I would like to ask you two questions about the so-called “eschatological discourse” reported by the Synoptic Gospels (Luke 21, Mark 13, and Matthew 24)

Dear Father Angelo,

I would like to ask you two questions about the so-called “eschatological discourse” reported by the Synoptic Gospels (Luke 21, Mark 13, and Matthew 24).

In Mark 13:5–9 Our Lord is speaking about what would happen before the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. However, in verse 10 of chapter 13 it is written: “But first the gospel must be preached to all nations.” What is meant here? It is well known that before 70 A.D., the year of the destruction of the Temple, many peoples had not yet been reached by Christian preaching. The passage seems even more obscure if one considers that in Matthew 24:14 it is written: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” — and I presume this refers to the end of the world, not merely to Jerusalem.

In Matthew 24:29 it is said that immediately after the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem (“the tribulation of those days”), the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Saint Augustine, in his Letter 199 to Hesychius, says that these expressions should be understood metaphorically: in reality, they would refer above all to the persecutions that the Church will undergo. In Matthew 24:30 it is then said: “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” According to Saint Augustine, these phrases would not refer to the Parousia, because in Matthew 24:33 it is written: “When you see all these things, know that He is near, at the doors,” and in “all these things” would be included the phrase “they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” suggesting that this phrase is meant to indicate the greater strength that Christ, through His grace, will give to the saints in order to resist future persecutions, thus making His divinity shine forth even more clearly in their eyes. The expression “know that He is near, at the doors” would mean that, after these signs, the end of the world will be “only” near, not imminent.

Saint Augustine’s interpretation seems sensible to me, but a question arises regarding the meaning of that word “near”: it is true that God’s times are not those of men, since God is above time, but why should the word “near” be understood in a strict sense when it speaks of the devastation of Jerusalem (Luke 21:20), and shortly afterward instead in a very broad sense, if not an indeterminate one?

I thank you in advance for any reply. I greet you cordially and remember you in my prayers.

Reply of the Priest

Dear friend,

1.In chapter 13 of the Gospel of Saint Mark, Jesus speaks simultaneously of the end of Jerusalem and of the end of the world.

In the first part, namely from verses 5 to 13, He speaks of the calamities and persecutions to which His disciples will be exposed until the end of the world. Therefore, verse 10 that you cited refers to the approaching end of the world.

From verses 14 to 19 He speaks very specifically of the destruction of Jerusalem.

And since the ruin of Jerusalem is a prefiguration of the final judgment, from verses 20 to 31 He speaks again of the end of the world and of the signs that precede it.

2.As for what we read in Matthew 24:29 — “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken” — depending on whether it is referred to the final coming, it has a literal sense; depending on whether it is referred to another event, it has a mystical meaning.

3.Therefore, two interpretations coexist.

According to the literal interpretation, there will be a great cosmic upheaval that will precede the coming of the Son of Man.

Then what is written in Scripture will be fulfilled: “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him” (Revelation 1:7), and: “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication; they shall look on me, whom they have pierced. They shall mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over Him as one weeps over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

4.With regard to the mystical meaning, Saint Thomas reports the thought of Origen, according to whom “some say that the sun that must be darkened is the devil, who at the end will be refuted, since, although he is darkness, he pretends to be the sun; the moon, which seems to man to be illuminated by the sun, is the whole assembly of the wicked, which often claims to possess and to give light, but then, rebuked for its reprobate doctrines, will lose its splendor; some, moreover, both in doctrines and in false virtues, promising the truth, deceived men with lies; these are fittingly called stars falling from their heaven, as it were, where they had been placed in the heights, exalting themselves against the knowledge of God. As proof of this discourse, let us take the example from Proverbs 4:18, where we read that the light of the righteous is always unextinguishable, whereas the light of the wicked will be extinguished.”

5.For Saint Augustine as well, a mystical meaning is implied. He writes: “The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light” refers to the Church, because the Church will not be visible (non apparebit) on account of the fact that her persecutors will rage against her beyond all measure.(Letter 199 to Hesychius) 

“Then the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, because many who seemed to shine by the grace of God will yield to the persecutors and fall ; and even the strongest among the faithful will be disturbed.”

Wishing you every good, I bless you and remember you in my prayers.

Father Angelo

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