Mark 13
CHAPTER 13
Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple
And as he left the temple, one of his disciples said to him: Teacher, look what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings! 2 And Jesus said to him: Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another. All will be thrown down.
3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately: 4 Tell us, when will these things occur, and what shall be the sign when these things are about to happen?
5 And Jesus began to say to them: Take heed that no one lead you astray. 6 Many shall come in my name, saying, I am he; and shall lead many astray.
7 And when you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be disturbed. These things must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, there shall be earthquakes in various places, there shall be famines. These things are the beginning of the birth pains.
9 But be warned. For they shall deliver you up to councils, and in synagogues they shall beat you, and before governors and kings shall you stand for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Say whatever shall be given you in that hour, for it is not you that will speak but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children shall rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 13 And you shall be hated by all for my name's sake; but he that endures to the end, the same shall be saved.
14 But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not (let him that reads understand), then let them that are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 And let him that is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in to take anything out his house. 16 And let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. 17 But alas for women who are pregnant, and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 And pray that it is not in the winter. 19 For those days shall cause distress, such as there has never been similar, from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never shall be again. 20 And except the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the elect's sake, which He chose, He shortened the days.
21 And then if anyone shall say to you: Look, here is the Christ! or Look! There he is!- do not believe them. 22 For false Christs and false prophets will arise, and will show signs and wonders, in order to lead astray (if possible) the elect. 23 But be warned, I have told you all things beforehand.
24 But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light, 25 and the stars shall fall from heaven and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken. 26 And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then shall he send the angels and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.
28 Now from the fig tree learn its lesson. When its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that the summer is near. 29 So you also, when you see these things happening, you will know that he is near- at the doors. 30 Truly I say to you: This generation shall not pass away, until all these things happen. 31 Heaven and earth may pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
32 But of that day or that hour knows no one except the Father, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son.
33 Be warned, watch and pray. For you do not know when the time is. 34 Like a man going on a journey; on leaving his house, he puts his servants in charge, each according to his assigned tasks. He also commands the gatekeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake. For you do not know when the lord of the house comes, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. 36 In case he comes suddenly finding you asleep- 37 what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!
Commentary
13:2 This chapter, known as the Oliver prophecy, gives signs which were fulfilled immediately before the destruction of the temple by the Romans in AD70. However it is clear that Jesus was also thinking about the signs which would be seen in Israel and the world leading up to His return. We can therefore say that what happened in AD70 is a type of our last days.
13:8 Birth pains- The bringing to birth will be when Jesus returns and we are fully ‘born again’ and enter His Kingdom with immortal nature (Jn. 3:3-5). Living in the last days just before He returns will therefore be a painful and frightening time for the believers.
13:10 The quicker we preach the Gospel to all nations, the quicker the end will come.
13:13 It seems the believers will be persecuted in the last days.
13:18 The actual timing of events in both AD70 and in the last days can be affected by our prayers.
13:19 This alludes to Dan. 12:1, which speaks of a “time of trouble such as never was” for Israel. This means that a situation worse than the Nazi holocaust must yet happen to Israel. We can therefore expect world opinion to increasingly turn against the Jews.
13:24,25 Sun, moon and stars are used in the Bible as symbols for the rulers of a nation, especially Israel (Gen. 37:9).
13:32 If God knows something which Jesus doesn’t, then Jesus can’t be God Himself.
13:33 We cannot know the exact time when Jesus will return; therefore we must watch [be alert] and pray. Ignore the various claims that we can work out from Bible prophecy which year Jesus will return in.
13:34 Assigned tasks- Each of us has a specific part within the body of Christ. If you don’t know what it is, what God’s hope of you and expectation of you is, then pray to find out.
13:37 Stay awake- But according to the parable of Mt. 25:5, even the faithful in the last days will fall asleep. We will be saved by grace.
