Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Mark 13:8
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these [are] the beginnings of sorrows.
8. the beginnings of sorrows ] rather, of birth-pangs. The word only occurs in four places in the N. T. Here; in the parallel, Mat 24:8; in Act 2:24, “having loosed the pains (rather the pangs) of death;” and 1Th 5:3, “then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail (or birth-pangs) upon a woman with child.” The occurrence of the expression here is remarkable, and recals other places of Scripture, where Creation is said to be “groaning and travailing ” (Rom 8:22), waiting for its regeneration (Mat 19:28) or New Birth. For the fulfilment of these prophecies comp. Jos. Ant. xix. 1; Tac. Ann. xii. 38, xv. 22, xvi. 13; Sen. Ep. xci. Tacitus describing the epoch ( Hist. i. 2) calls it “opimum casibus, atrox prliis, discors seditionibus, ips etiam pace svum.” These “signs” then ushered in the epoch of the destruction of Jerusalem, but realized on a larger scale they are to herald the End of all things; comp. 1Th 5:3 ; 2Th 2:2.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Mar 13:8
These are the beginnings of sorrows.
The beginnings of sorrows
I. The value of these facts in relation to the life and character of the Lord. He is the prophet of the church. He was a revealer of secrets. His word was verified to the letter. The church lives in evil times on the word of her unseen Lord.
II. There is also a suggestion of the connection of sorrows and sins. Jerusalems fate is a series of such sorrows. They arise out of religious unfaithfulness and moral deterioration. Nations are doomed by their own acts.
III. If we do not and will not learn the Divine uses of adversity, then the things we regret, and which are most painful to us, will only prove to be the beginnings of sorrows. If lesser Divine chastisements do not raise us to higher moods of being, there must be held in reserve some hotter fire of discipline. We should immediately yield to the disciplines of God. (The Preachers Monthly.)
The Christians support in troublous times
Whatever happens, we must calm ourselves by remembering that the great Christ is still in heaven, ruling by the changeless laws of righteousness. In presence of extraordinary events, the ordinary methods of Gods grace and providence will seem too slow, and the common gospel too calm; but it is exactly at such times that we most need to maintain our faith in them. (R. Glover.)
Horrors of famine at the siege of Jerusalem
During this dreadful time, the extremity of the famine was such, that a Jewess of noble family, urged by the cravings of hunger, slew her infant child, and prepared it for a meal. She had actually eaten one-half of it, when the soldiers, attracted by the smell of food, threatened her with instant death if she refused to show them where she had hidden it. Intimidated by this menace, she immediately produced the remains of her son; but, instead of sitting down to eat, they were utterly horror struck; and the whole city stood aghast, when they heard the horrible tale, congratulating those whom death had hurried away from such heartrending scenes. Indeed, humanity at once shudders and sickens at the narration; nor can any one of the least sensibility reflect upon the pitiable condition to which the female part of the inhabitants must at this time have been reduced, without experiencing the tenderest emotion of sympathy, or refraining from tears, when he reads our Saviours pathetic address to the women who bewailed Him as He was led to Calvary; for in that address He evidently refers to these very horrors and calamities.
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 8. The beginnings] For , many MSS. and versions have , the beginning, singular.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
8. These are the beginnings ofsorrows“of travail-pangs,” to which heavy calamitiesare compared. (See Jer 4:31,&c.). The annals of TACITUStell us how the Roman world was convulsed, before the destruction ofJerusalem, by rival claimants of the imperial purple.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
For nation shall rise against nation,…. The nations of the world one against another, and the Romans against the Jews, and the Jews against them:
and kingdom against kingdom; which is a synonymous phrase with the former, and what the Jews call, , “different words”, expressing the same thing, often used in their commentaries:
and there shall be earthquakes in divers places; of the world:
and there shall be famines: especially in Judea, as in the times of Claudius Caesar, and at the siege of Jerusalem:
and troubles; public ones of various sorts, as tumults, seditions, murders, c. This word is omitted in the Vulgate Latin, and Ethiopic versions.
