Mark 13:14-27
Notes
The “ ‘ “abomination that causes desolation” ’ ” is a phrase taken from three cryptic references in Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 to a scandal that would defile and profane the Jerusalem temple. The same phrase is used in 1 Macc 1:54 to describe Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), the Syrian general who outraged the Jews in 168 B.C. by erecting an altar to Zeus on the altar of burnt offering in the temple and sacrificing a sow on it. The
In its original context, “ ‘ “the abomination that causes desolation” ’ ” thus referred to the abomination wrought by Antiochus IV against the temple and Judaism in the second century B.C. This event is recalled in 13:14 as a prefigurement or symbol of something equally outrageous and cataclysmic to occur in the future.
The “ ‘ “abomination that causes desolation” ’ ” is a phrase taken from three cryptic references in Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 to a scandal that would defile and profane the Jerusalem temple. The same phrase is used in 1 Macc 1:54 to describe Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), the Syrian general who outraged the Jews in 168 B.C. by erecting an altar to Zeus on the altar of burnt offering in the temple and sacrificing a sow on it.
The “ ‘ “abomination that causes desolation” ’ ” is a phrase taken from three cryptic references in Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11 to a scandal that would defile and profane the Jerusalem temple. The same phrase is used in 1 Macc 1:54 to describe Antiochus IV (Epiphanes), the Syrian general who outraged the Jews in 168 B.C. by erecting an altar to Zeus on the altar of burnt offering in the temple and sacrificing a sow on it. The sacrilege of Antiochus in the Jerusalem temple became the dramatic provocation for the Maccabean Revolt, which against all odds earned Jews their only century of political self-rule between the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar in 586 B.C. and the formation of the State of Israel in 1948.
In its original context, “ ‘ “the abomination that causes desolation” ’ ” thus referred to the abomination wrought by Antiochus IV against the temple and Judaism in the second century B.C. This event is recalled in 13:14 as a prefigurement or symbol of something equally outrageous and cataclysmic to occur in the future. Mark’s
The “ ‘ “abomination that causes desolation” ’ ” alludes to the destruction of the temple in A.D. 70, but it is not exhausted by it. The “abomination” is a mysterious (2 Thess 2:7!) double referent, a historical medium that anticipates an ultimate fulfillment in the advent of the Antichrist and the final tribulation before the return of the Son of Man.
The salvation brought by Jesus is not a salvation of knowledge. The salvation of Jesus is rather a way—of following, of faithfulness, of standing guard at our posts, for “ ‘ “no one knows about that day or hour” ’ ” (13:32). It is not a way of dispensing with mystery but of living in mystery.
The reference to the great tribulation is patterned after Dan 12:1, in which the archangel Michael warns the elect what will befall them at the end time.
The particular phrase “cut short those days” occurs in apocalyptic literature with reference to the final eschaton (Barn. 4:3). Again, the reference to the “elect” (Gk. eklektos), which occurs in Mark only in this section (vv. 20, 22, 27), is used exclusively in the Synoptic Gospels of eschatological relationships.
A situation is depicted that has no parallel in human history; apart from God’s gracious intervention and assistance it will be humanly unsurvivable. God will spare the elect, if not from suffering, at least from annihilation. The cataclysm described here obviously exceeds in horror any known human event, although the fall of Jerusalem is a prototype.
The true Messiah is reluctant to perform signs and wonders so as not to coerce people’s allegiance; false prophets, by contrast, exploit every means to gain a following (v. 22), as they have since the founding of Israel (Deut 13:1–5).
When Christ returns he will fulfill the many OT prophecies about the End. But second, despite imminent signs, believers cannot calculate when, where, or how the End will come. When it comes, no one will miss it; until it comes, no one should be misled.
It is these upheavals, not bogus reports of pseudo-Messiahs (vv. 21–23), that will signal the coming of the Son of Man.
Schlatter notes that “The description of the Parousia consists almost entirely of quotations from Scripture.
In Mark’s day (and for some in ours) stars were thought to be heavenly powers that influenced human affairs. At the end of time all such powers, real and imagined, will be obliterated.
“ ‘The Son of Man coming in clouds’ ” (v. 26) is taken from the vision of Dan 7:13.
What remarkable irony this is, coming from a man who has predicted his humiliation and death (8:31; 9:31; 10:33–34) and who even now is preparing for his shameful treatment at the hands of Jews and Romans alike. He who will be crucified as a common criminal (Phil 2:8) will come “ ‘with great power and glory.’ ”
In the OT, “clouds” often symbolize the presence and glory of God. When Jesus returns “in clouds,” it can only mean that God is no longer present in the temple but in Jesus, the Son of Man.
13:27. The OT often speaks of the gathering of exiles and captives to Jerusalem on the Day of the Lord. But here they are gathered to Jesus, “ ‘from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.’ ” This awkward phrase, a combination of Deut 30:4; 13:8 and Zech 2:10, means simply “from everywhere,” and graphically emphasizes Christ’s universal significance.
the elect are as widespread and diverse as all creation, but they converge at a single point: the Son of Man. Jesus is the focal point of divine redemption.
It is equally important to note what this glorious vision of the future does not affirm. There is no mention of a millennium, no new Jerusalem, no rebuilt temple, no restoration of Israel or the State of Israel, no battle of Armageddon, and no hints how and when Christ will return. About all these things the text is silent. All these incidentals yield to the preeminent truth of the power and glory of Jesus’ future coming and the promise that his elect will be gathered to him. This preview of the future ought not lure us to calculate when Christ will return, nor to fear what will happen, but to know that he will come to claim his own. His coming is his promise, and the gathering of believers to him is our hope.