New Leaves: Living Expectantly

“But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will be falling from the sky, and the celestial powers will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. He will send out the angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky. “Learn this parable from the fig tree: As soon as 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 door! I assure you: This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” (Mark 13:24-31 HCSB)

The passage of time is a strange thing. It can seem to be super, super slow as it seems to take FOREVER or it can seem to be super, super quick as it goes by in a FLASH. Of course, that is very much dependent upon your perspective. As my wife and I just passed our 45th anniversary and I near my 64th birthday, I look back at the past and realize just how quickly it seems to have gone by. Yet, from the perspective of young man (some would say kid) who made those promises and spoke those wedding vows 45 years ago, it sure seemed like time passed very, very slowly.

But those intervening years have certainly impacted me and my perspective. The irritating impatience of my youth has given way to the leisurely patience of an old man. The “not enough time to get everything done” of those days has been replaced with a “let’s stop and enjoy the gentle breeze and sound of the birds singing in the trees” of today. Back then I thought I needed to snag fragments of life as it whizzed by and now I enjoy waiting to let it gently flutter onto the back of my hand like a butterfly. And I think, in many ways, my understanding of scripture has changed and matured as I learn to walk alongside my Savior.

One of the great principles of scriptural interpretation and understanding is that scripture should help us interpret and understand scripture. In other words, difficult passages can be made much more clear by reading, studying and understanding simpler passages which are not difficult to interpret and understand. And what often happens with eschatological passages, which are notoriously hard to interpret, is that we try to apply interpretive gymnastics to them and make them say and do things they were never intended to do or say. I fear that’s what has often happened with today’s focal passage. So, I’m going to try and let the patient old man have more control over my interpretation and understanding of this passage than the naive, impatient young man. Bear with me as I try to unravel what some feel is an extremely difficult passage.

As mentioned last week, words are important and they have deep, deep meaning and can have significant impact on our lives and lasting influence on our spiritual understanding. The initial verses in our focal passage are very poetic and have strong parallels with Old Testament (OT) passages. The opening phrase “but in those days” carries deep Old Testament roots and implies a sense of impending judgment. You will find that phrase in many OT passages that deal with God’s judgment and the end of days or end times. In truth, the entire passage has deep OT roots, significant OT parallels and an impending judgment theme.

“After those days of great tribulation” or distress that Jesus had vividly described in the previous verses (see last week and earlier lessons on this chapter), He tells the disciples of what would come next. He tells them, the moon will stop shining, the stars will fall from the sky and the celestial power will be shaken.” Similar phrases can be found in Isaiah (24, 34) Ezekiel (32), Joel (2, 3) and Amos (8). Each of those passages speaks of the judgment of God upon various nations with the central theme being that God is shaking up things and there will be significant changes in political power and alignment. Do the sun, moon and stars cease to shine and are the celestial powers shaken? Not literally, but those in power (and as represented by the sun, moon and stars in the prophecies) certainly cease to reign and the power structures of mankind are shaken to their core. In some of those instances, the leaders themselves laid claim to being a “celestial power” like the Pharaoh of Egypt being Ra, the god of the sun.

In addition to the idea of God judging various nations, many of the OT passages speak of the earth itself as well as the heavenly bodies reacting to the mere presence of the creator. In other words, when God is physically present the creation reacts to His presence. So, it would seem that the best understanding of this phrase about the sun being dark ended, the moon not shining, the stars falling and the celestial power being shaken is more about a significant change in the power structure of mankind and in reaction to the nearness of God. So, a figurative interpretation and understanding of these prophecies and not a literal interpretation of the words describing these events.

However, there are those who interpret the phrase “but in those days, after that tribulation” to mean the end of the world, God’s ultimate judgment and, thus, the following phrase “then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds and with great power and glory” to reference the second coming of Jesus Christ. While I will admit that it is possible that this phrase does reference that event, that’s not what I believe it is referencing in this passage. Please, please do NOT misunderstand me. I am not saying that Jesus isn’t coming back in a visible way in the clouds with great power and glory. I agree, HE IS COMING BACK! I just don’t think that’s the event this passage is referencing. Please, don’t tune me out or turn me off. Hear me out. Let me explain why I believe this passage is not about the second coming.

Much of this passage seems cryptic and hard to understand if you try and make it deal with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple and then jump over two thousand years or more forward to include the “great tribulation” of end times and second coming of Jesus Christ. However, with a slight change in word translation then it suddenly becomes much clearer and makes perfect sense. Especially when you consider who Jesus is telling these things to. So, the word “coming” in the phrase “coming in the clouds” and the word “angel” in the phrase “He will send out the angels” can be translated as “going” and “messengers”. Just for you geeky (or Greek-y) readers, erchomai: “to come, go” and aggelos: “an angel, messenger”.

