21 And they went into Capernaum; and immediately on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught.

Jesus has been spending a lot of time in Galilee, he has just called four of the disciples on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He goes to Capernaum which is one of fishing towns surrounding the large body of water. This was where Simon Peter lived and will become Jesus base of operations.

Jesus enters the Synagogue in Capernaum, the Synagogue is the religious community hub in each town or district, a place of prayer and study. Not to be confused with the Temple. The rise of the synagogues come from the Babylonian exile when Jews could not go to the Temple so schools of prayer were set up locally to teach the Law of Moses and also to keep the proclamations of the Prophets in mind. It was followed by a teaching on the scriptures that were read out. This is also where the rise of the Pharisees and Scribes came from, they were the teachers within these buildings. He enters on the Sabbath which was Saturday.

22 And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

Every week the locals would attend a “synagogue service” which is essentially the root of the Liturgy of the Word in the Mass. They have heard the scribes, pharisees and rabbi’s make their teachings every week but when Jesus teaches they are shocked by it. Jesus teaches “as one had authority” which is unlike the usual teachers of the scriptures there. This could imply that the typical teachers just used the teaching seat to push their own ideas, that they did not actually understand what they were talking about or what is more likely, that they did not teach much at all beyond general ideas of understanding.

When Jesus comes into teach he has a large advantage over the teachers of the Law. They cannot really go beyond the text itself without making mistakes but Jesus who has been sent by the Father and who is God in the flesh knows the substantial root of the meaning behind every line ever written down in scripture. He is their actual author after all. He can declare how and what things are to be understood in an authoritative manner that the scribes and pharisees simply could not.

23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit;

The second appearance of “immediately” in so few verses. On average Mark uses the word “immediately” twice, he uses this word over forty times in his Gospel account. It drives home the action pact nature of each episode with Jesus, something to grab the attention of his Roman audience.

Within the synagogue itself is a man with an “unclean spirit”. The term for “unclean” is akathartos which in the Biblical context means ceremonial uncleanness, unessentially ungodly. Outside of the Biblical context like in Plato it has more of a physical dirt notion of uncleanness. The point of this articulation is that although to Jews there is only the Most High Spirit, Elohim, God and his servants, the pagan word had a grey view of the spiritual world. Telling someone that they had a spirit didn’t strike up much issue so Mark makes it clear that it is an ungodly spirit, this is helpful for his mainly Greco-Roman audience.

24 and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”

The possessed man cries out, asking what Jesus wants with them and even knows Jesus’ name. He seems to be aware that Jesus has something to do with the destruction of demons as well, claiming to know that he is “the Holy One of God”.

25 But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”

Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit, commanding him with nothing but his words to “be silent, and come out of him!” This is dramatically different to the elaborate exorcism practices of Second Temple Jewish Exorcists who required the invocation of Patriarchs, Angels and God.

Jesus tells the demon to be silent, some think this is to do with the messianic secret. He does not want the crowds to hear anything from the man that could further give away details about him, they must come to the understanding of who he is by faith in his actions, not the words of demon but this is just speculation. Others think Jesus is just further demonstrating his ability to command all of creation.

26 And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

The demon possessed man convulses meaning he shakes his body in a somewhat violent manner. He cries with a loud voice before coming out of the mans body. Nothing is said of if the entity was visible after this fact, since Mark doesn’t mention it we can assume the demon is invisible and only “visible” within the actions of the man he possessed.

27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching! With authority he commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

All the people in attendance at the synagogue are amazed, first with Jesus demonstration of his understanding of the written word of God and teaching it with authority and now to hit the point home harder, with only the words of his mouth he commands unclean spirits to dispossess a man they have forcefully taken control over. They ask the question “what is this?” again it is important to point out that exorcisms by Jews in this time and previous were not done by the authority of the exorcist, he was merely acting as an intermediary to higher powers like the Angels but Jesus in his own person has done what other require God to do. This should generate the question in the crowds minds, “If only God can do that and he just did it who is he?” They will not be able to answer this question until more signs give them the faith to though.

28 And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

This episode in the synagogue causes Jesus fame to spready everywhere through the region surrounding the sea of Galilee but since the people are not actually willing to come to the conclusion yet that Jesus is maybe more than a man, Jesus does not seem perturbed by the news spreading. It is just the news of a great exorcist not the news of the Messiah so it does not cause any issues for his future “hour” that he must endure as the Messiah.

