Ian Paul

Ian Paul is a theologian, writer and speaker. Associate Minister at St Nic's, Nottingham and Honorary Lecturer at the University of Nottingham. Mac user and chocoholic. Ian Paul on Google+

Is the ‘coming’ of Jesus in Mark 13 all about the end of the world?

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With the turn of the lectionary year, next Sunday we are in the first Sunday of Advent in Year B, and our gospel reading of Mark 13.24–37 plunges us straight into the questions around the anticipation of Jesus’ return at The End. (It is worth noting that there is no compelling (theo)logical reason why this should be connected with Christmas. The incarnation is described in terms of God’s coming to his people in the person of Jesus, for example in the opening of Mark or the Benedictus in Luke 1; but the return of Jesus at the end to complete the work of the kingdom of God, and finally unite heaven and earth, is never described as the ‘Second Coming’ in the New Testament, and instead  is consistently paired with the Ascension rather than the incarnation.)

Our passage comprises the two closing sections of Mark 13, which is parallel to the first part of Matt 24 and is known as either the Olivet Discourse (since it is set on the Mount of Olives) or the Little Apocalypse, because there are connections in structure and language with parts of the Book of Revelation. It is striking that, where the parable of the sower in Mark 4 (which seems relatively straightforward to the modern reader) provokes expressions of puzzlement and prompts a request for explanation by the disciples, this teaching seems to be received with perfect comprehension—whilst it leaves us baffled and confused. This should sound a warning note to the contemporary reader!

There are three main ways this has been read:

1. The ‘traditional’ approach, which goes back at least as far as Jerome in the fourth century, that this is primarily about the ‘end of the world’ though with specific predictions about the destruction of the temple mixed in.

This has a number of problems to it:

Is there an analogy between divorce-and-remarriage and same-sex marriage?

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Ann Onymous writes: The journey to remarriage following a divorce is necessarily a painful one. Although it is now something of a trope (with increasing divorce rates and newspapers reporting on more and more celebrities and politicians who are on their third or fourth marriage) that marriage is beginning to be seen as something temporary, something … Continue Reading

The not-parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25

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The gospel reading in the lectionary for the last Sunday before Advent (now known as ‘Christ the King’) is Matthew 25.31–46, the so-called ‘parable of the sheep and the goats’. But it isn’t actually a parable (since there is no suggestion that ‘the kingdom of heaven is like this’), and isn’t really about sheep and goats … Continue Reading

The ‘parable’ of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 video discussion

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The gospel reading in the lectionary for the last Sunday before Advent (now known as ‘Christ the King’) is Matthew 25.31–46, the so-called ‘parable of the sheep and the goats’. But it isn’t actually a parable (since there is no suggestion that ‘the kingdom of heaven is like this’), and isn’t really about sheep and … Continue Reading

Are the Prayers of Love and Faith legal?

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Andrew Goddard writes: Yesterday’s debate at Synod on LLF/PLF raises some important and potential serious issues. These include: The bishops’ refusal to give Synod advice from the Legal Office breaks with precedents The Bishop of London’s statement suggested members had the foundation of the theological and legal basis in GS 2328 but there is a … Continue Reading