Source: https://williamshiggins.net/category/mark/mark-13/
Timestamp: 2019-04-23 17:55:23+00:00

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1) The destruction of Herod’s Temple and the events associated with this, which happened within a generation of Jesus’ words, just as he said they would.
2) The times of the Gentiles – a time when God is working with the nations of the world for both salvation and judgment, as people respond to the gospel. This is the time we live in, and we don’t know how long it will continue.
3) The return of Jesus and the resurrection of the righteous.
We also saw how once the Temple was destroyed, Jesus could come at any time. Nothing else has to take place in the scheme of things.
And finally we saw how no one knows the time, not even Jesus. The Father will make the call for when the times of the Gentiles are over and Jesus will return.
Today we begin to focus on what Jesus talks about the most with regard to his coming – that We must be ready! Next week we will look at “How to be ready for the great gathering.” In other words, how to be ready for Jesus’ return and the resurrection of the righteous. Today its “Why we need to be ready for the great gathering.” We begin by looking in more detail at . . .
1. It will happen after Jesus returns and the nations experience great tribulation. Matthew 24:30 talks about the second coming and this time of suffering when “all the tribes of the earth will mourn.” And then Matthew 24:31 (the next verse) talks about the resurrection of the righteous. There is a sequence here.
In Matthew 13:30 (the parable of the weeds) speaking of the resurrection, Jesus says, “. . . at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn’” – a reference to resurrection.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:1 Paul says, “Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him . . .” – again, speaking of the resurrection of the righteous.
Also, the word “taken” is used for the resurrection. Jesus said in Luke 17:34, “one will be taken, and another left.” The one taken is resurrected. The phrase “caught up” is also used in – I Thessalonians 4:17.
Whatever the language, the point is that we will be brought to Jesus, from all the ends of the earth and gathered around him.
3. Angels will be involved in this gathering. They are not always mentioned, but they are involved.
Matthew 24:31 tells us that Jesus “will send out his angels . . . and they will gather his elect . . ..” And as Jesus said in Matthew 13:39 (the parable of the weeds) speaking of the resurrection, “the reapers are angels” who will gather us to himself.
4. The resurrection will be signaled by a trumpet blast.
5. The faithful who die before Jesus’ return will be first. At death they go to be with the Lord (as Paul talks about in several places) and they will come with Jesus as he returns in the clouds.
They will receive their resurrection bodies first. Their souls and their new bodies will be joined.
And then the faithful who are alive will be resurrected. Our current lowly bodies will be made imperishable.
Paul teaches on this in I Thessalonians 4:13-17 and I Corinthians 15:52.
Finally, and the point we are heading to – 6. Those who are gathered will be sorted. For the dead in Christ, this happened at death. But for those who are alive when Jesus returns – as the angels gather us – there will be a process of separating those who are faithful and those who are not.
The angels will gather in all who profess Jesus as Lord; who look to him as the Messiah (Matthew 7:21; 25:11; Luke 13:25). But not everyone who is gathered, or seeks to be gathered will make it into the eternal Kingdom.
This will be when, in Jesus’ words, “those who are considered worthy to attain . . . to the resurrection from the dead” (Luke 20:35) will be blessed. They will be given resurrection bodies and will receive the rewards of the faithful. And as we will see, those who are not worthy will be cast away from Jesus.
This is why we need to be ready!
This is the moment of our greatest hope, for resurrection life and blessed reward. But it is also the moment of our greatest testing. Have we been faithful to our Lord and King? Or have we squandered his grace and mercy? And the truth is that not all will make it in.
Matthew 7:21-23. This is Jesus speaking about the final day.
As Jesus teaches here rather straightforwardly, “many” who confess him as Lord and even do works of the Spirit will not make it in. Rather, Jesus says to them, “’I never knew you; depart from me” – v. 23. They are sorted out.
The parable of the bridesmaids: Matthew 25:1-13. In this parable about the second coming, there are ten bridesmaids waiting for the groom, Jesus. As we know, five made it because they were ready, and five did not make it in because they were not ready.
When these last five came back later to try to get into the wedding banquet they said, “’Lord, lord, open to us.’ But he (Jesus) answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’” – vs. 11-12.
The parable of the talents: Matthew 25:14-30. This is a familiar story. The master gave his three servants tasks to do while he was gone.
When the master returned, the second coming, two servants had worked hard and they entered in. But one did not work, and he was excluded.
Jesus said about this last one, “Cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” – v. 30.
The parable of the weeds: Matthew 13:24-30; 37-43. We have already looked at this in part. At the end of the age, as v. 41 says, “The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers,” that is, all the weeds. And then the wheat, the faithful ones, will be gathered.
Those who are a part of Jesus’ kingdom, who are not faithful are separated from those who are faithful.
Jesus said about the weeds, “Throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” v. 42.
The parable of the fishnet: Matthew 13:47-50. The net of the gospel has collected fish of every kind. Some Christians who are faithful, and some who have responded to the gospel, but are not faithful.