These are the beginnings of sorrows as of a woman with child, as the word signifies; whose pains before, though they are the beginnings and pledges of what shall come after, are not to be compared with those that immediately precede, and attend the birth of the child: and so all those troubles, which should be some time before the destruction of Jerusalem, would be but small, but light afflictions, the beginning of sorrows, in comparison of what should immediately go before, and attend that desolation;
[See comments on Mt 24:7],
[See comments on Mt 24:8].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
1) “For nation shall rise against nation,” (egerthesetai gar ethnos ep’ ethnos) “Because race will be raised (stirred up) against race,” repeatedly, continually, race hatred, strife, bitterness shall increase, Mat 24:7.
2) “And kingdom against kingdom:- (kai basileia epi basileian) “And kingdom (organized government) against kingdom or (organized government),” government clashes shall increase in number and in horror, Hag 2:22, Luk 21:10
3) “And there shall be earthquakes in divers places,” (es ontai seismoi kata topous) “There will also come to be earthquakes in numerous places,” repeatedly recurring, Hag 2:22; Mat 24:7.
4) “And there shall be famines and troubles:- (esontai limoi) “There will come to be (to exist) famines,” Rev 6:5-6; Luk 21:11.
5) “These are the beginnings of sorrows.” (arche odinon tauta) “These things are the beginning (early stages).of birth-pangs,” Mat 24:8.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
8. Earthquakes Convulsions of this kind marked this period in various parts of the known world. At Smyrna, Miletus, Chios, Samos, the beautiful cities of Asiatic Greece, these signs were given, as mentioned by Grotius. The cities of Laodicea, Hierapolis, and Colosse were completely overthrown. Rome was twice visited by this fearful sign during this period. But perhaps Jerusalem herself was warned most loudly by a terrible earthquake, accompanied by thunders, lightnings, and overwhelming storms. Famines and pestilences, (Luk 21:11,) the FOURTH SIGN, are ever attendant upon general civil commotions and wars. The cessation of the labours of husbandry produces scarcity; exposure, hardship, and the effluvium of the dead produce pestilences. The Greek words for famine and pestilence have a very similar sound, limos and loimos.
And famine and pestilence are so conjoined in experience that it was a Greek proverb, after limos comes loimos. Josephus says, that the famine under Claudius Cesar (predicted by Agabus, Act 11:28) was so severe that at Jerusalem many died of starvation.
To these Luke adds, there shall be “fearful sights and great signs from heaven.” On this FIFTH SIGN Dr. Clarke makes the following concise summary.
Josephus, in his preface to the Jewish Wars, enumerates these: 1st. A star hung over the city like a sword; and a comet continued a whole year. 2d. The people being assembled at the feast of unleavened bread, at the ninth hour of the night, a great light shone about the altar and the temple, and this continued for half an hour. 3d. At the same feast, a cow led to sacrifice brought forth a lamb in the midst of the temple! 4th. The eastern gate of the temple, which was of solid brass, and very heavy, and could hardly be shut by twenty men, and was fastened by strong bars and bolts, was seen at the sixth hour of the night to open of its own accord! 5th. Before sun-setting there were seen over all the country, chariots and armies fighting in the clouds, and besieging cities. 6th. At the feast of Pentecost, when the priests were going into the inner temple by night, to attend their service, they heard first a motion and noise, and then a voice as of a multitude, saying, LET US DEPART HENCE. 7th. What Josephus reckons one of the most terrible signs of all was, that one Jesus, a country fellow, four years before the war began, and when the city was at peace and plenty, came to the feast of tabernacles, and ran crying up and down the streets, day and night: “A voice from the east! a voice from the west! a voice from the four winds! a voice against Jerusalem and the temple! a voice against the bridegrooms and the brides! and a voice against all the people!”
Though the magistrates, endeavored by stripes and tortures to restrain him, yet he still cried with a mournful voice, “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!” And this he continued to do for several years together, going about the walls and crying with a loud voice: “Woe, woe to the city, and to the people, and to the temple;” and as he added, “Woe, woe to myself!” a stone from some sling or engine struck him dead on the spot! It is worthy of remark that Josephus appeals to the testimony of others, who saw and heard these fearful things. Tacitus, a Roman historian, gives very nearly the same account with that of Josephus. ( Hist., lib. 5.)
