Mark 13:1-13

Signs of the End of the Age

1As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"

2"Do you see all these great buildings?" replied Jesus. "Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down."

3As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, 4"Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?"

5Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. 6Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

9"You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

12"Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

BACKGROUND READING:


Matthew 24:1-14


Luke 21:5-19



Dig Deeper

When I was a child, one of the most popular shows on TV was a show called Three’s Company. The entire premise of the show was pretty simple. Nearly every week there was a big misunderstanding between different characters in the show. One character would make a statement, and be totally misunderstood by another character who only heard or only paid attention to half of the conversation. Then a whole mess of zany fun and bizarre situations would follow from that misunderstanding.


In a similar way, many people in our time read this passage and the following two from Mark (and the parallel passages in the other gospels) and assume they know what it is talking about. Many others are quite invested in what they want this passage to be about and so do not bother to read it in the plain way that it was intended to be understood.


The key is to constantly remember the topic being discussed. The disciples are commenting on the magnificent building of the Temple. Herod the Great and Herod Antipas had been long at work trying to complete the Temple, and although it was still unfinished it was considered to be the most impressive building in the world. It was certainly the largest and most imposing structure for hundreds of miles either way. Rather than joining in with their admiration, Jesus says something that must have been incredibly shocking. Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down. In other words, Jesus was predicting that this massive, imposing, and impressive structure would be completely destroyed.


What Jesus is doing is saying in words what he had acted out earlier in the week when he brought the sacrificial system to a grinding halt. This Temple that was so vital to the Jewish understanding of being the people of God, was being judged by the one who was claiming to have authority over it.


As we have already seen, the great Jewish hope was for the age to come. They were eagerly anticipating the time when God would come and give birth to his new creation, the age that was full of mercy, love, justice, peace, and truth. They believed that the Temple would be rebuilt, the true priestly structure reconstituted, and most importantly, God’s presence would return to Israel, defeating his enemies and exalting his people once again.


Once again, Jesus is letting his hearers know that this will happen, but not through the means that they had anticipated. This would be the birth pains that he was talking about. What many have tried to make this passage about, but it most assuredly is not about, is the end of the world. Jesus was describing the birth pains that would signal the final end of the Old Covenant, an event that would culminate in the destruction of the Temple. It was a common Old Testament technique to describe events like the fall of a nation or the end of a covenant in massive and cosmic terms. This is precisely what Jesus was doing in talking about the end of the Old Covenant and the destruction of the Temple.


The point of verses 3-13 is to warn them of the time leading up to the destruction of the Temple. Jesus clearly understands that there will be a time when the going will get extremely tough and be rather frightening, and he won’t be there in person for the disciples to draw upon for comfort. They will face the kind of violence and mistreatment that he will face, precisely because they are his followers.


In the midst of all of these signs, they must continue to be patient and stay strong. Yet, they need not worry. Even when they are arrested, and his assumption is that this will be a common occurrence, they do not need to worry beforehand about what to say. This is not, as some have amusingly claimed, to be a message for preachers, it is for those who are arrested and taken to trial for following Jesus. Even in those types of circumstances, they need not worry, for special help will be given to them through the work of the Holy Spirit.


The great Dragon, Satan, will attempt to wipe out the people of God, both Old Covenant and New Covenant in one fell swoop, but he, and the Roman army, do not realize that they are merely instruments of God being used for his greater purposes. The old structure of the Covenant and Temple will be destroyed, but the Church will emerge as God’s people, the glorious beginning of the age to come.



Devotional Thought

Jesus told his disciples that they would need to be patient and see through the circumstances that were facing them. We shouldn’t be surprised that we are called to do the same thing. The circumstances may be different, but the call is the same. We must persevere and endure.