The language of the biblical books of Daniel and Mark can puzzle modern hears, for they seem to convey doom and gloom rather than joy and hope. Biblical language about the end of the world and the beginning of the next world is “apocalyptic” and requires explanation lest it confuse rather than tell us what is appropriate for the season.
All three synoptic gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – use language that would have been familiar to ancient readers as descriptions of the end of the present world and the dawn of a new one. In these “apocalyptic scenarios,” the sun is darkened, the moon does not give its light, and stars fall from the sky. These events should not be taken literal descriptions, but like the English adjectives “earth-shaking,” “seismic,” “upside-down,” as using cosmic language to express changes in our human world. After the events described in such apocalyptic language our world will never again be the same. Though the liturgical readings may seem frightening at first hearing, their message is positive, for they assert that our limited and imperfect world will be replaced by a new and godly world, fully shaped by God. In other words, the kingdom of God will have come. To be more precise, “apocalypticism” refers to the belief that God has revealed the imminent end of the ongoing struggle between good and evil in history, with the important condition that the heavenly decision has not been fully realized on earth. On earth, the kingdom of God on earth has dawned but is still in process.
In Mark 13, as the disciples admire the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus tells them it will soon be destroyed. They ask Jesus two questions: (1) when will the end come? (v. 4a) and (2) what will be the signs? (v. 4b)? Jesus answers the second question (“when?”) first; describing the non-signs and then the genuine and unmistakable sign (vv. 5b-27). He then answers the first question (“what will be the signs”?) second. (vv. 28-37).
In answering the second question, Jesus tells the disciples there will be political and social chaos, but these are not the Lord’s coming (vv. 5-23)., because the Lord’s coming will be unmistakable (verses 24-27). In vv. 28-37, Jesus answers the first question “when” by giving two parables. The parable of the fig tree makes the date seem certain; the parable about the man traveling abroad makes the date of the coming seem uncertain. In short, the Day of the Lord is surely coming, but we don’t know the exact time. “But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Another way of speaking about the coming of the Kingdom of God is Daniel 12, the first reading. In the great battle, the transition to the new world described in Mark 13, those who have been loyal to God, “those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever.” The future will be tumultuous but victory is assured and God will stand by the holy ones.