The beginning of the Gospel According to Mark, the previous thirteen verses have been Mark’s introduction, John the Baptist’s ministry by the Jordan, Jesus baptism and Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness. These are the preceding events to todays readings, a rather long period of time, summarised by Mark for literary efficiency.

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God,

John has been arrested, for many years previous to this, Herod Antipas had feared the influence of John, attested to by Josephus the Jewish historian. Herod has feared not just John personally but the way the people perceived him. John had to do something significant in order for Herod to take action against him because of the possible revolt by the people, Herod does not take this action until John rebukes him for his unlawful marriage to his brothers wife, this will be explained later in the Gospel.

Following this arrest, Jesus comes into Galilee from the wilderness where he stayed during his temptation. This brief sentence does not quite articulate the multi-day journey of continuous walking this this journey actually entailed. Jesus is in the Judean desert near Bethany where John was baptising, the walk from there to Galilee is between 80-100 miles which could be up to a week long walk depending on terrain.

Jesus comes “preaching the gospel of God”. Preaching means public proclamation and “gospel” or euangelion in Greek. This means the “Good News”. Typically associated in Greco-Roman culture with the news brought by a messenger of a new King of a region. Euangelion comes from the word Angelos which means “messenger”. Jesus is proclaiming the Good News that God has come to lead his people as king, a long awaited expectation by the Jewish people.

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel.”

He continues saying the “time is fulfilled” so the long time of expectation is up, they do not have to wait for God to come as king, the time has arrived. The “Kingdom of God is at hand; repent” the Kingdom is here and they must repent. Most people think of repent as meaning “admit you’re wrong” and although by extension it does mean this, its direct meaning to turn to turn back on the direction you’re going. In this context it means “stop going in your own direction, turn back and follow God because he is here and you can directly follow him.”

He tells those listening to “believe in the Gospel” this means for them to believe in the Good News of the Kingdom of God that has arrived. The current Jewish position is that they are still waiting for this event. Jesus said two thousand years ago, “hey, believe it, it’s here”. This was supposed to be an end to their millenia of waiting, even extending back to the beginning in Genesis with the proto-evangelion itself but many still rejected this message regardless of how clear it was.

16 And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen.

Jesus walks by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, this was a prominent place of the fishing industry. It his here he sees Simon who he would later call Peter and his brother Andrew. Both fishermen by trade, they are going about their daily work, casting nets into the sea. This was the common method for hauling large amounts of fish, as its a job not a hobby.

This is not actually Jesus’ first seeing of Simon Peter and his brother. The Gospel of John tells us that Jesus met and interacted with both of them before they were called to follow him. This explains what is typically seen as an immediate sense of obedience in accepting their calling but their following disobedience whilst being Jesus’ disciples. They were not actually immediately obedient in their calling by a stranger that they just trusted upon first hearing him, although that makes for a good homily, this is actually at least their second meeting with Jesus so he is not a stranger to them.

17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.”

Jesus uses their livelihood as a living parable, “follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” The brothers understand their occupation as fishermen, Jesus is inviting them to join him and they will become fishers of people, they will act as messengers and recruiters for Jesus mission and the Church.

It was common in this era, and later for that matter, for disciples to choose their rabbi’s. This was the typical order of things. If you wanted to study, you found the teacher you liked and listened to them and learned but in the case of Jesus and his disciples, he chooses them. This reverses the normal paradigm between Rabbi and disciple. This is a limited occupancy in Jesus’ inner circle and you do not get to choose to be a part of it, he picks you. This sets the standard for religious vocations even to our current time, Jesus calls men to the priesthood. Vocation actually comes from the Latin word vocātiō which means “to be called” or “to be summoned”.

18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Upon being called by Jesus personally and having their earlier interactions with him during John the Baptists ministry both Simon Peter and his brother Andrew drop their nets and follow him. This immediacy is still to be commended even without it being done by a stranger, they are still abandoning their livelihoods to follow Jesus without even putting away their equipment. It’s like they don’t care about their current way of life anymore when compared to what Jesus can offer them.

19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets.

20 And immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and followed him.

The situation repeats itself with the two brothers James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were mending their own fishing nets on their family boat whilst Jesus came by. He calls them just like Andrew and Simon and they abandon their fathers boat (which had hired servants, implying a much larger enterprise than that of Simon and Andrew) and follow Jesus.