These are the beginnings of sorrows Terrible as all these omens seem, they are small compared to the miseries of the siege and downfall of the holy city.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in many places. There will be famines. These are the beginnings of birth pains.”
Jesus then explained further. Wars between nations will necessarily come, for that is what man is like. Earthquakes and famines will occur, as they have throughout history, for that is what nature is like. But these will only introduce what is to follow. And certainly we know that in the first century there were a number of wars, devastating earthquakes and terrible famines. For the dreadful famine in the time of Claudius see Act 11:27-30, and Jerusalem experienced a number of earthquakes, including one around the time of Jesus’ resurrection (Mat 28:2). Laodicea, for example, was destroyed by a terrible earthquake which shook the whole of Phrygia in 61 AD. Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed by volcanic action not long after. But Jesus was warning that these must not be seen as direct portents. What He was basically saying was that the troubles of a troubled world, portentous though they may seem to those involved, should not cause excessive speculation about the future. They would simply be reminders that there will be yet more troubles to come.
‘Birth pains.’ A woman’s birth pains were a common illustration to suggest the introduction of further trouble. All were aware of the initial contractions which were an early signal of a coming birth. Jesus may have had in mind what the later Rabbis called the Messianic birthpangs which would precede the Messiah and introduce the end of the age, but probably not, for He stressed that these did not introduce anything, ‘the end is not yet’, and furthermore He knew that the Messiah had already come. Birth pains are regularly used as an illustration in Scripture (Isa 26:17; Isa 66:8; Jer 22:23; Hos 13:13; Mic 4:9-10) where they simply mean the start of trouble.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
Ver. 8. The beginning of sorrows ] The sorrows and throes of child birth, , which are nothing so bad at first, as in the birth.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
8. ] By these repetitions majesty is given to the discourse.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Mar 13:8 . , etc., there will be earthquakes in places; there will be famines. Here again the briefest reading without connecting particles ( , ) is to be preferred, as suiting the abrupt style congenial to the prophetic mood. The after may have fallen out of [122] [123] [124] [125] by homoeoteleuton ( following immediately after), but after earthquakes and famines disturbances seems an anticlimax.
[122] Codex Sinaiticus (sc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[123] Codex Vaticanus (sc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[124] Codex Bezae
[125] Codex Regius–eighth century, represents an ancient text, and is often in agreement with and B.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
For nation, &c. Quoted from Isa 19:2.
against = upon. Greek. epi. App-104.
and. Figure of speech Polysyndeton, App-6.
in. Greek. kata. App-104.
the beginnings = a beginning. See App-155.
sorrows = birth-pangs.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
8. ] By these repetitions majesty is given to the discourse.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Mar 13:8. , troubles) in the great and lesser world [macrocosmo et microcosmo].
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
sorrows
birthpangs. Answering to the “seals.” (Revelation 6.) Rev 6:1-17.
The death-agony of this age is the birth-agony of the next.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
nation shall: 2Ch 15:6, Isa 19:2, Jer 25:32, Hag 2:22, Zec 14:13, Rev 6:4
famines: Act 11:28
these: Mat 24:8
sorrows: “The word in the original importeth the pains of a woman in travail.” Psa 48:6, Isa 37:3, Jer 4:31, Jer 6:24, Jer 13:21, Jer 22:23, Jer 49:24, Jer 50:43, Mic 4:9, Mic 4:10, 1Th 5:3
Reciprocal: Isa 29:6 – General Jer 51:46 – lest Mat 24:6 – ye shall hear Luk 21:9 – when Luk 21:10 – Nation shall
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8
The Roman Empire was made up of various small nations, and they were set in motion of war activities against each other by the general disturbance between the Romans and Jews. Beginnings of sorrows is commented upon in Mat 24:8.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
[These are the beginnings of sorrows.] Isa 66:7-8; Before she travailed she brought forth; before the labour of pains came she was delivered, and brought forth a male. Who hath heard such a thing? Does the earth bring forth in one day, or is a nation also brought forth at once? For Sion was in travail and brought forth her sons.
