Jesus said, “Take care not to be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying,
‘I am he; the time is near at hand!’ Do not follow them. When you hear of wars and troubled times,
don’t be frightened; for all these things must happen first, even though the end is not so soon.”
And Jesus said, “Nations will fight each other and kingdom will oppose kingdom. There will be great earthquakes,
famines and plagues; in many places strange and terrifying signs from heaven will be seen.
REFLECTION:
Verse 15 of the first reading is about the harvest that may include both the righteous
(Matthew 9:37-38; Mark 4:29; John 4:35-38) and the unrighteous (Matthew 13:30, 40-42; also Jeremiah 51:33; Hosea 6:11).
This is a general picture of coming judgment.
While in verse 19 "The winepress of the wrath of God," indicates that this is surely not a mixed harvest,
but stressed the violent carnage of the judgment of the Messiah at his coming
(Revelation 19:11-21; Joel 3:13-14; Isaiah 63:3; Lamentations 1:15).
In the gospel, the disciples see the external adornment, but fail to see the spiritual bankruptcy
behind the facade—the hypocrisy—the oppression the rejection of the Messiah and the Gospel
and the impending death of God’s Son at the hands of the religious authorities.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2020