Are you familiar with any examples in which something new and important happened after a period of significant struggle?
Read Mark 13:1-27.
In chapters 11 and 12, Jesus has demonstrated His authority over the temple, as well as the leaders of the temple, and affirmed that the two greatest commandments are more important than sacrifices in the temple.
How do the opening verses of chapter 13 indicate that the disciples still haven’t understood what He’s saying?
Many people have read Mark 13 as being mainly about “the end of the world,” which it certainly isn’t. Jesus is focused on the temple’s destruction. He is answering the disciple’s question. Further, if it were the end of the world, what would be the point of running away to the mountains as verse 14 suggests?
However, for most Jews at the time, it would indeed be almost equivalent to the end of the world for the temple (the center of their national life and identity) to be destroyed.
How did Jesus say His followers should act as they live through events that will lead up to the destruction of the temple (vv. 5-13)?
Jesus’ warnings to His followers are to be taken VERY SERIOUSLY by all who are working for the kingdom today. Many Christians today face persecution every bit as severe as the early church suffered; and those Christians today that do not suffer in that manner often face the temptation to stagnate, to become cynical, to suppose that nothing much is happening, that the kingdom of God is just a dream.
In verse 13 Jesus says we NEED PATIENCE to hold onto our faith in the midst of difficulties.
What specific situation in your life right now is requiring patience to endure?
How can we cultivate deeper stronger patience in our lives?
After the period of patience Jesus describes, what does He say will happen next (vv. 14-27)?
While Jesus encourages patience during the preliminary events leading up to the temple’s destruction, one particular sign will indicate that things have changed dramatically and that it is now time to run.
The sign is “the desolating abomination” (v. 14), an appalling object or person whose presence signifies imminent destruction. The text behind this is Daniel 11:31 and 12:11, which speaks of pagan armies invading Jerusalem, stopping the regular sacrifices in the temple and setting up what sounds like a pagan idol. When something like that happens, patience is no longer the proper response. It is time to escape. Run for the mountains!
Indeed that is exactly what happened in A.D. 70, within a generation, as Jesus predicted (see v. 30). The Romans conducted a siege of Jerusalem with terrible consequences for the population. Ultimately they set up their own symbols of power and authority in the temple before destroying it. The first-century historian Josephus tells us of many would-be messiahs, many prophets, during the Roman-Jewish war of A.D. 66-70. They were offering rescue, trying to gain following, promising signs and wonders. They all came to nothing.
Read Mark 13:28-37.
What warnings and admonitions does Jesus issue to His followers?
Jesus says even the Son doesn’t know the day or hour of these events (v. 32).
The concluding command in this chapter is not, “Sit down and work out a prophetic timetable,” but instead, “Be on the alert!” What does Jesus mean by this command, and how can we carry it out?
Trent Dean
dean008@gmail.com