In the Gospel passage today, Jesus tells His disciples what they might expect from the end of time. He begins by warning them of the sun, moon, and stars fading away and the earth falling apart. But Jesus assures his disciples that He will come again to find and gather up those who were faithful to Him.
Jesus then relates these events to the changing seasons, specifically when spring turns to summer. He explains that when one sees leaves begin to grow again on fig trees, then one knows to expect summer soon. In the same way, Jesus warns His disciples to be attentive to events that might signal the end of time, to know that when the world is collapsing, He will soon come again.
Jesus means for His disciples to understand that the aspects of the world we are familiar with will one day pass away. Material things are temporary, but God remains constant. While this is a truth as true as any in the Gospel, it can be difficult to apply such larger concepts to our daily lives. But one of the final lines of the passage helped me to relate more deeply: “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” I feel as though throughout my day, I am often wrapped up in small worries. I seldom realize that God, in His wisdom, probably sees these frustrations as just simple problems in the grand scheme of my life. After all, much of what I’m worried about will “pass away” in the end (or I may even forget about it tomorrow). My strongest focus should be the plan Jesus has laid out before me, the long road, the words that “will not pass away.”
As people of faith, we understand that we cannot see the world entirely from God’s understanding and perspective. But bearing in mind that many of our present concerns are small in the face of His larger plans for us, we can view our everyday frustrations through a different lens. Instead of dwelling upon each small obstacle in our way, we can instead place them in God’s trust, acknowledging that while they will all pass away, He remains.
