Stay Awake
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Mark 13:28-37
Mark 13:28-37
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. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 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. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 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. 35 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— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
This Sunday we arrive at the end of the Olivet discourse, a prophetic warning which Jesus delivered to four of His closest friends on the mount of Olives in the week of his death.
The olivet discourse comprises of accurate prophecy concerning the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem and of the coming of the son of man in judgement at the end of the age. There are, as we will see in todays passage, also some elements of this prophecy that are still future for us today.
This passage splits neatly into two sub-parts;
Part 1: verses 28-31 which includes the parable or ‘lesson’ of the fig tree.
Part 2: verses 32-37 which includes another short parable about a land owner who goes away leaving his servants in charge.
Part 1 is concerned with the timing of when ‘all these things’ will take place. ‘All these things’ relate to the events described earlier in the chapter - the abomination of desolation, the signs in the heavens, the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem.
Part 2 on the other hand deals with ‘that day or that hour’ and I believe here that application can be made to the final day of judgement when Christ returns at the end of time.
Certainly the parallel passage in Matthew 24 seems to bear that out.
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. 37 For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, 39 and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. 41 Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. 42 Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. 47 Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know 51 and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
THE DAYS OF NOAH
Jesus says that those final days will be like the days of Noah. In what way? In the sense that people will think the idea of Christ returning in judgement highly improbable, even laughable. The idea of some great global cataclysmic event happening just won’t seem possible in their thinking. They can’t conceive of it. They are consumed with the habits and pursuits of their own little lives - they have no time to think about such wild speculations as Christ’s return; ‘it’s just an old wives tale, it’s just an old religious tale.’
Isn’t that just a picture of the west today? Just as before the flood people went on eating and drinking and never gave a serious thought to Noah’s warnings, so too people today have no time for the warnings of scripture.
But as implausible as a global flood sounded to those on earth in Noah’s day, it happened. And only those aboard Noah’s ark survived it. Implausible as the events described here and in the book of Revelation may sound to many in these days, they will come to pass, and only those who are in Christ shall survive.
So we must STAY awake - not literally, but spiritually.
Ever tried this at a sleepover when you were a kid? Hard!
Keeping these things in the forefront of our minds. Living our life in light of Christ’s return. If we got word that Christ was coming back next Monday what might change in our lives? That is how we are to live.
To be awake is to be watchful:
35 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—
The Romans had four watches of the night - evening, midnight, the rooster crow and the morning. And Jesus mentions each of these four watches as times when He, the master could return.
BE A WATCHMAN
A night watchman had to do several things:
Firstly he had to be awake!
Secondly he had to be vigilant - He had to keep watch for both friends or foes approaching.
He was responsible to raise the alarm if he saw enemies approaching.
Jesus commands not just his apostles, but all to be like night watchmen.
Jesus commands His church to be awake, to have our eyes open to the truth of God’s word. Not blinded by unbelief, not sleeping in the cares of the world, but wide awake.
Jesus commands us to remain vigilant, to be ready, to be prepared. We have to be prepared for his coming. We have to be vigilant, keeping our eyes open for signs of his coming.
Thirdly Christ commands us to warn others of His coming. This is to preach the gospel to those who are asleep!
2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, 3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, 4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. 5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. 6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’
Two errors: We shouldn’t fall into complacency in regards to Christ’s return just because so much time has passed since He spoke these words.
8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Nor should we on the other hand become hyper vigilant and fanatical in seeking out signs of Christ’s return. Hyper vigilance is actually a disability - vigilance is healthy, it keeps you safe. Whereas in hypervigilance the body acts as if it is under threat even if it isn’t, it’s a state of delusion. And this is what comes upon those who go beyond Jesus’s command to stay vigilant, but remain at our post and not go off looking for signs.
Jesus clearly says concerning that day and hour ‘no one knows’. No one knows when it will be! Not some know, not some will know, but no one knows. As soon as people begin to speculate about dates they are in complete denial of what Jesus is saying here.
The history books don’t paint a pretty picture of those who have contradicted Jesus and said ‘I know!’
GETTING IT WRONG
The Watchtower Society, the leaders of the Jehovah’s Witnesses have made multiple predictions of the date of Christ’s return; 1878,1881,1914,1918,1925 and 1975. Each time the prediction failed the WTS would gaslight everyone and reinterpret their prophecy accordingly. In 1975 however they actually apologised to members.
