." These interesting commentaries teach us how the Fathers of the Church throughout the centuries have viewed these words. Regardless of interpretation, these are the words that we have in the gospel. No one knows. Such a high, vast secret is this that not even Jesus himself claims knowledge of it. What this suggests is not only mystery, but the great variability of choices left up to us. This is how I see it. What will we choose? What will the "birth pangs" of this new world be prior to Judgment? What will this world become, how will our response to Pentecost and the coming of the Spirit play out in the age to come? Surely the readings from the Old Testament about God's judgments reveal a loving Father whose aim and even hope lies in the choices of his children, in hope of their maturity in wisdom, and growth of understanding, and desire to choose for themselves the ways of mature faith and righteousness, right-relatedness. We are created as independent beings with the right of choice. Repeatedly, the historical Scriptures give us stories of the importance of our choice, and that God's judgments are a response in turn to what we choose. We recall that elsewhere Jesus has also asked the question, "But when the Son of Man returns, will He find faith on the earth?" (See Luke 18:8.) So much is really up to us, and depends upon our choices, our mature spirituality and faith, our righteousness. Jesus' question also implies something he does not know: what we will choose. Our spiritual freedom is complete.

"Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is. It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming -- in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning -- lest coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!" Again, we are given another parable, that of the doorkeeper. We are intended to be aware. My study bible notes again, "To propose schemes of how and when He will come will not prepare anyone for the coming of Christ. But to take heed, watch and pray does prepare us." The byword here is to "Watch!" What I believe that this does for us is to create a consciousness of the reality of our choices. It's not just about one-upmanship and competition in our world, the scramble for scarce resources and the power to get them, what our neighbor has that we don't have, and all manner of what the focus on earthly life alone produces. The great struggles of life take on an entirely different cast with the awareness of the presence of the Father and the Judgment. I do not say this with an awareness of the fear of Judgment, but rather an awareness of the fullness of reality and its entirety of meanings and values and choices. There is something transcendent of our day-to-day concerns and rivalries that changes our position vis-à-vis the choices we make in how we live our lives. That is, we have something much greater to consider than competition and all the many forms of injustice and hurt it causes when we make choices. There is the choice for love. It is my belief that without this watchword of awareness of Judgment, neither would we have the transcendent understanding of the power of the choice for love in a bad situation. It is this consciousness of Judgment that teaches us about mercy. It began with Moses' Law that limited revenge to "an eye for an eye." It is fulfilled in Christ who teaches us that his mercy is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, and of God's Justice, so that we go and do likewise. This is the byword that we are left with, "To watch!" To watch and be prepared means to keep His commandments: "To love the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves." This is what it is to be prepared, to "Watch!" How do you watch? How are you prepared? It is the God of Love that we watch for, who wishes us to have faith in his Word, for us to have life in abundance, even an eternal life shared with us, in that Word. But it depends on what we choose. We take strength for our choices in that knowledge.