As v. 49 says, “The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous.” It concludes by saying of the former, “throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” – v. 50.
As we see in all these examples (and there are more) there is a sorting process. Some who are gathered, or seek to be gathered, will not make it into the kingdom. This is why . . .
He calls us to be alert. At the end of the Olivet discourse he says, “Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.” – Mark 13:33. He also says, “And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” – Mark 13:37. We will look at how to be ready and alert next week.
We are continuing on in our series on the second coming of Jesus. Last week we began to look at Jesus’ Olivet Discourse in Mark 13, Jesus’ primary teaching on his return.
But instead of answering their question right away, in vs. 5-13 Jesus talked more generally about how we are to expect false teachers and persecution as we wait for the end and his return.
Today, we look at Jesus’ answer to the disciple’s specific question of – “When will Herod’s temple be destroyed?” This is where Jesus presents, what I am calling his roadmap to the end.
1. The abomination of desolation.
Jesus is drawing on the book of Daniel here. Daniel portrays a pagan king who defiles the temple, most often associated with Antiochus Epiphanes and what he did in 168 BC.
By using this phrase, Jesus is saying that this will happen again (or perhaps he is even saying that this will be the true fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy).
This helps us to see that Jesus is talking about events that occurred not long after his death. In 66-70 AD the Roman armies came against Israel.
They laid siege to the city and eventually destroyed Jerusalem and the temple under General Titus, who later became emperor.
In answer to the question – “When will Herod’s temple be destroyed?” Jesus indicates that, it will happen sometime after you see the Roman armies coming ready to attack.
2. Flight to the mountains.
The recognition of the Roman armies coming against the city is the cue for the Jewish Christians in Judea to flee. Usually you would flee into a walled city in time of war. But not this time. This time God’s judgment is coming on Jerusalem and the temple.
It will be very hard on women who are pregnant or with small children.
He also tells them to pray that it not be in winter, when the rivers are flooded and hard to cross and the mountains have snow.
According to one report the Christians in Jerusalem did in fact flee the city, sometime at the beginning of the war.
Luke’s version here shows us that this time of tribulation is still speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. “For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles . . .” – 21:23b-24.
They were subjected to the realities of seige warfare being stuck in Jerusalem. Some resorted to cannibalism when the food ran out.
Over a million were killed throughout Israel (which was a huge percentage of the population in that day). So many were crucified that it was said that there were few trees left in the region.
As Jesus said, if God did not cut short the days for the sake of his chosen ones, followers of Jesus – none would have survived.
He may be speaking figuratively, as the prophet Joel does in Joel 2:2. This would, then, simply be a prophetic way of describing suffering beyond imagination.
With regard to Jerusalem, he could be speaking literally. For it is true that it had never suffered this much before. And, if this is what he meant, then it will never suffer this much again.
4. A time of deception.
Jesus already warned of this, as we saw last week. Here he gives a specific warning. During this time of chaos and distress, don’t listen to false messiahs and false prophets. For they will seek to lead followers of Jesus astray through the use of signs and omens.
And this kind of activity – false prophets and talk of omens – did take place during and after the war that destroyed the temple.
This leads us to . . .
This is a new section, for he says, “after that tribulation.” We are past the destruction of the temple and that awful time.
Isaiah 13:10 uses the same cosmic language that Jesus does to speak of God’s judgment of Babylon. “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.” As we know, it wasn’t literal here. It was a way of speaking of God’s judgment on this nation.
The prophets Ezekiel, Joel & Amos also use cosmic language to speak of judgment on nations.
Luke confirms this understanding. In Luke 21:24 the destruction of Jerusalem is followed by “the times of the Gentiles.” God will be dealing with the Gentile nations now.
Then in verses 25-26 comes the cosmic language with additional statements that help us see what is going on. Jesus speaks of “. . . distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the wave, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.” Why are the nations distressed? Because of “the roaring of the sea and the wave.” And as we saw in our study of baptism this has to do with chaos, turmoil and judgment in the world (see Revelation 17:15).
Jesus here speaks in the most general terms possible about a time when nations will rise and fall in the world at the hand of God.
This section recalls Mark 13:8. “For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” These are the birth pangs of the end expressed in cosmic language.
This brings us to the last stage . . .
After this undefined period of Gentile geo-political turmoil, “then” Jesus will return as ruler and king.
We learn from Matthew’s version that a part of this is that the peoples of the earth will be judged. Matthew 24:30 says “all the tribes of the earth will mourn.” Jesus’ return will bring great woe upon the people of the earth. The book of Revelation expounds on this in some detail.
More hopefully this also involves the resurrection of the righteous.
Jesus will send out his angels to gather together his followers. Again, this is a common way of talking about the resurrection of the righteous.
Next we see the connection between . . .
