Mark 13 - Watch and Actively Wait

RightNow Media and Howie

I am back

So excited

Vacatabble

We are launching RightNow Media and you should be receiving an email shortly after service. If you do not please let someone know. It will be coming from RightNow Media.

What is it. If you are not familiar it is a library of over 25,000 devotionals and kids programming. It can be used in small groups, solo, virtual groups, and more. If you have ever wanted to lead a group but have been afraid of finding or curating content no worries. You can use videos that come with it our just the outlines and reading plans.

Groups start in about about a month.

With that if you have been interested in leading a group, any type of group talk to Pastor Jesse. RightNow media has plans from addiction, marriage singleness, and so much.

You can also text JCTX to 49775

Also huge thank you to Pastor Howie. The series he just led us on was fantastic and while I was not hear I listened in every week.

I also want to thank all of you for giving Julie and I some much needed time away. It was a huge blessing. Y’all are amazing.

We now continue our series through the Gospel according to Mark, Jesus: Promised and Powerful Messiah. We have a few chapters left and in the next week or so I will be announcing our new fall series.

The Inevitability of Waiting

The Universal Reality: We live in a world defined by waiting. We wait in traffic, in doctors' offices, for news, for healing. Waiting isn't an option—it’s an unavoidable part of human life.

The choice isn't if we will wait, but how. Will we wait with anxiety and impatience, or with active faith?

Because of the content of chapter 13 we will split this message into two parts this morning. What is going on in the text and what we can take away from it.

Context: Jesus steps out of the massive, impressive Temple complex with His disciples.

Jesus is about so say some things that has caused massive divisions in the church over the years. What Jesus lays down here has split churches and divided believers so much. I think there are some things we can pull out of what Jesus is saying as we look towards the end but it should not be things that divide but unite because no matter where we come down on the issue we can never know for sure and we are all waiting for the Lord to return.

It is God’s job to decide the time and it for us to wait in faith.

History & Prophecy: The Near and Far Horizons

Mark 13:1–13 CSB

As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings!” Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another—all will be thrown down.” While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” Jesus told them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. “But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to local courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations. So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

1. Dual Fulfillment: Near & Far

Biblical prophecy often works like looking at a mountain range: two peaks miles apart look like they are right next to each other from a distance.

Near Peak (AD 70): Jesus predicts the literal fall of Herod's Temple—massive stones thrown down during the Roman siege under Titus.

Far Peak (End of the Age): A ultimate, final cosmic destruction and resetting of creation. Mark 13:10 (and Matthew 24:14) shows that before the final end comes, the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.

2. Unrest on Every Scale

There will be unrest on a macro and micro scale. It will be major like nations and small like families.

Mark 13:7–8 CSB

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Macro Scale: "Nations will rise against nation" (v. 8). Wars, rumors of wars, geopolitical upheaval. Some people get all out of shape when they hear about new wars and say the end is coming the end is coming but Jesus just said, “Don’t be alarmed” these things need to happen.

The gas gauge on your car starts to get close to “E” and you panic but that is just a warning that you need more fuel. It is not supposed to cause panic but serve as a warning.

Mark 13:12 CSB

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

Micro Scale: Betrayal inside families, personal conflict, localized tension. This one will hit closer to home but Jesus says don’t worry you, endure. If we stay in a place of panic or worry then it can affect our enduring.

The call is not to panic but endurance.

Mark 13:8 CSB

For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Creation's Groaning and Romans 8:19 tells us this. Earthquakes and famines—the earth itself groaning like birth pains as creation longs for the coming Kingdom. Again natural disasters will happen but they are not meant to be a cause for panic but attention. It is meant to show us that there is unsettling that this world in its current form is not permanent.

3. The Historical Lesson

Mark 13:14 CSB

“When you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be” (let the reader understand), “then those in Judea must flee to the mountains.

This is when things start to get real interesting in the passage. This is where we see some of the immediate fulfillment. We might ask why did Jesus not just say it out for us? I think in part because God sees things differently than we do.

