From: Mark 13:24-32
Signs of the End of the Word and the Coming of the Son of Man
The Time of the Destruction of Jerusalem
[32] “But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in Heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father.”
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Commentary:
24-25. It would seem that at the end of time even irrational creatures will shrink
before the Supreme Judge, Jesus Christ, coming in the majesty of His glory,
thus fulfilling the prophecies of the Old Testament (cf., e.g., Isaiah 13:10; 34:4;
Ezekiel 32:7). Some Fathers, such as St. Jerome (”Comm. in Matthew, in loc.”)
and St. John Chrysostom (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 77) understand “the powers
in the heavens” to mean the angels, who will be in awe at these events. This in-
terpretation is supported by the liturgical use of describing the angels, taken to-
gether, as “virtutes caelorum” (cf. “Roman Missal”, Preface of Martyrs). But
many other commentators think the phrase, like the preceding words in the text,
could mean “cosmic forces” or “stars of the firmament”.
26-27. Christ here describes His Second Coming, at the end of time, as an-
nounced by the prophet Daniel (7:13). He discloses the deeper meaning of the
words of the ancient prophet: the “one like a Son of Man”, whom Daniel saw
and to whom “was given dominion and glory and kingdom, that all peoples, na-
tions and languages should serve Him,” is Jesus Christ Himself, who will gather
the saints around Him.
28-30. As already pointed out in the note on Mark 13:4, Jesus’ disciples, follo-
wing the ideas current among Jews at the time, could not conceive the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem as separate from the end of the world; and, also, there is a
connection between the two events, in that the former is a prefigurement of the
latter. Our Lord answers His disciples in Mark 13:20 by saying that the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem will happen in the lifetime of their generation (as in fact oc-
curred in the year 70, at the hands of the Roman legions). For further explana-
tion of the ruin of Jerusalem as a figure of the end of the world, cf. note on Mat-
thew 24:32-35.
31. With this sentence our Lord adds a special solemnity to what He is saying:
all this will definitely come to pass.
God has only to speak and His words come true, only He who is Lord of the Uni-
verse has all existence in His power, and Jesus has received from the Father all
power over heaven and earth (cf. Matthew 11:27 and 28:18).
32. Referring to this verse, St. Augustine explains (”On the Psalms”, 36:1): “Our
Lord Jesus Christ was sent to be our Master, yet He declared that even the Son
of Man was ignorant of that day, because it was not part of His office as Master
to acquaint us with it.”
Regarding the knowledge Christ had during His life on earth, see the note on
Luke 2:52.
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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.
Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.
First reading | Daniel 12:1-3 © |
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Psalm | Psalm 15:5,8-11 © |
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Second reading | Hebrews 10:11-14,18 © |
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Gospel Acclamation | Mt24:42 44 |
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Or | Lk21:36 |
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Gospel | Mark 13:24-32 © |
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