The prophet here says two things: —
I. That Christ should be born before the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jews themselves collect and acknowledge this out of this prophecy: “It is in the Great Genesis [Bereshith Rabba] a very ancient book: thus R. Samuel Bar Nachaman said, Whence prove you, that in the day when the destruction of the Temple was, Messias was born? He answered, From this that is said in the last chapter of Isaiah Isa 66:7, ‘Before she travailed she brought forth; before her bringing forth shall come, she brought forth a male child.’ In the same hour that the destruction of the Temple was, Israel cried out as though she were bringing forth. And Jonathan in the Chaldee translation said, Before her trouble came she was saved; and before the pains of childbirth came upon her, Messiah was revealed.” In the Chaldee it is, A king shall manifest himself.
“In like manner in the same book: R. Samuel Bar Nachaman said, It happened that Elias went by the way in the day wherein the destruction of the Temple was, and he heard a certain voice crying out and saying, ‘The holy Temple is destroyed.’ Which when he heard, he imagined how he could destroy the world: but travelling forward he saw men ploughing and sowing, to whom he said, ‘God is angry with the world and will destroy his house, and lead his children captives to the Gentiles; and do you labour for temporal victuals?’ And another voice was heard, saying, ‘Let them work, for the Saviour of Israel is born.’ And Elias said, ‘Where is he?’ And the voice said, ‘In Bethlehem of Judah,’ ” etc. These words this author speaks, and these words they speak.
II. As it is not without good reason gathered, that Christ shall be born before the destruction of the city, from that clause, “Before she travailed she brought forth, before her bringing forth came [the pangs of travail], she brought forth a male child”; so also, from that clause, Is a nation brought forth at once? For Sion travailed and brought forth her children; is gathered as well, that the Gentiles were to be gathered and called to the faith before that destruction; which our Saviour most plainly teacheth, Mar 13:10; “But the gospel must first be preached among all nations.” For how the Gentiles, which should believe, are called ‘the children of Sion,’ and ‘the children of the church of Israel,’ every where in the prophets, there is no need to show, for every one knows it.
In this sense is the word pangs or sorrows; in this place to be understood; and it agrees not only with the sense of the prophet alleged, but with a most common phrase and opinion in the nation concerning the sorrows of the Messiah; that is, concerning the calamities which they expected would happen at the coming of the Messiah.
“Ulla saith, The Messias shall come, but I shall not see him. So also saith Rabba, Messias shall come, but I shall not see him; that is, he shall not be to be seen. Abai saith to Rabba, Why? Because of the sorrows of the Messias. It is a tradition. His disciples asked R. Eliezer, What may a man do to be delivered from the sorrows of Messias? Let him be conversant in the law and in the works of mercy.” The Gloss is, “the terrors and the sorrows which shall be in his days.” “He that feasts thrice on the sabbath day shall be delivered from three miseries, from the sorrows of Messiah; from the judgment of hell, and from the war of Gog and Magog.” Where the Gloss is this, “‘From the sorrows of Messias’: for in that age, wherein the Son of David shall come, there will be an accusation of the scholars of the wise men. The word sorrows denotes such pains as women in childbirth endure.”
Fuente: Lightfoot Commentary Gospels
CHAPTER 13:8-16 (Mar 13:8-16)
THE IMPENDING JUDGMENT
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there shall be earthquakes in divers places; there shall be famines: these things are the beginning of travail. But take ye heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in synagogues shall ye be beaten; and before governors and kings shall ye stand for My sake, for a testimony unto them. And the gospel must first be preached unto all the nations. And when they lead you to judgment, and deliver you up, be not anxious beforehand what ye shall speak: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children shall rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for My name’s sake; but he that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. But when ye see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not (let him that readeth understand), then let them that are in Judea flee unto the mountains: and let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house: and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak.” Mar 13:8-16 (R.V.)
WHEN we perceive that one central thought in our Lord’s discourse about the last things is the contrast between material things which are fleeting, and spiritual realities which abide, a question naturally arises, which ought not to be overlooked. Was the prediction itself anything more than a result of profound spiritual insight? Are we certain that prophecy in general was more than keenness of vision? There are flourishing empires now which perhaps a keen politician, and certainly a firm believer in retributive justice governing the world, must consider to be doomed. And one who felt the transitory nature of earthly resources might expect a time when the docks of London will resemble the lagoons of Venice, and the State which now predominates in Europe shall become partaker of the decrepitude of Spain. But no such presage is a prophecy in the Christian sense. Even when suggested by religion, it does not claim any greater certainty than that of sagacious inference.
