This week’s readings are all from Mark chapter 13. Click here to see a full listing of each day’s reading and the full chapter of Mark 13. Full readings of each day’s smaller segments of the readings will be posted on this site during the week.
Today's Reading
28 “Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also you, when you see these things happening, know that he is near, right at the door. 30 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
32 “But as for that day or hour no one knows it—neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son—except the Father. 33 Watch out! Stay alert! For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey. He left his house and put his slaves in charge, assigning to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Stay alert, then, because you do not know when the owner of the house will return—whether during evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or at dawn— 36 or else he might find you asleep when he returns suddenly. 37 What I say to you I say to everyone: Stay alert!”
Parallel Passages
Below is a bit of exegesis on this passage:
28 “Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also you, when you see these happening, know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Amen! This generation will not pass away until all these take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
..from the fig tree...summer is near...(vss 28): Jesus was probably making a wordplay here. In Hebrew the word for summer is qayits (קיץ) and figs are frequently simply called qayits as well (meaning 'summer-fruit'). The word for 'end' is qēts [קץ], which sounds very similar. God uses this wordplay in the OT when revealing to Amos 800 years earlier that destruction was coming upon the northern kingdom of Israel by Assyria (in 722 BCE) and perhaps the Temple by the Babylonians (in 587-586 BCE):
This is what YHWH GOD showed me—a basket of summer-fruit [Hebrew qayits].
He said, “Amos, what do you see?” And I said, “A basket of summer-fruit [qayits].”Then YHWH said to me, "The end [qēts] has come upon my people Israel; I will never again pass them by. The songs of the temple shall become wailings in that day,” says the Lord GOD; “the dead bodies shall be many, cast out in every place. Be silent!” (Amos 8.1–3)
Also important to remember that Jesus has previously cursed the leafing fig tree in Mark 11.13, 20–21 and quoted from Jeremiah 7:11 (see Mark 11.17, full context Jeremiah 7:1-13). A bit later in the segment from Jeremiah that Jesus quotes we find:
When I wanted to gather them, says YHWH, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them. (Jeremiah 8.13)
...it is near... (vs 29): Some translations use 'he is near.' There is no pronoun in the Greek, but simply: 'near is' (with the pronoun supplied by translators). Contextually, 'it is near' seems to be preferred, as Jesus is speaking of the 'end'/the destruction of Jerusalem. The nearness of this event seems to be Jesus' emphasis, as he states: "This generation will not pass away before all these ˻things˼ happen"—which is the direct answer to the question asked by Peter, James, John, and Andrew earlier: "When will these ˻things˼ happen?" (Mark 13.3-4).
Continued exegesis on this passage:
32 “But as for that day or hour no one knows it—neither the Messengers in heaven, nor the Son—except the Father. 33 Look! Stay-awake! For you don't know when the time will be. 34 Like a man going on a journey. He released his house and gave his slaves the authority of each for his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Stay awake, then, because you do not know when the master of the house will come—whether during evening, the middle of the night, when the rooster crows, or at dawn— 36 or else he might find you asleep when he comes suddenly. 37 What I'm saying to you I'm saying to everyone: Stay awake!”
Messengers (vs 32): In both the Hebrew and Greek, the words typically translated 'angel/angels' mean 'messenger/messengers.' The terms most frequently refer to supernatural beings (as is the case here), but the terms can also be human messengers. I capitalized 'Messenger' to indicate that this is a reference to the supernatual-beings.
Stay-awake! (vss 33, 34, 35, 37): The Greek term here is grēgoreō and means 'be awake, keep watch.' This is the same term Mark uses a chapter later when Jesus tells Peter, James, and John to 'stay awake' (Mark 14.34, 37–38). Jesus repeats this term 4 times in 4 consecutive sentences. The combination of this term with 'or else he might find you asleep' ties this passage into what happens later in Mark 14.
Will come/he comes (vss 35, 36): Many translations use 'returns/he returns' in this passage. The Greek verb (erchomai) is simply the word for 'come' or 'go.' It carries, on its own, no sense of returning. The readers should be able to understand the owner is 'coming' back to his property. There is no need to over-interpretively translate the basic meaning of the word and doing do loses a bit of the way Mark uses repetition of words and phrase between narratives. In the next chapter, Jesus says, 'the hour has come' (Mark 14:41), using the same word. It is not 'the hour has returned.'
...whether during evening, the middle of the night, when the rooster crows, or at dawn... (vs 35): These are comparable to the 'four watches' of the Roman manner of keeping time in the evening. Using this system, 'evening' would refer roughly to the period from 6-9pm. 'The middle of the night' (Greek mesonuktion) is 9pm-12am. When 'the rooster crows' would be midnight to 3am. 'Dawn' would be 3am to 6am. The Romans used water clocks at night for keeping time. In terms of the 'rooster crow', there was a Roman military bugle call that announced the 'Third Watch' (the midnight to 3am period) that was called the gallicinium, the 'rooster crow.' According to the Mishnah the raising of chickens was forbidden in Jerusalem (m. B. Qam. 7:7), but how much this was actually practiced or enforced is unknown. Notably, a chapter later Peter will deny Jesus 'before the rooster crows twice' (Mark 14.30, 68, 72).
...he might find you asleep... (v 36): Being 'asleep' can be used metaphorically for 'not paying attention' (kind of like our phrase 'asleep at the wheel'). In the next chapter, however, Peter, James, and John will literally fall asleep during the night watches (Mark 14.37, 40–41).