Advent Lectionary Reflection—03 December 2017

Mark 13.24-37 (MSG; adapted):a

24-25“Following those hard times,

The sun will fade out,
   The moon will cloud over,
The stars will fall out of the sky,
   And the cosmic powers will tremble.

26-27“Then they’ll see the Son of Man enter in grand style, his Arrival filling the sky—no one will miss it! He’ll dispatch the angels and they’ll pull in the chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole.

28-31“Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer’s just around the corner. And so it is with you. When you see all these things, you know he’s at the door. Don’t take this lightly. I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too—these things will happen. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out.

32-37“But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven’s angels, not even the Son. Only the Father. So keep a sharp lookout, for you don’t know the timetable. It’s like a man who takes a trip, leaving home and putting his servants in charge, each assigned a task, and commanding the gatekeeper to stand watch. So, stay at your post, watching. You have no idea when the homeowner is returning, whether evening, midnight, cockcrow, or morning. You don’t want him showing up unannounced, with you asleep on the job. I say it to you, and I’m saying it to all: Stay at your post. Keep watch.”

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the first Sunday of Advent!b If you’re new to the Christian faith, the various “seasons” might seem a little strange. Advent is the beginning of the Church year. It marks the forty days before the birth of Jesus. It’s a time of anticipation, reflection, and, in some cases, penance. The liturgical color is “violet.” That’s why, when attending a liturgical church, one will see violet dressing the altar, choir robes, stoles, and Advent candles. And, even here, there’s not a consensus. For example, some Anglican churches use a deep blue (called Sarum Blue) during Advent.

I know. All of this can be more than a little confusing. And it may take some time (quite a long time for some of us) to get it all straight.

Furthermore, if this season is preparing us for the birth of Jesus, why are we reading a Lesson about the “end of the world”? Well, that’s where things get interesting.

The word “advent” comes from the Latin word adventus and means “coming,” which comes from the Greek word παρουσία (parousia) which is often used in passages talking about the “Second Coming” of Jesus. Although, parousia primarily means “presence.” So it’s not about a “coming” and then going; it’s about a coming and then staying. It’s about an abiding “presence.”

We’re not really sure how or when Advent started, but it seems that during the 4th or 5th century, people prepared for their upcoming baptism during the Epiphany celebration in January.c This time of preparation was a time of penance, prayer, and fasting.

But in the 6th century, the Roman Church tied Advent to the “Second Coming” of Christ. The reasoning, it seems, is because we’re no longer preparing for Christ’s first coming; we should be preparing for his “Second Coming” (we’ll get to this in minute). During the middle ages, though, Advent became connected to the Christmas season.

Today, the season of Advent is kind of a jumbled mess of everything that’s gone before. It’s still a time of preparation (in some circles, that means penance, prayer, and fasting). It’s still tied to the Christmas season (Advent always starts 40 days before Christmas). And, as we can see from the Lesson this morning, the readings are still tied to the “Second Coming” of Jesus.

So what are we to make of all of this? Let’s start backwards and address the “Second Coming” of Jesus and our Lesson this morning.

Second Coming

Mark 13 is the parallel passage to Matthew 24 and Luke 21. As I’ve noted elsewhere, these passages speak about then then coming war with Rome which took place about 40 years after Jesus’ crucifixion.d In other words, like the birth of Jesus, these passages are about things that happened in the past. They have nothing to do with the future or the “end of the world.”

“But,” I can hear someone interject, “what about the sun fading out, or the moon clouding over, or the stars falling out of the sky, or the trembling of the cosmic powers? Surely that didn’t happen in the past! The whole world would have been destroyed!”

If we’re to interpret those things in a wooden literal way, then, yes, absolutely, the universe would’ve been destroyed. But if we’re going to interpret Jesus’ words that way then we’re left with a lot of problems. First is the pronoun “you” (spoken and inferred) throughout the passage above. It’s used more than seven times in this section, depending on the Bible version you use, and over thirty times in the whole chapter.e This means that Jesus was speaking directly to the disciples and only them (we’ll get to verse 37 in a moment).

