28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.
Comment: Apparently in the original Greek this portion of Mark’s gospel was not two separate ‘paragraphs’. In all the translations into English and one in Korean that I have checked all divide it into two paragraphs, although some divide it at different points! It appears to me that two different subjects must be being talked about or it contains a disagreement. The two phrases which are in the separated two English and Korean paragraphs are – ‘This generation will not pass away until all these things take place’ and ‘But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.’ One has Jesus saying a definite time and the second says that He doesn’t know the ‘when’ of His return, which is known only to God the Father! Theologians who have been known to argue about ‘how many angels could stand on the end of a pin’, no doubt. could fill a book over this ‘two phrase’ matter! For me (and I think for the translators who have divided it into two paragraphs) it is solved by thinking/assuming that there are two subjects being mentioned. The fig tree which which appears in both Matthew’s and Mark’s gospels I think refers to the AD70 Roman crushing of the Jews and their destruction of the temple in Jerusalem; the second paragraph is referring to the time when, in the future, Jesus returns to fulfill the many, both Old and New Testament, referrals to His second bodily return to reign on the earth. The final command ‘Stay awake’ needs no explanation!!!
Romans 13: 11-12 – Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Prayer: Please help me keep faithful in daily service of You and constant preparedness for Your Return, Lord Jesus
As I read it! 