Mark 13:14-37
Mark 13:14-37
From last week…
When Jesus exited the Temple with his disciples, one of His disciples began admiring the Temple structures, admiring the stones, admiring the great buildings….
Jesus responded by saying that the Temple would be destroyed.
The disciples wanted to know when, and buried in their question was also a deeper question about the end of the age and the final establishment of Jesus’ kingdom (because in their minds, all of this would happen simultaneously).
Jesus responds with a series of warnings and admonitions about how His followers are to behave while they await His return.
To summarize the imperatives from last week, 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”
Today the imperative from Jesus is singular: Stay awake.
Mark 13:14–37 (ESV):
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter.
“Abomination of desolation” describes a sacrilegious action in the Jewish temple that profanes the temple so profoundly that it causes “desolation”. Literally, an abominable thing that causes desolation of the temple.
The Hebrew word translated ‘abomination’ in Daniel 11 is shikkoots. It appears 29 times, and it has the idea of a filthy, disgusting idol.
As it turns out, this is not a new phrase in scripture.
Jesus is borrowing the phrase “abomination of desolation” from the prophet Daniel, in the OT.
Daniel 11:31 (ESV): 31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
That prophecy was spoken hundreds of years before Christ by the prophet Daniel, and actually there was an event that seemed to fulfill this prophecy during the intertestamental period before Christ.
A Syrian general by the name of Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated the temple in 168 BC by setting up an altar dedicated to Zeus, and sacrificing swine on that altar.
And yet, here Jesus makes it clear that there is yet another event in the future in which there will be another abomination in the temple (Matthew says it will be “standing in the holy place”), that will bring about desolation, or the wrath of God, and that will cause the Jewish people to flee.
Some say this wrath has already happened, the abomination has already happened, specifically with the destruction of the temple in AD 70. In some ways, it fits. And in some ways it doesn’t.
For example, Jesus clearly says here that the abomination will cause Jews to flee from the temple into the mountains. But the events leading up to the destruction of the Temple caused Jews to flee to the Temple.
But perhaps most problematic is the fact that in order to make it fit perfectly, it requires that we spiritualize the last part of Jesus’ prophecy (which we’ll look at in a moment), where He explicitly promises to come back in glory.
On the other hand, to say that the destruction of the temple in AD 70 was not the fulfillment of the abomination that caused desolation means that we have to deal with the fact that there has not been a Jewish temple since that day for 2000 years!
However, as many of you know, in 1948 Israel again was gathered as a nation. And since then there has been a contingency committed to seeing the Temple rebuilt.
Which, to be clear, as Christians we are not so much in favor of the rebuilding of the Temple because we believe Jesus was the once-for-all sacrifice for sin and the true means of communing with God, so the Temple and the sacrificial system is obsolete. However, a rebuilt temple could be present the stage on which this end time prophecy plays out.
At any rate, according to Jesus, what follows immediately after this “abomination” is set up in the holy place is a time of great tribulation. While it’s true that the events of AD 70 involved horrible tribulation for Jews, verse 19 seems to imply that this is an even GREATER tribulation.
19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.
Part of the reason I think this is still in the future is because the Jews have faced worse tribulation through history since then. The holocaust alone far eclipses the tribulation of AD 70.
And yet whatever is coming next is so severe that Jesus says…
20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved.
This is a global catastrophe, not a local one.
But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.
Who are the ‘elect’? They are those who belong to Jesus by faith and who exist on earth while all of this is happening.
The elect have always been true believers. The true remnant. Those who belong to God not just by heritage or culture, but by faith in Jesus. If you give your life to Christ, you are counted among the elect in a broader sense.
God loves those who are His. He will not let them reach utter destruction, even in the worst imaginable tribulation.
Now, here are some warnings similar to those we looked at last week:
21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
In the end times there will come people like this who are so convincing that even some Christians will be fooled into thinking they are legit. They will do signs and wonders. And yet, their magic tricks are not proof of their authenticity.
Remember Pharaoh’s magicians? They did some pretty convincing tricks. But they were frauds.
There are ministries out there that flaunt signs and wonders…
According to Jesus, signs and wonders are not a sure sign of authenticity. We should not rest our faith on these things.