The late Harold Camping, an American evangelist and radio host predicted that judgement day would occur on September 6th 1994. When that didn’t happen he shifted the date to September 29th and then to October 2nd. When those turned out to be wrong did Camping give up and go home? Oh no. He went on and predicted that the rapture would occur on May 21st 2011, followed by five months of plagues on the earth eventually culminating in the destruction of the world on October 21st 2011.
Sadly many people believed Camping, some sold their houses and donated money to Campings ministry. Some left their jobs and gave their lives simply to waiting for that day to arrive. Of course both those dates passed without Christ returning and Camping passed away two years later.
Before his passing Camping acknowledged that what he had done was wrong and that scripture clearly says that ‘no one knows’ when that day will be, only the Father.
New Testament II: Mark (Revised) The Pretense of Knowing Something Unknown
A person does not go wrong when he knows that he does not know something, but only when he thinks he knows something which he does not know.
‘Augustine’
Even Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of the Calvary Chapel denomination made a failed prediction of Christs return predicting the rapture would happen sometime in or around 1981. This was because he believed that the budding of the fig tree spoken of in verse 28 meant the reformation of the nation of Israel - which happened in 1948. He then interpreted ‘this generation’, the generation that would see all these things, as the generation living 40 years after 1948.
But there isn’t any concrete reason why we would interpret the fig tree in verse 28 as being Israel. Certainly the fig tree represented the temple and Jerusalem in Mark 11. But fig trees signify all sorts of other things in scripture. The reference that seems closest to this one appears in song of songs:
13 The fig tree ripens its figs,
and the vines are in blossom;
they give forth fragrance.
Arise, my love, my beautiful one,
and come away.
It’s about a moment in time arriving - the fullness of time. Jesus’s mention of the fig tree here is simply to say - just as when you see the fig tree putting out leaves you know summer is near - so too when you see these things (the abomination of desolation/signs in the heavens) you know that the coming judgement of the son of man is near.
And the generation that would see these things described earlier in the chapter was the generation that Jesus’s listeners belonged to. They saw the destruction of the temple, and Jerusalem, the end of the Jewish age and the judgement that Jesus promised in AD 70.
NOR THE SON
Often enemies of Christian doctrine will quote a verse from this passage in support of their denial of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Because Jesus said not only will we not know the day or hour, but neither do the angels, or the son, but only the Father.
Muslims will quote this verse, JW’s will quote this verse in support of their doctrine that Jesus is not God.
Before we do look at what they claim the text proves, let’s look at what else the text proves: That Jesus is the Son. This isn’t Jesus referring to himself as the son of man here, but the son of God the Father. So immediately this proves what the Qu’ran denies, that God does have a son.
Moreover, we have to take into account that the Bible teaches that Jesus has both a divine nature and a human nature held together in one person; he is both truly God and also truly man.
That we believe and confess
that our Lord Jesus Christ, God's Son,
is both God and human, equally.
He is God from the essence of the Father,
begotten before time;
and he is human from the essence of his mother,
born in time;
completely God, completely human,
with a rational soul and human flesh;
equal to the Father as regards divinity,
less than the Father as regards humanity.
Athanasian Creed
So God the son, chose to limit certain of His attributes by taking on human flesh. He didn’t stop being God for one second, but He did as Philippians says empty Himself and took the form of a servant. We also know that Jesus, according to his human nature learned obedience according to Hebrews 5:8, and that he grew in wisdom, stature and favour according to his human nature. So we can say that according to his human knowledge, Jesus didn’t know the day of his return without concluding that this means He is not God.
We are to understand the ignorance in the most reverent sense, by attributing it to his human nature, and not to the Godhead - Gregory of Nazianzus
After all - what mere man would claim what Jesus claims in verse 31
31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
Christ knew that 2000 years after He spoke those words to four of his followers, they would still be being read and obeyed.
Many have made proud predictions of the demise of Christianity. Thomas Payne the atheist philosopher predicted that within fifty years of the publication of his book ‘the age of reason’ the Bible would be out of print. That was in the 1790’s.
Don’t build your life around the things of this world - they will pass away. Whether people, or wealth, or fame, or success all of these things will pass away. Build your life upon the words of Christ - they will never pass away.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”