The phrase, “these things” connects back to the original question of 13:4 – “When will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” In other words, the phrase “these things” refers to the temple destruction and the beginning of the times of the Gentiles.
1. “These things” will happen within the span of a generation. That is, the destruction of the temple through to the ushering in of the times of the Gentiles will occur in the lifetime of Jesus’ hearers. Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place” – v. 30.
And Jesus stakes his prophetic authority on this prediction. He said, “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away” – v. 31. And, in fact, “all these things” did happen by 70 AD, within a generation of Jesus’ words!
2. Once the temple is destroyed, Jesus’ return is imminent. That is, no other event must happen before he returns. Which means he could come at any time!
But, lets be clear as we end . . .
Although the other events will be fulfilled in the generation of Jesus’ listeners, no one knows when the Son will come in glory and power.
He could not emphasize this point more. Not even Jesus himself knows when! Only the Father knows.
We currently live somewhere in stage two – the times of the Gentiles. And Jesus could come at any time.
Since we don’t know when, as Jesus said, we should “be on guard” and “keep awake.” We should be ready at all times!
We have begun a series on Jesus’ second coming and today we start to look at the Olivet discourse of Mark 13. It’s called the “Olivet” discourse because Jesus spoke these words as he sat on the Mount of Olives.
This is Jesus’ primary teaching on his second coming.
There are other places where he talks about this, but not in as much detail.
And we have this same Olivet discourse in all three of the first Gospels, with slight differences. So we can use all three of them to help us make sense of what Jesus is saying, which is a real help.
Now, when I look at all the debates and discussions about the end times today, much of which revolve around trying to make sense of the book of Revelation, which is the hardest book to interpret because of its symbolism (because you can read into it pretty much whatever you want), when I look at all this . . .
My choice is to start with what Jesus said. And to look at his main teaching on this.
And then move from there to make sense out of other passages that speak of his second coming.
So, we start with Mark 13:1 and . . .
The temple here is Herod’s temple. It is usually called the second Temple. The first temple was Solomon’s and it was destroyed by the Babylonians. So when the exiles returned to Jerusalem they built another, second temple.
And it was this temple that Herod had extensively remodeled and turned into a wonder of the ancient world. It was justly famous for its size and beauty. The stones were massive – 25’ x 8’ x 12.’ The disciples were certainly impressed by it.
Jesus says in Matthew 23:34-38 that Jerusalem will be judged and its temple (or “house”) left desolate.
After his prediction, Jesus and the disciples went out of Jerusalem and onto the Mount of Olives. It’s just across from Jerusalem and you could see the Temple from there.
The phrase – “these things” refers to the prediction of the destruction of Herod’s temple. They are asking, ‘When will Herod’s temple be destroyed?’ They want to know about the timing of this prediction by Jesus.
The disciples saw the destruction of the temple as an event connected in some way to the end of all things. This idea would have been understandable for any Jew. Today we just don’t understand how important the temple was for their faith. For it to go must mean the end of all things.
Well, Jesus does answer their question and he confirms that there is a connection between the destruction of Herod’s temple and the end.
He gives them what I call – “Jesus’ Roadmap to the End.” But that’s for next week!
They will call people to follow them. And in this way they will lead people astray.
This has happened throughout history, from a Samaritan false prophet who gathered quite a following before the destruction of Jerusalem, all the way to the present and David Koresh and the Branch Davidians.
So don’t listen to them! They are deceivers who will lead you astray from your faith in him.
Just as a point of emphasis because we don’t always get it: These things (wars, earthquakes, famines) are not signs of the coming of the end. They are simply the beginning of the end. That yes, we are in the last days, (which began in New Testament times) but not that the last day is here, or even around the corner.
Jesus says of these in v. 8 – “these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” The metaphor is that of a new world being born out of the ashes of the old. And so the kinds of things we see in newspaper headlines are simply the first hints of labor. The full birth pains will come when Jesus returns.
Jesus gives us another warning: The world will oppose us. Christians will be handed over, betrayed even by relatives. They will be beaten, put on trial, and some will be killed. We will be hated by all people.
This has happened all throughout history since the coming of Jesus.
In the first century the Roman emperor Nero persecuted and killed Peter and Paul and many others in the city of Rome.
In the 1500’s the first Mennonites suffered one of the most devastating examples of persecution in all of church history.
Today there are more martyrs than ever, and persecution abounds in various parts of the world even as we speak.
We must endure, for the one who endures to the end will be saved. He’s saying, don’t let persecution cause you to renounce your faith; to turn away from him.
We must fulfill God’s purpose of spreading the gospel to all nations. Even turning our persecution into an opportunity to witness for him.
We must rely upon the Spirit to help us. For the Spirit will give us the words to say when we are put on trial; when we are put on the spot; when we are afraid.
Scripturally, the danger of living in the last days, like we do, is that we will lose our faith.
Next week – the “when” question. When will the temple be destroyed, and what is the connection of this to the end and Jesus’ return.

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