. • 18 Hilda, Abbess of Whitby, 680 • 19 Elizabeth, Princess of Hungary, 1231 was married at the age of 14, and widowed at 20. She then became one of the first members of the newly founded Third Order of St. Francis, relinquished her wealth to the poor, and built hospitals, where she herself served the sick • 20 Edmund, King of East Anglia, 870 • 21 William Byrd, 1623, John Merbecke, 1585, and Thomas Tallis, 1585, Musicians was an English composer who occupies a primary place in anthologies of English church music, and is considered one of England's greatest early composers. • 22 Clive Staples Lewis, Apologist and Spiritual Writer, 1963 is known for both his fictional work, especially The Screwtape Letters, The Chronicles of Narnia, and The Space Trilogy and his non-fiction, such as Mere Christianity, Miracles, and The Problem of Pain. • 23 Clement, Bishop of Rome, c. 100 • 24 • 25 James Otis Sargent Huntington, Priest and Monk, 1935 OLD TESTAMENT 1 Samuel 1: 4 - 20 (RCL) 1Sam 1:4 (NRSV) On the day when Elka'nah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Penin'nah and to all her sons and daughters; 5 but to Hannah he gave a double portion, because he loved her, though the LORD had closed her womb. 6 Her rival used to provoke her severely, to irritate her, because the LORD had closed her womb. 7 So it went on year by year; as often as she went up to the house of the LORD, she used to provoke her. Therefore Hannah wept and would not eat. 8 Her husband Elka'nah said to her, "Hannah, why do you weep? Why do you not eat? Why is your heart sad? Am I not more to you than ten sons?" 9 After they had eaten and drunk at Shi'loh, Hannah rose and presented herself before the LORD. Now E'li the priest was sitting on the seat beside the doorpost of the temple of the LORD. 10 She was deeply distressed and prayed to the LORD, and wept bitterly. 11 She made this vow "O LORD of hosts, if only you will look on the misery of your servant, and remember me, and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a male child, then I will set him before you as a nazirite until the day of his death. He shall drink neither wine nor intoxicants, and no razor shall touch his head." 12 As she continued praying before the LORD, E'li observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying silently; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard; therefore E'li thought she was drunk. 14 So E'li said to her, "How long will you make a drunken spectacle of yourself? Put away your wine." 15 But Hannah answered, "No, my lord, I am a woman deeply troubled; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have been pouring out my soul before the LORD. 16 Do not regard your servant as a worthless woman, for I have been speaking out of my great anxiety and vexation all this time." 17 Then E'li answered, "Go in peace; the God of Israel grant the petition you have made to him." 18 And she said, "Let your servant find favor in your sight." Then the woman went to her quarters, ate and drank with her husband, and her countenance was sad no longer. 19 They rose early in the morning and worshiped before the LORD; then they went back to their house at Ra'mah. Elka'nah knew his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. 20 In due time Hannah conceived and bore a son. She named him Samuel, for she said, "I have asked him of the LORD." Daniel 12: 1 - 3 (Roman Catholic, C of E, alt. for RCL) Dani 12:1 (NRSV) "At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book. 2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. PSALM (or CANTICLE in this case) 1 Samuel 2: 1 - 10 (RCL) 1Sam 2:1 (NRSV) Hannah prayed and said, "My heart exults in the LORD; my strength is exalted in my God. My mouth derides my enemies, because I rejoice in my victory. 2 "There is no Holy One like the LORD, no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. 3 Talk no more so very proudly, let not arrogance come from your mouth; for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. 4 The bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble gird on strength. 5 Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry are fat with spoil. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn. 6 The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to She'ol and raises up. 7 The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low, he also exalts. 8 He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap, to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and on them he has set the world. 9 "He will guard the feet of his faithful ones, but the wicked shall be cut off in darkness; for not by might does one prevail. 