Mark 13:24-37 NIV
24 “But in those days,
following that distress,
“‘the sun will be darkened,
and the
moon will not give its light;
25 the stars will fall from the
sky,
and the
heavenly bodies will be shaken.’
26 “At that
time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and
glory. 27 And he
will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of
the earth to the ends of the heavens.
28 “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. 29 Even so,
when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at
the door. 30 Truly I
tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these
things have happened. 31 Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 “But about that day or hour
no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on
guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like
a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge,
each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
35 “Therefore keep watch
because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in
the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he
comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say
to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
Listen!
Notice? These are all the words of Jesus. Jesus’ teaching. Jesus’ warning.
Jesus, yes, the fully Servant Jesus, even Jesus does not know the time of the
End. Jesus, Son of Man, rejected and suffering, Jesus dies and then… and then…
Jesus is exalted.
In all of these words of Jesus, we find a prediction and a parable.
Jesus speaks of the future return in glory of the Son of Man. Here, in
this teaching of Jesus, Jesus describes the End itself. Jesus describes a total
collapse of the universe. This description has been offered by God in the past.
Yes, God has warned mankind in the past.
Hear this prophecy against Babylon that Isaiah delivers…
Isaiah 13:10 NIV
10 The
stars of heaven and their constellations
will not
show their light.
The rising sun will be darkened
and the
moon will not give its light.
Isaiah 34:4 NIV
4 All the
stars in the sky will be dissolved
and the
heavens rolled up like a scroll;
all the starry host will fall
like
withered leaves from the vine,
like
shriveled figs from the fig tree.
What are we to make of all
this?
When we really, literally
expect Jesus to return, this is only the start of things yet to come into
eternity. This is the faith God gives to his disciples and followers that God
acts, for real and literally, on our world and in our life and for our future
with Him.
That’s a heavy paragraph!
What we see in our “material”
existence is exchanged for God’s coming action through God’s gift of faith into
eternity.
With God there is no
recycling of our material plastic stuff of this world. With God’s gift of faith
to mankind; this is the faith that lasts forever. Take that in for a while. There is more to
what we experience in the here and now. There is more to what we see in the
materials of this earth. Riches, power, prestige, education, and all sorts of “stuff”
that we think of in this world… well… with God there is so much more. More than
we can understand.
With this in mind… Jesus
tells us that the Son of Man will come again in the clouds. Well, who is this
Son of Man? Jesus!
And once again, God has
been telling us all along…
Witness this dream that
God gave to Daniel to record…
Daniel 7:13 NIV
13 “In my vision at night I
looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with
the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into
his presence.
It’s mysterious stuff to
you and I. But it does point us to
Jesus. The ultimate triumph is Jesus! Yes, Jesus, the suffering Messiah, who
enters His glory. Jesus’ return is real! Jesus’ return is sure!
Look at what John says…
John 1:1 NIV
1 In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
See how
Word is capitalized? That Word IS Jesus. As disciples of Jesus and as mankind, we
can depend on the Word of God.
What is
real in our world? Real in our world is the unreal acts of God’s love through
His Word made flesh in Jesus.
I know I’ve
been confusing here, but hang in there. In our real world where we live with
this unreal act of God living in Jesus, we are instructed to be vigilant by
Jesus.
How do
we stay vigilant?
Do the
work of God and expect God to examine the work He gives you to do.
Well,
that sounds pretty works righteous! Like God is the big counter of good works
in the clouds. Well, that’s a yes and no…
1 Corinthians 3:13-15 NIV
13 their work will be shown
for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be
revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. 14 If
what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. 15 If
it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though
only as one escaping through the flames.
So, who are they? They are
the people of God who have been building on the foundation of God laid out in
his grace of love through Jesus’ gift of salvation to all people.
What is the work?
2 Corinthians 5:10 NIV
10 For we must all appear
before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due
us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
What are
these things done?
This is
doing the will of God, in bringing the message of God’s love through Jesus’
life, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension, so that all people see the
gift God has given to us in eternal life with God.
Boil
that down! That’s impossible for me, but I must tell those that God gives to me
how much God loves them and wants to be with them in eternity. Yes, God gives
us responsibilities, as He also gives us new life in Him. This is some serious
stuff here. God’s gift of life is way beyond myself… but I can tell. Like my mom
always told me, “You have a mouth, so use it!” I think this is what God is telling
us in a way too. As disciples of Jesus, we know what gifts He has freely given
us. Gifts that we don’t deserve and could not earn. So, knowing this, respond
to this gift of forgiveness of sin and eternal life by TELLING those God gives
to you about the gift of Jesus.
Point
people to baptism… Point people to the body and blood of Christ in with and under
the bread and the wine, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sin.
Yes!
Point people to Jesus! Use what gifts God has given you and freely Point to
Jesus!
And
finally in this Gospel passage of scripture…
Live
your life alert to Jesus coming again. Live life with ears perked up and eyes
wide open. Jesus will come again!
Jesus calls
us to be ready and watching. Jesus calls us to be awake and aware.
And think
about this…
These
words of Jesus are His final words of teaching before his passion, suffering
and death. All acts of love for those Jesus came to save from sin and death.
Yes!
This is Christ the King showing all creation the God’s salvation lasts! Our
Lord and King, who was and is to come. The eternal, timeless nature of God
given for all… today… tomorrow… and forever.
Come,
Lord Jesus, come… what a great day that will be!
Thanks
be to God!
Enjoy this YouTube Music video that I listened to while preparing this message.
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