1st December 2023
When you see these things happening
“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door.
Mark 13:28-29 (NIV)
In my down time I love nothing better than reading a detective story or watching a ‘Whodunnit?’ movie. It is fun trying to figure out who committed the crime. As human beings our brains are wired to seek out patterns and connections which allow us to make sense of our world. This is true for all ages.
Just recently I was looking after two of my younger grandsons and they spent hours doing jigsaw puzzles over and over. Even the younger boy, not yet two years old, cried out in pleasure when he managed to fit some puzzle pieces together. Of course, while the pieces fitted, the picture didn’t yet make sense, so he still has things to figure out.
If we are not careful, we can view some passages in the Bible in a similar vein. We try to apply that problem-solving skill to certain biblical texts, especially apocalyptic texts, but they are not there like a puzzle to be figured out. So, why are they there? What is the lesson we can learn from the fig tree?
In chapter 13, Mark is talking about the end times, just before Jesus Christ’s second coming. He reminds us in verse 32 that no one will know exactly when that will be: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” His purpose in mentioning it is not a scary end-time timetable, but to call us to habits and practises of wakefulness which will encourage us to keep going. He admonishes us three times to ‘keep watch’ and ‘be alert’. This is the lesson we have to learn from the fig tree.
The good news is not that we will figure out the clues and know when Jesus will come again. Neither is it so we can escape from the world and its problems. Instead, the real good news is that even though we may feel overwhelmed by the events we see happening in the world: the suffering and despair facing humanity, we can rest in the hope-filled promise that Christ’s return is certain. When we feel our own suffering is more than we can bear, we have hope that Jesus will return at the appointed time.
He loves us so much that he chose, through the incarnation, to be with us in our pain and sorrow and he will return to usher in a world with no more death and no more tears. Today, and every day, we need to hold on to this sure and certain hope and never let it go.
Prayer
Our heavenly Father, help us to look to you and to the return of your son Jesus Christ. Help us to be alert and to watch for those signs of his imminent return so that we may be all the more diligent, putting you first in our lives, having the determination to keep on going, and sharing the good news with others. In Jesus’s name, Amen.
Study by Jackie Mill
About the writer:
Jackie Mill is a minister in Grace Communion International and Co-Regional Pastor for Scotland, Ireland, and Northern England.
Local congregation:
Grace Communion International Central Glasgow
Garnethill Room
Conference Suite
St Andrews West
260 Bath Street
Glasgow
G2 4JP
Meeting time:
Sunday 11:15 am
Local congregational contact:
Peter Mill
Email: edinburgh@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church