Fr Marco Lazzaron
hapter 13 of the Gospel of Mark is very different from the language used in the rest of the Gospel, a language defined by scholars as “apocalyptic”. But what does this term really mean? Gloomy predictions about our future? Tragedies looming over the end of the world? Fear, anguish? Scholars tell us that the term “apocalyptic” means “to reveal” (see the book of Revelation in the Bible), to remove the veil from something that we cannot see well, which prevents us from seeing the meaning of what is happening.
Jesus is, in fact, giving us good news: a new world is about to be born. Jesus tells what has always happened in the history of humanity: wars, earthquakes, famines, etc. He is not predicting the future, but telling us what happens if God is not considered by humans. However, Jesus wants to teach us to read the present with the gaze of God. He uses strong images that strike the imagination for us today but they were well understandable in the context of the society and culture of those times.
“The sun will be darkened”. The people of the Middle East considered the stars in the sky to be divinities. These deities are false images of God, the true face of God is revealed by Jesus, by his life.
“The moon will lose its brightness, the stars will come falling from heaven”. God reveals himself in Jesus by going towards man. All these “lights” are finished because the light of the Gospel is now shining. The earthquake will bring down all the kingdoms of this world, strong powers do not guide history, but all these kingdoms remain firm in the hands of God and he will hand over the kingdom to a character with a human heart, his kingdom will never be destroyed.
“Then too he will send the angels to gather his chosen from the four winds”. All will be reunited, all those who have been scattered will return for the kingdom of peace, forever. Angels are not necessarily spiritual beings, they are all mediators of God’s tenderness, they are God’s instruments in favor of man.
The fig is the last of the trees to produce leaves, which means that the harvest season has arrived. Jesus tells us: open your eyes, the new world is advancing; a new spring is approaching, we need to have the attentive gaze of the farmer to grasp everything new that advances.
Life review
– What is happening today? How can we prepare ourselves to welcome the second coming of the Lord? How should we read the history at the light of the Son of Man?
– Do we encounter modern day “angels”? Do we happen to encounter any of them in our life? Who are they concretely?