10 The LORD! His adversaries shall be shattered; the Most High will thunder in heaven. The LORD will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king, and exalt the power of his anointed." Psalm 16 (C of E, alt. for RCL) Psalm 16: 5, 8 - 11 (Roman Catholic) Psal 16:1 (NRSV) Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge. 2 I say to the LORD, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you." 3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble, in whom is all my delight. 4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows; their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out or take their names upon my lips. 5 The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. 6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. 7 I bless the LORD who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. 8 I keep the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. 9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. 10 For you do not give me up to She'ol, or let your faithful one see the Pit. 11 You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 16 Conserva me, Domine (ECUSA BCP) 1 Protect me, O God, for I take refuge in you; * I have said to the Lord, "You are my Lord, my good above all other." 2 All my delight is upon the godly that are in the land, * upon those who are noble among the people. 3 But those who run after other gods * shall have their troubles multiplied. 4 Their libations of blood I will not offer, * nor take the names of their gods upon my lips. 5 O Lord, you are my portion and my cup; * it is you who uphold my lot. 6 My boundaries enclose a pleasant land; * indeed, I have a goodly heritage. 7 I will bless the LORD who gives me counsel; * my heart teaches me, night after night. 8 I have set the Lord always before me; * because he is at my right hand I shall not fall. 9 My heart, therefore, is glad, and my spirit rejoices; * my body also shall rest in hope. 10 For you will not abandon me to the grave, * nor let your holy one see the Pit. 11 You will show me the path of life; * in your presence there is fullness of joy, and in your right hand are pleasures for evermore. NEW TESTAMENT Hebrews 10: 11 - 14 (15 - 18) 19 - 25 (RCL, C of E) Hebrews 10: 11 - 14, 18 (Roman Catholic) Hebr 10:11 (NRSV) And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God," 13 and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet." 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15 And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, 16 "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," 17 he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. 19 Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. h/t Montreal Anglican The author has told us how much greater is Christ’s sacrifice of himself than the annual sacrifices of the high priest on the Day of Atonement. Now he says that what any priest offered daily in sacrificial ritual for the forgiveness of sins was worthless, unlike Christ’s “single sacrifice” (v. 12): after Jesus died and rose, he became king. (Kings “sat down”, but priests stood.) Since that time, he has been awaiting the final defeat of his “enemies” (v. 13). (The author does not say who they are.) For by offering himself on the cross he has “perfected” (v. 14), completed, the removal of sin from those whom God has “sanctified”, made holy, set apart for his service. (Elsewhere salvation will be completed when Christ comes again.) The writings of the Old Testament, divinely inspired through the “Holy Spirit” (v. 15), foretold this: Jeremiah wrote that there will be a new covenant, one in which God’s ways will be written in peoples’ very being (v. 16), and where God will, in effect, clean off the sin slate (v. 17). We have a new covenant (v. 18), a new deal with God. Vv. 19ff tell of the consequences of the new covenant: since Christ’s sacrifice allows us to enter into God’s presence (“sanctuary”, v. 19) boldly, now that there is no longer a barrier (“curtain”, v. 20) between the faithful and God, and since Christ is “a great [high] priest” (v. 21) who has sacrificed for the Church (“house of God” ), we have three privileges/duties: we can and must • approach God in faith with clear consciences (v. 22); • “hold fast” (v. 23) to our statement of faith (made at baptism), reciprocating God’s fidelity to us, and • stimulate the expression of “love and good deeds” (v. 24) in others. These duties must be performed in the context of the liturgical community, especially since “the Day” (v. 25, Christ’s second coming), is approaching. Verse 1: “shadow”: The sense here is foreshadow, rather than the Platonic heavenly-earthly contrast in 8:5 (“a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one”). The “good things to come” will come through Christ. Colossians 2:17 says: “These [dietary laws, Jewish feasts, etc.] are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ”. The annual sacrifices on the Day of Atonement were not able to remove sin; they simply foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus. [NJBC] Verse 2: The author’s argument is weak: even though past sins were taken away, there were still the sins committed since a year ago. But it is merely an overstatement of what the author’s faith assures him to be true. [NJBC] Verses 3-4: The Day of Atonement rituals reminded worshippers of their sins, but did not erase them. This statement of the inefficacy of the annual sacrifices contradicts the belief expressed in Jubilees 5:17-18. But is not clear whether it is God or the worshipper who remembers the sins. That it is God who remembers is suggested by 8:12; there God says “‘I will remember their sins no more’”; however, the author would then be saying that the sacrifices served only to remind God of sin (and thus call forth punishment on the offerer). [NJBC] Verses 5-7: The quotation is Psalm 40:6-7. The text roughly follows the Septuagint translation. In Psalms, “me” is the psalmist (or possibly Israel in exile); here “me” is Christ at his incarnation. The psalm speaks of ritual being inferior to obedience, rather than repudiation of sacrifice (as here). The majority of manuscripts of the Septuagint have for v. 6b: a body you prepared for me rather than “you have given me an open ear” (which is from the Masoretic text). The Septuagint translation is particularly applicable to Jesus, whose obedience was expressed by his willingness to give his body, himself. [NJBC] Verse 8: “ sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings”: These terms are probably meant to cover the four main types of sacrifice: respectively peace offerings, cereal offerings, holocausts, and sin offerings (including guilt offerings). [NJBC] Verse 9: “the first”: i.e. the sacrifices prescribed in “the law” (v. 8). [NJBC] Verse 9: “the second”: i.e. the self-offering of Jesus. [NJBC] Verse 10: “God’s will”, carried out by Christ, is his offering of his body, which God “prepared” (v. 5) for him. [NJBC] Verse 11: “every priest stands day after day”: This indicates that the author has switched from considering the high priest’s sacrifice to that of every priest in the Old Testament. [NJBC] Verses 12-13: The quotation is Psalm 110:1, a verse also quoted in 1:3; 8:1; 12:2. [NJBC] Verse 13: “wait ...”: Thus the author explains the period of time between Christ’s enthronement and his second coming. [NJBC] Verse 13: “enemies”: The author does not tell us who they are, unlike Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:24-26: “ after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power” and “death”. [NJBC] Verse 14: “sanctified”: Through the cleansing of the consciences that they may worship the living God (9:14), Jesus has given his followers access to the Father; they share in his priestly consecration. [NJBC] The priesthood of all believers is in view. Verses 16-17: The quotation is Jeremiah 31:33-34. These verses are also quoted in 8:8-12. [NJBC] Verse 19: “confidence to enter the sanctuary”: In 3:6, the author writes: “we are his [Christ’s] house if we hold firm the confidence and the pride that belong to hope”. See also 4:16; 6:19-20. [NJBC] Verse 20: “opened”: The Greek word, enkainizo, can also mean inaugurate or dedicate. It is translated as inaugurate in 9:18. Verse 20: As the “curtain” before the Holy of Holies was an obstacle to entering it, so too was Christ’s “flesh” (Greek: sarx). Perhaps the author is thinking of the rending of the Temple veil at the death of Jesus: see Mark 15:38. [NJBC] Verses 22-24: “faith ... hope ... love”: The triad may be intended. [NJBC] Verse 22: “sprinkled clean”: A metaphor for the purifying power of Christ (see 9:13). Jewish ritual sprinkling only produced external purity, but those washed with the blood of Christ are cleansed in their consciences. [NJBC] Verse 22: “washed with pure water”: Probably a reference to baptism. See also 1 Corinthians 6:11 and Titus 3:5. [NJBC] Verse 25: While reticence to gather for worship may have been for fear of persecution, it is more likely that it was due to lack of enthusiasm for the faith, bordering on apostasy: part of the reason Hebrews was written. [NJBC] Verse 25: “the Day”: of Christ’s second coming. See also Acts 1:10-11 (the Ascension); Philippians 2:16; Romans 13:12; 1 Corinthians 3:13. [NJBC] Verses 26-31: These verses tell of the fate of the person who willfully sins. He has a “fearful prospect of judgement”: if you know about Christ and willfully reject him, you will be punished by God! Verse 26: “willfully ... sin”: The sin is that of turning away from Christ, as v. 29 shows. [NJBC] Verse 28: Idolatry is probably the violation of the Law. Deuteronomy 17:2-7 prescribes the death penalty for this sin if confirmed by “two or three witnesses”. [NJBC] GOSPEL Mark 13: 1 - 8 (RCL, C of E) Mark 13:1 (NRSV) As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!" 