Mark 13:24-37
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.
28 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 32 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
33 “Watch out, stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is. 34 It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Therefore, stay alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 so that he does not come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 What I say to you I say to all: ‘Stay alert!’”
From time to time it seems some televangelist will gain attention for himself by announcing that He knows when Jesus is coming back. I have always dismissed that as coming from a sensationalist mindset and suspect that the reason behind such audacity is greed. There are always those who seem to be incurably drawn to doomsday preaching and there are always the unscrupulous that are willing to take advantage of them. So I don’t take any of that seriously. Sounds judgy I know, but I have always been more comfortable with the idea that my focus should be on loving God, loving my neighbor and examining my own behavior for ways that I can better die to self.
But in the last paragraph, Jesus implores His hearers to ” ‘Stay alert!’ “. I thought maybe He is talking to just His disciples but the last verse says, “What I say to you, I say to all”. And given that He also says, “But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” So it sounds like Jesus is saying the even He doesn’t know. Jesus is obviously saying this to his disciples but is it meant more for us today?
What does He mean by “Stay alert!”? I have read this before and just assumed I knew what He meant but when I pause and consider it, I really have no idea. The first parable He tells about the tree budding in the Spring makes it seem like anyone will be able to tell what’s coming next. When spring is upon us, it is obvious, nature lets us know in a thousand different ways. But then the second parable makes it seem like you have no idea! And the second parable is the one where Jesus seems to implore us to “Stay alert!”. What am I staying alert to? There have always been wars, and rumors of wars and natural disasters and droughts and famines, so how are those signs?(Mk 13:7-8) If for the past 2000 years we had no wars, not even rumors of wars, and no natural disasters and we suddenly started having them all over, then I would say, “Aha! Jesus predicted this!” But they have been occurring since the beginning of time. So it doesn’t make sense to stay alert to that.
I wonder if the command to “Stay alert!” is along the same lines as His command to “not worry”?(Matthew 6:34) Maybe Jesus is trying to help us not fall for all the doomsday stuff and to just stay about the will of God? There will always be plenty that distracts us and a life of dying to self and serving others is not really all that exciting and its easy to get caught up in all that is going on in the world and our actions and thoughts and emotions can get influenced by it. When the scriptures mention “the sufferings of Christ” I used to think that meant the cross. And it certainly does. But the cross also is symbolic of the sufferings that dying to self out of love for others bring in this life. Loving others is messy and breaks our hearts and the cost is great. But it is not optional. If we’re following Christ, that is where He goes. And I hate to admit this but sometimes, a lot of times, I pull back. I get hurt and angry and in my reeling I shut down. But maybe Jesus is saying to “Stay alert!” to that type of behavior. In light of His second parable, the master would come home and find me sulking instead of working. Jesus is trying to urge me to expect that kind of suffering. “Don’t sulk” He says, but rather, “Stay alert!”
Maybe this hearkens back to the parable of the sower(Matthew 13: 1–9, 18–23). During my life my heart is going to be hard and un-open to God’s word. I’m going to be distracted with raising kids, careers, buying houses, family stuff that screams for my attention. I’m going to get complacent with stuff and want to protect my little world and Jesus says, “Stay alert!”. When you see you are relying on yourself instead of trusting in me, “Stay alert!” The master is coming back and will find you doing things your way instead of His. Doing what you think is important and not what He asked of you. He asked you to do His will.
I don’t really know anything about the sun and moon turning dark. Or the stars falling from heaven. And heaven being shaken. Or the SON OF MAN COMING IN THE CLOUDS. But I do know that I get distracted easily and I find myself worried and anxious and relying on my own ideas and plans. Maybe when I do, I hope I remember these words, “Stay alert!”