33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

Cycle B

Daniel 12:1-3

Hebrews 10:11-14, 18

Mark 13:24-32

 

Our Old Testament Scripture this week is from the Book of Daniel. Daniel is a three-part book that contains short stories about Daniel, stories of his companions and visions that he has. All of these are written by unknown authors, even the dreams and visions he has, even though it is told in the first person.

 

There are nine stories in the book that are tales of biblical heroes who cope with the difficulties that they experience, who survive the oppression they are under and how they triumph in glory after it is all over. Like most Old Testament writings, they tell of good and evil and how in the end the good prevails and they are rewarded for their faithfulness to the Lord. The individuals who are the models for these stories are Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego and Susanna.

 

 This kind of literature is referred to as apocalyptic and was frequently used from 200 BCE to 100 BCE. It can be found in Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Joel and even in the Book of Revelation. Apocalyptic is a Greek word that can be interrupted as unveiling, uncovering or commonly known as revelation. These works contain information that humans do not normally see or understand the meaning behind them. Through angels, dreams, and strange or bizarre events the knowledge to understand these events is revealed to the reader. Often times they can take on a tone of resistance literature that encourages those under persecution to prevail and to wait with expectation of the end times. These predictions about when God will intervene to establish the kingdom, they are seeking are unique to Old Testament writings.

 

What we hear in chapter 12 today is at the end of the “second book” within Daniel that contain his visions of what is to come. The author gives a very eloquent description of Israel’s patron, Michael, as comes to assist with the redemption of Israel.

 

This promise of resurrection is not what we normally hear in Old Testament literature. Those who have stood fast during the times of persecution are promised eternal life. That is normally the theology we hear in the New Testament. The more widely help view in the Old Testament is that all of the dead will inhabit Sheol. While it is not a place of retribution, it was where all communion with God ceased to exist.

 

Hebrews this week continues to center around the same sacrifices that the priest made for the forgiveness of sins. As often as they did so, it was never enough because the sacrifice had to be made over and over again. But the sacrifice Jesus made was made only once and He took His seat at the right hand of God. His sacrifice can never be repeated because it was a sacrifice for all time.

 

The beginning of Mark’s gospel passages today gives us a bit of that end time kind of feeling, much like we heard in Daniel earlier or like what we read in the book of Revelation. The description of the skies being darkened, the moon not giving off it light, the star falling from the sky and the heavens being shaken sound very much like the end of the world is at hand.

 

Again, the writers of the New Testament always looked to the Old Testament to describe the fulfillment of what the ancient authors wrote about. Mark see Jesus coming to the people just like the Michael did that the author of Daniel writes about. Mark is describing the “Son of Man” coming on the clouds with great power and glory. He then will send out His angels to gather the elect from the ends of the earth.

 

To help the people understand what will happen, Jesus resorts to the life cycle of the fig trees where the leaves fall off in the winter. When spring arrives, the tree begins to reestablish itself with the growth of new shoots and the leaves reappearing on the trees signaling summer has arrived.

 

This reestablishment is what Jesus is describing when the “Son of Man” returns in glory. The old world will be passing away and the new world being established.

 

For us the last paragraph is what we need to pay attention to. Jesus tells us that no one except the Father knows the day and the hour that Jesus will return in glory. Those of us with plans, goals, and projects for today, next week, next year, need to be ready.

 

We need to start preparing our hearts, changing our attitudes, changing how we look at our lives for an eternity, rather than looking at just our wants of today. Our future can be with Jesus in His Kingdom when we choose to do the will of the Lord by taking care of all of His creation.