2 Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." 3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?" 5 Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name and say, "I am he!' and they will lead many astray. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs. Jesus has indicated to his disciples that the poor widow who gave all that she has is a good example of discipleship. We are nearing the end of his instructions to them. In vv. 1-2, Jesus predicts the destruction of the Temple, as the prophets Micah and Jeremiah had done earlier. (His words were later used against him.) Did he mean it literally or figuratively? We don’t know. (Both the Temple and the religious system were destroyed in 70 AD.) Then he and his first four disciples visit the Mount of Olives – a place mentioned in Zechariah 14:4 as being connected with events at the end of the era. They ask him: when will the Temple (“this”, v. 4) be destroyed? How will we know that the end of the era is near? Jesus gives them three indicators: • false claimants to being God’s agent of renewal will appear, claiming “I am he!” (v. 6); • international political conflicts (v. 8a) will occur, as will • natural disasters. There will be other signs too (vv. 14-25). The figure of a woman in labour (“birthpangs”, v. 8) is also used in Jeremiah, Hosea and Micah. The parallels are Matthew 24:1-8 and Luke 21:5-11. [NOAB] Verse 1: The impression is given that this is the first time that the disciples have seen the Temple. This fits with Mark’s chronology of Jesus’ earthly life, in which he visits Jerusalem only once. [NJBC] Verse 1: “large stones”: The second Temple was begun after the return from exile (c. 520 BC), and was modest. Herod the Great began construction of the third Temple in 20 BC; it was finished in 63 AD, and destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD at the end of the Jewish revolt. It was still under construction in Jesus’ day. The stones were some 11 m (35 feet) long by 5.5 m (18 feet) wide x 3.6 m (12 feet) high. The destruction of the Temple had already been foretold in Micah 3:12 and Jeremiah 26:18. [NOAB] [CAB] Jesus’ prediction of its destruction is also found in 14:57-58; 15:29; Matthew 26:61; Luke 19:43-44; John 2:19; Acts 6:14. [NOAB] Jesus stands in the tradition of Old Testament prophets who had predicted this event: see Micah 3:12 and Jeremiah 26:18. However, in that other events mentioned in this passage seem to be meant symbolically, so may this event. [NJBC] Micah 3:12 says: “... Zion shall be plowed as a field; Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins, and the mountain of the house a wooded height”. Jeremiah 26:18 quotes Micah with one variant. Early Christians saw the destruction of the Temple as fulfilling Jesus’ prediction. [NJBC] Note that Jerusalem was completely flattened in the 130s AD. Verse 2: Jesus indulges in (Jewish) hyperbole. Jesus’ statement is the basis for the accusations in 14:58 and 15:29. Early Christians saw Jesus as predicting the physical destruction of the Temple. [JBC] Verses 3-37: On the end of the era. These verses are known as the little apocalypse. Verse 3: “on the Mount of Olives”: The Mount of Olives is to the east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron valley. It is spoken of in eschatological terms in Zechariah 14:4. Zechariah 14:1-6 says: “See, a day is coming for the LORD, when the plunder taken from you will be divided in your midst. For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses looted and the women raped; half the city shall go into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then the LORD will go forth and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives, which lies before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley; so that one half of the Mount shall withdraw northward, and the other half southward. And you shall flee by the valley of the LORD's mountain, for the valley between the mountains shall reach to Azal; and you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of King Uzziah of Judah. Then the LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.” In 11:1, Mark points out that “Bethphage and Bethany” were “near the Mount of Olives”. From there Jesus sends two of his disciples to find the colt on which he is to enter Jerusalem. Verse 3: “Peter, James, John, and Andrew”: These were the first disciples Jesus called (1:16, 19). Peter, James and John were the inner circle, and were present at the Transfiguration (9:2) and in the Garden of Gethsemane (14:33). [JBC] Verse 4: In Luke 17:20, Jesus says: “‘The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed; nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For, in fact, the kingdom of God is among you’”. [NOAB] Verses 5-14: To NOAB, the audience was wider than the first four disciples, named in v. 13. Verse 6: In John 8:24, Jesus tells some Jews “‘I told you that you would die in your sins, for you will die in your sins unless you believe that I am he’”. 