Sacred Scripture # 14
14. When the Lord speaks to his disciples about the close of the age, which is the last time of the church, at the end of his predictions about the sequence of changes of state he says,
Immediately after the affliction of those days the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Humanity will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will wail; and they will see the Son of Humanity coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he will send out his angels with a trumpet and a loud voice, and they will gather his chosen people from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. (Matthew 24:29-31)
[2] Spiritually understood, this does not mean that the sun and moon will be darkened, that the stars will fall from heaven, and that a sign of the Lord will appear in heaven and he will be seen in the clouds accompanied by angels with trumpets. Rather, the particular words are here used to mean spiritual events that have to do with the church, spiritual events about its state at its end. The underlying reason is that in the spiritual meaning the sun that will be darkened is the Lord as an object of love; the moon that will not give its light is the Lord as an object of faith; the stars that will fall from heaven are the knowledge of what is good and what is true that will come to an end; the sign of the Son of Humanity in heaven is the manifestation of divine truth; the tribes of the earth that will wail are a complete lack of true belief and of good actions that come from love; the coming of the Son of Humanity in the clouds of heaven with power and glory is the Lord’s presence in the Word, and a revelation - the clouds being the literal meaning of the Word and the glory being the spiritual meaning of the Word. The angels with a trumpet and a loud voice mean heaven as our source of divine truth; and the gathering of the chosen people from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other, means a new kind of church, specifically its love and faith.
[3] It is obvious from the prophets that this does not mean the darkening of the sun and the moon and the falling of the stars to earth, because things like this are said there about the state of the church when the Lord will come into the world. It says in Isaiah, for example:
Behold, the fierce day of Jehovah is coming, a day of blazing wrath. The stars of the heavens and their constellations will not shine their light. The sun will be darkened in its rising, and the moon will not make its light shine. I will execute judgment upon the world for its malice. (Isaiah 13:9-11; 24:21, 23)
In Joel,
The day of Jehovah is coming, a day of darkness and gloom; the sun and the moon will be darkened and the stars will withhold their light. (Joel 2:1-2, 10; 3:15)
In Ezekiel,
I will cover the heavens and darken the stars. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. I will darken all the bright lights and bring darkness upon the land. (Ezekiel 32:7-8)
The day of Jehovah means the Coming of the Lord, which happened when there was no longer anything good or true left in the church, and there was no knowledge of the Lord.
Matthew 20
1
"For the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who was the master of a household, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.
2
When he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.
3
He went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace.
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To them he said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went their way.
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Again he went out about the sixth and the ninth hour, and did likewise.
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About the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle. He said to them, 'Why do you stand here all day idle?'
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"They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' "He said to them, 'You also go into the vineyard, and you will receive whatever is right.'
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When evening had come, the lord of the vineyard said to his manager, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first.'
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"When those who were hired at about the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius.
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When the first came, they supposed that they would receive more; and they likewise each received a denarius.
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When they received it, they murmured against the master of the household,
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saying, 'These last have spent one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat!'
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"But he answered one of them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Didn't you agree with me for a denarius?
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Take that which is yours, and go your way. It is my desire to give to this last just as much as to you.
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Isn't it lawful for me to do what I want to with what I own? Or is your eye evil, because I am good?'
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So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few are chosen."
17
As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them,
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"Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death,
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and will hand him over to the Gentiles to mock, to scourge, and to crucify; and the third day he will be raised up."
20
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, kneeling and asking a certain thing of him.
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He said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Command that these, my two sons, may sit, one on your right hand, and one on your left hand, in your Kingdom."
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But Jesus answered, "You don't know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to him, "We are able."
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He said to them, "You will indeed drink my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with, but to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it is for whom it has been prepared by my Father."
24
When the ten heard it, they were indignant with the two brothers.
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But Jesus summoned them, and said, "You know that the rulers of the nations lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
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It shall not be so among you, but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant.
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Whoever desires to be first among you shall be your bondservant,
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even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
29
As they went out from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.
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Behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, "Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!"
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The multitude rebuked them, telling them that they should be quiet, but they cried out even more, "Lord, have mercy on us, you son of David!"
32
Jesus stood still, and called them, and asked, "What do you want me to do for you?"
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They told him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened."
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Jesus, being moved with compassion, touched their eyes; and immediately their eyes received their sight, and they followed him.
