NOTES for Mat 24:27-33

It would seem that today's text is all about fear: fear of being caught in bad occupations at the coming of the Lord and of suffering terrible punishment for that at the Last Judgment. Whole layers of the culture of both Western and Eastern Christianity were built on such an attitude toward these words. But let us think about whether we understand this fear correctly. Let us recall the words from the beginning of the Gospel according to Luke. "And the angel said to them: Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy." The Lord calls us not to fear, but to joy. Still, how then should we understand today's text?

We are all very different. We all have different spiritual, intellectual, and moral levels. At the same time, the word of God is addressed to everyone, and therefore it must be multidimensional, reflecting all the complexity of the structure of human society. The main thing is to be able to read what the Lord is saying personally to you; this is what prayer consists in. For self-confident people, a measure of fear is useful. But there are people whom fear can crush; they are given hope. The Lord knows their sensitivity and gives them the image of the fig tree, by whose leaves we can judge the approach of summer. And then people who seemed weak suddenly gain the strength to rise above any fear, because they begin to understand: "He who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus" (2 Cor 4:13-18).

It is another matter that, to the extent that the history of the Church has been filled with imperfection and sin, human fear was pleasing to its unrighteous servants, because it produced servility, simply subjecting people to their power. But all this is passing. We must always be able to separate what is passing from what is true.