13:32
It is generally taken that the final section of this chapter refers to the second coming. And I would agree, but I also think we have to admit that our interpretation of chapters such as these does require an element of eisegesis, rather than pure exegesis. We now have “that day”, whereas earlier we had “those days”. In fact on the basis of “those days” one would have to say that 13:24,25 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, which kind of supports my approach of saying it is a mistake to see any of this chapter as referring solely to AD70 or the second coming. Whatever the case, here the key point Jesus is making is that no one knows the day or the hour. So we should not waste time debating when the day or hour will be.
13:33
“Be on your guard”. In 1 Peter 1:13 Peter tells us to be alert and to have minds that are fully sober. And remember that Peter’s recollections probably lie behind much of Mark’s gospel. One might think that if we could work out when the event was going to happen then we would know when we needed to be on our guard. That is not what we are called to do, rather we are called to be alert at all times.
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