48 | Mark 13:14–23 | The Meaning of Words That Won't Pass Away

INTRO

Six years ago I preached through the book of Daniel. When we came to Daniel 9 I shared with the congregation that:

Commentators are agreed that this is the most difficult text in all of Daniel.

That is the only thing that commentators are agreed upon.

Alistair Begg preached an excellent sermon series through Daniel that helped me greatly.

When he came to chapter 9 …

… he kept talking about his three friends who had written commentaries on this passage

… and yet all disagreed with one another.

More than that, he was about to preach a sermon that disagreed with all three of them.

Listen, I barely have three friends who are willing to read Daniel 9, let alone write a commentary on it.

The same thing is true of our passage today.

The only thing I could get the books that I often look to for help to agree upon regarding our passage today …

… in the middle of the Olivet Discourse

… is that there is the least amount of agreement of interpretation of this passage of all the the teachings of Jesus in the gospel of Mark.

I, hereby, claim the right to disagree with myself.

When I preached on Daniel 9 I actually wrote in my notes:

I like Sam Storms’ interpretation better than my own interpretation.

Well, today, I would like to vindicate Sam Storms and say that I think that I not only like his interpretation …

… but that I think he is spot on in his interpretation of the Olivet Discourse.

But as I read and reread the passage there were a couple things that I just couldn’t shake.

There are a few core things that I think almost every commentator had to gloss over.

All commentaries but one.

A commentary by R. T. France—an anglican scholar and pastor who wrote the Mark volume for the New International Greek Testament Commentary.

Much of what I will share today is in alignment with what R. T. France shares there.

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PRAY

THE OLIVET DISCOURSE

The Three Weeks

1. v1-13 - The Opening Question and Answer

2. v14 - 31 - The Coming Tribulation and the Glory of the Son of Man

3. v32 - 37 - The Coming Day When the Lord Returns

My own interpretation is that the majority of Jesus’ focus in this passage is in reference to his own initial statement in verse 2 that the temple will be utterly destroyed.

Jesus has come out of the temple ...

… after teaching there and facing the interrogations of the leaders in Jerusalem and specifically the temple.

He has shown much of what he found in the city to be filled with hypocrisy and faithlessness.

Now, Jesus, the very image of the glory of God …

… walks out of the temple and up to the Mount of Olives

… to the east of the city and standing high above it

… with a full view of the temple

… and pronounces this word of judgement.

Mark 13:2 (ESV)

Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.

The Lord himself is about to tear down his own house.

In the next verse, Peter, James, John and Andrew come to Jesus to ask a very specific two part question:

Mark 13:3–4 (ESV)

And as he 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?”

When? What?

Last week (v1-13) Jesus warned them of the things that are not a sign that the destruction is coming.

Specifically, just because they hear of wars of earthquakes or famines …

… that doesn’t mean that the time has come.

These things do not announce the when nor are they the signs of the what.

They are simply the ongoing pattern of an earth that groans for redemption.

They are birth pains that are so common in history.

He also warns them that in the midst of these times …

… leading up to the destruction of the temple

… they themselves will suffer much persecution as they bear witness to Christ and his gospel.

But they must be faithful as they trust the Lord to make his gospel known to all the nations.

Now, as we come to v14ff, Jesus is beginning to explain in some vivid detail …

… the when and what of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

It is over these details that readers of this passage have often disagreed.

But before we turn to our own study this morning …

… I want to share …

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THREE OBSERVATIONS FROM MY OWN PROCESS OF STUDY

Before I really opened any commentaries there are a few things I realized as I read this chapter over and over.

1) This is My Beloved Son. Listen to Him.

Jesus is speaking. He is communicating.

What he says is supposed to be understood by those to whom he is speaking.

i.e. Peter, James, John and Andrew

But it’s hard to read the Bible and not hear the voice of our pastor growing up …

… or the notes in our study bible

… or the tradition or denomination or end times theology we have adopted.

As I read I wanted to hear the voice of Jesus to his disciples.

I wanted to really listen in on what Mark has recorded and the Spirit inspired for us here.

But as I did, I found myself repeatedly being interrupted by observations and recollections of how I have heard this passage interpreted by others.

I mentioned an example last week in verse 7 where it talks about “wars and rumors of wars.”

If you’ve spent any time in your growing up years around the church you probably heard that referenced …

… as a sure way to know the end is coming soon.

But in reality, if you actually pay attention to the words of Jesus he actually says …

… do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet.

Wars and rumors of wars are not a sign that the end has come!

Explicitly in the words of Jesus, they will happen, but they are not the sign we are looking for.

Do you know how hard it was to read this passage over and over and not just hear what I’ve heard people say about this stuff?

So, let me encourage you as we walk our way through …

… listen to Jesus words

… and try to notice when you’ve become distracted by a tradition or teacher or theological interpretation.

