This week's gospel text is from the thirteenth chapter of Mark which, together with Matthew 24 and Luke 21, is often called the "Little Apocalypse." The whole chapter is full of apocalyptic imagery and predictions borrowed from the Old Testament. The texts cited this week are drawn from the second major section of eschatological discussions (vss. 24-37), set apart by its shift in time frame.

Verses 24-27 are taken from images foretold in Joel 2:10, Isaiah 13:10 and 34:4, Daniel 7:13, Deuteronomy 30:3 and Zechariah 2:10. Jesus skillfully weaves all these various strands into one powerful and evocative vision. The quaking cosmos is the only definitive sign Jesus articulates - no other particular disasters are predicted, no specific names dropped. Indeed Jesus' use of the name "Son of Man" (h…