JESUS' PROPHECY (Mark 13:1-13)
INTRODUCTION:
At the end of Mark 12, Jesus’ time in the temple courts was over. It was clear that the religious leadership had rejected Him as both the Messiah and the Son of God. Jesus’ contrast of the religious leaders’ self-righteousness and the widow’s devotion was His denunciation of the leadership of Israel, especially for their guilt in leading the nation to reject the Messiahship of Jesus. As He leaves the temple with His disciples, He will not return, He will not visit the temple again. He will no longer debate with the religious leaders, He will no longer teach the crowds, the remainder of His time will be spent with His disciples and friends. Some of the most important teaching of Jesus occurs in chapter 13. This is all prompted by something that Jesus says as He and the disciples leave the city and begin to make their ascent up the Mount of Olives. This teaching by Jesus is covered in Matthew, Mark, and Luke; not one of the three Gospels records everything that Jesus said as they left the city, each recorded only the information that was most relevant to their theme. So, as we study this passage in Mark we will not get all that Jesus was teaching to His disciples, but what Mark through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit felt was important to His Gospel and to those to whom he was writing. I may refer to the other Gospel accounts for clarity on some areas. Let’s pray and then read our passage for today.
--PRAY--
SCRIPTURE:
Turn in your Bibles this morning to Mark 13:1-13 and we will see if we can get through all 13 verses this morning. Please, if you are able, stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word and follow along as I read.
Mark 13:1-13,
“As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.’ As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?’ And Jesus began to say to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name, saying, “I am He!” and will mislead many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs. But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.’ ” (Mark 13:1–13, NASB95)[1]
THE HISTORICAL SETTING (Mark 13:1-2)
Jesus and His disciples left the Temple Compound for the last time during His lifetime. Mark tells us that one of the disciples looking back pointed out to Jesus the wonderful stones and buildings of the temple complex. At this time, the temple buildings were not yet complete. The temple complex was begun by Herod the Great in 20 B.C., but not finished until A.D. 64, only six years before its destruction. The words of the Olivet Discourse were spoken in about A.D. 30, so the building of the temple complex had been going on for fifty years. They would continue the building for another 34 years. The stones which so impressed the disciple were indeed magnificent, and some are still visible in the walls of the Temple complex to this day. These “Herodian Stones” are huge, each measuring ten to twelve feet in length and weighing several tons.
After this was pointed out to Jesus, He reminded the disciples that this Temple was doomed to destruction, and that the Temple itself would not have one stone left upon another, that would not be thrown down. This prophecy of the Messiah was fulfilled in A.D. 70 when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem and set the Temple on fire. Because there was so much gold in the building, a great amount of it melted and the liquid gold seeped into the crevices between the stones of the Temple. When the ruins cooled down, the Romans systematically removed everything, stone by stone, in order to get the gold that had solidified in the crevices. This prophecy by the Lord Jesus left the disciples perplexed.
THE QUESTIONS (Mark 13:3-4)
Reaching either the garden of Gethsemane on the slopes of the Mount of Olives, or the top of the Mount, Jesus and the disciples sat down opposite the Temple. What Jesus had just said about the Temple being destroyed caused four of them to come to Him with questions. Mark records, “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ‘Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?’ ” (Mark 13:3–4, NASB95)[2] To understand fully what they are asking we need to listen to what Matthew and Luke record in the parallel passages. Matthew 24:3 says, “As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, ‘Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?’ ” (Matthew 24:3, NASB95)[3] Luke writes in Luke 21:7, “They questioned Him, saying, ‘Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?’ ” (Luke 21:7, NASB95)[4] By looking at all three parallel passages, we can see that all together three questions were asked which, at the same time, included requests for three signs that would indicate when these things were to happen.
The question in Mark and the first question in Matthew was: “Tell us, when will these things be?” or “…when will these things happen?” “These things” refers to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple that Jesus had prophesied as they had climbed the Mount of Olives. This is the same question that Luke records the disciples asking, just phrased a little differently. The first question was: When will Jerusalem and the Temple be destroyed, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?
The second question is recorded in Matthew, and it is, “What will be the sign of Your coming?” This question does not concern the Rapture of the church because the Rapture is imminent, or could happen at any moment, and it will have no warning sign preceding it. The Second Coming, however, will be preceded by a sign and the disciples wanted to know what that sign would be.
The third question is also recorded in Matthew, it is, “What will be the sign of the end of the age?” They wanted to know what would be the sign that the end of this age had begun? In Jesus’ day rabbinic theology spoke of two ages, this age, in which we now live; and the age to come, the Messianic Age. Their question is: “What is the sign that the last days of this age have begun that will lead to the Messianic Age?