The general question is best met by pointing to such specific and detailed prophecies, especially concerning the Messiah, as the twenty-second Psalm, the fifty-third of Isaiah, and the ninth of Daniel.
But the prediction of the fall of Jerusalem, while we have seen that it has none of the minuteness and sharpness of an after-thought, is also too definite for a presentiment. The abomination which defiled the Holy Place, and yet left one last brief opportunity for hasty flight, the persecutions by which that catastrophe would be heralded, and the precipitation of the crisis for the elect’s sake, were details not to be conjectured. So was the coming of the great retribution, the beginning of His kingdom within that generation, a limit which was foretold at least twice besides (Mar 9:1; Mar 14:62), with which the “henceforth” in Mat 26:64 must be compared. And so was another circumstance which is not enough considered: the fact that between the fall of Jerusalem and the Second Coming, however long or short the interval, no second event of a similar character, so universal in its effect upon Christianity, so epoch-making, should intervene. The coming of the Son of Man should be “in those days after that tribulation.”
The intervening centuries lay out like a plain country between two mountain tops, and did not break the vista, as the eye passed from the judgment of the ancient Church, straight on to the judgment of the world. Shall we say then that Jesus foretold that His coming would follow speedily? and that He erred? Men have been very willing to bring this charge, even in the face of His explicit assertions. “After a long time the Lord of that servant cometh…While the bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. . . .If that wicked servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming.”
It is true that these expressions are not found in St. Mark. But instead of them stands a sentence so startling, so unique, that it has caused to ill-instructed orthodoxy great searchings of heart. At least, however, the flippant pretense that Jesus fixed an early date of His return, ought to be silenced when we read, “Of that day or that hour knoweth no one, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father.”
These words are not more surprising than that He increased in wisdom; and marveled at the faith of some, and the unbelief of others (Luk 2:52; Mat 8:10; Mar 6:6). They are involved in the great assertion, that He not only took the form of a servant, but emptied Himself (Php 2:7). But they decide the question of the genuineness of the discourse; for when could they have been invented? And they are to be taken in connection with others, which speak of Him not in His low estate, but as by nature and inherently, the Word and the Wisdom of God; aware of all that the Father doeth; and Him in Whom dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Joh 1:1; Luk 11:49; Joh 5:20; Col 2:9).
But these were “the days of His flesh;” and that expression is not meant to convey that He has since laid aside His body, for He says, “A spirit hath not flesh . . . as ye see Me have” (Heb 5:7; Luk 24:39). It must therefore express the limitations, now removed, by which He once condescended to be trammeled. What forbids us, then, to believe that His knowledge, like His power, was limited by a lowliness not enforced, but for our sakes chosen; and that as He could have asked for twelve legions of angels, yet chose to be bound and buffeted, so He could have known that day and hour, yet submitted to ignorance, that He might be made like in all points to His brethren? Souls there are for whom this wonderful saying, “the Son knoweth not,” is even more affecting than the words, “The Son of Man hath not where to lay His head.”
But now the climax must be observed which made His ignorance more astonishing than that of the angels in heaven. The recent discourse must be remembered, which had asked His enemies to explain the fact that David called Him Lord, and spoke of God as occupying no lonely throne. And we must observe His emphatic expression, that His return shall be that of the Lord of the House (Mar 9:35), so unlike the temper which He impressed on every servant, and clearly teaching the Epistle to the Hebrews to speak of His fidelity as that of a Son over His house, and to contrast it sharply with that of the most honorable servant (Mar 3:6).
It is plain, however, that Jesus did not fix, and renounced the power to fix, a speedy date for His second coming. He checked the impatience of the early Church by insisting that none knew the time.
But He drew the closest analogy between that event and the destruction of Jerusalem, and required a like spirit in those who looked for each.
