The warnings
continue, as does the call for watchfulness. The fig tree is used as an
example, but in a different way from the previous encounter that Jesus and the
disciples had with a fig tree. This time the appearance of leaves on the
branches of the fig tree is cited as an indication of the proximity of summer.
The main message is
that of a call for alertness. We should not be trying to work out what are
sometimes called the ‘signs of the times’, not least because we are almost
bound to get it wrong. We are not called to predict the future, but we are called
to live in the right way, so that we can respond appropriately to whatever may
happen. The image is of one who is not ready, or who misses things, because of
being asleep; and that is contrasted with the person who is alert and awake,
ready for whatever may happen.
I wonder if there are
things to which we are not as alert as we should be.
As Eduard Schweizer (The Good News according
to Mark) says of this section – “it summons us to
wakefulness” looking for the person who “always stands accountable
before the coming Lord … being ready for the Lord at all times.”
The point is to be prepared and ready for
what God asks of us.
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