Mark 13:1-13
For the past several weeks we’ve been looking at a single day in the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus is walking around in the temple courts teaching. And religious leaders from the Sanhedrin are coming and questioning Jesus and trying to get Him in trouble.
That event closed last week with Jesus warning the people about the scribes and then highlighting the humility of the widow who gave all she had to the Lord.
Today we move into chapter 13 where Jesus and His disciples are leaving the Temple.
And on their way out of this spectacular structure, they comment on the majesty of the Temple, and then Jesus responds with a shocking prophecy about the Temple’s destruction and His second coming.
This section is the longest continuous monologue by Jesus in the gospel of Mark.
It is highly technical. It is at times mysterious. Aspects of this section are hotly debated.
My goal is not to resolve all the tension or decode all the mysteries of this text. Instead, I want to point us towards the warnings, admonitions and encouragements that Jesus Himself offers for us as we await His return.
Mark 13:1–37 (ESV):
1 And as he came out of the temple,
There is something profound about this particular exit from the Temple. The clash between Jesus and the religious leaders has reached fever pitch. He has dismantled all three groups from the Sanhedrin. He has predicted His own death three times so far. He has condemned the temple as a den of robbers (11:17).
Symbolically, we might think of this as Jesus’ final break with what had become a broken religious system.
one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
Don’t miss the irony: As Jesus is exiting this broken religious establishment, his disciples are admiring it.
At face value, they had good reason to be amazed.
This was the second Temple. The first one was conceptualized by King David, and built by Solomon, then subsequently destroyed by the Babylonians. Then the second temple was built by Zerubbabel, and then renovated again by Herod.
And this thing was incredible.
The temple covered 35 acres. Twelve football fields.
Not only was it huge, it was also ornate. The Jewish historian Josephus says that the temple was covered in gold plates that shone with blinding brilliance.
There was also pure white marble that almost looked like snow on the temple mount from a distance.
The reason the disciples point out the stones is because the stones were enormous. Stones have been found measuring 42 feet long, eleven feet high, fourteen feet deep, and weighing upwards of a million pounds! It’s still a complete mystery how these stones were stacked in the first place. And that’s just the retaining wall!
The pillars in the portico were 40 feet, and would take 3 grown men with their arms extended finger to finger to circle them.
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.”
Remember back in chapter 11 when Jesus was on His way into the temple to drive out the money changers? And He saw a fig tree that should have been bearing fruit but wasn’t? What did He do? He cursed it.
Then after He exited the Temple, the tree was withered from the roots.
The fig tree was a symbol of religious Israel at the time.
Now, this ‘withering of the Temple’ (so to speak) is brought out of the realm of metaphor into tangible reality as Jesus says plainly, ‘this temple is coming down’.
How is it that God was willing to allow this to happen? Well, in the past, the previous temple was destroyed as an act of judgment on Israel for their unfaithfulness to God.
All through Mark we’ve seen that that unfaithfulness was rampant in Jesus’ day as well. One of the features of Jesus’ ministry was Him calling out the way Israel’s religious practices had departed so far from God’s heart.
So there is an aspect of judgment.
But there is also an aspect of fulfillment.
Remember in Jesus, the true temple has arrived.
Biblical history has been leading up to Jesus as the true temple; the One through whom true worship is offered to God.
First came the tent in the wilderness. That’s where God’s presence dwelt among men. Where God ‘tabernacled’ among them.
Then came the temple, which was essentially a more permanent version of the tabernacle. Sacrifices were continually offered there for sin. Worshippers could come and connect with God.
But all of that was just a foreshadow of the spiritual reality we now have in Christ.
Jesus, in predicting His death and resurrection, spoke of His own body in John 2:19 (ESV): 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”
It is only through Jesus that we can truly offer acceptable worship to God.
Hebrews 13:15 (ESV): 15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.
The book of Revelation makes it clear that Jesus is the permanent fulfillment of the temple.
Revelation 21:22–27 (ESV): 22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.
