After disaster, hope
Reflection on a reading from today's Church of England Lectionary. 24 September 2021. Mark 13: 24 - the end
Having indicated the trouble that the disciples and the world will have, Jesus gives them, and us, hope for our future. After all the death and destruction Jesus says that he will come again with his angels and gather all those who follow him. He assures us that although the heavens and the earth will be no more but his words will last forever.
Jesus doesn't say when all of this will happen. The disciples may have the impression that the timescale will be short. They would have had no sense that two thousand years later Christians would still be reading those words. But what we do know is that after the death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus we have the assurance that those who hear, believe and act on his word will be where he is.