Mark 13

Christ's Discourse on the Last Days.

Tisha B'Av  (Hebrew: תשעה באב‎ or ט׳ באב, "the Ninth of Av,") is an annual fast day in Judaism, named for the ninth day (Tisha) of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar. The fast commemorates the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple in Jerusalem, which occurred about 656 years apart, but on the same Hebrew calendar date.  Accordingly, the day has been called the "saddest day in Jewish history.  The day falls in July or August in our calendar.

Mark 13:1  And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!

This is Jesus final departure from the temple in Jerusalem late in the evening of Tuesday April 12, 30 AD.  This day the bible writers give us a fuller account than any other day unless it be the day of his crucifixion.

Tacitus declared the Temple was one of the Wonders of the World.  Fifty years before Herod had begun the great work of its construction and for 46 years they worked to rebuild the temple constructed by Ezra. 

This whole lesson is reported most fully by Matthew, chapter 24, it is also found in Luke 21:5-38.

Mark 13:2  And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

Do these great buildings fill you with wonder and amaizment? Even though  they seem to be eternal these buildings shall be utterly destroyed.  A most remarkable prophecy uttered during a time of peace.  No body dreamed of the possibility of the destruction of such a magnificent work of art but this prophecy was litterly fulfilled forty years later in 70 AD.

Mark 13:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,

Sitting on the mount of Olives the whole splendid extent of the temple enclosure could be seen 200 feet below them. "Privately" probably means apart from the multitude. The destruction of the temple had been publicly foretold (Matt. 23:38; 24:2).

Mark 13:4  Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?

They wanted to know about this great destruction He had just told them of … Matthews account has 3 questions cf:

Matthew 24:3  And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

Mark 13:5  And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:

It would be terrible error to be led astray by a false Christ

Mark 13:6  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

Acts 5:34-37  Act 5:34  Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; 5:35  And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.  5:36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. 5:37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed

Acts 21:38 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers?

II Corinthians 11:13:15 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Mark 13:7  And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet.

These wars were insurrections and rebellions of the Jews in various places through out the Roman empire. Caesarea 20,000 Jews killed, Alexandra 50,000, Damascus 10,000.  These things are in God’s plan and predicted by His Son.

Mark 13:8  For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

In fulfillment of this we have a war of Jews and Galileans against Samaritans. There were earthquakes in Crete, Smyrna, Miletus, Rome, Laodicea, and Hierapolis.  Josephus tells of a terrible one in Judea.  There was famine in Judea mentioned by Suetonius, Tacitus and Eusebius in the days of Claudius Caesar. These are the beginning not the end of sorrows.  Read Josephus for a description of the misery of every kind that came upon Jerusalem. 

Mark 13:9  But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.

Take heed, not to escape persecution, but to be ready for it. Councils are Jewish courts. Besides the great national council, the Sanhedrim, each principal town had a smaller council, or local Sanhedrim. In the synagogues ye shall be beaten. In every Jewish synagogue there were three magistrates authorized to inflict certain punishments, scourging being one. The number of stripes could not exceed forty (Deut. 25:3); hence they always stopped at thirty-nine. The rulers are Governors and kings, Roman officials, such as Felix, Festus, Gallio, King Agrippa  Acts 26:1 and Nero II Timothy 4:16.  Often the persecutions boomeranged against the accusers cf:

Philippians 4:21-22  Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. 4:22  All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. 

II Corinthians 11:22  Are they Hebrews? so am I. Are they Israelites? so am I. Are they the seed of Abraham? so am I. 11:23  Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. 11:24  Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. 11:25  Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep;  11:26  In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; 11:27  In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.

Mark 13:10  And the gospel must first be published among all nations.

Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16:16  He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Psalm 19:1-6 The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. 19:2  Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.  19:3  There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. 19:4  Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun, 19:5  Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race. 19:6  His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

Romans 10:14-18 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? 10:15  And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! 10:16  But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. 10:18  But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.

Romans 1:8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.

Romans 16:19 For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.

Colossians 1:6  Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

Colossians 1:23 If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

I Thessalonians 1:6-8  And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost:  1:7  So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. 1:8  For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.

Acts 28:22 But we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that every where it is spoken against.

Mark 16:20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

Mark 13:11  But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost.

The Spirit will furnish the words you are to reply.

