09/14/20 – Day 113 – Mark 13-14 incl. The Signs of the Times and the End of the Age
“The bottom of the soul may be in repose, even while we are in many outward troubles; just as the bottom of the sea is calm, while the surface is strongly agitated.” John Wesley
It was only eight weeks ago we read the same topic, Jesus speaking on the “Signs of the Times and the End of the Age.” It was Matthew – Chapter 24. It may seem more recent if you just read my commentary, a late posting just a week or so ago.
Another possibility for naysayers on Ch 13: 24-27: “The second coming of Jesus was a failed prediction. The generation He was speaking to did pass away, but these things haven’t happened.” The explanation? The generation he was speaking to was in the future. I will pick it up from the Q&A section from my Bible: “Just as one who sees the leaves sprouting on a fig tree knows that summer is near, Jesus said that the generation who sees all these signs will also see His return, ‘with great power and glory.’ (In the same way, one who sees his wife in labor will also live to see his newborn child – the events happen in quick succession.”
Another subject – Mark 14: 22-26 – Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday. My footnote reads: “The wine was not his literal blood, which was still in His body. He was referring to it as being symbolic of his blood.” I disagree!; I believe in the doctrine of transsubstantiation, when we participate in this sacrament , we are actually partaking of the body and blood of Christ. (Catholics, both Roman and Eastern Orthodox agree with this and Lutherans believe in consubstantiation, very close)
Is it a mystery? You better believe it! Too hard for the human mind to fully comprehend – absolutely. Do we have to fully comprehend it to be God’s truth? Is this coming from people who assert the infallibility of the Bible, that indeed “all scripture is God breathed!” ?
Ok , let me go for argument sake go with the “symbolic” premise. When we get to John 6 in about four weeks, we can discuss this further. But multiple times, Jesus is so emphatic on “eating My flesh and drinking my blood”, that verse 60 notes: “Therefore , many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying; who can understand it. ” And they walk away. His own disclipes complain, to which he replies, “Does this offend you?”
So answer this for me: “If the sacrament is “symbolic” of His body and His blood, why doesn’t Jesus call them back with: “Hey, guys it is symbolic!” Or even tell his own disciples as he did on other occasions when they were flustered: “it is a parable”. (analogy) Instead , check out verse 66: “From the time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you also want to go away’. ” Does this “symbolic” interpretation make sense in this scene that covers a rather lengthy chapter?
And that is not all, I think I will point out 1 Corinthians chapter 11 in Paul’s admonition to the early Corinthian church as well for even further support for transsubstantiation / consubstantiation.