So, listen to the phrase with those two changes in word translation:

“They will see the Son of Man going in clouds with great power and glory. He will send out the messengers and gather His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.” (Mark 13:26-27 HCSB)

If we make those two changes, we suddenly hear a prophecy that seems very familiar and sounds very similar to what we encounter in the Acts of the Apostles following the resurrection; the ascension of Jesus and the empowering and sending of the Apostles and the work of the church to evangelize the world and gather the elect. In my opinion, this isn’t about the judgment of the world and the end of time, but the judgment of Jerusalem and Judaism’s rejection of Jesus as the promised Messiah. The sun going dark, the moon refusing to shine and the stars falling from the skies is a shakeup of epic proportions in the kingdom of men. A new King of kings is now on the scene and impacting men’s lives who rules and reigns over the nations.

So, do we try to force an interpretation of this passage as referencing the end times to fit our expectations and what we’ve been taught or do we let the text speak truth into our lives? I would challenge you to go back and read this entire chapter with those two slight word changes in place while considering the context of who Jesus is speaking to, what question(s) He is answering and what we already know of the theological and historical events that followed. Jesus suffering, death and resurrection is going to radically change the power structure of the world and is going to empower His messengers to reach the world with the truth of the gospel. They will go and preach and gather His elect from the four winds (the farthest reaches of the globe), from the end of the earth to the end of the sky (all of creation).

For an Old Testament example, go read Zechariah 2 and consider a Jerusalem without walls. The Lord will be the “wall of fire around it” and “will be the glory within it.” It continues, “Get up! Leave the land of the north” – this is the Lord’s declaration – “for I have scattered you like the four winds of heaven… Daughter Zion, shout for joy and be glad, for I am coming to dwell among you” – this is the Lord’s declaration. “Many nations will join themselves to the Lord on that day and become My people. I will dwell among you, and you will know that the Lord of Hosts has sent Me to you.”

Sounds to me like Jesus life, death, resurrection, the destruction of Jerusalem and the establishment of the church is the fulfillment of Zechariah’s prophecy. A holy city inhabited by God that is without walls but surrounded by a wall of fire and His glory within it. Many nations joining themselves to the Lord and becoming His people with His promised Messiah dwelling among them.

Then Jesus gives them this lesson (or parable), when the branches on the fig tree become tender and sprout leaves, you know summer is near. In the same way, when you see these things happening, know that it is near – at the door. So, the lesson He’s teaching them is to recognize the signs and be prepared. Some translations have “know that He is near” but the pronoun doesn’t exist in the original language and could/should be translated as “it is near.” What is near? The events He described in the previous verses.

Again, context matters. Don’t force an interpretation. He isn’t jumping between thousands of years between these lines but is telling His disciples what to watch for and how to be prepared when the time comes. That was their question (How can we know and what should we watch for?) and His answer would not be some vague reference to events thousands of years in the future. It would be specific to their needs and their circumstances. He tells them, “This is what you’re going to encounter and this is how you should react and respond.”

Finally, He assures them: “This generation will certainly not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.” Most scholars who see the previous verses as referencing the end of times will want to force a different understanding on the phrase “this generation” than the most natural understanding of it. The natural understanding is that it references the generation hearing His words. If you view this passage the way I’ve described, then there’s no need to play interpretive gymnastics with “this generation” as it clearly references those sitting near Him listening to His lesson. But if you try to make half of this passage reference the destruction of Jerusalem and the other half to reference the end of time and second coming of Christ then you have to force it to reference a far flung future generation.

Why would Jesus want to assure His disciples that some far distant generation would witness these things? He doesn’t, He wants to assure them that THEIR generation will not pass without these things occurring. Not each of them, but their generation. Some of them will die before these events occur but their generation will not die before these events occur. He assures them, you can count on what I’ve said. IT WILL HAPPEN! The temple will come down. The authority and power over mankind will be cosmically shifted. I will send out My messengers to the ends of the earth to gather My people unto Myself. A new Temple dedicated to worship will be constructed, but not of stone. It will be one made up of the hearts and lives of men and women committed to the rule and reign of God over them, the kingdom of God.

Other things that you may think are permanent are not. But Jesus words and promises, they are permanent. They last. Other things pass away, His words don’t. Trust Him. Follow Him. Obey Him.

Over the past few years, it has felt as though our church has suffered a cataclysmic event. We look around and we wonder what’s happening and where’s God in the midst of our struggle. Let me assure you, He’s right where He has always promised to be – in our midst. Don’t question Him but seek Him, listen for Him, follow Him and trust Him. The things we build, they fail, collapse or pass away. The things He builds, they never fail, never collapse and never pass away. So, instead of building programs or bigger, better buildings let’s build up people committed to following Him in humble obedience. Let’s build up souls who are willing to live and love like Jesus. Let’s not whine about what we think we’ve lost but let’s commit to seeking Him and His will through what He’s given.

And if it still feels like winter to you, then pray for summer to come. Pray that the branch becomes tender and that leaves will begin to sprout. Don’t give up, give yourself over to Him. Trust Him, follow Him, obey Him. Let’s go, the ends of the earth are anticipating His arrival.