Jesus has just finished describing the coming of the kingdom of God, and recognises that even on such a momentous occasion the despondency and complacency that runs through the people may mean that they miss this event, and fail to do what is necessary to bring about the changes required. This complacency, or perhaps it is sheer weariness, is echoed later in the story of the disciples sleeping while Jesus awaits his arrest.¹ Jesus, in his quest to bring the kingdom to earth is up against two quite different enemies, the fear and ignorance of the authorities on the one hand and the discouragement and hopelessness of the common people. The first, Jesus is well equipped to take on with his quick wit and deep understanding of scripture; the second he feels more powerless towards, can only warn and beseech, and as it turns out, to little avail.

Today, most of us are those despondent, compliant people. We see it in the world in general where these past few years we have let more and more of our freedoms be eroded with barely a murmur of protest. I see it most clearly, in microcosm, in the corporate space. We are stagnating, and in need of a corporate revolution, which a few brave souls here and there are attempting to initiate. Many talk of "transformation", but without revolution, without some kind of a breakdown any change is likely to be fragile, insipid and easily reversed because we are all still half asleep, complacent, and comfortable in the status quo. Perhaps this is why very few (so-called) agents of change have actually witnessed any real, meaningful, persistent change in the corporate world. It is not that we are fearful, but that we are comfortable. Comfort is the true opposite of courage, the one thing that will always prevent us from taking action where action is needed. Comfort leads to complacency, and finally to sleep. Hence Jesus' call, repeated again a few verses later:

And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.²

¹ Mark 14:32-42
² Mark 13:37