First Sunday Of Advent
The Gospel of the first Sunday of Advent in Cycles A, B, C is always taken from the last dis-course of Jesus in Matthew, or Mark, or Luke. This year we have gospel readings of Cycle B, the Gospel of Mark. Mark’s version of Jesus’ last discourse takes up all of chapter 13. This chapter is known as “The Little Apocalypse.” Older readers may remember that what we now call “The Book of Revelation,” was once called “The Apocalypse.” The Greek word from which the English term “apocalypse” derives means “unveiling, revelation.” When however we read an apocalypse, Mark 13, or the Book of Revelation, there seems to be more veiling than unveiling.
The reason for this: biblical apocalypses were a popular type of literature two thousand years ago, and therefore seem peculiar to modern readers who understand the “predictions” of apocalypses as concrete predictions of future events. In many cases apocalypses use a standard form – casting the past into predictions of the future. It is far easier and more accurate to “predict” the past than to predict the future. Mark’s Little Apocalypse does not engage in this particular form.
Mark does however rely heavily on the past, on the Old Testament, especially the Books of Daniel, Joel, Micah and Isaiah, for concepts and expressions about “the last things” – cosmic upheavals, the return of Jesus and final judgment. Mixed into this potpourri of Old Testament concepts and language we find events current to the time, about 70 A.D., when Mark composed his gospel – the siege of Jerusalem, the violation of the Lord’s temple, earthquakes, wars, famine and persecution of Christians.
There is no doubt that Mark, like St. Paul before him, was convinced that the final return of Jesus was at hand. The idea of an impending Parousia, (the technical term early Christians used for the return of Jesus), influenced him in omitting any post-resurrection appearances of Jesus in his gospel. For Mark, the only post-resurrection appearance of Jesus would be the Parousia. Instead of offering as the gospel of this Sunday all of Mark’s Little Apocalypse for instruction and enjoyment, we get only the last five verses, 33-37. A grievous omission is verse 32, “…but of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
Attention to these words would have saved the world from the upheavals caused in every century of Christianity by sincere predictors of the end and by scam artists. Among the sincere we find both popes and peasants – even some of the great minds of Christianity. In ancient times many of the Church Fathers expected an imminent end. Closer to our time, we see the warning of St. Pius X. In 1903 he wrote in his first encyclical about evils threatening the Church in his time, “There is good reason to fear lest this great perversity may be as it were a foretaste, and perhaps the be-ginning of those evils reserved for the last days….” Note that St. Pius wisely inserted “perhaps.”
Instead of the whole Little Apocalypse we are given only an opening warning and a little parable at the end of the discourse attributed to Jesus. The citation of this warning from Jesus is an indication to his readers that Mark is not quite as certain about the end as he seems to be other-wise, “Take heed! Watch, for you do not know when the time will come.” Then an illustration in the form of a parable. A man goes on a journey. Before he leaves home he puts his servants in charge of the household, each with his assigned work. He commands his doorkeeper to be alert, “for you do not know when the master of the house will return, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning, lest he arrive suddenly and find you asleep.”
An interpretation of this story: The man who goes on a journey represents Jesus who is no longer experienced in his physical or biological presence among Christians. Mark writes his gospel some forty years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. The servants left in charge could be either the servant-leaders of the Christian Community or every Christian. If they are the servant-leaders, the words of St. Peter in 1 Peter 5:1-3 are more specific, “I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow-elder…. Give a shepherd’s care to the flock of God entrusted to you. Watch over it, not simply as a duty but gladly, as God wants, not for shameful profit, but because you are eager to do it. Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be an example for the flock. When the chief shepherd appears, you will be given the unfading crown of glory.” These words can apply just as well to parents and others in the role of parenting and ministry such as pastors and teachers.
If Mark’s “servants” of the story represent every Christian, “each with his own work,” until the master of the house returns, a parable in Matthew 24:45-51 and Luke 12:42-46 is an appropriate extension of Mark’s brief story. A servant “with his own work” begins to beat his fellow-servants. He eats, drinks, and gets drunk. “The master of that house will return unexpectedly, punish him, put him with the hypocrites, where people weep and gnash their teeth.” Mark warns Christians of his time and ours that we have obligations, “each with his own work,” and we are expected to fulfill them. A final warning from Mark, “…lest he return suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, Watch!” We cannot know the date of the Parousia, but we do know that we will meet Jesus our Judge at the moment of our death. Watch!
