THE GOSPEL OF MARK
The Day of the Lord: Mk 13,24-33
Verse 24 echoes verse 19 by speaking of "those days", now after the tribulation.
The Day of the Lord is a common theme among the prophets. The traditional expectation is that the Day the Lord comes to his people would be a day of victory and vindication. The prophets warn though it would instead be a day of judgment. Joel is a good example.
"In those days" in verse 24 is a traditional opening for the prophets. In terms of answering the "when" question of the disciples (13,4) it is quite vague.
Isaiah 13,2-10 in particular provides the imagery for verse 24-25.
Then in verse 26 we see a different Son of Man to the Son of Man who would be handed over to his enemies (10,33). Here we have the Son of Man of Daniel 7,13-14 and this would be a day of vindication for the people who have remained faithful, the elect of verse 27.
This is immediately followed by the image of the fig tree and the signs of summer (verse 28). The fig tree is unusual in Palestine because it is not an evergreen.
Verses 29-30 refers to this generation, Mark's contemporaries. Jesus then echoes Isaiah in the assurance that his words will not pass away in verse 31.
There is therefore some tension with verse 32 when Jesus refuses to be pinned down about that day.
Verse 33 therefore has a repeated emphasis on the need to watch using two different words. There is the constant need to "look out", to be aware of what was going on in the world because the time was unknown. The Greek word here refers to a season rather than a specific time. There may be an echo here of 1,15 "The time is fulfilled". Now is the time, the time for discernment, even though we don't know when the final time will be.
Some manuscripts added "and pray" to watch. However, this is likely to have been an addition taken from 14,38.
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Stay Awake! Mk 13,34-37
This final exhortation we have seen to be unique to Mark. Matthew (Mt 24,42) just ends the discourse with a statement similar to verse 33. It is possible that Mark was still expecting the return of Jesus to be quite soon whereas by the time of Matthew's Gospel a longer wait was being accepted.
The exhortation picks up from verse 33. Doorkeepers need to be alert and to stay awake. This is a different sort of watchfulness to what has been needed before. Hence the change of word in Greek in verses 34,35 and 37. This is a word which comes from the verb "to wake up".
The same word "stay awake" will shortly be used again by Jesus in Gethsemane, 14,34.37.38. Jesus' words there will have therefore a wider application than just that particular moment.
Servants must always be alert and ready for their Master's coming, 24/7 as we might say today. The final call by Jesus before his passion begins (14,1) is therefore the "Stay awake" of verse 37.
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The Sunday Gospels
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, year B: Mk 13,24-32
At the end of the year, the end of time is an appropriate theme, the coming of the Son of Man. (Though this is rather spoilt in cycles B and C when the Gospel for the feast of Christ the King is taken from the Passion.)
The opening of chapter 12 in Daniel is the clearest statement in the Hebrew Bible of the resurrection of the dead. In so far as resurrection and the coming of the Son of Man go together, it is therefore a suitable moment for Daniel to be heard.
1st Sunday of Advent, cycle B: Mk 13,33-37
At the beginning of Advent, by contrast, the emphasis is on the waiting for that coming of the Son of Man. Thus the stay awake theme is appropriate for this Sunday.
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