Mark 13

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple (13:1-2)

If you look back at Mark 12:38-40 where Jesus warns of the Scribes, we only get 3 verses of this.

In the parallel passage in Matthew 23, the entire chapter is devoted to the woes – or judgments cast upon the scribes and pharisees and against Jerusalem

39 verses to be exact

And in Matthew 23:37-38, Jesus says something that helps us with the context here in Mark 13.

He says in Matthew 23:37–38 “37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! 38 See, your house is left to you desolate.”

What house is Jesus talking about?

The temple

So back in Mark 13, Jesus says Mark 13:1–2 “1 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.””

The disciples are looking at the house that Jesus said was going to be left desolate and they say, “Look at these wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings…”

And Jesus responds by saying, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age (13:3-13)

Mark 13:3 “3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,”

Jesus walks out of Jerusalem, across the Kidron Valley, and up the Mount of Olives, sits down with his disciples, and looks back at the temple, and begins to teach them

Mark 13:4 “4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?””

Jesus, you just said that every stone was going to be destroyed - WHEN?

Mark 13:5–8 “5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.”

As we go through this, I want us to follow the way that Jesus speaks, and follow how the disciples would have understood it first, before we move to anything else. Is that fair?

So the first thing I want you to notice is who Jesus is talking to… Jesus says “YOU…”

See that no one leads YOU astray…

And when YOU hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed…

Jesus is speaking to his disciples specifically, not to us primarily.

Mark 13:9–13 “9 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Again, there is a lot here that we could spend hours on, but I want you to remember the big picture because that will help to sort out the details

9 times in verses 9-13 does Jesus say, “YOU.”

So who will be handed over to the councils, and who will be beaten in the synagogues?

It’s the disciples

Now let’s deal with verse 10 - Mark 13:10 “10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.”

Turn to Acts 1:8 “8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.””

Acts 2:14 “14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words.”

So within days of Christ’s Ascension, they were his witnesses in Jerusalem

Acts 8:1–4 “1 And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. 3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. 4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word.”

So the disciples were witnesses in Samaria

Then, at the conversion of Saul, you see the shift in Acts to the Gospel going out from Jerusalem and Samaria to the uttermost parts of the earth…

Acts 10:1 “1 At Caesarea there was a man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was known as the Italian Cohort,”

Acts 11:19–20 “19 Now those who were scattered because of the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except Jews. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who on coming to Antioch spoke to the Hellenists also, preaching the Lord Jesus.”

Acts 14:1 “1 Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish synagogue and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.”

Acts 14:8 “8 Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked.”

Acts 14:24 “24 Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia.”

Acts 16:1 “1 Paul came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek.”

Acts 16:6–10 “6 And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. 7 And when they had come up to Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them. 8 So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. 9 And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 And when Paul had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go on into Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

Paul goes to Corinth, to Ephesus, to Athens and eventually to Rome

The gospel was preached to all nations in Acts, according to how Acts defined it

Mark is talking about the same thing.

But here is the big picture - Jesus is talking to the disciples about what they will endure and what they will encounter

The Abomination of Desolation (13:14-23)

Mark 13:14 “14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.”

Where were Gentiles not allowed to go?

Into the inner courts of the temple

And especially into the Holy of Holies

Well, in 70 AD, the roman army, led by their commander Titus entered Jerusalem carrying idols of their emperor, which they worshiped. They were the abomination that would decimate Jerusalem and the temple

And what does Jesus tell them to do when you see this sign?

Mark 13:14–23 “14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter. 19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.”

Jesus says, when you (disciples) see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, when you see the Roman army entering Jerusalem, flee to the moutains.

This seems counterintuitive

When an army comes, you flee inside the city walls

But Jesus says, leave the city

And what happened in 70 AD?

1.1 million Jews were killed according to Jewish historian Josephus, but the Christians escaped because the heeded the words of Christ.

Now we also need to deal with this tribulation language…

Joel 2:10–11 “10 The earth quakes before them; the heavens tremble. The sun and the moon are darkened, and the stars withdraw their shining. 11 The Lord utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the Lord is great and very awesome; who can endure it?”

