How long, O Lord?
Mark 13
Introduction: Yogi
Berra said, “It’s very difficult to make predictions, especially about the
future!” Well, there is Punxsutawney Phil
the Groundhog… He even has a web page so he must be reliable right (Groundhog.org)?
Oh well!
Even with satellites and all the sophisticated computer-models
meteorologists have, they still miss a forecast sometimes. And the more
extended the forecast, the greater the chance of error. We read about God’s standard for prophets in
Dt 18:21-22…
21 And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the LORD
has not spoken?'- 22 when a
prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or
come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken
it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
Ok then, the National Weather Service
is clearly a “non-prophet” organization! Today we’re going to introduce Mark 13,
some have called it “a mini-apocalypse,” this prophetic teaching of Jesus known
as the Olivet Discourse. Today, before we start our Advent series next week, we’ll
introduce this chapter that speaks of His return. We’ll return to Mark 13, God
willing, after Christmas. There is an important connection: As surely as Jesus
came first as God had promised, that first Christmas, He will return!
Jesus was speaking in this context of future events at two levels, some that
His disciples would see, as well as other more distant events that they
foreshadowed, leading up to His second coming. And, unlike some weathermen, you can be
certain Jesus’ forecast is accurate! This
chapter is challenging to interpret. I like the rule that Alistair Begg follows
when preaching on prophecy: “The main things are the plain things and the plain
things are the main things.”
In the Olivet Discourse Jesus predicted both the impending destruction
of the Temple in AD 70, and His second coming at the end of the age.
Through the years, many false prophets have tried to predict the date of Christ’s
return. In 1988, when I was a young pastor in NJ, I received a book in the
mail, 88 Reasons Jesus will return in
1988. The next year, again, unsolicited, I received the sequel, On Borrowed Time: What went wrong in 1988. In
that volume the author recalculated and was suggesting a date in 1989. A few
years later a layman who owned a small network of radio stations that was
called Family Radio, published a book
called 1994. In that book he was
predicting, with great confidence and certainty, that he had calculated the
time of the Lord’s return to be October of 1994. He later modified his
calculation to 2011. To his credit, before he died he conceded that his attempt
to predict the date of the Lord’s return was sinful and wrong, and said that he
continued to search the Bible not to predict a date, but to gain further
understanding. These are not the only ones who has gone off track with date
setting. The Jehovah’s Witnesses
have offered at least nine predictions from 1874 to 1984, each time having to
explain away their miscalculation. Jesus made it clear that it is not for us to
know, in advance, the time of His return, and that is exactly the point! The church
in every age is to be watchful, expectant, faithful, and engaged in the mission
until He comes. After the resurrection the disciples had a question for Jesus
on this subject. We read in Acts 1:5-12…
5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit not many days from now." 6
So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this
time restore the kingdom to Israel?"
7 He said to them, "It is not for you to know times
or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 9 And when he had said these
things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of
their sight. 10 And while
they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white
robes, 11 and said, "Men
of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up
from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into
heaven." 12 Then they
returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a
Sabbath day's journey away…
In other words, “when” is the
wrong question. The concern, until He comes, should be “what,” that is,
what is our mission until that day? The Bible does speak a lot about the return
of Christ and about a future kingdom. The prophets, the apostles, the Lord
himself, all look ahead with expectation and hope. We’ll survey Mark 13 today
and consider 1) A Prophetic Word; 2) A Painful Prediction; and 3) A Practical Application…
The BIG Idea: Stay
faithful! Life will get hard, but Jesus is coming!
I. A Prophetic Word: A Near Term Prophecy and His future return.
Jesus predicts the razing of the Temple (which occurred in AD 70).
The interaction between Jesus and the leaders since the triumphal entry has
been in and around the Temple. Jesus has been there, teaching the people, and
His disciples, knowing full well how this story had to unfold. It was Passover
week after all, and the Lamb had to be presented according to the eternal
counsel of the Godhead to accomplish the redemption of the elect, all who would
trust in Him alone as their hope of salvation. As they were leaving the Temple,
perhaps on Wednesday afternoon, the disciples made an observation concerning
the grandeur of the Temple complex. Jesus’ reply had to be shocking to them…
And as he came out of the temple, one
of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and
what wonderful buildings!" 2
And Jesus said to him, "Do you see these great buildings? There will not
be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down…" (Mk 13:1-2).
