Mk. 13:25. Stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.
Mk. 13:26. Then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with great power and glory. The Lord finished His discourse about Jerusalem; next He begins to speak about the coming of the Antichrist. The word "then" should not be understood as meaning that when the above-mentioned things concerning Jerusalem begin to be fulfilled, then do not believe if someone says to you, "Behold, here is Christ"; but know that this is a particular characteristic of Scripture. Thus, the evangelist Matthew, having spoken of the Nativity of Christ, says, "In those days John comes" (Mt. 3:1). In what days? In those which immediately followed the Nativity of Christ? No, but indefinitely. So here too Christ says: then do not be deceived, that is, not at the time when Jerusalem will be devastated, but at the time of the coming of the Antichrist. Do not be deceived, He says, for many will call themselves by the name of Christ, in order to lead astray even the elect. And upon the coming of the Antichrist, all creation will be changed: the stars will grow dark from the superabundance of Christ's light, and the angelic powers "will be shaken," that is, they will be horrified, looking upon such an upheaval in the world and seeing their fellow servants being judged. And then they will see the Lord as the Son of Man, that is, in the flesh, for what is visible in Him is His body. But although He will come both in the body and as the Son of Man, nevertheless it will be "with great power and glory."
Mk. 13:27. And then He shall send His Angels and shall gather His elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
Mk. 13:28. From the fig tree learn this parable: when its branches become tender and put forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
Mk. 13:29. When you see these things coming to pass, know that it is near, even at the doors.
Mk. 13:30. Truly I say to you: this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
Mk. 13:31. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away. Do you see that the Son also sends the Angels, just as the Father does? Where then are those who say that He is not equal to God the Father? The Angels will come then in order to gather the elect, who, having been caught up on the clouds, will in this manner meet the Lord. And what I say, the Lord continues, you can understand from the example of the fig tree. Just as the fig tree, having covered itself with leaves, shows that the harvest is near, so too after the sorrowful time of the Antichrist, the second coming of Christ will immediately follow, which for the righteous will be exactly like the harvest after winter, and for sinners — winter after the harvest. "Truly I say to you: this generation shall not pass away," that is, the generation of the faithful or of Christians, "until all these things come to pass" – everything said concerning Jerusalem and the coming of the Antichrist. The Lord speaks here not of the apostolic generation, for the apostles will not continue living until the end of the world: many of them did not even live to see the destruction of Jerusalem. Therefore, by "this generation" He here means the Christian generation, thus comforting the apostles, lest they think that amid such grievous calamities the faith might perhaps utterly fail. The Lord says: take courage, the generation of the faithful shall not pass away nor shall it fail. Sooner shall heaven and earth, those seemingly unshakable elements, pass away than My words fail to be fulfilled in anything, for all that I have said shall come to pass.
Mk. 13:32. But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the Angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Mk. 13:33. Watch, be vigilant, pray, for you do not know when the time will come.
Mk. 13:34. It is like a man going on a journey, who left his house and gave his servants authority, and to each one his own task, and commanded the doorkeeper to keep watch.
Mk. 13:35. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming: in the evening, or at midnight, or at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning;
Mk. 13:36. Lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping.
Mk. 13:37. Watch! What I say to you, I say to all: Be vigilant. Wishing to restrain the disciples from curiosity about the last day and hour, the Lord says that neither the Angels nor the Son know of this. If He had said, "I know, but I do not wish to reveal it to you," then He would have grieved them. But now, when He says that neither the Angels nor I know, He acts most wisely and completely restrains them from the desire to know and to pester Him. You can understand this from an example. Small children, seeing something in their fathers' hands, often ask them for it, and if the fathers do not wish to give it, the children, not receiving what they ask for, begin to cry. In such a case, fathers usually hide the thing held in their hands and, showing the children their empty hands, restrain them from tears. So also the Lord, dealing with the apostles as with children, hid the last day from them. Otherwise, if He had said, "I know, but I will not tell you," they would have been grieved that He did not wish to tell them. But that the Lord knows about the last day and hour is obvious, for He Himself created the ages. How then could He not know what He Himself created? Moreover, for our benefit God has hidden the end of life, both of the common life and of each of us individually, so that we, in the uncertainty of this end, might ceaselessly strive, expecting it and fearing lest it find us unprepared. But let us also consider what is said from another perspective. Evening signifies the end when someone dies in old age; midnight, when someone reaches the middle of life; cockcrow, when reason begins to unfold in us, for the cock signifies reason, which awakens us from the sleep of unconsciousness, and therefore, when a youth begins to exercise reason and to understand, then the cock, as it were, crows in him. Finally, morning signifies the very earliest age of childhood. Thus, all must think about the end of life. Even if there is an infant, care must be taken for it, lest it die unbaptized. The Lord commands this to all in general — both to people in the world and to hermits. Therefore, we must watch and pray, fulfilling both the one and the other, for many, although they watch, spend the nights not in prayer but in wicked deeds. Note also that Christ did not now say, "I do not know when the time of the end will come," but "you do not know," for He hid this time for our benefit. If even in the uncertainty of the end we are hostile toward one another, what would we not have done if we knew the time of the end? Then we would spend all the time of life until death in exceedingly wicked deeds, and on the last day, expressing repentance, we would fall into an even worse state.