1 John 2:18 warns: “As you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come”. [NOAB] Verse 6: “will come in my name”: More than Jewish messianic pretenders (e.g. “Theudas” and “Judas the Galilean”, in Acts 5:36-37) seem to be in view here, for they will come in Christ’s name. See also vv. 21-23. [NJBC] Verse 6: “I am he!”: This phrase must allude to the Old Testament revelation formula applied to Yahweh, thus contributing the implicit christological message of the text. (In Exodus 3:14, God tells Moses “‘I AM WHO I AM’”; in Deuteronomy 32:39 he says “See now that I, even I, am he; there is no god beside me.” and in Isaiah 41:4, “I, the LORD, am first, and will be with the last”). [NJBC] Verse 7: “the end is still to come”: For descriptions of the end time, see Daniel 8:17; 9:25; 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9, 13. [JBC] See also 2 Esdras. Verse 8: “kingdom against kingdom”: See also Isaiah 19:2; Ezra 5:12; 1QM (Qumran War Scroll) 1:2. 1QM 1:2 says: “The sons of Levi, the sons of Judah and the sons of Benjamin, the exiled of the desert, will wage war against them.” [Martinez] Verse 8: “birthpangs”: At the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, he said that the new era “has come near” (1:15 and Matthew 4:17); however, per v. 10, it will arrive only after a time of witness to his message. [NOAB] As pain precedes (and portends) birth of a child, so suffering will precede the arrival of the new era. The figure of a woman in labour is often used to describe the prelude to the Day of Judgement or the messianic era. See also Isaiah 13:8; 26:17; Jeremiah 6:24; Hosea 13:13; Micah 4:9-10; 1QH (Qumran Hymns) 11:6-10. 1QH 11:6-10 (Vermes: 3:6-10) says: Now, my soul ... they have counted me, and have put the soul like a boat in the depths of the sea, like a besieged city positioned opposite its enemies. I was in distress like a woman giving birth the first time when her birth-pangs come on her and a pain racks her womb to begin in the crucible of the pregnant woman. Since sons reach the frontiers of death she gives birth to a male, and there emerges from the pains of Sheol, from the crucible of the pregnant woman a splendid counsellor of strength, and the man is freed from the womb. [Martinez] It is recommended that vv. 24-27 be read with vv. 3-8; together they give perspective beyond Jerusalem and the contemporary generation. Verses 9-13: See also Matthew 10:17-22. [NOAB] Verse 9: “hand you over”: The Greek verb is paradidomi, a term used later of Jesus’ betrayal. The mention of the sufferings of Jesus’ disciples looks forward to Jesus’ own sufferings. [NJBC] Verse 9: “councils”: The Greek word, synedria, refers to local Jewish courts empowered to punish Jewish offenders. In 2 Corinthians 11:24, Paul tells of receiving lashes “from the Jews”. [NJBC] Verse 9: “governors and kings”: Pilate and Herod Antipas would be good examples. [NJBC] Verse 10: V. 11 naturally flows from v. 9, so NJBC’s observation that the vocabulary is typical of Mark suggests that this verse is an insertion by the author. Further, if Jesus was so explicit about the mission to Gentiles, why was there a debate in the early Church over this mission? See Galatians 2 and Acts 15 (the Council of Jerusalem). Verse 11: Jesus forbids anxious care (“worry”), not thought or preparation. [NJBC] In John 14:26, Jesus says: “‘... the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you”. See also John 16:7-11 and Luke 12:11-12. [NOAB] Verse 12: “Brother will betray brother”: The idea of the end-times as a time of societal breakdown is common in contemporary Jewish apocalyptic writings: see, for example, 2 Esdras 5:9; 6:24; Jubilees 23:19; 2 Baruch 70:3. [NJBC] 2 Esdras 5:9-10 says: “Salt waters shall be found in the sweet, and all friends shall conquer one another; then shall reason hide itself, and wisdom shall withdraw into its chamber, and it shall be sought by many but shall not be found, and unrighteousness and unrestraint shall increase on earth.” Verse 13: In John 15:18-21, Jesus says to the disciples: “‘If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me before it hated you. If you belonged to the world, the world