Not only do they abandon a prosperous fishing business (they did have enough success to have servants) they abandon their family business with their father no small action. What Jesus is calling them to must be more important or otherwise this would be breaking the commandment of dishonouring your parents. Their vocation with Jesus must honour their father more than fishing with him.

Following the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus seeks to give his disciples another sign of his identity. Although they and the crowds are amazed at the multiplication of loaves and fish they do not understand who Jesus is claiming to be by these signs. So he gives them another one.

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Beth-saida, while he dismissed the crowd.

“Immediately” after the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus instructs his disciples to get into a boat without him and to take it to the other side of the lake, to Beth-saida. Mark regularly uses the term euthys which means “immediately”. He uses it over forty times to display the urgency and moving nature of Jesus’ ministry. Mark is writing for Romans, power and action are the two focal points of his Gospel. Some suggest that this is evident of Mark’s simpler understanding of the Greek language, compared to historians like Saint Luke or Theologians like Saint John and Saint Paul whose command of Greek was very eloquent.

Jesus tells them to go by boat to Beth-Saida but verse 53 reveals that actually landed in Gennesaret. Some scholars suggest that there are actually Beth-Saida’s, one by Gennesaret and another more popularly known about. This is not such a far-fetched idea, there are many important places that do not actually have unique names. For example there were two Jericho’s and two Bethlehem’s. It is also possible that they simply chose to go ashore in a different place out of convenience.

After instructing his disciples to make the 6-8 mile journey across the sea of Galilee without him, Jesus dismisses the crowd. Five thousand men, not counting women and children were among their company at this point. Now that they have all been fed, he sends them away home.

46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray.

Once the disciples have left for the short sailing voyage and the great crowds have left, Jesus goes up a mountain to pray. The Sea of Galilee was surrounded by rolling hills, so it is likely Jesus went to the top of one of these, instead of travelling even further off to one of the much larger mountains. Before the feeding of the five thousand, Jesus and his disciples were seeking a moment of peace and quiet from the roving crowds who had been following them. Jesus did not want them to leave without being cared for so once he had multiplied the loaves and fish, feeding them to the crowds, he now seeks his alone time to pray.

Jesus constantly balances perfectly work, prayer and rest. Living out God’s work of creation and resting on the seventh day, for our benefit and for us to imitate. Not because he himself is limited. Jesus also takes these moments to pray before particular signs he is going to give, like when he named the twelve. Big signs in his ministry are preceded by alone time in prayer.

47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land.

Once evening had arrived, the disciples were already significantly out from the shore on the sea of Galilee and Jesus is alone on one of the rolling hills surrounding the body of water. Jesus has planned this situation out in order to deliver a sign to his disciples, through concealment he will perform actions that will cause his disciples to ask questions about who he really is. Beyond that of just his name, they already know that.

48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them,

Despite the great distance, the lake spanning 6-8 miles, they’re probably half way across, Jesus can see they are struggling quite clearly from 3-4 miles away. “The wind was against them.” This was the common struggle for sailors on the sea of Galilee, the center of the body of water was ripe for storms and strong winds. This is a feature of nature that no man can conquer, this provides Jesus his avenue to demonstrate one of his most recognisable signs.

Mark uses the Roman “watches” time frame work to mark out the times of the night. The Roman system divided the night into Four Watches. The first from 6PM-9PM, the second 9PM-12AM, the third 12AM-3AM and the final fourth watch 3AM-6AM. There was actually a Jewish night watch that divided the night into three watches, this can be found recorded in the Hebrew Bible but Mark is writing for a Roman audience, so he uses the Roman system.

In the fourth watch, between 3AM-6AM, Jesus goes toward them, walking on the sea. His intention was to pass by them and go onto the other side. A miraculous feat of course but it’s Jewishness is lost on a Gentile audience. This is not a magic trick, the water is symbolic of chaos and death, to the mortal man it was God’s domain and a sailor could only pray that he is spared from Sheol if he ends up in its death. God however “alone stretched out the heavens and trampled the waves of the sea.” Job 9:8. God alone walks on the waves of the Sea. The Jewish eyes that see this know the implication Jesus is making.