These things aren’t bad, but as John Piper has said, commentaries can be sermon killers …

… precisely because instead of helping us to better understand the words of the Word

… they can draw our attention away from the actual words that the Spirit has actually spoken.

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2) As it is written …

The second sentence in the gospel of Mark is …

Mark 1:2 (ESV)

As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,

What is the context of the gospel of Mark?

I would say that even more than first century Israel …

… or Israel and Judea under Roman occupation

The most helpful context for the teachings of Jesus in the gospel of Mark is the Old Testament.

When Jesus speaks, it would seem that more often than not …

… he is speaking in what you might call first century Jewish memes.

He’s constantly making short little references to little turns of phrase or imagery taken straight from the Holy Writings of the Old Testament.

ILL: This happens all the time in my house.

One of my kids will be talking and then another of the kids will start laughing or say something back that I just don’t really follow.

I’ll ask, what does that mean?

And their answer is, “It’s a meme.”

And I’m like, “I figured that, but what does it mean?

I know it’s an insider sort of saying or image …

… but can you help me to understand it so I can understand you and what you’re talking about?

Well, the Old Testament, the writings of scripture, were something like holy memes.

Jesus would pick them up and use them and his disciples would easily catch on …

… but we have a hard time because just like I’m not on instagram as much as my kids

… I haven’t spent as much time in the Old Testament as Jesus.

If I’m gonna understand what my kids are talking about I need to do some research.

If I’m gonna understand Jesus I’m going to have to get to know the scriptures.

I think there is a specific caution for us.

Jesus is speaking here before any of the New Testament was written.

So he isn’t referencing any New Testament sayings.

No, the New Testament is a reference to him.

The disciples (and we) should understand what Jesus is talking about not by reading Revelation or 2 Thessalonians …

… but by reading Isaiah and Daniel.

Be careful not to read other prophecies of the New Testament back upon what Jesus says here.

What Jesus is addressing here is not necessarily even the same subject matter as …

… when the Apostle John records Revelation or any of what the other apostles or prophets record for us in the New Testament scriptures.

So, let me say again, we should be able to understand what Jesus says here with only the Old Testament as our aid.

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3) Let the Reader Understand

Finally, there are two phrases that no matter what I began to think about the more difficult to understand portions of Jesus’ prophecy here …

… these two phrases just would seem to budge from a very plain and straight forward meaning.

So, it is my estimation that any interpretation of the Olivet Discourse must make sense only as they take these two verses in the most clear and plain interpretation of their meaning …

… even it it means that we have to take other sections of the prophecy as more hyperbolic, symbolic or heavenly rather than natural.

What phrases?

v14 - let the reader understand

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.

That little phrase is Mark’s interpretive aid to his readers.

He’s winking at them.

He is recounting the words of Jesus that the people of Jerusalem will see something abominable and destructive …

… and then he turns to his readers and says

… “You catch that? You all should know by now (by the time I’m writing this to you) what Jesus is talking about.

Jesus is giving this prophecy around AD 33.

Mark is writing this gospel just a few short years before AD70 …

… the year we now know that the temple was destroyed.

But that time the readers ought to understand who it is that is acting with such destructive violence against God, his people and his temple.

It would seem that this likely refers to the vile destruction that General Titus and his men would bring upon Jerusalem.

… and perhaps even some specific atrocity he perpetrated during the course his seige and sacking of the city.

The point is this.

Some commentators understand that in v14 Jesus has already ceased to be speaking about the destruction of the temple …

… and he is referring to some far future unholy atrocities

… by some future anti-Christ

… that will accompany a future tribulation prior to the final return of Christ.

But how could Mark write to his original readers “let the reader understand” if what they are supposed to understand won’t even happen for at least another 2,000 years.

Sure, some future readers would understand …

… but neither Mark nor any reader in the last 2,000 year history of the church would have any idea what Jesus is talking about.

So, I just can’t shake Mark’s phrase here.

“let the reader understand” must mean that whatever Jesus is referring to happened sometime right before the whole city of Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed in AD 70.

v30 - this generation will not pass away

Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.

Just straight forwardly, on its face, “all these things,” read most plainly, refers to everything Jesus has been saying thus far (v3-29).

The wars and earthquakes and famines … that will come but are not a definite sign of the end

The persecution and witness of the followers of Jesus

The abomination of desolation

The rapid and tragic flight of so many from the city.

The false prophets and the true proclamation of the gospel among the nations

The tribulation and the signs of the sun the moon and the stars

The coming of the Son of Man and the gathering of the elect

All of these things will take place before the generation of Peter, James, John and Andrew pass away.

They are going to see the destruction of the temple.

There are so many things that I just listed that I am so tempted to understand in so many ways about the end of the world and the return of Jesus …

… but when Jesus says that the generation that he is addressing right there on that real mountain top

… as he overlooked Jerusalem on that day just before his own death and resurrection

… so many interpretive temptations just aren’t possible if the when and what question the disciples asked

… is answered in the life time of those who asked the question.

