I love the readings at the end of the church year: they turn so apocalyptic!

Remembering Christ's first coming during our observance of Advent and Christmas, we keep our eye out for Christ's second coming.

Depending on the cycle, then, the Gospel selections for the end of the church year could be the so-called "mini-apocalypses" either from Mark or Luke, or Matthew 25.

Curiously, we do not read Matthew 24, except on the optional memorial of the First Martyrs of the Church of Rome on June 30th.

Anyway, it's just a nice bit of Scripture, Mark 13:

Jesus said to his disciples:
"In those days after that tribulation
the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from the sky,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

"And then they will see 'the Son of Man coming in the clouds'
with great power and glory,
and then he will send out the angels
and gather his elect from the four winds,
from the end of the earth to the end of the sky.

"Learn a lesson from the fig tree.
When its branch becomes tender and sprouts leaves,
you know that summer is near.
In the same way, when you see these things happening,
know that he is near, at the gates.
Amen, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away
until all these things have taken place.
Heaven and earth will pass away,
but my words will not pass away.

"But of that day or hour, no one knows,
neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father."

And I happened to be reading from Bart Ehrman's book, Misquoting Jesus, last night to my husband.

Dr. Ehrman tells of a careful biblical scholar from the early 18th century who had pinned down the date of Jesus' return.

The scholar dealt with the passage (above) on no one knowing the day or the hour by saying that Jesus' words apply only to his immediate audience of disciples, on that side of his Resurrection. According to this 18th century scholar, Jesus' faithful followers in possession of the completed word of God could figure out the date of Jesus' return!

My husband's reaction to that deranged notion was simple: "WHAT?!"