Gospel Reflection Sunday 17th November 2024 | 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Gospel Reflection Sunday 17th November 2024, 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time | Mark 12:38-44 (Longer) 12:41-44 (Shorter)
All of us, I’m sure have seen people standing at street corners with placards proclaiming that ‘the end is nigh’ or the world will end on such and such a date. We rightly dismiss this as rubbish and yet Jesus, in this Gospel, seems to be saying something eerily similar. Are we, then, to imagine Jesus spouting this same kind of nonsense to his disciples?
The simple answer to that is no! The world Jesus was talking to and the world we live in are vastly different places. We live in an age of science, an age where we expect statements and predictions to be supported by verifiable and empirical evidence. Without it we, at best, describe what we are told as a ‘theory’ and, at worst, we call it poppycock!
The world Jesus lived in was very different. Science was very basic and the forces of nature still more or less undiscovered. In order to try to make sense of so many unknowns, peoples created for themselves entire worlds of Gods and demi-Gods who controlled nature and who could be appeased and mollified by worship, sacrifices and set rituals.
Natural disasters, famine, illness, disease, even bad fortune were seen as punishments by the Gods for perceived sins of individuals or entire populations. It provided a certain security for people based on systems of reward and punishment, but always in the background there was a very real fear of the Gods.
The People of Israel, unusually, believed in only one God who they named ‘Yahweh’, and also unusually, further believed that they had been specially chosen by this God, who revealed him/herself to them as caring, loving, and forgiving. The God of Israel was a personal God who spoke to his people more as a friend or loving parent than an unknown, dangerous and unpredictable God.
While this is true and underpins all of the Old Testament, we should not be surprised to find elements of other beliefs creeping in and out of their developing relationship with their God. The angry or jealous God, who punishes and destroys at will is, perhaps, an example of this. It would have been picked-up from neighbouring tribes and peoples and, for a time, resonated with whatever they were experiencing. However, in the context of the entire Old Testament the God of Israel created humankind “in his own image and likeness”, held them “in the palm of his hands”, and carried them “as a mother carries her newborn child”.
They related to their God by means of covenants – solemn, binding agreements made between two parties. The People of Israel agreed to worship only this one God and to keep his/her commandments and laws, while their God agreed to care for them, protect them and give them prosperity and peace. Their experience through their history was that their God was true to his Covenants and kept his promises to them.
Jesus was born into these beliefs and grew up learning of God’s covenant with his ‘Chosen People’ and his promise to care for and protect them. Occupation by Rome went against everything they believed in. Theirs was the ‘Promised Land’, given to them by God at the time of Moses, and ruled over by great Kings such as David and Solomon. Their God would never allow their land to be taken from them and ruled over by a foreign King in Rome.
Their Prophets and wisdom figures from the past spoke of a time when another great leader would come among them. He was called the ‘Messiah’ and his role was to finally bring the Kingdom of God into the world. This was God’s covenant, his promise to his people, and they had no reason to think God would not keep this promise too.
The cruelty of Roman rule was so intolerable that they felt sure the time for the Messiah to come was now. God would crush Rome and vindicate his people. Then God would rule the entire world, his enemies would be judged and punished, and his ‘Chosen People’ would finally have their reward.
This was the atmosphere in which Jesus grew up. It was an atmosphere of tension and deep resentment of everything Roman. Anger was moving towards open rebellion, with ever heightening expectation that the Messiah was coming/had to come to deliver them.
Scholars of the Bible still debate whether Jesus saw himself as the Messiah of the Old Testament or not, but there is ample evidence, I think, that he had a growing understanding of himself as sent by the Father to reveal the Kingdom of God. By the time he entered Jerusalem for the last time I find it almost impossible to believe that he did not accept his coming death as the moment when the Kingdom of God would be revealed.
The problem all along for Jesus was that the ‘Kingdom of God’ he was revealing did not look at all like the Kingdom of God expected by the people of Israel. Even those closest to him, his apostles and close disciples, failed to grasp the significance of his teaching until after the Resurrection and Pentecost.