The bible uses de-creation language to talk about judgment on God’s people

Phrases like the earth quakes and the heavens tremble - the sun, moon are darkened and the stars stop shining.

Did these things literally happen in the OT?

No, they were figurative language that the prophets used to talk to Israel about their sin and what would happen if they failed to repent

As the true prophet, Jesus is using the same type of language to pronounce judgment on Jerusalem. They have denied the Messiah, they have desecrated God’s temple and judgment is coming.

The Coming of the Son of Man (13:24-27)

Look at verses 24-27i n Mark 13:24–27 “24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”

Now, before your mind immediately jumps to end times… ask yourself this question… Is an immediate jump to the end of the space-time continuum consistent with what Jesus has been telling his disciples up to this point?

I don’t think so.

What about them seeing Jesus coming in the clouds with great power and glory?

That sure sounds like the end…

I want to admit that this is a difficult passage, and anyone that tells you on any side of this debate that it is not is deceiving themselves

Josephus, the historian actually records that in 70 AD, when the roman armies were coming into Jerusalem, there were reports of those who saw chariots in the sky.

Similar to the account of Elisha when the King of Syria sent an army against him.

2 Kings 6:15–17 “15 When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?” 16 He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” 17 Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.”

That’s my take on it, that it is spiritual armies that were present in 70 ad

Now look at Mark 13:27 “27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.”

Again, I don’t think we have to push this to the end times to understand it…

Angel simply means messengers, and even in Revelation, Pastors are referred to as angels - messengers of good news

So we can easily look at this passage as Jesus sending out messengers to gather his elect - that’s what we do every single week.

We preach the Gospel that the elect may be gathered together from every corner of the earth.

The Lesson of the Fig Tree (13:28-31)

Mark 13:28–29 “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.”

We’ve talked a lot about the fig tree - and now Jesus is referencing it and saying, when you see leaves on the fig tree, know that it’s fruit-bearing time…

And when you see these things taking place - the end is near

But what end?

It is the end of the Old Covenant

It is the end of the temple, the end of the sacrificial system with bulls, goats and rams and birds.

Now why, Eric, do you not see this as describing the end of all history?

Because of the next verses…

Mark 13:30–31 “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.”

Jesus is where?

On the Mount of Olives

Talking to whom?

His disciples

And he says THIS generation will not pass away until all these things take place...

Did you know that one of the most common verses that Atheists use against the bible to say that Jesus was a liar is this verse?

Because if you push all of this chapter to the end of history, that generation did pass away and he is a liar.

But, I believe that Jesus told the absolute truth, and that generation did not pass away, but in fact was there when this took place

Heaven and earth will pass away - de-creation language, judgment language, but my words will not pass away..

No One Knows that Day or Hour (13:32-37)

Then Jesus says, Mark 13:32–37 “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.””

How could the Son not know?

His divine nature is omniscient - all-knowing

His human nature is not - his human nature was limited just as we are - yet without sin

So it is a true statement that Jesus did not know the day or hour, according to his flesh

But what is the call for the disciples?

Stay awake - be vigilant

I remember as a kid, I would get home from school with my of my parents still at work and I would have a list of chores that had to be done before they got home.

Now I knew generally when they would get home, but I sure did love to push it, and there were several times where I didn’t do what I was supposed to do - and I missed the deadline

Jesus is telling them, “I’ve told you it will happen in your lifetime… be ready.”

Already, Not Yet

Now with all of the emphasis on Mark 13 already having been fulfilled, I want to clarify -

I do believe that Jesus will come again.

I believe that Revelation and other passages teach that as well.

However, I do not believe that that is what Mark 13 is teaching.

So if that’s the case, how does it apply to us?

Jesus is a truth-teller. He is the great prophet who prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and it happened just as he said it would

Though we’re not looking at the fall of Jerusalem as a future event, our own mortality is similar.

Here’s what I mean, Just as the disciples did not know the date and hour of the destruction, so we do not know the date and hour of our own death.

Therefore, we must be alert, we must be vigilant, we must work the work of ministry as if today was our last day.