Word Of God Is Immortal

𝐍𝐎𝐕. 𝟐𝟖, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐘 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐑𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄    

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈: 𝐃𝐚𝐧 𝟕:𝟐-𝟏𝟒  

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐃𝐚𝐧 𝟑:𝟕𝟓-𝟖𝟏 "𝐆𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦!"   

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐋𝐊 𝟐𝟏:𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟑     

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚.” (𝒗. 33)

          After a series of earth-shaking narratives in the last two weeks when we heard Jesus Christ warning us of the need to prepare for the end times, Our Lord sobered up a bit in today’s Gospel in 𝐋𝐤 𝟐𝟏:𝟐𝟗-𝟑𝟑 and here we are ushered into a parable on the natural cycle of the fig tree and all other types of trees from the dry and wet season in tropical countries and from summer, fall, spring to winter in countries with four seasons.

         We might think that this it is just one of those natural orders of things but there is still an eschatological dimension to this gospel reading in that life is also a cycle as with the trees that Jesus used as an illustration.

         In life man dies and a new life is brought into the world. And like how we nurture the trees and plants so they may grow and bear fruit, life is also like that. How our life turns out to be will pretty much depend on how we live and the goals that we pursued in life.

         The other reality hidden in this parable is the need for us to remain focused on God and His Words that are essential to living a fruitful life. What Jesus is trying to impress upon his disciples and what he is trying to drum up in our heads today is that all things will pass away but His Words will never pass away - meaning that the Word was with God from the beginning of time, the same Word that became incarnate and dwelt among us (𝐉𝐧 𝟏:𝟏𝟒) will never pass away.

         There are at least two conceptions in today’s Gospel reading that relates to the second coming of Jesus Christ. The Stoics in the ancient times believe that history is circular and that every three thousand years the world will be consumed by a great conflagration and that history will repeat itself.

        What this means is that history wasn’t’ going anywhere. However, the Christian concept of history is related to a definitive goal and that goal is none other than Jesus Christ who was, is and will be the Lord of all.

        The other aspect of today’s Gospel which is also significant is the need for all of us to be constantly on the watch. This means that as Christians we should not live as if we are in a stationary and settled state, but we must live our lives in a permanent state of expectation. We must as Christians look forward to the certainty that we will all appear in the presence of God and there is nothing that is as thrilling as this.

         Life is all about movement in time and space as we move from childhood to adulthood, from one place to another. Not only that. Our circumstances also change. And these changes can be easy and trouble-free, but it can also be accompanied by frustrations, suffering and pain.

         What Jesus is telling us in the gospel is that life cannot be lived without a goal and that our goal is to live our life in pursuit of eternity. To do this, we as Christians must turn to Jesus and make him the Lord of all that we are and all that we can be. In other words, we must not live in an unchanging environment. We must live in a continuing state of expectation towards a life of eternal bliss.

         This is necessary amidst the convoluted society we are in. As we are exposed to the deepening relativism, secularism and polarization in our current culture today, there is a need for us to draw on our gift of prayer discernment to keep our moral compass pointed to our heavenly destination as we wade through the sea of corruption that creates a big divide in our relationship with God.

         The saving grace is that we have a God who assures us that “𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒎𝒂𝒚 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒚.” (𝒗. 33) As our lives are filled with the lure of material comfort and the danger of being swept by the immoral practices pervading in the world around us Jesus reminds us in the gospel that we have nothing to fear because He will provide us the strength to survive in this dysfunctional world we are in.

         As Jesus communed with the Father from whom He draws his strength, we too can look to Jesus so we can face the world with utmost expectation of an everlasting life. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 - 𝘕𝘰𝘷. 28, 2025)