Persecution should go before them. Signs would indicate their approach as surely as the budding of the fig tree told of summer. And in each case the disciples of Jesus must be ready. When the siege came, they should not turn back from the field into the city, nor escape from the housetop by the inner staircase. When the Son of Man comes, their loins should be girt, and their lights already burning. But if the end has been so long delayed, and if there were signs by which its approach might be known, how could it be the practical duty of all men, in all the ages, to expect it? What is the meaning of bidding us to learn from the fig tree her parable, which is the approach of summer when her branch becomes tender, and yet asserting that we know not when the time is, that it shall come upon us as a snare, that the Master will surely surprise us, but need not find us unprepared, because all the Church ought to be always ready?
What does it mean, especially when we observe, beneath the surface, that our Lord was conscious of addressing more than that generation, since He declared to the first hearers, “What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch”? It is a strange paradox. But yet the history of the Church supplies abundant proof that in no age has the expectation of the Second Advent disappeared, and the faithful have always been mocked by the illusion, or else keen to discern the fact, that He is near, even at the doors. It is not enough to reflect that, for each soul, dissolution has been the preliminary advent of Him who has promised to come again and receive us unto Himself, and the Angel of Death is indeed the Angel of the Covenant. It must be asserted that for the universal Church, the feet of the Lord have been always upon the threshold, and the time has been prolonged only because the Judge standeth at the door. The “birth pangs” of which Jesus spoke have never been entirely stilled. And the march of time has not been towards a far-off eternity, but along the margin of that mysterious ocean, by which it must be engulfed at last, and into which, fragment by fragment, the beach it treads is crumbling.
Now this necessity, almost avowed, for giving signs which should only make the Church aware of her Lord’s continual nearness, without ever enabling her to assign the date of His actual arrival, is the probable explanation of what has been already remarked, the manner in which the judgment of Jerusalem is made to symbolize the final judgment. But this symbolism makes the warning spoken to that age for ever fruitful. As they were not to linger in the guilty city, so we are to let no earthly interests arrest our flight,–not to turn back, but promptly and resolutely to flee unto the everlasting hills. As they should pray that their flight through the mountains should not be in the winter, so should we beware of needing to seek salvation in the winter of the soul, when the storms of passion and appetite are wildest, when evil habits have made the road slippery under foot, and sophistry and self-will have hidden the gulfs in a treacherous wreath of snow.
Heedfulness, a sense of surrounding peril and of the danger of the times, is meant to inspire us while we read. The discourse opens with a caution against heresy: “Take heed that no man deceive you.” It goes on to caution them against the weakness of their own flesh “Take heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up.” It bids them watch, because they know not when the time is. And the way to watchfulness is prayerfulness; so that presently, in the Garden, when they could not watch with Him one hour, they were bidden to watch and pray, that they enter not into temptation.
So is the expectant Church to watch and pray. Nor must her mood be one of passive idle expectation, dreamful desire of the promised change, neglect of duties in the interval. The progress of all art and science, and even the culture of the ground, is said to have been arrested by the universal persuasion that the year One Thousand should see the return of Christ. The luxury of millenarian expectation seems even now to relieve some consciences from the active duties of religion. But Jesus taught His followers that on leaving His house, to sojourn in a far country, He regarded them as His servants still, and gave them every one his work. And it is the companion of that disciple to whom Jesus gave the keys, and to whom especially He said, “What, couldest thou not watch with Me one hour?” St. Mark it is who specifies the command to the porter that he should watch. To watch is not to gaze from the roof across the distant roads. It is to have girded loins and a kindled lamp; it is not measured by excited expectation, but by readiness. Does it seem to us that the world is no longer hostile, because persecution and torture are at an end? That the need is over for a clear distinction between her and us? This very belief may prove that we are falling asleep. Never was there an age to which Jesus did not say Watch. Never one in which His return would be other than a snare to all whose life is on the level of the world.
Now looking back over the whole discourse, we come to ask ourselves, What is the spirit which it sought to breathe into His Church? Clearly it is that of loyal expectation of the Absent One. There is in it no hint, that because we cannot fail to be deceived without Him, therefore His infallibility and His Vicar shall forever be left on earth. His place is empty until He returns. Whoever says, Lo, here is Christ, is a deceiver, and it proves nothing that he shall deceive many. When Christ is manifested again, it shall be as the blaze of lightning across the sky. There is perhaps no text in this discourse which directly assails the Papacy; but the atmosphere which pervades it is deadly alike to her claims, and to the instincts and desires on which those claims rely.