Day 32 - The Watch

Today's reading is from Mark 13.

Among the many things that accompanied the last days Jesus spent upon the earth is the discourses on the future. In Mark's gospel, there is a long record of this...
Mark 13:1-8 (NASB)
1 As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples *said to Him, "Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!"
2 And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down."
3 As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately,
4 "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?"
5 And Jesus began to say to them, "See to it that no one misleads you.
6 "Many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He!' and will mislead many.
7 "When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.
8 "For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

SInce I've been a Christian, now 40 years, there has been a great deal of interest among many Christians on the end times. Made popular in the 80's by folks such as Hal Lindsay, and through the books of Tim Lahaye, there's been much speculation as to whether or not these are the end times. Many feel they are.

A couple of clear things from the text, and bible:
1. The Bible is clear, Jesus is going to bodily return to the earth.
2. There will be an end of time as we know it, with eternity comes with God among his restored creation.
3. The end of days will be marked by crisis, a great deal of calamities and confusion upon the earth.

Beyond that, much is not known. For example, Jesus said himself in Mark 13:32 (NASB)
32 "But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.

I think it's best to stay true to that and refuse all speculations on "when" this is to occur...even among faithful believers who point to this sign or that sign. The truth is, in every generation since the beginning of the church, faithful believers have believed that Jesus may come back in this generation. I don't have any problems with the convictions of Christ's return. I do have a problem with the speculations on politics, disasters, wars, etc...as a convincing proof that it is now.

What interests me as a student of Jesus is what I am to do with this information. Jesus summarizes it in the end...Mark 13:32-37 (NIV)

32 "No one knows about that day or hour, 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 his 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!'"

What does it mean to us to watch? Jesus' exhortation is to live purposefully; to live with awareness; to live with expectation. Much of our Christianity in the western world suffers from passivity, randomness, and lack of purpose. That is not the mark of a person "watching".

In the last few weeks news reports have surfaced of air traffic controllers asleep in the towers as planes attempt to land at airports during the night. It doesn't leave any of us comfortable to think that we might have a pilot who has to land a plane "blind" because he has no idea of what is going on in the runway. To fall asleep on the job is cause for firing, and it should be. To fall asleep as a Christian is to not watch.

Peace

If you're reading "through-the-Bible-in-a-year" with me, today's readings are from 1 Kings 10 & 11.