49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out;

The disciples see their master walking on the sea and they cry out. The sign is so shocking they can only assume that Jesus is a ghost or phantasma in Greek, the origin of our word “phantom.” It’s an odd word to use, pneuma is the term used for spirits, good or bad, elsewhere in the New Testament, Phantasma on the other hand is only used here in Mark and in Matthew’s account of the same story. It has the connotations of a transient spectre, Greco-Roman and Jewish thought considered the Sea to be a place of malevolent spirits so maybe this term is being used to evoke the confusion and fear that the disciples are feeling but it is hard to pin down why this word is used here. The root of phantasma is phaino which means “to shine” or “to appear” and although phantasma is not used in the Greek Old Testament, phaino is and it is used most commonly to describe the manifestations of God’s divine glory. A possible connection, maybe I’m reaching.

50 for they all saw him, and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.”

All the disciples see Jesus walking on the water and they are rightly terrified of the spectacle, only God could do such a thing and they do not understand who Jesus is yet. But immediately he says to them in response “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” or more accurately, considering the Greek words actually used, “Take heart, I am; have no fear.” Jesus tramples the waves like God in Job, and his way of explaining his ability he tells his disciples “I AM” this is the Divine name God reveals to Moses.

51 And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded,

Jesus gets into the boat with them and caps all of these divine claims that have gone substantially unnoticed by his disciples by doing a final sign, “the wind ceased.” A recurring theme in the Psalms like Psalm 107:29 “He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.” He simply causes the wind to cease. Only God can do this and his disciples are “utterly astounded”.

52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened.

They did not understand what Jesus was saying by his actions in the feeding of the five thousand, so Jesus seeks to demonstrate his identity to his twelve followers more clearly with specific actions that if they entertain the questions they evoke, they could come to the correct conclusion of who Jesus is. Unfortunately these questions and answers require a soft and open heart and Jesus’ disciples hearts were two hard to see.

Previous to today’s readings, Jesus and his disciples have been on the boat seeking some alone time from the great crowds. The crowds have figured out where they are going to arrive and wait there for them.

34 As he went ashore he saw a great throng, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things.

As their boat comes to the shore, the large crowds are waiting for them and Jesus sees that they were like entirely dependant on where he was going. They had oriented themselves around him even though they were previous out at sea. Jesus sees them as sheep without a shepherd because of this, he positions himself as their shepherd and teaches them many things. Matthew does not specify what these things are but it is likely things we have heard before in parables.

35 And when it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, “This is a lonely place, and the hour is now late;

36 send them away, to go into the country and villages round about and buy themselves something to eat.”

After several hours have passed, likely late evening, Jesus’ disciples approach him to tell him that he should bring an end to his teaching because of the hour of day. They said he should send them away so they can purchase food for themselves in the towns. This means Jesus, his disciples and the crowds are out in the wilderness by the shore, not in an urban environment. They have been waiting on Jesus all day with no food to eat and nowhere to get any.

37 But he answered them, “You give them something to eat.” And they said to him, “Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?”

Jesus tells his disciples that they should give the crowds something to eat, assuming that he does not know how much food they actually have, they ask him if he means for them to go and purchase enough bread for five thousand people to eat.

38 And he said to them, “How many loaves have you? Go and see.” And when they had found out, they said, “Five, and two fish.”

Jesus did not mean for them to purchase more bread, he intends on doing a miracle, unfortunately they do not fully believe yet, so he asks how much bread do they have, he likely already knows the answer to this but he wants to demonstrate a sign to them. They respond with “five, and two fish.”

39 Then he commanded them all to sit down by companies upon the green grass.

40 So they sat down in groups, by hundreds and by fifties.

Jesus commands the five thousand to sit down in groups upon the green grass. This might be pasture land near the shore. They sit down in groups of fifties and hundreds. Probably groups of families sat together in their communities.

41 And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all.

Jesus takes the five loaves and two fish and looks up to heaven. He blesses the loaves and broke them, giving them to the disciples first who set it before the people. This order of events is important as it mirrors that of the Last Supper, Jesus looks up to heaven, blesses the bread, breaks it and gives it to his disciples but here in the feeding of the five thousand we see the a type of the eucharistic meal practised by the Church, the Ministers of Jesus set the bread before the people. Jesus also divides the fish among them as well.