Isaiah 55:8–9 CSB

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

We cannot see from God’s vantage point. Our minds cannot comprehend the way God sees things.

What looks like tangled ball of twine to us is clear to God.

What we do know is that when the Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem in the late 60s AD, early Jewish Christians remembered Jesus’ warning in Mark 13:14. They say the writing on the wall and went “were out.” They did not just abandon their Jewish brothers and sisters though. No they urged the people to come with them.

According to early church tradition (Eusebius), Christians fled across the Jordan River to Pella.

The Historical Shift:

Fleeing Jerusalem during the siege marked a definitive separation between the early Christian movement and traditional synagogue Judaism. They trusted Jesus' warning, acted on His word, and survived.

If you have ever wondered how the split between the Jewish faith and Christian faith happened this was the catalyst. So much of what happens in history after this point is because of this moment.

The Final

Mark 13:24–27 CSB

“But in those days, after that tribulation: The sun will be darkened, and the moon will not shed its light; the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 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.

1. The Gathering of the Elect

Jesus promises a day when the Son of Man returns and gathers His chosen ones.

The "Bus & Ticket" Truth: Eschatological debates (pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib rapture) often consume our energy. But as the old saying goes:

"I don’t know exactly when the bus is coming, but I know I have my ticket."

The gospel message isn't about predicting the exact minute on the clock; it's about being secure in Christ when the moment arrives.

So many false teachers have claimed to know when. They give us dates and tell us to panic but were still here.

If anyone starts to try to get you to panic remember that Jesus said don’t be alarmed, be attentive.

2. Words That Never Pass Away

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away" (v. 31). Everything built by human hands—even gold-covered temple walls—is temporary. Only God's Word endures.

Isaiah 40:8 CSB

The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God remains forever.”

We have a sure rock that we stand on. Jesus is that rock and He is sure and stable.

How Do We Wait?

Impatient Waiting vs. Patient Waiting

Waiting passively makes us anxious, irritable, and reactive.

Scriptural calls to wait on the Lord:

Psalm 27:14 CSB

Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart be courageous. Wait for the Lord.

Psalm 40:1 CSB

I waited patiently for the Lord, and he turned to me and heard my cry for help.

How we wait matters. Whether we are talking about the end or just the test results. Whether it is about waiting for Jesus to return or waiting on desire to come. Whatever we are waiting on from God it almost does not matter.

How we wait is important.

Patient Waiting is ACTIVE Waiting

Waiting on God is not:

Sitting on your hands doing nothing.

Dismissing world events or falling into fatalism.

Obsessing over headlines trying to decode timelines.

Waiting on God is:

Purposefully directing your thoughts back to God: Setting your focus on His character daily.

Living with operational readiness: Verse 33 says "Be on guard! Be alert!" Like a servant keeping the lights on and the door unlocked for the master's return.

Sharing the Gospel: Since the end comes after global proclamation (v. 10), active waiting means participating in God's mission right where you live.

Stay Awake

Mark 13:37 CSB

And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Be alert!

Call to Action: You will have to wait—in this broken world, in your personal trials, and for Christ's return. Don't waste the wait in anxiety. Step back out into your week with your heart set on God, your hands at work in His kingdom, and your eyes on the horizon.

Faith in Action: Our waiting is not passive but has a purpose.

This applies to every area of life. We watch and we stay alert. Sometimes we fall into all sorts of problems and sometimes it is because we did not watch and stay alert. We stopped waiting properly. We become inactive in our waiting and become passive but our waiting has a purpose. Again, it does not matter what you are waiting on there is a right and wrong way to wait. Waiting dose not make you grow or make you strong, how you wait makes you grow.

If you are 20, 40, 60, or 80 you are going to wait so wait on the Lord.

We can fool ourselves into thinking that just because we waited we did something, we accomplished something, but we had to wait. There is no reward for doing something you have to do. You have to wait.

Our waiting is not passive but has a purpose.

Communion: We take communion and we are reminded that we are waiting on Jesus.

Matthew 26:29 CSB

But I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”