Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away

Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is now near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."

And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him.

- Luke 21:29-38

In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His warnings and teachings about the times to come. He taught both about the destruction of the temple and the siege to come in Jerusalem, and also about the signs of the end - and of His imminent return. He taught, "Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near."

Then He spoke to them a parable: "Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is now near." The fig tree often appears in the Gospels, and it is a traditional symbol for Israel. But Jesus here is continuing His warnings and teachings about the time of His return, from yesterday's reading.

"Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place." My study bible notes that "this difficult verse may be interpreted in two ways: (1) this generation refers to Jesus' contemporaries and all things pertain to the capture of Jerusalem; or (2) this generation is the new Christian generation and all things include the return of Christ. The latter is the preferred interpretation of the Church Fathers." As we have reviewed these passages in the past few readings, so much is combined: the destruction of the temple with the end times and Jesus' cosmic or apocalyptic return as Son of Man. Therefore this enigmatic expression is somewhat appropriate and highly reflective of this entire passage of warnings of what is to come. But "this generation" gives us more a sense of the linkage, in a cosmic sense, of the events of the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem and the return of the Son of Man, the time of "the end." It is our perception of time that creates a vast difference in the events, but in a heavenly or cosmic sense, "this time" has been initiated. In yesterday's commentary, I cited an essay by Thomas Merton called "The Time of No Room" which speaks to this time in which we now live.

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away." Again, we have a cosmic sense of the import of these words. This is the word of God, a permanent reality, something that is eternally with us. All things will pass away, but Jesus' words will not - the reality of His teaching endures in a timeless sense.

"But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." My study bible notes, "Jesus concludes His discourse with a final admonition to vigilance in the face of the unpredictable time of His return." And there is much more to this than meets the eye. In the midst of the cosmic significance of His words, that all things will pass, but His word will not, we receive the understanding of the times that we live in - but from our perspective. Two millenia have passed since Jesus uttered those words, and we live in a time when it is easy to consider that Day something far away, far off and out of mind. But our attitude is to be watchful and wary and prepared for it. He is teaching us how our state of being must be in these times; we are not to forget. It is His warning to us about our consciousness, our awareness - we must know who we are, where we are, and be about "His Father's business."

And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on the mountain called Olivet. Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him. A note reads, "Olivet is the Mount of Olives, a hill on the east side of Jerusalem where pilgrims stayed when the city was overcrowded during the festivals such as the Passover." Olivet, or the Mount of Olives, is also, symbolically, the place on which the Lord is to stand when defending Jerusalem from its enemies, in Zechariah's apocalyptic prophecy. Furthermore it was a burial place for Jews from ancient times, and has graves associated with prophets including Zechariah. So, there is a kind of symbolic tie-in here with the end of the age and the resurrection of those who live in God, but Jesus stays Himself with the pilgrims who come to hear Him when He returns in the morning to the temple to teach.

These verses in today's reading give us a deep sense of the timelessness of spiritual reality. In the cosmic sense, all things and apocalyptic events blend with our sense of time, so that these realities overlap - they blend into one another. One is eternal and the other temporal: our perspective must be to understand that these things exist in our midst and at the same time we must beware and keep ourselves in a state in which we watch, so as not to be taken by surprise. This doesn't mean - at all - that we speculate on the time of His return. Quite the opposite, and we are warned repeatedly against doing so in the Gospels. Instead, our lives are to be those of alertness and awareness, wakefulness, watchful. We know what business we are to be about, we know what God asks of us. We know the greatest commandments: to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and to love neighbor as ourselves. How many ways do we fail to put these into practice? In today's reading, we are also given the words of St. Paul in the First Letter to the Thessalonians. He teaches the church to "warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks . . . Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil." That sounds about like what is expected of us, and what "business" we are to be about in this time, in which the cosmic and the temporal are combined, and live within and among one another, just as we celebrate our liturgies and services "with the angels in heaven." Advent is now with us, and we await that light of His dwelling among us, we prepare to celebrate His birth into our world, just as we await His return. Let us consider then the divine realities, and that all things will pass away, but His words will not. How do we live in a time of the end, and the time of waiting, all at the same time? St. Paul teaches us that. Be aware, "pray always," and be about Our Father's business in the world, the business of love and faith and hope.