Sermon Tone Analysis

Faithlife Study Bible (Mark 13:1–36)

Jesus’ departure from the temple leads to His prediction of its destruction.

This prompts questions from the disciples about when these events would happen (vv.

3–36).

Jesus responds by discussing portents (or signs) of the arrival of God’s kingdom and His own climactic return.

His teachings have practical significance for His followers: They must remain alert and loyal while waiting for Him (vv.

32–37).

If you remember from where Coach left off in chapter 12, Jesus had just entered Jerusalem and was walking in the temple area.

He was confronted by the teachers there.

The Olivet Discourse is the longest section of Jesus' teaching that Mark recorded (cf.

4:1-34; 7:1-23).

Mark used this discourse as a bridge between Jesus' controversies with Israel's leaders (11:27—12:44) and the account of His passion (chs.

14—15).

It provides assurance that the leaders who had plotted against Jesus would suffer God's judgment.

To help us understand what Jesus’ disciple was saying you would need to see the temple.

The temple was the central place in Jerusalem and was visible from most places.

The temple was without a doubt the greatest single building ever constructed.

With brass gates one hundred thirty feet high, stones forty feet long and twenty feet thick cut so perfectly that not even a knife blade could fit between them, the temple was nothing less than magnificent indeed.

Let’s look at a couple buildings that are standing today.

Number 3: Marina Bay Sands (5.5 billion)

Resorts World Sentosa (Singapore) 5 billion

Adding together the cost of The 20 most expensive building’s in the world totals 200 billion dollars.

The Temple # 1

The Temple # 2

What would you say the value of the Temple would have been?

One Trillion Dollars!

Mark 13:2 (Courson's Commentary): The size of the temple is beyond our imagining.

Even the Wailing Wall, which was simply the foundation stones of the temple, dwarfs all who stand near it.

Yet Jesus said it would come crashing down.

And indeed it did.

Within forty years of this statement, Roman troops, led by General Titus, would not only destroy Jerusalem, but, against Titus’ orders, would throw a torch inside the temple, causing a fire so intense that the gold melted within.

Thus, it was to get to the gold that trickled down its walls that the Romans razed the temple, leaving not one stone standing on another

Jesus’ prediction brings up two questions in the minds of His disciples (3–4)

They are wondering:

Tell us, when will these things be?

What will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?

The Olivet Discourse deals with the Tribulation—the seven-year period following the Rapture of the church when God will pour out His wrath upon a Christ-rejecting sinful world.

Verses 5–13 deal with the beginning of the Tribulation, 14–18 with the middle, and 19–27 with the end.

History shows that in the first one hundred years after Jesus spoke these words, no less than sixty-four men came on the scene claiming to be Messiah.

And we see a continuance of this today by those who propagate the age-old New Age lie that we all have a “God-consciousness” within us and are all, therefore, deity.

How many people do you think in the United States alone think that.

1: Jesus is who He claimed to be

and, 2: Jesus is enough.

10% of Americans believe that Jesus is the only way to Heaven.

One study showed that while about 65 percent of American adults describe themselves as Christians, only about half (54 percent) believe they will experience heaven after they die.

Only one-third of adults (33 percent) believe they will go to heaven solely because of confessing their sins and embracing Jesus as their savior.

Another one-in-five expecting to experience heaven are counting on earning their way in or because they embrace universalism (i.e., that God will let all people into heaven).

Jesus continues his description of this period of time

Increase in Earthquakes

Modern days earthquake monitoring has been in place since the early 1900’s.

What does this graph tell us?

Jesus was telling his disciples that they will be persecuted.

Think about how we would handle this situation?

If someone held a gun to your head and told you to deny Jesus, would you?

What if it was a loved one the was in danger?

This is a tough question!

But this is what was happening at the time of the early church.

And it continues to happen today all around the world.

It is easy for us to underestimate how difficult a time of persecution can be.

While few Christians in the Western world face persecution, Christians in other parts of the world often face these trials.

Unfortunately, this statement is no longer true, especially in the last several years.

•  If I came from an orthodox Jewish family, they might consider me a blasphemer and account me as dead for choosing Jesus.

•  If I came from a strict Muslim family, I might be rejected by my family and be literally killed for choosing Jesus.

•  If I came from a Hindu family in India, I could be rejected and martyred for choosing Jesus.

•  In China, I would be allowed to practice Christianity only in the state-sponsored church—or be persecuted.

My church might be one of the 1,500 destroyed or shut down since November of 2000.

•  In Sudan, I might be killed or literally enslaved by a Muslim army.

•  In Indonesia, I might be given a choice by Muslims: convert to Islam or die, or I might have my church bombed during a worship service.

•  In Pakistan, I might be jailed by Muslim government officials.

ii.

According to David B. Barrett in his book Today’s Martyrs, some 165,000 Christians died for their faith in the year 2000.

Researchers estimate that since the Day of Pentecost, more than 43 million Christians have been killed for their faith.

A persecution index provided by Open Doors with Brother Andrew listed 28 countries with strong or massive persecution.

In another 23 countries, Christians suffer discrimination and in some regions severe harassment.

Where can we expect to have persecution?

What does persecution look like to you? Can anyone give me an example of this?

The reality is that we will face persecution if we chose to follow Jesus.

Overcoming Our Fears

The devil attacks us with many other fears.

We cannot let these fears hold us back.

As those who God has called to be his witnesses and to continue his mission, we must overcome our fears and live courageously for God.

We must overcome our fears to experience the life of Jesus and the joy of his kingdom.

Has anyone ever seen the movie called The Hobbit?

In The Desolation of Smaug, Bilbo Baggins must face his greatest fear: facing the dragon Smaug.

As Bilbo enters the Great Hall, he sees from a distance the dragon asleep.

Bilbo is paralyzed with fears and considers retreating to safety.

However, knowing that his friends are relying on him, Bilbo makes the decision to overcome his fear.

Smaug awakens and Bilbo must courageously retrieve the Arkenstone (a jewel needed to defeat the dragon) from Smaug.

It can be hard to be brave, but the is where Jesus has promised to help up.

He promised he would be with us for ever, should we chose to put our trust in Him.

Does anyone remember what Jesus said that the world will think of people that chose to follow Him?

Jesus continues:

In this section dealing with the middle of the seven-year Tribulation period, referring to the point when Antichrist will set up his image in the rebuilt temple.

This is a time that we DO NOT want to be alive.

Things are so bad that the Bible describes it as unique and unlike nothing we have ever experienced.

Fortunately, we have a blessed hope!

Look at 1 Thessalonians 4-5.

We, the church, will not be here.

Think about how many religions claim Jesus in some fashion.

As a matter of fact, look at just the “Christian” church today.

Does anyone know what the term “progressive Christianity” means?

Progressive Christianity is a recent movement in Protestantism that focuses strongly on social justice and environmentalism and often includes a non-traditional views of the Scriptures.

Since the movement entails a number of different beliefs and views on various topics, it is difficult to label the whole movement together but in general this movement includes:

Splintering views on God’s creation (multi gender, gender fluidity)