NOTES for Mat 24:27-33
In Russian, the word “apocalypse” is associated with something terrible, with an immense global catastrophe, a worldwide cataclysm. Indeed, the apocalyptic scenes depicted in the Bible make a powerful impression on our minds. But we must not surrender ourselves entirely to these impressions, remembering the measure of optimism contained in them. It is no accident that, in the passage considered today, the Lord compares the End Times with summer, the most favorable season, using the example of the fig tree putting forth its leaves. Yet it will still be a trial. Theophan the Recluse writes: “One must conduct oneself as a student awaiting an examination does: whatever he may be doing, the examination never leaves his mind; such remembrance does not permit him to waste a single minute, and he uses all his time to prepare for the examination.”