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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Mark 13:28 - 13:31
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
The parable of the fig-tree:
v. 28. Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near;
v. 29. so ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.
v. 30. Verily I say unto you that this generation shall not pass till all these things be done.
v. 31. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but My words shall not pass away.
In the matter of the proper state of preparedness against the coming of the Lord the fig-tree is used to teach a lesson. When its branch becomes soft and full of sap, and when its leaves come forth, then men have a sure indication that the entire tree has been influenced by the growing warmth; they know that summer-time is near. And the same degree of watching and drawing conclusions is necessary where the disciples of Christ of all times are concerned. The signs, general and special, which the Lord gave the apostles of the near approach of Jerusalem's doom, ought always to be in their memory, and they ought to heed their first warning. Even so the signs, general and particular, that herald the coming of the last day, are clearly given in the Word of God by Christ Himself. There will be no excuse for not knowing about, the coming of the Judgment and preparing for its advent. And the Lord adds another sign: Verily I say to you that this generation will not pass away till all this come to pass. He meant to say, either that some of the people living at the time of this prophecy would be witnesses of the great judgment which would come upon Jerusalem; or, what is more likely, He referred to the race of the Jews. This people, the nation that had rejected Him, should not cease to be a distinct race of people, separate from all the rest, until Christ's coming in glory would take place! They should remain as a standing testimony and proof of the truthfulness of Christ's words. For, as He says with great emphasis, heaven and earth shall pass away, their physical contents and elements will be destroyed in the fire of that last day, but His words shall not pass away. Amidst the ruin of worlds and the destruction of the heavens His eternal Word will stand unchanged as He. Himself, for it belongs to His essence, it is eternal.