Looking at all three parallel passages we find that the disciple asked three questions and asked for three signs to watch for. Jesus answered these questions but not in the same order as they were asked. He answered the third question first, the first question second, and the second question third. Nor are all three answers found in all three accounts. While Matthew and Mark recorded Jesus’ answers to the second and third questions, they ignore the answer to the first question. Only Luke records the Lord Jesus’ answer to the first question.
THE GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE CHURCH AGE (Mark 13:5-7)
Before Jesus began to answer the third question first, He began by answering the question negatively by providing some general characteristics of the church age which are not signs. Mark writes, “And Jesus began to say to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name, saying, “I am He!” and will mislead many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.’ ” (Mark 13:5–7, NASB95)[5] Rather than immediately answering all three questions, Jesus decided to first give some characteristics that would be common during the Church Age, or the present age, none of which would mean that the end has begun. Jesus wanted to make sure that the disciples would not jump to conclusions because of various events, and so He first answered the question with these general characteristics, telling them of things that would not mean that the end had begun. Jesus listed two general characteristics of the Church Age.
The first characteristic came as a warning; they were to watch out for this so that they would not be misled. Jesus said that during the Church Age false messiahs would arise. Historically, Jesus was the first person who claimed to be the Messiah, not only claimed but proved that He was the promised Messiah. After Him, many came claiming to be the messiah. From the time of Jesus until about the middle of the 1850s, a great number of Jewish men arose claiming to be the messiah, and in doing so led many people astray. Some Gentiles have also claimed the messianic title. But Jesus said this was to be a general characteristic of the Church Age and to watch out for it, but He also said that the existence of false messiahs in no way meant that the end of the present age had begun.
The second general characteristic would be local wars. Jesus stated that when they heard of wars and rumors of wars, these things also would not be signs of the end. The existence of local wars here and there would in no way indicate the end had begun. Even if such local wars took place in the Middle East, it is not necessarily prophetically significant.
Concerning both false messiahs and local wars, Jesus said in verse 7, “those things must take place; but that is not yet the end.” (Mark 13:7b, NASB95)[6] Luke emphasized this point in his passage when he wrote, “… for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.” (Luke 21:9b, NASB95)[7] In other words, the rise of false messiahs and long periods of local wars will necessarily come first. But neither of these things in any way, shape, or form are signs that the end of this age, the Church Age, had begun.
THE SIGN OF THE END OF THE AGE (Mark 13:8)
Jesus began by providing for His disciples certain characteristics that would in no way indicate that the end of the age had begun. Jesus next gave them the one sign that the end of the age had truly begun. Mark records Jesus’ answer this way, “For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” (Mark 13:8, NASB95)[8] According to all three Gospel writers, the sign of the end of the age is said to be when “nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.” This act will be coupled with, “earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines.” Jesus then clearly stated that this would be the beginning of birth pangs, we might even say the first birth pang and the sign that the end of the age has begun. Jesus had already stated that the local wars between a few nations would not indicate that the end has begun. But then He states that when there is nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, this will mean the end of the age has begun.
To understand what Jesus means when He says “nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” we must understand that this is a Hebrew idiom for a world war. What Jesus is saying is that when a world war occurs, rather than merely a local war, that world war would signal that the end of the age had begun. This is quite in keeping with the Jewish writings of the time of Jesus. One Jewish source known as the Zohar Chadash states, “At that time wars will be stirred up in the world. Nation shall be against nation and city against city; much distress shall be renewed against the enemies of the Israelites.”[9] Another Jewish source known as the Bereshit Rabbah says, “If you shall see the kingdoms rising against each other in turn, then give heed and note the footsteps of the Messiah (XLII:4)”[10]
The rabbis clearly taught that a worldwide conflict would signal the coming of the Messiah. Jesus corrected this idea slightly, for He said that when the world war occurs, while it does not signal the coming of the Messiah, it will signal that the end of the present age has begun. These birth pangs that Jesus talked about are the same as the “footsteps” that the rabbis talked about. The footsteps of the Messiah had to do with the series of events that will lead up to the arrival of the Messiah.
World War I (1914-1918) was the fulfillment of this particular prophecy, for that was the first world war. As virtually all historians agree, World War II was merely a continuation of World War I. Both world wars had a decisive impact on Jewish history. World War I gave rise to the growth of the Zionist movement, and World War II led to the reestablishment of the Jewish state. Since World War I, history has entered the last days of the Church Age. However, the last days are an extended period of time.
