{"id":3139,"date":"2008-11-30T15:14:00","date_gmt":"2008-11-30T20:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=3139"},"modified":"2020-12-21T15:15:50","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T20:15:50","slug":"never-buy-green-bananas-sermon-talkback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/never-buy-green-bananas-sermon-talkback\/","title":{"rendered":"Never Buy Green Bananas Sermon Talkback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Sermon Talkback<\/strong>\u2014November 30, 2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Never Buy Green Bananas<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mark 13:24-37<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Context<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our passage is the conclusion of the Markan apocalypse (Chapter 13). It begins with Jesus announcing the coming destruction of the temple. When the disciples ask for a timetable and signs, Jesus responds with a traditional list of signs: wars (13:7-8); persecution of the community (13:9-13), and the desolating sacrilege (13:14-20). The \u201cdesolating sacrilege\u201d was probably Antiochus IV\u2019s sacrilegious entry into the Holy of Holies, the blasphemous sacrifices by his soldiers on the temple grounds and the idolatrous proclamation of him as \u201cimperator\u201d when he conquered Jerusalem around 550 BC (Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11) (From S.G.F. Brandon, Jesus and the Zealots: A Study of the Political Factor in Primitive Christianity<\/em> [Scribner\u2019s Sons, 1967, 230ff]). These historical signs are bracketed by warnings of false messiahs (13:3-6 and 13:21-22). From this context, our passage tells us about the intensity of the early Christians\u2019 expectation of the end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three Sections<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The Coming of the Son of Man (13:24-27)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This sign combines prophetic images of the trembling of the cosmos at the arrival of the Lord (Isaiah 13:10; 34:4) with Daniel\u2019s account (7:13-14) of the arrival of the Son of Man to judge the nations. Since the imagery of the sun, moon, and stars suggests an undoing of the fourth day of creation, it is likely a new creation is being imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. The Lesson of the Fig Tree (13:28-31)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fig tree is one of the few trees in Palestine to shed leaves with the season. Its leaves bud sometime in April at the outset of summer. It is the perfect tree for announcing the time. Jesus instructs his disciples through this analogy to learn how to read the signs and to devote their attention to doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The prophecy of \u201cthis generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place,\u201d has troubled Christians because it seems Jesus was wrong about the timing of the end. Furthermore, this prediction seems to contradict the assertion in 13:32 that no one, not even the Son, knows the hour of the end, but only God. Such contradictions are common in apocalyptic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. The Necessity for Watchfulness (13:32-37)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is \u201cno one knows,\u201d but the Son of Man is always at the door. There is no literal timetable. We are like servants whose master has gone on a journey but we do not know when he shall return. When we think that we know, it\u2019s probably not so. Instead, we are admonished, twice in fact, \u201cKeep awake, Keep awake\u201d (13:35, 37).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Does This All Mean?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nearness of the end does not mean that we should focus on the end, but instead, we should focus on our life here. We stay awake by doing what Jesus told us, by loving our neighbor, by pursuing justice and mercy. To scan the horizon for Jesus is to be watching the wrong way and in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are you watching in the right direction?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DN, 11\/30\/2008<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sermon Talkback\u2014November 30, 2008 Never Buy Green Bananas Mark 13:24-37 Context Our passage is the conclusion of the Markan apocalypse (Chapter 13). It begins with Jesus announcing the coming destructionContinue readingNever Buy Green Bananas Sermon Talkback<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-3139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermon-talkbacks","tag-mark"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3139"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3141,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3139\/revisions\/3141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}