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APPLY

1) We must give attention to Jesus’ words …

… and not be distracted by our theological traditions or something we read in a book or commentary once.

2) Jesus words have an interpretive context.

His words and phrases are always best understood if we pay attention to how he is so often borrowing from the words and meanings of the Old Testament.

3) There are are two statements recorded for us by Mark that are so specific and clear …

… no interpretation is going to be trustworthy

… until they make sense of these two plain statements.

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THE INTERPRETATION

v14-23 - The Abomination of Desolation

Jesus is borrowing a phrase from Daniel 11:31 (ESV)

Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.

This is most widely intrepreted as when Antiochus Epiphanes in 168 BC …

… conquered Jerusalem, entered the temple

… setup a statue of Zeus and sacrificed a pig on the altar.

Jesus is now taking this phrase and applying it to a near future repeat offense.

There is some great evil that a future conqueror will perpetuate that will cause those who see it to hearken back to Antiochus and his desecration of the temple.

This time, it will lead to something even greater than desecration.

It will lead to an utter destruction of the temple and the city …

… such that to this very day these stones lie fallen to the ground in Jerusalem.

Read v 15-16.

Jesus is uses language that is reminiscent of the Israelites’ flight from Egypt.

When the time comes to flee, RUN!

If you hear of wars … don’t worry.

If you hear of earthquakes … that’s just rumblings.

But if you hear of a conquering general spouting threats of destruction and sacrilege …

… the time has come to leave Jersualem.

The disciples asked for a when and some sign to know it is coming.

This is that when and that what.

And it is going to be bad.

Bad for women and children and all who are caught in this terrible judgement.

I’ll spare you this morning, but if you read the account of Josephus as he records the atrocities of the seige and overthrow of Jerusalem …

… Jesus’ words aren’t hyperbole.

They are accurate descriptions of the horror of God’s judgement upon Jerusalem.

And, again, there just isn’t a word of phrase in Jesus’ account in v17-20 that isn’t lifted from somewhere in the Old Testament.

v21 is particularly important. Read.

Jeremiah 6:14 (ESV)

They have healed the wound of my people lightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace,’ when there is no peace.

There are those who will say, no enemy will destroy Jerusalem!

We’re safe, the temple of the Lord still stands.

But that is just arrogance and superstition.

It is shouts of “peace, peace” when no one has truly taken refuge in the Lord.

The Lord has pronounced a judgement upon a people and a city who have broken covenant …

… and failed to repent at the coming of both the prophet, John the Baptist, and the Christ, whose kingdom he came to annouce.

Now there will be judgment, no matter what false messiah’s and prophets will say.

The abomination of desolation is a particular and definite sign that the time has come.

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v24-27 - The Son of Man

in those days + after that tribulation

Think of brackets around a section of time = those days

Then think of a whole section inside of those brackets called “that tribulation.”

So the bracket of time, those days leading up to and including the destruction of the temple …

… are made up of two parts.

A part called “that tribulation” that Jesus has described in great detail in the preceeding verses …

… and a time called “after that tribulation” that he is describing now.

Why do I say this?

Because it will be very tempting to make this section about the end of all time and the final return of Jesus …

… but Jesus’ own words make it clear he is still answering the disciples’ initial question

… regarding the when and what of “those days.”

In other words, he is still talking about the time frame leading up to and including the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple …

… which we now know to have taken place in AD70.

Read v24.

Again, Jesus is grabbing the words and phrases (dare I say the memes or images) of the Old Testament.

Isaiah 13:10 (ESV)

For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light.

What Isaiah talking about?

God’s judgement upon Babylon.

When he would destroy Babylon and its king …

… and hand over rule to another.

Honestly, as a modern reader with a modern mind …

… I don’t really get why the bible uses such vivid language

… when it doesn’t appear that it means these things quite so literally.

In my study of Daniel six years ago, I noted a preference for poetic power over literal precision.

One commentator (Wright) points out that we use the phrase “earth shattering” in a similar way.

The point would seem to be a great upheaval that upends things that seem so solid and permanent as nations and kingdoms.

In v25 Jesus does the same things.

Isaiah 34:4 (ESV)

All the host of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up like a scroll. All their host shall fall, as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig tree.

Can you see the poetic imagery of the stars falling from heaven?

What is Isaiah talking about there?

He is describing the impending judgement upon the nations that surround Israel (particularly Edom).

What is Jesus describing in v24-25.

He is describing the same thing that Isaiah described.

A great upheaval that will lead to the destruction of a people and a city …

… and lead to a great transition of government and power.

But there are two things that are shocking here.

First, that this is not the turning over of Jerusalem to Rome.