would love you as its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world – therefore the world hates you. ... If they persecuted me, they will persecute you; if they kept my word, they will keep yours also. But they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me’”. [NOAB] Verse 13: “the one who endures to the end will be saved”: In Mark, the message is one of patient endurance. [NJBC] Verses 14-23: By foretelling the events described in these verses, Jesus prepares his followers for what they will encounter. [NJBC] Verse 14: “the desolating sacrilege”: This would remind Jesus’ hearers of the desecration of the Temple: in 168 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes set up a statue of Olympian Zeus in the Temple; indeed, he tried to wipe out Judaism. Jesus’ inclusion of reference to a second such sacrilege leads me to think that the other signs of the end of the era should not be taken literally. Jesus is probably speaking symbolically of the elevation of the Roman emperor to being a god and the destruction of the Temple (and with it, the termination of the Judaic sacrificial system) or of general desertion of God’s ways. Note also that the Roman governor Caligula gave a similar order in 40 AD for a statue of himself as Jupiter to be placed in the Temple. [CAB] See 1 Maccabees 1:59; Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. Verse 14: “(let the reader understand)”: This comment may refer to the events leading up to the destruction of the Temple or of Caligula’s abortive plan. Perhaps the phrase is a code intended to avoid Roman hostility. [JBC] Verses 14-15: When this happens, the faithful must flee to the countryside immediately. There will be no time to collect one’s belongings. Verse 17: In Luke 23:29, Jesus says: “For the days are surely coming when they will say, ‘Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed’”. [NOAB] 2 Esdras 6:21 says: “Children a year old shall speak with their voices, and pregnant women shall give birth to premature children at three and four months, and these shall live and leap about”. [HenMk] Verse 18: The cold and rainy winters in Palestine would make rural tracks almost impassable. There would be no crops then from which the refugees might be fed. [NJBC] Verse 19: “suffering, such as has not been from the beginning of the creation”: So Jesus speaks not of warfare, but of something much more serious. This alludes to Daniel 12:1: “There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence.” [NJBC] Verse 20: “if the Lord had not cut short those days”: Daniel 12:7 suggests that God has established a time schedule for the coming of the Kingdom. For the idea of shortening the time, see two contemporary apocalyptic books: 1 Enoch 80:2; 2 Baruch 20:1-2; 83:1, 6. [NJBC] Verse 22: In Matthew 7:15, Jesus warns: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves”. See also John 4:48. [NOAB] Verse 23: “I have already told you everything”: NJBC offers I have foretold to you all these things. Verses 24-27: The images of cosmic signs, the Son of Man, and the gathering of the chosen are all found in the Old Testament, but here they are brought together, with the second coming of Jesus, “the Son of Man”, as the key event. His glorious arrival will be the final proof of God’s victory over the forces of evil. The Old Testament texts echoed are Isaiah 13:10; 34:4; Ezekiel 32:7; Amos 8:9; Joel 2:10, 31; 3:15; Haggai 2:6, 21, but in no instance does such an image precede the coming of the Son of Man. The list of portents is a way of saying that all creation will signal his coming. [NJBC] Verse 24: Darkness day and night was considered a sign of the coming of divine judgement: Isaiah 13:10 says: “the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light”. [JBC] Verse 26: “they will see 'the Son of Man coming ...”: Daniel 7:13 says “As I watched in the night visions, I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven. And he came to the Ancient One and was presented before him.” An NRSV footnote says that “human being” is son of man in the Aramaic original. See also 8:38; Matthew 10:23; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. [NOAB] To Mark, “the Son of Man” is clearly Jesus, not the human figure in angelic form of Daniel 7:13. Whether Jesus spoke of himself as “the Son of Man” is debated, but see 14:61-62. [NJBC] Verse 27: “he will ... gather his elect from the four winds”: In Zechariah 2:6, Yahweh disperses the chosen. God’s gathering of the chosen is found in Deuteronomy 30:4; Isaiah 11:11, 16; 27:12; Ezekiel 39:27 and elsewhere in the Old Testament and in contemporary Jewish writings. [NJBC] Verse 27: “the four winds”: Winds were thought to originate at the four corners of the earth.