Flashback Episode — Preparing for His Return: Mark 13:24-31

During the week leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion, one evening, several of Jesus’ disciples approach Him wanting to know more detail surrounding His return. While Jesus shared several chapters worth of material about this event, including several parables, one piece of Jesus’ description has stood out to me as being more fascinating than most of the other details.

With that said, let’s look at how Jesus describes His return from the gospel of Mark, chapter 13, starting in verse 24, and we will be reading from the New International Version:

²⁴ “But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

²⁶ “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷ And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸ “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ²⁹ Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰ Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

While it would be very tempting to focus in on how Jesus finished this portion of His teaching, the portion of Jesus’ message that is most fascinating is the description Jesus shares in the second portion of verse 24 and in verse 25:

^24b “the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
²⁵ the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

This is how Jesus describes His return. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus says in chapter 21, verse 26 that, “People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.” (Luke 21:26)

Ever since Jesus spoke these words, Bible scholars have wondered and speculated over the event Jesus describes. Those familiar with the Old Testament would have recognized similarities between Jesus’ description to these disciples and God’s words to/through the prophet Isaiah when He describes the sun darkening, the moon not shining, stars falling, and the heavenly bodies being shaken. Isaiah’s description is of the great day when God brings punishment onto the sinners of the world. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jesus took Isaiah’s imagery about the day of judgment and applied it to His return.

It is also interesting that scholars have speculated over whether Jesus’ words in His description describe separate events that will happen close to when He returns, or whether the four things Jesus describes will happen together at the exact time of His return.

I’ll be the first to say that I haven’t studied this passage out as well as other people have. Since I don’t know Greek and cannot pick up on the nuances of the language, I am left with the various English translations present today. Most of these translations, if not all, seem to describe a quick sequence of events that happen following the end of the distress of God’s people. If I were to choose the most likely timing for understanding this description, I would presume that it happens at the exact time of Jesus’ return – like the rolling out the carpet before the limo’s door opens to reveal who is inside. While there might be a slight delay following these events before Jesus appears, I would suspect that they are part of one continuous process and not broken into separate distinct events.

With all that we know about the universe, I wonder if the descriptions Jesus shares regarding the sun, the moon, the stars, and the heavenly bodies are to be understood from our perspective. The universe is huge, and while God could sweep it aside with His little finger, I wonder if the description in our passage is really describing what will happen from earth’s perspective as Jesus returns.

Describing Jesus’ return, Revelation, chapter 1 verse 7 tells us that “every eye will see Him”. While it seems obvious to say, everything I have witnessed tells me that our earth is round, specifically a large sphere orbiting our sun in space. Under normal circumstances, at most half of the earth is visible at any point in time. This is evident that half of the earth is visible to the sun and experiencing day, while the opposite half of the earth is invisible to the sun’s light and experiencing night.

However, Jesus’ return is described in Revelation, chapter 1 verse 7, saying that “every eye will see Him”. Just like the sun cannot see all parts of the earth at the same time, with the earth the way it is right now, Jesus would have to fly through the sky to all parts of the earth for every eye to see Him. Or Jesus would have to be present in multiple places at once for every eye to see Him. Or God would have to do something drastic and miraculous to allow for every eye to see Him.

Some people today might say that every eye seeing Jesus’ return would be easy with how the world is connected with technology and cameras being present everywhere. I won’t deny this possibility, but my thought regarding this angle of understanding Jesus’ return places this interpretation as being more likely something an impostor would use to imitate Jesus appearing rather than something Jesus would actually need to use. Our understanding of Revelation’s description of Jesus’ return should not depend on technology because none of Jesus’ other miracles depended on anything our world today would consider as technology.

Instead, I wonder if the description Jesus shares in this verse about the sun, moon, stars, and heavenly bodies going dark, moving, and being shaken, is really a description of God unwrapping the earth’s crust from its core. God, being all powerful, could keep our atmosphere intact and gravity in place throughout this process, and once the world has been unwrapped, it will face away from our sun, block the moon from receiving light and be faced towards Jesus’ return, so that every eye will be able to see His return.

For those alive on earth, a process this extreme would feel like an earthquake of epic proportions, and as the earth moved, stars would streak across the sky, and the heavenly bodies would appear to move as well. The sun would end up somewhere behind the earth’s surface, and the moon, if visible in the sky, would be blocked from getting any sunlight similar to what happens during an eclipse. During this process, every star and planet will be streaking across the sky, and as the earth reshapes, our atmosphere will collide with satellites and other orbiting debris causing plenty of shooting stars, or as some people call them “falling stars”.

I will be the first to say that this is pure speculation, and one way of interpreting the details that Jesus describes. While Jesus’ return may be completely different than this, the way I described this as far as I can tell fits all the facts that Jesus described surrounding His return.

The most important detail for us to take away from this discussion is not that anything I described is to be understood as exactly how Jesus’ return will happen. Instead, the most important detail for us to take away from this is that Jesus will return, that He will keep us safe for eternity, and that He will never forget about us.

More than we can imagine, God wants to take us home with Him, and regardless of how the details Jesus described actually happen, what comes after Jesus appears is more important. After Jesus returns in the clouds, He sends out His angels to gather His people, and we return home to be with Him!

As we come to the end of our podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally seek God first in your life. Don’t wait for disaster to happen before deciding to turn to God. While it might sound morbid or cliché, it is true that we have no guarantee that we will live to see the time of His return instead of being resurrected on the day Jesus returns. Because of this, today is the most important day for making your decision for God.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself in order to learn and grow closer to God. While authors, bloggers, speakers, pastors, or even podcasters have ideas that they share, never let your relationship with God depend on another person. Instead, study the Bible for yourself and grow personally closer to God each and every day!

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or abandon where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!