Their expectation was that the Messiah would be a military leader who would lead a revolt that would overthrow Rome. This victory would pave the way for God to come in power and glory to judge and punish Israel’s enemies and finally vindicate his people.
The Kingdom spoken about by Jesus – where enemies would be forgiven and all people would be welcome, was too big a leap for them to make. Instead of armies destroying enemies, the Kingdom revealed by Jesus would be governed by those who forgive, are meek and gentle, are poor in spirit and humble, who strive for peace and justice.
I often think that Jesus must have lived a very lonely life. He had within him an understanding of a God of love, and a Kingdom based on peace, tolerance and forgiveness rather than a Kingdom based on vengeance, retribution and might.
His awareness of this Kingdom of God burned within him but no matter how hard he tried to share it with his companions and friends, they were unable to accept it. When he was deserted by almost all his closest friends after his arrest we see that his journey to the Cross was indeed a lonely one.
This is the context of this week’s Gospel. In it Mark weaves together several issues relevant to the first Christian communities, assuring and reassuring them that their God had not reneged on his promises, that the Kingdom of God had become visible in Jesus and that the full revelation of the Kingdom was coming soon.
It was only after the Resurrection that the disciples of Jesus began to realise that he truly was the Messiah, promised in the Old Testament, bringing the Kingdom of God to the world. Gradually they understood and accepted that this Kingdom would not be the military Kingdom of power expected at the time.
Having seen the Kingdom revealed in the Resurrection of Jesus, they had every reason to believe that the full and final coming of the Kingdom was imminent. Their belief was that the Kingdom of God would break into the world and be visible to all peoples before they themselves died. It is this belief Mark shares with us when he says, “…this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”
However, as the apostles and first disciples became old and started to die it became clear that Jesus was not returning within the timeframe they were expecting. Then, in 70ce utter disaster struck. The Jewish people revolted and the army of Rome brutally crushed it, in the process destroying the Jerusalem Temple.
They were now a persecuted people, holding on grimly for the return of Jesus and the full revelation of the Kingdom of God. Their faith in Jesus and in the Resurrection was unshaken… but where was Jesus? He said he would return, bringing with him the Kingdom of peace, joy, forgiveness and gentleness he promised.
This is the question Mark addresses at the end of the Gospel. He is telling his readers that there is no need to worry or be afraid. God always kept his promises to his people and he would keep this promise too. The Messiah had come in the person of Jesus, his Resurrection proved it, the final coming of God’s Kingdom was on the way. Mark tells them, “…it is near, right at the door.”
As a final reassurance to the readers of the Gospel, Mark reminds them that it was they who expected the immediate return of Jesus; that Jesus himself never indicated a definite timeframe. Mark’s message is simple: Stay true and all will be well. Nobody knows exactly when Jesus is returning, but it is already happening, “…but about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
I am reminded of the encounter Jesus had with the sisters Martha and Mary. Poor Martha was distraught and angry. She was left doing all the work while her sister sat and listened to Jesus. She complained, as probably any of us would do, and Jesus’ reply to her was not what she must have expected. “Martha, Martha,…” he said to her, “…you worry and fret about so many things, but only one is necessary. Mary has chosen the better part, and it shall not be taken from her.”
This is exactly what Mark was saying to the first Christians who were, with very good reason, distraught, anxious, persecuted: “…There is no need to worry or fret about when Jesus will return. Leave that to God. Just know that it will happen – it has already started!”
In our time we are the ‘waiting people of God’, and we, too, “worry and fret about so many things…” – climate change, politics, cost of living, wars and unrest, famines and floods.
As humans it is inevitable that these things will concern us. But as Christians – followers of Jesus, Risen from the Dead – we are called to embrace a hope and a trust that is greater. The Kingdom of God is here with us now and we are its witnesses. The rest we can safely leave in God’s hands…. Amen.
Many thanks,
Brian.
Gospel for Sunday November 10th 2024, the 32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time ©
| Gospel | Mark 13:24-32 |
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