As we work through this chapter
we’ll see that Jesus in His reply to the disciples refers to the destruction of
the Temple (which would occur in A.D. 70), and also to the “end of the age” and
His second coming (Mt 24:3). Put the questions of the disciples in Mark side by
side with what we have in the parallel account in Matthew…
|
Mark 13:4 |
Matthew 24:3 |
|
4 "Tell us, when will these
things be, and what will be the
sign when all these
things are about to be accomplished?" |
"Tell us, when will these
things be, and what will be the
sign of your coming and of the close of
the age?" |
First of all, let’s be clear
that the variation in the wording of the second part of the question, “…what will be the sign…”, does not
indicate an error by either evangelist in reporting what Jesus and the
disciples said. Neither writer is giving us an exhaustive, word-for-word
transcript of the exchange! Both, under the inspiration of God, selected a
portion of what was said to make the point that they are attempting to address.
Matthew simply includes two more parts to the question, which also helps us
understand why Jesus expands His answer from the near term, “these things,” i.e. the destruction of
the Temple, and includes His parousia
at the end of the age. It seems likely that the disciples did not separate
these things in their minds. How could the destruction of the Temple signal
anything less than the “end of the age”?
As they will later ask in Acts 1:6, “Is
it at this time that you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”
Like the prophets of old, Jesus
put near and distant events side-by-side. We see this frequently in
Scripture. We use the term, “prophetic
perspective” to explain how the prophets put near and distant events
side-by-side, as though they were peaks of two mountains, one seen in the
distance, and then another that seemingly is right behind it, disguising the
great distance between them. And so, the OT Scriptures spoke of His first
coming (in humility) and His second coming in power and glory. There was almost
no way for contemporary readers to discern how these ideas could both be
true, much less could they understand that more than 2000 years would lie
between the two events!
Jesus uses this teaching to encourage His disciples, and as Mark writes
he offers encouragement to the believers in Rome who were suffering for their
faith, and to all believers through the ages who have suffered… and to us! The Big Idea he would teach us: Stay
faithful! Life will get hard, but Jesus is coming!
II. A Painful Prediction: Signs of the Times - The beginning
of the “birth pains” (v.8).
4 And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in my name,
saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. 6 And you will hear of wars and
rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise against
nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes
in various places. 8 All
these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
It seems clear that Jesus is saying these kinds of things, wars, rumors
of wars, conflict, famines and earthquakes, are exactly the kinds of things
that will happen in this fallen world. The world is broken, under the curse,
and so both conflict between humans and natural disasters of all
kinds will happen… and both pagans and the people of God will suffer.
Will believers go through the tribulation? Since the Fall, the world is under
the curse. Jesus told His disciples in the Upper Room, “In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer,
for I have overcome the world.” That is essentially what Jesus is saying in
this discourse, spoken just a day or two before the gathering in the upper
room. He says, “Do not be led astray by
false messiahs” (or those who teach another Christ!), and don’t be
anxious when the “birth pains” start… Jesus is in control.
When our daughter was having her second child, back in 2014, we were in
NJ for the birth. The plan was that we would stay with Arden, who was two years
old, while Sarah was in the hospital for the birth. We were at my brother’s
house sleeping when we got a call in the middle of the night, the labor pains
had started! We drove over quickly, no doubt breaking a few speed limits on the
way, and when we got to the old farm house where they were renting an upstairs
apartment, the outside door was locked. We called up, and who came down the
long flight of stairs to open the door? Sarah! Ian was upstairs having a bowl
of cereal! They had a forty-minute drive to the hospital, I thought they would
be in the car with the motor running! Don’t be anxious – these are just the
beginning of the birth pains. (They made it to the hospital in plenty of time!).