This is the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

This is more about divine judgement than earthly governments.

Second, the power that replaces Jerusalem and the temple isn’t Rome, but the Son of Man.

This is one of the most important things in the OT that we can read to help us understand Jesus here.

Turn to Daniel 7:13–14 (ESV)

v13 - I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. v14 - And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

First note v13.

Just like in the Olivet Discourse, the Son of Man comes in the clouds …

… but note that his destination isn’t earth, but heaven.

Then note v14.

This is a description of a transition of power.

Jerusalem and the temple are no longer the seat, nor the throne.

Neither are the systems and authorities previously known in the city the new way of the new dominion.

When Jerusalem and the temple are destroyed …

… Jesus, the Son of Man, takes up his power and glory in heaven

… and moves swiftly to bring about his ultimate kingdom purpose.

That is v27. Read.

He has already sent out his apostles and they have made the gospel known among the nations.

Now, he will spend what we now know to be at least the next two millenia sending out his messengers (whether proclaimers of the gospel or angelic helpers of the missionary endeavor) …

… and scattering his witnesses to the ends of the earth that not one of the elect who belong to him would not be brought into his kingdom.

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v28-31 - The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Read v28-29.

Jesus gives a quick parable to affirm that it is possible to look into the future …

… and to affirm that the signs he has given are as natural and understandable as predicting the seasons based off the observations of nature.

Read v30.

The disciples asked when. Not just for signs, but when.

Jesus tells them. In this very generation.

Not far off, not some distant end times future.

Soon! So keep watch!

Mark 9:1 (ESV)

Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.

Read v31.

If you didn’t get it the first time with how plainly Jesus spoke in v30 …

… Jesus has been absolutely clear and you can be absolutely confident that he means everything he has said.

His word is sure. Listen to him.

Does Jesus and the New Testament speak about the return of Jesus, the end of time and the great Day of the Lord?

Absolutely!

In fact, it is my understanding that he does so in the very next verse (v32ff).

But that has not been his primary subject thus far.

It just isn’t the when and the what Jesus has been talking about.

And it is only if we try to import other prophecies and revelation …

… that come later and try to blend them into our passage today

… that we end up getting confused

… and making our interpretation of this passage far more difficult than it needs to be.

APPLY

And so we have before us today:

… a description of a great abomination that is the most significant sign that the time has come

… and the disciples should flee Jerusalem.

… a description of a transfer of power from the temple in Jerusalem to the Son of Man in the heavenly places

… and a lesson from the fig tree that gives us assurance that these signs will take place in this very generation.

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APPLY

I want to close with by giving you three final things to consider and apply from our passage today.

I’m tired! ...

1) That was a lot of work!

Honestly, one of the most important take aways for me is, again, simply this:

I don’t know the scripture like I need to in order to know, understand, believe and take joy in the words of my Savior.

Church, will you do the work with me to get to know our Bibles together?

2) Jesus is the Son of Man in Power and Glory

I know that in Mark Jesus is the teacher and healer who walks around the countryside.

But, he is about to give his righteous life in the place of sinners like you and I.

And he will rise, taking up his life in victory over sin and death and all that would rise up in rebellion again God.

He will not endure false, hypocritical worship …

… but has come to call a people to himself.

He begins with a warning to a remnant in Jerusalem …

… that these Jewish men and women would cling to him and make his word known among the nations.

And then, as his Word spreads to the four corners of the earth …

… we can be confident that all who call upon his name

… from every tribe, tongue and nation

… will be saved and kept by him who sits on the throne of heaven.

His words are trustworthy.

Though we no longer see him, his prophetic word in the Olivet Discourse can confirm that he sits on the throne in two ways:

1) He was right at every point regarding the utter destruction of Jerusalem and the temple.

He wasn’t just right that it happened, but also when and how it happened …

… in this very generation and by the abominable and destructive power of Rome.

2) He was right that the word would spread like wildfire …

… shaking the very foundations of the earth

… as men and women from then until now have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into his marvelous light.

The Son of Man reigns in the heavenly places.

We can be confident because he has spoken to us and what he has said is true.

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3) God’s purpose is not that we would suffer in judgement, but that we would suffer like him in mission.

To this day we remain those scattered messengers.

He gave warning to his disciples of precisely when they ought to flee the city …

… when the Jerusalem council would need to close up shop and move to another city.

And we have record that this is precisely what they did.

So many Christians fled upon the approach of the Roman soldiers to besiege the city.

While so many others continued to gather for the passover festival that tragic year in AD70.

God’s purpose is not to bring the pangs of judgement upon those who call upon his name.

The pain of our judgment has already fallen upon Jesus in our place.

But as we scatter among the nations, we will continue to be called before governors and kings.

We will continue to be persecuted and misunderstood.

But, behold, the Lord is with us always, even to the very end of the age.

So, GO! We have true words to tell.

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