And of course, throughout the NT, the church is also referred to as the temple, and so are individual believers (“your body is a temple of the holy spirit…”)
The point is, now that we are under the New Covenant, true spiritual worship happens in and among God’s people, through the presence of Jesus; not inside a physical temple.
Fulfillment:
In 70AD, about 40 years after Jesus spoke these words, this prophecy about the Temple’s destruction was fulfilled.
There was a Jewish revolution against the Romans in Palestine.
And Rome fought back and eventually crushed the Jews.
During that battle, the last surviving Jews fled to the Temple because it was the strongest most secure structure in Jerusalem.
Roman soldiers surrounded the Temple.
And one drunken soldier allegedly started a fire that engulfed the building.
And as a result of the fire, the gold covering the temple melted down into the cracks in the bricks. And in order to retrieve the gold, the Roman commander ordered that the entire place be dismantled stone by stone.
The destruction was so comprehensive that today researchers have a hard time knowing even exactly where the temple was situated.
3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,
Again, notice the language: “opposite the temple”. Remember, last week he sat “opposite the treasury”, and judged the scribes and the way they were taking advantage of poor widows. You might even say He sat “opposed to” the treasury and what was going on there: wealthy people flaunting their abundance; widows being taken advantage of.
Now, He sits, as it were, ‘opposed to’ the temple. This is a posture of judgment.
Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”
This is where things get a little more complicated.
On the surface, their question seems simple enough: Jesus says the temple is going to be destroyed, and they want to know when so they can be prepared.
But on closer examination, there are two layers to their question. These two layers are represented by the phrases “these things”, and, “be accomplished”, or in some translations, “be fulfilled”.
The first part of their question about “these things” clearly relates to the literal destruction of the Temple.
But the second part of their question about “fulfillment” has an eschatological ring to it. They’re asking about the end of days. They’re asking about the consummation of the Kingdom of Messiah.
In Matthew’s parallel account (Matthew 24:3) it says, “As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?””
Why does Jesus’ comment about the destruction of the temple trigger a question about the inauguration of the Kingdom of Messiah?
Because in their minds, all Messianic events would happen simultaneously.
That’s why in Acts 1, after Jesus rose from the dead, it says one of the questions the disciples asked Him was, “Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?”
But in reality, the two events are not simultaneous.
That’s why Jesus answers them in Acts 1…
“He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.””
So, as an overview, we have:
The prophecy of Jesus about the destruction of the temple and His second coming.
The destruction of the temple in AD 70 which partially fulfills the prophecy of Mark 13.
The second and final coming of Jesus in which His Kingdom is fully restored (which is obviously still in the future).
And in the midst of all of this, you have the call to be faithful witnesses of the gospel in the midst of persecution and hardship, and to not be led astray.
None of that is debated.
What is debated is the timeline in which all this plays out.
And the disciples, back in verse 4 are asking Jesus for a “sign”. They want signals to look for that will decode for them the mystery of all of this.
That word “sign” is a very important word in the gospel of Mark.
The request for a sign has not been received positively by Jesus thus far.
Remember, back in chapter 8 Jesus was asked by the Pharisees three times if He would give them a sign… and He refused, and made it clear that asking for ‘signs’ is not a sign of faith but a sign of lack of faith.
So here, Jesus answers His disciples’ request with a series of warnings and admonitions, not so much on how to figure out when the end is coming, but rather on what to believe and how to behave until it does.
As we go through the first several verses of this, I am going to point out the imperatives. These are the direct commands from Jesus.
5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray.
By the way, in their lifetime following Jesus’ ascension, there were apparently many people claiming to be the Messiah, such as Theudias who is mentioned in Acts 5:36. Jesus says, “don’t fall for counterfeits”... that’s rule number 1.
The counterfeits have continued into the present day.
In the 17th century, Rhys Evans, who later renamed himself “Arise Evans” was imprisoned for impersonating Christ.
