When their buds burst open,
you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near;
in the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that the Kingdom of God is near.
The specific "these things" to which Jesus referred included signs in the skies and on earth, the roaring of the seas, and the shaking of the powers of heaven, to the degree that those on earth might die of fright in anticipation of what was to come. But facing these signs was not to make the disciples of Jesus fearful. Rather they were to stand erect and raise their heads, and demonstrate their dignity as followers of the king, and the security their trust in him allowed them to have, even in spite of apparent chaos on all sides. As the leaves of trees indicated that the time for them to bear fruit was near, so too did challenges in life and difficult circumstances indicate it was time for the disciples of Jesus to bear fruit.
Summer implied judgment for those trees that did not bear fruit, like the fig cursed by Jesus. So too did the signs he predicted indicate coming judgment on those in Israel who refused to bear fruit befitting repentance (see Matthew 3:8). This was the judgment that did in fact take place in the lifetime of the generation of those who listened to Jesus. Yet we ought not smugly congratulate ourselves for not being among those who were then judged. Rather, we should look around us at all of the various ways our own world is shaking and imagine these things too are trees beginning to bud, portending the coming of summer, and of judgment. Are we doing our best to ignore these signs? Are we all but dying of fright? Or are we standing erect with our heads raised, meeting the challenges of our times by pursuing the fruits of the Spirit?
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.
We have an anchor amidst the changing vicissitudes of the world. If we cling to the earth below or even the heavens above (with all due respect to those hoping to colonize other distant worlds) we will eventually pass away together with those realities, which are all ultimately temporary. But if our trust is in the words of Jesus, if he is our anchor, and him our firm foundation, than there is no force in the universe that can take us from his hands.
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