Scripture Study for

Thirty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Understanding the Word

By Dianne Bergant, C.S.A.

Today’s apocalyptic scene is part of the revelation granted to the prophet  Daniel. It depicts the final struggle at the end of time and the subsequent resurrection to a life of horror or one of glorification. The distress is probably that  final tribulation that will come to pass before the appearance of the final reign of  God. Known as the “birth pangs of the messiah,” the agony preceded the birth  of the reign of God. Daniel is told that those whose names appear in the book  (the Book of the Righteous) will be spared. They may have to endure the agony  of the endtime, but they will escape ultimate destruction. 

This explanation of the unique sacrifice of Christ re-interprets an understanding of the Jewish practice of sin offering. The singular status of Jesus the priest  and the inestimable value of Jesus the victim set his sacrifice apart from all others. Total and complete expiation has been accomplished through him. There is  no need for Jesus to stand and offer another sacrifice. Therefore, he takes his seat  next to God in glory. Jesus has decisively expiated all sin and conquered all evil.  He has been able to accomplish what the sacrificial system of Israel, despite its  preeminence, has been unable to achieve. 

Mark describes the character and appearance of the end of time through allusions to earlier apocalyptic traditions. Chief among them are the reference to the  tribulations that precede the advent of the new age and the coming of the Son of  Man in the clouds. Cosmic occurrences will accompany the distress that will take  hold of the world. The coming of the Son of Man in the clouds, an allusion to the  mysterious figure found in the book of Daniel (7:13), heralds the advent of the  new age. The exact time of the coming of the new age is shrouded in mystery. The  lesson to be learned from all this: Be prepared!

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