42 And they all ate and were satisfied.

43 And they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.

44 And those who ate the loaves were five thousand men.

Every person ate and was satisfied, they did not need any more than was given them, twelve baskets are filled with the broken pieces of bread and fish. Obviously a grand miracle of food multiplication has occurred and not some “miracle of sharing” as modern interpreters have claimed. The detail of twelve baskets also differs to the feeding of the four thousand where there are seven baskets full. These are in fact separate miracles done for different peoples. This feeding of the five thousand is for Jews only, the twelve baskets filled with their leftovers are literal and symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel, the fullness of the Israelites that has been missing until Jesus arrived.

Mark 13:24-32 is part of the Olivet Discourse, which contains the apocalyptic teachings of Jesus. These words of Jesus pertain to particular future events and are split into three parts: the immediate concerns of the Temple destruction in 70 AD, the cosmic eschatological events of His second coming, and finally, a parable and warning about the unpredictability of these events.

24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.”

Jesus begins by referring to the future days of tribulation described in Mark 13:14-23, which speaks of a very real cataclysmic event that will affect Judea in the near future. It will include a desecration of the Temple and such suffering that has not been seen “from the beginning of the creation which God created until now” (Mark 13:19). Jesus then describes the cosmological signs related to this event. “The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light.” This echoes Old Testament prophetic language.

The Prophet Isaiah says: “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy its sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.” (Isaiah 13:9-10)

And again in Ezekiel 32:7-8: “When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens, and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you, and put darkness upon your land, says the Lord GOD.”

And again in Joel 2:10-11: “The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his host is exceedingly great; he that executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very terrible; who can endure it?”

There is one supernatural example of the sun being darkened during the day at the crucifixion recorded in the Gospels, but that passage would not line up with the timeline Jesus gives, as the tribulation has not happened yet. This is most likely referring to the siege of Jerusalem, which lasted several months (tribulation) and the destruction of the Temple (the desolating sacrilege) by the Romans. Josephus records that the Romans set significant portions of the city, including the Temple, ablaze. The destruction of such a densely populated and fortified area would have released massive amounts of smoke into the air, obscuring sunlight and contributing to a foreboding atmosphere.

25 “And the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.”

Jesus continues with the cosmological signs, now including stars. We may understand stars as just lights in the sky, but in the ancient context, this passage has deeper meaning. Job 38:7: During the creation, “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy,” suggesting a connection between stars and divine beings. The Greek word used for “falling” is piptō, which literally means to descend from a higher place to a lower. Its most common usage, when things descend in an orderly way, is in reference to worship: “They fell down and worshiped him” (Matthew 2:11). This could indicate the descent of angelic beings and would line up with the eyewitness testimony of the Jewish-Roman war.

“Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year… So these publicly declared that this signal foreshadowed the desolation that was coming upon them. Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one-and-twentieth day of the month Artemisius, a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared … which I suppose would seem a fable, were it not related by those that saw it … before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding the cities.” (Josephus, The Jewish War, 6.300-309)

Jesus then says, “the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” In Dr. Michael Heiser’s work (The Unseen Realm, Reversing Hermon), he argues that the “powers in the heavens” could refer to spiritual beings associated with the divine council or fallen powers—what Paul refers to as “principalities and powers” (Ephesians 6:12). This relates to the order of dominion since the Tower of Babel incident in Genesis, with details clarified in Deuteronomy 32:8-9.

“When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of men, he fixed the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the sons of God. For the Lord’s portion is his people, Jacob his allotted heritage.”

In the future event Jesus refers to, the powers and dominions will shift. No longer will the nations outside of the promised land be under the powers established in Genesis 11. God the Father is gathering back all His children that He disinherited, and the events of 70 AD signify the definitive conclusion of the Old Covenant, firmly establishing the independence and permanence of the New and Eternal Covenant.

26 “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”

Drawing on Daniel 7:13–14, Jesus identifies Himself as the Son of Man, who will come “in clouds with great power and glory.” This emphasizes His divine authority and the universal scope of His mission. The “they” in verse 26 seems to be directed toward those who rejected Jesus, as the following verse refers to the “elect,” contrasting with this group. Although from our perspective, seeing the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory sounds like a magnificent sight, for those that rejected Him, this would be a terrifying event. If the context is correct and these future events refer to the siege and Temple destruction, then Jesus’ opponents did see this, though to their eyes, they only saw the cataclysmic event. In Luke 17:22, Jesus clarifies to His disciples that they will not see these events: “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it,” meaning they will not experience the suffering of the tribulation.