The worldwide conflict that signaled the beginning of the last days of this age was to be coupled with famines and earthquakes. As far as famines are concerned, during the war years of 1918-1919, a pestilence killed 23 million people. In 1920, the Great Chinese Famine occurred, followed by the Great Russian Famine of 1921. The earthquake factor is even more interesting. According to the Encyclopedia Americana between the years 63-1896 there were only 26 recorded earthquakes. Most of the world’s earthquakes began to occur since 1900. There were several significant earthquakes in conjunction with World War I. Earthquakes have increased tremendously through the centuries, for example in the 18th century there were 640 major earthquakes, in the 19th century there were 2119 major earthquakes, Nearly 900,000 earthquakes had been recorded by the third quarter of 1992 in the 20th century. That equals an earthquake every hour!
The first sign or the first birth pang signifying that the last days of this age have begun was to be a worldwide conflict coupled with famines and earthquakes. This was fulfilled beginning in 1914.
THE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES OF THE APOSTLES (Mark 13:9-13)
Having provided an answer to the third question regarding the sign of the end of the age, Jesus Christ then turns back to His own time to teach the disciples some of the personal experiences that they would have to endure. Mark writes in verses 9:13, “But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.” (Mark 13:9–13, NASB95)[11] Most of what Jesus says in this discourse is chronological, but when it is not, it is somehow noted, but we may have to look to the parallel passages to find how it is indicated. Jesus begins the Mark passage with a warning for the Apostles to be on guard, but the Luke account clearly states that what Jesus is about to describe is going to occur before the sign that the end of the age has begun. Luke’s passage in Luke 21:12 begins with the phrase, “But before all these things…” (Luke 21:12a, NASB95)[12] So, before there is the sign of the beginning of the end of the age, before the sign of “nation against nation and kingdom against kingdom” ever comes, Jesus is telling His disciples that they themselves are going to undergo certain experiences. Jesus then described the certain experiences that they were to endure after He departed from them. All together Jesus listed nine things that they would experience, not all of them are listed in Mark: First, they would be rejected by the Jews (Mark 13:9a). Second, they will be rejected by the Gentiles (Mark 13:9b). Third, they will suffer persecution, but these persecutions will provide opportunities for testimony (Luke 21:13; Mark 13:9b). Fourth, they will succeed in proclaiming the gospel everywhere (Mark 13:10, this is verified in Romans 10:18 and Colossians 1:6, 23). Fifth, they would not need to worry about preparing defenses before their trials, because they would be given the words to speak through the Holy Spirit (Mark 13:11). Sixth, they will be rejected by their own family members (Mark 13:12). Seventh, they will be hated by all men to the point some will be martyred (Mark 13:13a; Luke 21:17). Eighth, nevertheless their salvation is assured (Mark 13:13b). Nineth, they will succeed in winning many souls to faith in Christ (Luke 21:19).
That the Apostles did, indeed, experience all these things are well known both from the book of Acts and from other historical records that trace the activities of the Apostles beyond what is recorded in the book of Acts. While Jesus had already answered their third question concerning the sign of the beginning of the end of the age, before proceeding to answer their other two questions, He chose to predict some of the personal experiences that they would have to endure before the sign of the end of the age would come. They were not to expect the end of the age to come soon. In fact, Jesus predicted that many of them would be martyred before the end of the age ever begins, and none of them lived even to see the sign of the beginning of the birth pangs indicating the last days of the present age.
CONCLUSION:
It will take us a few weeks to get through all the answers that Jesus gives to the disciples and to us His readers. What can we draw from this passage? First, we can know that we are in the last days of this present age, we are closer now to the Messianic age, then when Jesus gave this prophecy. This passage gives us a glimpse of the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus, proving again that He was not just a mere man, but that He truly was the Son of God. In this passage we also see the omniscience of the Son of God as He prophesies many things and many of them have already been fulfilled. He predicted the destruction of Jerusalem, and the Temple and history tells us this prophecy was fulfilled in A.D. 70 by the Romans. His prediction of local wars and false messiahs have been witnessed down through history. His prophecy of a world war and earthquakes and famines has also been fulfilled; the world has experienced what Jesus called the beginning of the birth pangs that signal the last days of this age have begun. This passage should instill in us hope because God is sovereign and omniscient and that He is faithful to those who belong to Him. We have a glorious future awaiting us when we will reign with the Lord Jesus Christ as His bride during the Messianic Age.
[1]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[2]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[3]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[4]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[5]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[6]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[7]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[8]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[9]Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G., The Footsteps of the Messiah. San Antonio, TX: Ariel Press. 2018. pgs. 626-7.
[10]Fruchtenbaum, Arnold G., The Footsteps of the Messiah. San Antonio, TX: Ariel Press. 2018. pg. 627.
[11]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.
[12]New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update. 1995. La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation.