Mark 13:28-37-- Be Awake and Ready

Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that it is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore, be on the alert— for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning-- in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you I say to all, 'Be on the alert!'

In the context of the discourse Jesus just gave, he is speaking here about the events connected to the destruction of the temple, not necessarily the events that take place “after” the tribulation.  Those events take place in the unforeseeable future, but the events of the temple, Jesus says, are going to happen very soon.  In fact, Jesus says more specifically, those events would happen before the generation he was speaking to ends.  A generation is sometimes seen as a hundred years in the Bible (Genesis 15:13-16), sometimes only forty years (Numbers 32:13).  Whichever way Jesus meant it, the temple was destroyed in less than forty years after his prediction of it.  This was amazing, considering that Herod built the temple to last, much as the pyramids have lasted as ongoing monuments.  The disciples must have been shocked and perhaps a bit disbelieving when they heard it, but it came true, nevertheless in 70 AD.  

So Jesus is warning his disciples to be aware of the end, for no one knows when it will occur.  Jesus told them it would be soon, but they didn’t know exactly when.  But when it happens, Jesus implies, it would be sudden and without warning. The exact time is not known—not by anyone except the Father.  And so the disciples have to keep their eyes open to the signs—specifically the abomination and the coming of the Son of Man—and they need to be ready for these signs at any time.  To be alert would be to keep one’s attention on the signs to indicate the time is here.  To be ready is to act in obedience to Jesus until the final day arrives.

Although Jesus is mostly speaking about the destruction of the temple, we can apply this passage to the coming of the Son of Man.  The temple is already destroyed, but if we see another abomination (a man claiming divinity committing genocide against God’s people) or if we see the coming of the Son of Man, we know the time is come.  And we too need to be on alert and ready for these events.  The fact that the temple was destroyed in 70 AD is all the more indication that Jesus’ prophecy will definitely come true.

We should constantly be alert for Jesus' return.  What does this alertness, this readiness, mean?  It means that we are doing all we can to be like Jesus, to give and not expect in return, to heal for no cost, to encourage the poor and outcast, and to rebuke those who judge, warning them of God's judgment. We act in mercy, we create peace and we proclaim Jesus' message and life.  If we continue this to the end, we will be ready.