Next, Jesus tells the disciples to learn a lesson from the fig tree. This is a key story because a lot of people thinks Jesus is talking about Israel. That is, because of some popular books about the “end times,” some people think the fig tree is a metaphor for Israel. To them, this story of the fig tree means that “when Israel becomes a nation again” these things will start to happen. The problem with this view is that Jesus tells us the meaning of his story within the passage. The only meaning of Jesus’ story is that one can know the season is changing by looking at the new growth of a tree. In fact, that’s exactly what he says in the parallel passage found in Luke 21, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees” (verse 29; CEB;f emphasis added).

Furthermore, if we’re meant to have a literal interpretation of the “cosmic powers” trembling, why aren’t we supposed to understand the fig tree in a literal way?

Right after the story about the fig tree, Jesus assured his disciples, “…this generation won’t pass away until all these things happen” (verse 30; CEB).g Here again we’re told we’re to interpret “this generation” to mean “the generation who witnesses Israel become a nation.” Or, lately, it’s to be understood as the generation who sees the signs Jesus predicted. But, again, why aren’t we supposed to interpret “this generation” literally? Because, supposedly, Jesus’ and the disciples generation didn’t see the signs.

Let me bring this all together. We’re told to interpret this passage “literally” except for the word “you,” the “fig tree,” and the phrase “this generation.” But it’s only when we’re studying eschatology that we’re to take these terms poetically or metaphorically. In other words, the very words and phrases that are always understood in a literal way suddenly become metaphors when referring to the “end times.”

And here’s the kicker…

All the words and phrases that have always been understood poetically or metaphorically suddenly take on a “literal” understanding when they’re referring to the “end times!”

What’s that?

What do I mean?

I mean simply this. As I showed in my series on New Testament Eschatology, the indented section about the destruction of the cosmos has, up until recently, been understood poetically or metaphorically when it’s in eschatological passages. Here’s just one example:

Isaiah 13.9-13 (NLT; adapted):h

For see, the day of the Yahweh is coming—the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it. 10The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light.

11“I, Yahweh, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I’ll crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty. 12I’ll make people scarcer than gold—more rare than the fine gold of Ophir. 13For I’ll shake the heavens. The earth will move from its place when Yahweh of Heaven’s Armies displays his wrath in the day of his fierce anger.”

Some of this language is very similar to what Jesus said above. In fact, Jesus quoted it in the indented section (see the notes here)! Notice that this passage talks about the “day of Yahweh” (or “the LORD”), the desolation of the earth; the heavenly luminaries are darkened; the “world” and the “wicked” will be punished for sin; the heavens being shaken and the earth being moved from its place (which would completely obliterate the planet and possibly the universe). Again, this is Jesus’ foundational biblical text for his statements in Mark 13. Is Isaiah referring to the same thing? Does Jesus understand Isaiah to be referring to the end of the world? Hardly. Let’s look at the first part of Isaiah 13.

Isaiah 13.1-3 (NLT; adapted; emphasis added):

Isaiah son of Amoz received this message concerning the destruction of Babylon:

“Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop. Call up an army against Babylon. Wave your hand to encourage them as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty. I, Yahweh, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I’ve called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they’ll rejoice when I’m exalted.”

We see here that Isaiah 13 is about the “destruction of Babylon.” As we know, Babylon was destroyed in 539 BCE. There’s nothing within history that even remotely comes close to what’s described in Isaiah 13. There were no cataclysmic cosmic events of the magnitude described in verses 9-13. In other words, the language used here is not about the destruction of this planet and cosmos. It’s poetic language depicting the fall of Babylonian Empire.i

All of this to say that Jesus isn’t talking about the destruction of the cosmos, the “end of the world” in Mark 13. He’s talking about the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple which took place in August of 70 CE and he’s using the prophetic, poetic language of the time to warn the disciples. And just like God used the Persian army to “express [God’s] anger,” God used the Roman army for the same purpose.j

“Okay…,” someone may say, “but what about verses 32-37? Jesus said we wouldn’t know the ‘exact day or hour.’ And it’s pretty clear that his warnings weren’t just intended for the disciples because he said he’s ‘saying it to all.’ This clearly means he’s talking to us.”

Not so fast. While it is true that Jesus didn’t mean for his warning to be only for the disciples, that doesn’t mean it would extend beyond their generation. Quite the contrary, in fact. One thing that’s consistent in Jesus’ warnings is that he meant them for his generation. While some of those things go beyond his generation (e.g., the rescue of the whole cosmos), there are things that were limited to that generation and them alone. The judgement described here is a prime example. As we saw before, he specifically told the Religious Opposition of his day—

Matthew 23.35-36 (MSG; emphasis added):

You can’t squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah’s son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I’m telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation.