In the 18th century, you had Kondratiy Selivanov, a Russian sect leader, and Ann Lee, the founder and leader of the Shakers, whose followers referred to her as “Mother”, believing she was the female incarnation of Christ on earth.
In the 19th Century, John Nichols Thom who claimed to be the savior of the world and the reincarnation of Jesus.
Arnold Potter, who claimed the spirit of Jesus entered his body and he started calling himself “Potter Christ”. He died attempting to ascend into heaven by jumping off a cliff.
Baha’u’llah who claimed to be the fulfillment of all major religions… he founded the Bahai Faith in 1863.
William Davies, who led a schism of the Latter Day Saints, when his son was born, declared him to be Jesus reincarnate. And when his second son was born, claimed he was God the Father.
In the 20th century, you had over 30 people claiming to be Christ, including Haile Selassie who actually never claimed to be Christ himself, but the rastafarian movement decided he was. Charles Manson makes the 20th century list.
The 21st century has a growing list into the present day. There are people in this church who grew up in cults with leaders either claiming to be or speak on behalf of Jesus Christ.
On and on the list goes… Jesus wants us to know that people claiming to be Him are all counterfeits, and not to fall for it.
His next imperative…
7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.
Ironically, it’s still very trendy for Christians to see world events like these taking place and get riled up that the end is near… Jesus’ whole point here is that these events do NOT signal the end. At best, they signal only the beginning of the end, just like birth pains signal the birth of a child.
Next imperative:
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.
This was certainly a reality for the early church documented in the book of Acts, as Peter, Paul and others were continually drug before courts and interrogated.
And, this still happens to Christians today.
Next imperative:
10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.
I know that one isn’t really phrased as an imperative, but because this is literally the primary mission of the church and every individual Christian, I think it’s safe to take it as an imperative here.
The location of this verse gives it the sense that the proclamation of the gospel was going to go hand in hand with persecution.
Think of it this way:
Persecution happens as a result of preaching the gospel, and the preaching of the gospel also tends to flow from seasons of persecution!
Again, we see both happening from the outset in the Book of Acts, and into present day.
Next imperative:
11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
This is not a license to be unprepared… In fact, elsewhere in the NT we are told to be prepared to give an answer to any who ask you to give reason for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:15). All it’s saying is that when we get interrogated by the authorities for our faith, we must trust Jesus in those moments because He’ll be with us in a profound way.
More markers of the end times…
12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Friends, these events and forms of resistance have characterized every age since the time of Christ, and continue to happen today.
In the first century…
There were fears of war in AD 40 when the Roman emperor Caligula attempted to put up a statue of himself in the Jewish temple.
There were famines during the reign of Claudius
Acts 11:28 (ESV): 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius).
Earthquakes struck Phrygia in AD 61 and Pompey was destroyed in AD 62 (not the volcano, that was in AD 79…)
On many occasions throughout Acts, the apostles are brought before courts and interrogated.
In each phase of the early church’s persecution, the gospel is preached and the church is expanded to the surrounding nations.
And yet, as we continue going through chapter 13 of Mark we will see that Jesus is clearly predicting some things that have yet to be fulfilled, ultimately culminating in His second coming.
The temptation may be to take passages like this one and try to use it as a blueprint for end time events. But I’d encourage you to instead use it as a list of reminders about what we are to believe and how we are to behave until Jesus comes back.
The disciples are asking Him for signs… “when is the Kingdom going to be restored?! When is Jesus going to reign on earth!?”
We feel that burden too, don’t we? We live in a world marred by sin. Even with all of our technological advancements, things are not getting better. We are in moral and spiritual decline. We are eager to know when Jesus is coming to set things straight.
As Romans 8 says, “we groan inwardly as we wait eagerly…”
But, in the midst of this waiting and groaning, we have hope, and we have a mission.
Jesus says…
“See that no one leads you astray”.
“Do not be alarmed”
“Be on your guard”
“The gospel must be proclaimed to all nations”
“Do not be anxious”
“Endure to the end”