Mark 13:12  Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death.

The hatred against Christians will be so bitter people will give up their own family to the civil authorities. All kinds of persecutions will come upon Christians. The Historian Tacitus  assures us that during Nero’s persecution Christians betrayed one another.

Mark 13:13  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

He that endures to the end with out apostizing.

Mark 13:14  But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:

In times of peril and danger it is our duty to seek our own preservation by all good and honest means, in order to preserve the salt of the earth and the light of the world.

Daniel 9:24  Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

Dan 9:25  Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.

Dan 9:26  And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined.

Dan 9:27  And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

Mark 13:15  And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house:

Just proceed right along the flat roof tops to the city gate and get out of town.

Mark 13:16  And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.

The outer garment was usually laid aside while working.

Mark 13:17  But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!

Their suffering would be greatly increased caring for a babby and their escape more difficult.

Mark 13:18  And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter.

The sign given by the Lord for the flight, is the approach of the city by the Romans, and the panic that caused their sudden withdrawal, occurred on Tuesday, in October.  Hence the flight was neither in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day.

 Mark 13:19  For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.

Affliction means calamity or suffering.

Mark 13:20  And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days.

All the Jewish nation would have been destroyed, but for the Church’s sake those days shall be shortened.

Mark 13:21  And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:

The Jews expected the Messiah to deliver them from Roman oppression and thus during these times of suffering they would look for Him but He has already come.

Mark 13:22  For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

None but Christians could be led astray, all others are already astray.

Mark 13:23  But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

To be forewarned is to be foreaqrmed.

Mark 13:24  But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,

Mark 13:25  And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken.

Again we have apocalyptic language that is figurative and not literal.  God has used the very same language before when He prophesied the fall of Babylon cf:

Isaiah 13:1  The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see

Isaiah 13:9-10  Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 13:10  For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine.

Again we have apocalyptic language used to describe the fall of Egypt cf:

Ezekiel 32:2  Son of man, take up a lamentation for Pharaoh king of Egypt, and say unto him, Thou art like a young lion of the nations, and thou art as a whale in the seas: and thou camest forth with thy rivers, and troubledst the waters with thy feet, and fouledst their rivers

Ezekiel 32:7-8  And when I shall put thee out, I will cover the heaven, and make the stars thereof dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give her light. 32:8  All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over thee, and set darkness upon thy land, saith the Lord GOD.

We use figures of speech the same way today: I’ll knock your lights out man or I’ll make you see stars when I punch you out.

Mark 13:26  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.

This is just beautiful apocalyptic poetic language used to describe Jesus coming in judgment at the destruction of Jerusalem.  The word “coming” and the phrase “day of the Lord” is used to describe God “coming” in judgment cf:

Joel 2:1 Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand

Joe 2:10  The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall withdraw their shining

After exhorting the people to repent Joel sees the coming Christian age, the pouring out of the Spirit on Pentecost cf: Acts 2:1ff and God continues to describe the destruction of Jerusalem with figurative language.

Joel 2:28  And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

Joel 2:29  And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit.

Joel 2:30  And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.

Joel 2:31  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come.

Joel 2:32  And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Mark 13:27  And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.

Mark 13:28  Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is near:

Mark 13:29  So ye in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh, even at the doors.

Mark 13:30  Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done.   

Matthew 23:36  Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation

Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.

This was spoken 3 days before His death in 30 AD and Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD exactly a generation.

Mark 13:31  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

This is just a strong form of affirming the certainty of the prediction.

Mark 13:32  But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.     

When the Son was on earth in the flesh, He voluntarily subjected Himself to limitations, among them ignorance of the hour when He would return again to judgment.  If He voluntarily knew not, what great folly we see when theologians fix the time.

Mark 13:33  Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.

Mark 13:34  For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.

Mark 13:35  Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:

Mark 13:36  Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.

Mark 13:37  And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

Notice in this chapter the emphasis given to Christ's exhortation, "Watch!" Matthew tells us how the Lord sought to impress these lessons of watchfulness and faithfulness still more deeply by the parables of the "Ten Virgins" cf: Matt. 25:1-13, and the "Talents" cf: Matt. 25:14-30, and closed all with a picture of the awful day when the Son of man should separate all nations from one another, as the shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats cf: Matt. 25:31-46.