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Open your Bibles to Mark 13:32-37.
•We’re continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark.
•This morning we come to the end of Mark’s record of the Olivet Discourse.
•It has been a great time of learning and encouragement as we consider this great prophecy of our Lord.
And I believe this morning will be the same.
Today we come to a hinge point in the OD.
•Throughout vv2-31, Jesus has been focused on the time leading up to and immediately following the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in AD70.
•But now, a new subject appears in the Discourse.
•In v32, our Lord transitions to a new topic: His Bodily Return at the end of history.
•And He tells His disciples in all ages that His Return will be unexpected.
He says plainly that nobody can know when He will return in glory and judgment.
•But He does indeed affirm that He will come again.
And, in light of that, our Lord exhorts His People to watchfulness in His closing words.
•He tells us to “stay awake.”
•He commands us to live always in expectation and anticipation of His coming again.
•He commands us to live in such a way that, if He were to return tomorrow, we would be prepared and unashamed to see Him come.
If I could summarize the text, I would put it this way:
•Our Lord is telling us, “You don’t know when I’m coming.
So always live as to be prepared for my coming.”
•We are to live in the hope and expectation that one day Jesus will Return for His Church.
•And so, we are to live so as to be unashamed when He comes.
We are to live in such a way that we would be prepared to meet Him.
•That is the focus of the text.
And I hope to expound on that and be a blessing to you all this morning as we look to the Word of God together.
If you would and are able, please stand with me for the reading of the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God.
Mark 13:32-37
[32] “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
[33] Be on guard, keep awake.
For you do not know when the time will come.
[34] It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.
[35] Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—
[36] lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
[37] And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
(PRAY)
Our Great God and Father,
Your Word is a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path.
In the Scriptures there are untold treasures.
In your Word, you reveal glory to us.
You teach us about yourself, your will, and your ways.
But we are too spiritually dull to receive even the most glorious truth without your help.
And so, we ask that, by your Spirit, you would teach us this morning.
Open our eyes, ears, hearts, and minds to receive your Word with all faith and love.
Grant that we would understand your Word.
And with that understanding that we would love, worship, revere, and obey you.
Grant to us a sight of our Lord Jesus in the text today so that we might be blessed and changed.
We ask these things in Jesus’ Name and for His sake.
Amen.
1.)
As I said in the introduction, our passage this morning introduces a new subject.
[32] “But concerning that day or that hour
•This is the transition text in Mark’s account of the OD.
•And I want to prove to you that our Lord is no longer speaking of the destruction of the Temple but has now begun to speak about His Bodily Return at the end of the age.
The first thing I want to address is why Jesus would begin to speak of His Return at this point in the Discourse.
•In Matthew’s account, the disciples ask about the Return of Christ.
•Matthew 24:3 says, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
•In Matthew’s account, the disciples reveal that they believe the destruction of the Temple would coincide with the end of the age/history and the Return of Christ (His “coming”).
•You see, common Jewish belief of the time was that the Temple would last until the end of the world.
So when the disciples asked about the Temple’s destruction, it’s pretty safe to assume they believed the end of time would come when it was destroyed.
•Again, Matthew’s parallel records them asking about the “end of the age” alongside the destruction of the Temple.
•Clearly, the disciples associated the destruction of the Temple with the end of the world.
•And so, it makes sense that Jesus now begins to speak of His Return at the end of history.
•Though in reality the two aren’t immediately related, in the minds of the disciples they were.
And so, Jesus begins to speak about His Return and correct their misunderstanding.
Now, why doesn’t Mark record the disciples’ question about the end of the age?
•Only God knows.
•It’s possible that Matthew was written first and Mark is giving the shorter summary.
•But regardless, we know that the disciples did indeed ask about the Return of Christ at the end of the age.
•And I believe that Mark’s own record bears enough evidence to show that Jesus has switched to that topic.
•I want to show you some of that evidence now.
1.
V31 seems to be a conclusion.
“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
•There is finality to the words of Jesus in that verse.
And such finality fits if He has ceased speaking of one topic and is about to move on to another.
•If vv32-37 continue the same subject (the destruction of the Temple), then we would expect the kind of saying in v31 to be at the very end of the Discourse.
2.
V32 begins with the phrase “But concerning.”
•In Greek, the phrase is “peri de.”
•This is a common phrase in NT Greek that signals a switch in subjects.
•Jesus does this in Mark 12:26 when He is switching back to the subject of answering the Sadducees question about divorce:
•“And as for the dead being raised…” The phrase “Peri de” is at the beginning of that sentence.
It signals that Jesus has changed subjects.
We see this phrase signaling a subject change in the Apostle Paul’s writings.
•In 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses a number of topics.
And to signal a change he says “peri de.”
•We read this in 1 Corinthians 7:1: “Now concerning the matters about which you wrote…”
•7:25: “Now concerning the betrothed…”
•8:1: “Now concerning food offered to idols…”
•12:1: “Now concerning spiritual gifts…”
Paul also does this in His letters to the Thessalonians.
•1 Thess.
4:9: “Now concerning brotherly love…”
•5:1: “Now concerning the times and seasons…”
•And again in 2 Thess.
2:1: “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ…”
In light of this constant and common use of the phrase, I think it’s fair to say that a change in topic has occurred in the OD.
•Jesus says, “But concerning that day and that hour…”
•So Jesus has begun to speak of something other than the destruction of the Temple in AD70.
3.
In vv5-31 (the first section of the OD), we see Jesus referring to a plurality of DAYS (vv17, 19, 20, and 24).
•But in v32, there seems to be strong shift.
•Jesus begins to speak about “THAT DAY or THAT HOUR.”
•Jesus is now speaking of a singular day and time and not a general period of time.
•This kind of singular day language is often used in the Bible to refer to the Return of Christ.
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