We can expect that just as labor pains become more frequent and intense
as the birth approaches, so also tribulation will intensify as His return draws
near. But it will be impossible to predict when it will be. And so, be
ready, and as we see in the BIG Idea:
Stay faithful! Life will get hard, but Jesus is coming!
III. A Practical Application: Theology is always
practical, including “Eschatology” (end-time studies). Be ready and
stay faithful (v.5,9,23,33 [cf. “stay awake!” 34,35,37]). All Scripture is
God-breathed, profitable for instruction, and training in righteousness. The
indicative statements of truth are the basis for imperatives that tell us how
we should live in the light of that truth. That applies to prophecy and the
study of “last things” as well. One of the things we’ll notice as we work
through Mark 13 in the weeks after Advent is that the chapter is full of
imperatives, if I counted correctly nineteen times Jesus tells His disciples
(and us!) how we should therefore live. Notice just a few…
13:5 And
Jesus began to say to them, "See that no one leads you astray.”
13:9 "But
be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you
will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for
my sake, to bear witness before them.”
13:11
“…do not be anxious beforehand
what you will say…”
13:21 “And
then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!'
do not believe it.”
13:23 “But be on guard; I have told you all
things beforehand.”
13:33 “Be
on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.”
13:35 “Therefore
stay awake- for you do not know when the master of the house will come…”
You get the idea? Look at 13:23, “Be on guard, I have told you all things
beforehand.” The short-term fulfillment of prophecy in AD 70 can encourage
us. We can look back and see God’s sovereign hand. As those prophecies came to
pass in chilling detail, so will His warnings concerning ongoing tribulation,
and His promise concerning His return and the ultimate deliverance of those who
believe. Remember our context in Mark. Jesus had cursed the Fig Tree, He had cleansed
the Temple. These were symbolic acts of Judgment on the leaders of Israel. The
worship of the nation had become in large part lifeless and external. The
Passover-King was now on the scene, and the final sacrifice would soon be
offered. From Mark’s perspective, as he wrote the Gospel, the Lamb had been
slain, and so God could be Just and the Justifier of all who believe (Rom
3:21-26). How long are we to bring that message to the world? “…even to the end of the age...” (Mt
28:20).
What is God saying to me in this passage? It is a difficult thing to
prophesy, especially about the future, but even so, we can be sure that Jesus
got it 100% correct. He is coming back! So, stay faithful! Life will get
hard, but Jesus is coming!
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? We’ll take our time working through
this chapter. Think about three different audiences as you read this passage. First
of all, Jesus’ disciples. This was not an abstract lesson in theology. The disciples
needed to know what was coming. After the Cross, Jesus would reveal His power
in the resurrection. But then He would ascend, leaving them behind, in this
fallen world, with a mandate to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, to make
disciples from every nation. In the course of that mission they would be
persecuted, suffer, and most of them would ultimately give their lives.
They needed to know that God had a plan, and that one day Jesus will
return and establish His kingdom. They needed hope!
Think also of Mark’s audience, maybe 20-30 years after the
resurrection. The Roman believers were already being persecuted. It started
with Claudius… then Nero, and it would worsen from there. The believers still
in Jerusalem needed to know that the city would soon fall and that the Temple
would be razed. But God had already established a new temple. Around the time
of Mark’s writing [?] Paul had told the Corinthians, “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit
dwells in you? 17 If anyone
destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you
are that temple…” (I Cor 3:16,17). The believers in Rome likewise needed to
be encouraged to watch, to have courage, and to continue to be engaged in the
mission, being His witnesses, knowing their labor was not in vain in the Lord.
And think of His Word to us. We can look back and see how
precisely the predictions about Jerusalem were fulfilled in A.D. 70. Just as certainly we can be assured of what is
coming, and we can know, with certainty, the end of the story: Jesus wins, and
so do we if we belong to Him! Jesus
Christ, Crucified-Risen-Coming again. And by grace, we are His, and we are
more than conquerors through Him who loved us! May we too be steadfast, immovable, always
abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in the
Lord. AMEN.
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