The End of the World
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Introduction
Introduction
READ MARK 13
What is Jesus talking about?
We assume he’s talking about the end of the world.
He talks about “the end” coming (7, 13)
The Gospel must first be preached to all nations (10)
“Days of distress will be unequaled” (19)
Dramatic language of sun darkened, etc. (24)
People will see the Son of Man coming in clouds, sending angels to collect
But there are problems:
Topic is the destruction of the Temple
Focus is on Judea (14)
“Going back” doesn’t make sense w/ end of the world (15-16)
This generation will not pass away before it happens (30)
“End of the World” indicators can be addressed:
“The End” is the end of the Temple as competing center of God’s people.
Ancients thought the Gospel had been preached to the whole world.
Dramatic language is taken from prophecies about Fall of Babylon (Is. 13:10) and Edom (Is. 34:4)
The Son of Man doesn’t come to Earth, he comes to heaven. Seeing this means seeing his power vindicated.
Verdict:
Jesus might be talking about the end of the world.
Jesus is definitely talking about the end of the Temple.
What he says can be applied to both, because Jesus is giving them instructions on how to behave as disciples when the sky starts falling.
How should disciples react when the SKY is FALLING?
We are somewhere between the destruction of the temple and the return of Jesus. We may or may not experience his return. But we will definitely experience times when the sky seems to be falling,
Bank account collapsing
Neighborhood changing
Company going out of business
Facing retirement
Losing an election
Those are the times of testing. Human beings do their best and worst things when the sky is falling. We sacrifice ourselves for the good of others, or we sacrifice ourselves for our own good.
Whenever the things we’ve invested our lives in start to crumble, we feel the tug of anxiety. When we mishandle that anxiety, we do terrible things.
Don’t join the PANIC—stay true to the GOSPEL. (v. 5-13)
Jesus describes this time as full of panic:
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.
This is exactly what happened during the Roman wars. There were rumors, fighting, rivalry, distrust. Everyone panicked and blamed each other.
When Jerusalem fell, they were busy fighting each other.
Why are they panicked? Because for them, the fall of the temple is the end of the world.
When we panic, we do terrible things to each other.
Have you ever done something you regretted because of what you thought was at stake?
Unfortunately, the world does not trust people who don’t panic when the sky is falling.
“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them.
Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Christians have faced this ever since.
Conscientious objectors. Cordell Christian College
But if we give into the panic, we undermine our witness. After all, the Gospel is, “God reigns.”
What do we do?
When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.
Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Don’t look for SAVIORS. Look for Jesus being GLORIFIED. (v. 14-27)
Jesus seems to be telling the Christians to run. From what? Mark calls it “the abomination that causes desolation.” Luke calls it:
“When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written.
Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.
Now why would he need to tell them to run away from a siege? Because there will be others telling them not to:
At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Who are these people, these false messiahs?
As the Romans systematically crushed the Jews in Galilee, the refugees ran to Jerusalem. Among them was a man named John of Gischala. He had been in command of the last city standing. When the Romans came to attack, he asked them to wait for the Sabbath. When they agreed, he used the opportunity to abandon the city and leave it to its fate.
When he arrived in Jerusalem, he told everyone that the Romans were weak and incompetent, and that he could defeat the. He convinced the city to fight on, and then tried to set himself up as dictator. Instead he got caught up in a 3-way civil war.
These are the people who are so committed to our temples that they will not let go for anything. they will fight to the death—yours first, then theirs. They can be truly inspiring—but they are claiming to be messiahs.
But we should know that anyone claiming to save us from the falling sky is not representing Jesus. Why? Because Jesus didn’t come to save our skies. He came to defeat them. This is where we dig into the son of man statement:
“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
Clearly this is the return of Jesus, right? Except that every time Jesus mentions the coming of the son of man, he says that the people listening to him will see it.
And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come with power.”
Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
How can that be? Well, let’s look at the context:
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
The Son of Man comes to Heaven, and he comes to reign (after the beast is destroyed). Notice that Jesus is emphasizing sight—they will all see this.
Jesus is not saying that they will all see him return to Earth in their lifetime. He is saying that they will all live to see the proof that Jesus has ascended to rule from Heaven. And what is the proof?
The Temple is the competing claim to Jesus’ leadership. They are opposing Jesus. After the Temple was destroyed, the Jews had to completely reinvent their religion to work without (hope of rebuilding) it.
When the Temple falls, we see the glory of Jesus because we know he reigns. This is why I say,
Don’t look for SAVIORS. Look for Jesus being GLORIFIED.
Because every rival to Jesus must fall eventually. He is the only one who lasts. This is why we follow him.
This doesn’t mean we rejoice that the skies fall in our lives (Yay! My pension is worthless!)
What it means is that we resist the urge to fight for our temples at any cost, and we don’t give ourselves over to anyone who will try to save our temples. We remember that even the falling of our temples brings glory to Jesus.
Finally,
Don’t UNPACK—be ready to LEAVE. (v. 15-16, 28-36)
There is one thing that Jesus says that is explicitly for every possible audience member: “watch!”
Jesus told them that the Temple will fall. He has told us that the world will fall. And everything in-between will fall too.
Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.
“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.
We typically read this as, “make sure you’re saved before Jesus gets back.” That’s not what Jesus is talking about—notice, he’s speaking to his disciples, who already follow him.
What does he want them to be ready to do?
Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out. Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.
DISHMAN HILLS FIRE
Jesus wants them to be ready to run when the sky caves in. Why? Because if they stay behind for their stuff—if they are unwilling to let go of their temples—then they will go down with them.
This is a classic way for a movie villain to end, right? Or Lot’s wife.
Our allegiance to the temples of this world will keep us from moving with Jesus. So don’t unpack. Don’t sink your identity, your values, your roots into things that don’t last. Don’t store your treasure on earth.
TRUST in the KINGDOM that cannot be SHAKEN.
CONCLUSION
This may sound really pessimistic, but only because our world is in denial. The fact that everything passes away is not in question—it is an indisputable fact.
The NEWS here is that there is something eternal to live for instead. People fight for their temples because that is the best they have. We have something better—a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