Eusebius mentions in his Ecclesiastical History that Christians in Jerusalem, forewarned by Jesus’ prophecy, fled the city before its final destruction in 70 AD. He refers to a key sign that triggered their escape: the Roman army’s temporary retreat. This retreat gave the Christians the opportunity to flee to the city of Pella, located in the region of Perea, across the Jordan River, where they were spared from the subsequent horrors of the siege.

27 “And then he will send out the angels, and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”

After the destruction of the Temple, the Son of Man will send out His angels to gather His “elect” (eklektos in Greek), which literally means those picked out, chosen. In the New Testament context, it is used for Christians themselves, who are called this. The angels will gather them from the four winds. In the Old Testament, the “four winds” are frequently used as God’s mechanisms to manipulate creation. For example, in Daniel 7:2, the four winds of heaven stir up the great sea. In Ezekiel 37:9, the four winds are called to breathe life into the dry bones, showing God’s ability to restore and revive life itself. In an abstract sense, the four winds seem almost like an allusion to the Holy Spirit, an invisible force that God uses to shape the world to His will. In this case, it seems to proceed from the Son of Man. Considering the teachings on baptism as a receiving of the Holy Spirit this is very coherent. The angels will gather the elect, and this range will encompass the entire world, as established by the final line of the verse.

28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.”

Verse 28 begins with Jesus’ fig tree parable. Jesus routinely uses agricultural parables in His teachings. Since divine things can be mysterious and confusing, His audience requires information to be fed to them in a form they understand. He relates the development of the fig tree in response to the times and seasons. Although it might not apply one-to-one to the situation at hand, it does speak to the subtle but real responses people and objects have in relation to the times they are in. Nothing in creation exists in a vacuum independent of itself; all things respond to their surroundings.

29 “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.”

Now Jesus relates the parable to the lives of His listeners: when you see the events Jesus has described, you will know that the Son of Man is near—more specifically, His “day.” The tribulation event is at the very gates, meaning it is about to begin. If you can recognize the cycle of fig trees as it pertains to the seasons, you should be able to recognize the signs preceding the day of the Son of Man.

30 “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away before all these things take place.”

This verse is the most solid indicator that the events Jesus is talking about refer to 70 AD, rather than to some far-off future event—even from our present day. Jesus explicitly states that this generation will not pass away before all these things take place. This means that those He is speaking to will still be alive during the events that are to unfold. N.T. Wright (in Jesus and the Victory of God) and Craig Keener (in his Bible Background Commentary) highlight that this phrase has a temporal focus, affirming the imminence of the events tied to 70 AD.

31 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

Jesus contrasts the transient nature of the created world (heaven and earth) with the eternal permanence of His words. While the cosmic order may be disrupted or destroyed (as seen in apocalyptic imagery throughout the Gospels), His message, grounded in the truth and authority of God, remains unshaken.

If we consider the earth as it was at that time, referring back to Genesis and Deuteronomy, it was ordered in a particular way, along with the powers of heaven and their authority. This order will pass away, but Jesus’ clarification that His words will not emphasizes that this divine reorganization is not temporary, but permanent.

The earth, according to the Hebrews, was centered around the Temple, and the heavens pointed forward to the Messiah. With the Temple destroyed and the Messiah already present, the earth and heavens have passed away. For the Gentiles, the earth was centered around their own temples, and their heavens were focused on the worship of either fictitious deities, fallen angels, or mythologized men. This will also pass away, but the words of Jesus will remain, and, as we can see in our own day, they have.

N.T. Wright discusses how this statement affirms the kingdom of God’s spiritual and eternal nature, as opposed to a physical, political kingdom that might be subject to destruction or decay.

32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”

Jesus here reveals that the day or hour is not known by anyone—not even by Himself or by the heavenly host. Only God the Father knows the timing. The Catholic Church recognizes the mystery of Jesus’ divine and human natures. According to the Church’s teaching, Jesus is both fully God and fully man. As God, Jesus is omniscient, meaning He knows all things, including the time of the end. However, as man, He voluntarily chose to limit His knowledge in some aspects during His earthly ministry. This passage is seen as an expression of Jesus’ self-emptying (kenosis), where He freely chose not to reveal the time of the end (cf. Philippians 2:6-7). The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that, while Jesus is fully divine, He also embraced the limitations of human nature in His earthly life to fulfill His mission, including in terms of knowledge and temporal limitations (see CCC 472).