Outline Jesus Helps Us Endure to the End based on Mark 13:1-13

I. Endurance is important in life.

II. Read Mark 13:1 and comment. One of the student disciples of Jesus was admiring the outward beauty of the temple in Jerusalem one day. [And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”] (Mark 13:1). One Bible commentator, Joel Marcus, wrote, [The stones were especially impressive in size and beauty. As Geva (“Jerusalem,” 738) notes, they had dressed margins whose “play of light and shade … contributed to the beauty and dramatic appearance of the massive walls,” and some of the surviving stones in the retaining wall (part of which is now visible as the “Wailing” Wall) weigh fifty tons or more; one is forty feet long and weighs approximately three hundred tons! These retaining walls towered more than eighty feet above the roadways that circled the structure, and on the south the highest wall of the Temple reached some one hundred seventy-five feet above bedrock.[1]]

III. Read Mark 13:2 and comment. Mark 13:2 tells us, [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.”] That had to have been a stunning statement to that disciple. If someone admired our county courthouse and said that the courthouse in Sibley would be totally destroyed, we would be shocked too.

IV. Read Mark 13:3-8 and comment. Mark 13:3-4 lets us know, [And as he (Jesus) sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 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.”]

V. Read Mark 13:9-13 and comment. Jesus continued in Mark 13:9-13, “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. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 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. 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. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

Before all of that Jesus would endure extreme pain in our behalf. Jesus would endure for us betrayal and arrest and death on a cruel cross. Jesus would be rejected and killed, not for anything He did wrong, but for all the things we have done wrong. Jesus carried our sins and wrongs to the cross and died in our place. The sacrifice of Jesus brings us forgiveness, mercy, and salvation.

VI. Thoughts about military veterans. We recently observed another Veterans’ Day. Our military veterans had to endure some terrible things. Those fighting in wars had to see things they wish they would have never seen. Still today military veterans are haunted by things that still affect them to the present day. We thank God for our military veterans who served our country in many different ways. We thank God for the blessings we enjoy in America thanks to veterans who did their part in fighting for our country. We pray for our military veterans to endure and to believe the good news of Jesus is for them.

VII. Conclusion. As far as the last days we do not know when Jesus will return visibly again. We endure through the gift of faith in Jesus. God’s gracious favor in Christ helps us endure whatever struggles we face. God’s gracious favor in Christ helps us repent of our sins and trust in the forgiving name of Jesus. God’s gracious favor in Christ helps us to be renewed as we remember our Baptism and the washing away of our sins. God’s gracious favor in Christ helps us receive by faith the very Body and Blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our wrongs and the strengthening of our faith in Him. God’s gracious favor in Christ helps us to endure to the end with hope and joy as we await His final return. Amen.

[1]Joel Marcus, Mark 8–16: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27A, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2009), 868.