Cancer Blog #94
By Brian Zimmerman
Begun on July 31, 2021
Email: dyingman1@yahoo.com
My Dying Words
Entry #94– What Season is It?
October 23, 2023
[Mar 13:28] 28 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.”
This verse is part of a discourse by Jesus in response to the disciples’ question about the timing of the second coming Their query is really one of only of a date: “when will these things be…”?(vs.4), to which Jesus ultimately replies: no one knows, not even Me; only the Father knows. But, I would like us to focus on a different part of His answer. Regardless of whether the Second Coming is soon or many years from now, Jesus includes a word telling us what should be more important than being given a date – which we do not and cannot know – but rather the nature of the coming. Jesus says that whatever signs may indicate that the second coming is near, what we should focus on is what is near: “you know that summer is near.”
What we should be looking for is not just a specific day or hour, but rather the arrival of a season. We live now in a fallen world, broken in so many ways: full of sickness, sorrow, pain, suffering, but especially death. If what we are awaiting is the season of summer, then what we are living in is a different season altogether. I would describe it as winter. And especially for someone like me, the current season, even on a summer day, may feel as if I’m living in winter: bleak, gray, sad. I believe I’m in good company, as that was the season chosen by C.S. Lewis for his book, “The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” in which the land where the children traveled was always in winter (and never Christmas).
The end for each of us in this age is a winter ending, an inescapable end of the coldness of death. It is indeed a stark conclusion, departing from loved ones as well as brothers and sisters in the Lord. It leaves behind a sad and depressing feeling as we judge the end of our lives and even the popular belief about the end of the world. It is no wonder that there are many in Western culture now who decline to bring children into such a hopeless closing. And yet, Jesus here lifts our hearts, for what we as believers await is not a seemingly endless winter season, but the anticipation of something wonderful – the arrival of summer. The cold and barren wind gives way to a warm and encouraging breeze that carries with it the scent of new life. It reminds me of stories I’ve read of sailors who have survived harsh, bitterly cold storms in rounding the horn who finally enter warmer regions. They see land birds flying overhead and smell the fragrance of plants growing. There grows within them the hope of finally reaching shore. It is no wonder then that one fruit of the Holy Spirit is joy, for that is what Jesus is offering us in this age. It is a fruit that we should and can cultivate more. We have the hope of this word from Jesus, that there will be not only an end to the winter of this age, but the arrival of summer, the season of new life, of abundance, of healing, of comfort, of rejoicing and love forevermore.
Whenever, then, you feel the bitter bite of the winter season in your soul, whenever you feel that it will never end and is full of endless days of cold and separation from others, reflect on this phrase: “summer is near.” Winter will not always reign; summer is surely on its way. The signs of its approach are sometimes great and sometimes small, but they are there, if we but look. And, in that season we will live with Jesus and with our brothers and sisters who will come from all lands and tribes, and we will live together forever. Let that thought warm your heart and bring hope and joy as well as give you strength to endure the winter of this age. “Summer is near…”