It’s quite clear, then, that Jesus intended the warning in our Lectionary reading to be for his generation and his generation alone. And roughly forty years later, his warnings became reality. Certainly they didn’t know the “exact day or hour,” but they knew it was coming. And coming soon. For the next few decades the disciples warned others of the coming doom and the signs started manifesting themselves. In fact, Paul wrote that only two of the signs Jesus told them to watch out for remained.k Two. And John said that the Antichrist was a reality in that generation (1 John 2.18). Therefore, when Jesus said that he was not only warning the disciples but was warning everyone, he meant everyone within that generation.

40 Days of Preparation

What about Advent being 40 days before Christmas? To answer that, let us, too, learn a lesson from nature. Autumn is a time of preparation. Throughout this season, some animals prepare for the long weeks and months of winter by packing on extra pounds, storing up food resources, and insulating their dwellings.

And during this time of year, some plants pull their resources inward. Gone are the bright flowers and beautiful green leaves. During this time, life within the natural world lies within. Life isn’t dormant. It’s still there but it’s being used more to sustain than to flourish.

Similarly, the ancient Celts would take fire from the Samhain bonfire and use it to keep their homes warm throughout the winter. They would cull animals that wouldn’t survive the bitter cold and store the meat and grain and other resources to last them until Spring.

Likewise, we should be using this time to take inventory of our lives and heal. Autumn (let alone Winter) isn’t the time for making changes. It’s the time to prepare for the changes we wish to make.l It should be a time for prayer, meditation, and contemplation. While we can do this any time we wish, the time of Advent is in sync with the natural world. Advent helps us to recenter and get in rhythm with creation, the “Big Book” of God’s revelation.m Advent helps us to look over our lives and see what things we need to let go and what things we need to add. This time of year is about preparing for the coming Spring and figuring out what steps we need to take to become better people.

I would like to see Advent become a time of renewal. That is, let’s keep it as a time of preparation, of fasting and prayer. And let’s keep it associated with Jesus’ birth. During these 40 days, let’s prepare ourselves with fasting and prayer. Let’s make it a time of introspection, of inventory, of meditation and centering prayer. Let’s prepare ourselves for renewal and rededicate ourselves to Jesus and the expansion of God’s Realm “on earth as in heaven.”

~~~

In the Love of the Three in One,

Br. Jack+, LC

~~~

1. Scripture quotations marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.
2. If you’re part of a liturgical church in the West, that is. But if you’re part of the Orthodox Church (i.e., the church of the East), their new year starts 1 September. This isn’t a post about who’s right and who’s wrong, that’s a conversation for another time. And maybe even another writer!
3. Epiphany is the celebration of Jesus’ manifestation to the Gentiles via the Magi (Matthew 2.1-12). It’s also the twelfth and final day of the Christmas season. In the Orthodox Church, it’s called Theophany (the showing forth and manifestation of God in Jesus).
4. Please see my series on New Testament Eschatology for a more detailed look at this and other passages in the New Testament about the “end.”
5. CEB, NLT=9; ESV, GNT, NASB, NIV, NRSV=8; KJV=7.
6. Scripture quotations marked (CEB) are taken from The Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible.
7. The Message does a very poor job here. And I can sort of understand. Peterson is trying to help people understand the text by using more current language but it’s obvious that his own interpretation of the passage comes through here.
8. Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
9. For a more detailed look into the poetic imagery of prophecy, see Background Part 01 and Part 02 in my series, New Testament Eschatology.
10. While we may not particularly like to think of God as having “fierce anger,” that’s the way the people who wrote the Bible saw God. When things happened that we might call a “natural disaster,” the people who wrote the Bible would see it as God’s judgment upon a people. Likewise, today we may view the birth of a child as a biological thing, the people who wrote the Bible saw it as a “miracle” and a “gift” from God. To them, all things—good or bad—came from God.
11. See NT ESCHATOLOGY—LETTERS 04 for details.
12. This is why New Year’s Resolutions hardly ever work—they’re made during the middle of Winter when we should still be in a time of introspection.
13. Newell, John Philip, (1999). The Book of Creation: An Introduction to Celtic Spirituality. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.