We rest our faith on what scripture tells us to be true.
So here the point is, don’t be fooled by anything, even if it looks legit.
When Jesus comes back, it won’t be a ‘secret’. It’ll be the most obvious thing in the universe.
And it won’t be a different Jesus; it’ll be the Jesus of the Bible. The Jesus we know!
Now, listen to what comes after this time of tribulation Jesus is describing…
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
The end will be marked not just by earthly calamities but by cosmic events.
This is a good reminder for us that this earth in its present form is headed for destruction.
As Christians, we don’t obsess over preserving something that God Himself said is coming to an end.
2 Peter 3:7 (ESV): 7 But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
2 Peter 3:10 (ESV): 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
Revelation 21:1 (ESV): 21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
So what happens after this cosmic event, in which the stars are falling, and the sun and moon go dark, and the heavens are shaken?
26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.
In the Old Testament, clouds were often associated with the manifest presence of God.
Here comes Jesus, fully glorified, finally ready to establish His Kingdom on earth.
27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
Notice, some are gathered from earth, because they are on earth during His arrival. Some are gathered from heaven because that’s where believers go when they die.
Wherever you are when He arrives, He will gather you to Himself.
This will be a glorious moment for those who belong to Jesus! It’s what we anticipate with eager expectation!
Imagine being one of Jesus’ disciples listening to Him foreshadow this final episode. He has already predicted His own death many times. His ministry has proved to result not in political momentum but in opposition and difficulty.
He has made it clear that to be one of His followers in this life is going to result in unimaginable hardship as they live under His Kingdom paradigms that are so backwards from the ways of the world.
But then, He reassures them that after all of this… after unspeakable persecution and pain and difficulty, it’ll all be worth it because He is coming back in power and glory and He’s coming back for them!
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
How do we make sense of this? Was Jesus saying that the generation of the disciples sitting there with Him on the Mount of Olives would live to see the fulfillment of His second coming?
Obviously not.
It seems He was referring to the generation who would experience the tribulation. Once these events get rolling, they are inevitably going to reach their fulfillment within that generation.
32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Really? Even Jesus doesn’t know when He’s coming back? Yeah, because He voluntarily submitted His will to the Father on this.
Gives whole new perspective to those who are arrogant enough to say they know exactly when Jesus will return. Really? You know more than Jesus does? You know more than the angels in heaven?
Here’s the main point for us in all of this… this is THE takeaway from Mark 13:
33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.
He’s saying, I’ve left you with work to do. You have an assignment.
What is it?
Make disciples
Matthew 28 - Go and make disciples of all nations….
2 Corinthians 5 - You are ambassadors for Christ… Go reconcile people back to God by proclaiming the gospel.
You might add… Love each other (John 13:35)
John 15:12 “this is my command, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake.
Why would Jesus give that command 4 times in a row in the span of 5 verses?
Because we’re prone to fall asleep.
We have so many distractions… so many enticements… so many unnecessary worldly concerns… a thousand ways to ‘fall asleep on the job’.
And, we have a real enemy who doesn’t want us to stay alert to our mission.
I want to encourage you who are followers of Jesus to seriously search your own heart in this admonition from our Lord.
Have you been asleep in your faith? Is there a greater level of alertness and engagement in Jesus’ mission that you could be experiencing? What is He speaking to you?
This is a serious matter!
Revelation 3:1–3 (ESV): 1b… “ ‘I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. 2 Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.
We need to live as though Jesus could show up at any time. Live as though the events described here could reach their fulfillment in our lifetime.
Live as though you could come face to face with Jesus in any moment… because either by your death or His return, you could.
This entire discourse has been directed towards followers of Jesus, but there is another side to the reality of Jesus’ coming that Matthew lays out in His parallel account.
He says when the Son of Man finally appears, the nations of the earth will mourn.
In other words, those who do not belong to Christ will not rejoice at His second coming.
Why? Because all at once they will realize that their rejection of God’s one and only Son will mean their ultimate destruction.
Don’t let that be you.
God’s Word makes it very clear that one day “every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is LORD…”
The difference is, those who do that now will “love His appearing”... while those who are forced to confess His lordship later will mourn.