Sermon Tone Analysis

Mark 13:1-37

 

! Introduction

When you go on a trip with children, one of the questions which is often asked is, “Are we there yet?”

We are interested in similar questions when it comes to the matter of life itself.

The questions we ask are, “What will it be like in the end?

How will it all happen?

When will it happen?

How will we know when it is going to happen?”

Sometimes when children ask, “Are we there yet?” the parents don’t answer the question, but they may suggest that they sing a song or play a game or, these days, watch a video.

Jesus does a similar thing in Mark 13.

Today we will take a look at Mark 13 in the last message on the series from the gospel of Mark.

It is a chapter which speaks about the beginning of the end and although we will find that it doesn’t answer some of our curiosity, it does give us important answers for living in anticipation of the end.

As we think about Mark 13, we need to remember that it is written following the cleansing of the temple in Mark 11 and the conflict with the Jewish leaders in Mark 11 and 12.

During these days, Jesus left the city at night, but each day he and his disciples went to the temple.

As they walked out of Jerusalem for what would be the last time before his arrest, trial and death, the disciples remarked to Jesus about the beauty of the temple.

None of that temple is visible in Jerusalem today, but all the accounts which are written about it suggest that it was a very beautiful temple.

It was large and situated on the top of a hill and so was visible for quite a distance around.

It was well built and a most impressive building.

The disciples were awed by it, but also awed by the importance of the temple to their people.

It must have been shocking for them to hear Jesus say with great emphasis that “not one stone here will be left on another; everyone will be thrown down.”

Not only was the temple beautiful and strongly built.

It was also an institution which was founded by God and represented the presence of God.

The people placed their spiritual hope on the temple in their midst.

Yet such a condemnation was appropriate.

In Mark 12:9, Jesus had predicted judgment on the Jewish religious leaders because of their faithlessness.

Now he was predicting judgment on the temple because it had become an institution, not a place to meet God.

Significant historical things are spoken of here and for once the disciples realized this because it is in response to this warning of coming judgment that they asked questions about these things which to them would have meant the end.

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I.                   The Questions Asked and How Jesus Responded

As Peter, James, John and Andrew were sitting on the Mount of Olives with Jesus, looking across the Kidron Valley at the city of Jerusalem and at the temple, they were curious about what Jesus has just said and they wanted to know more.

They asked two questions in Mark 13:4.

They asked, “When will these things be?” and they asked, “What will be the sign of their coming?”

These questions which the disciples asked are questions which we continue to ask.

!! A.                 When will these things happen?

The first question which they asked was, “When?”

Oh how we want to know the answer to that question.

I have been a part of many conversations in which this question has been asked.

I have a book which says that Jesus will return in 1988…oops.

Many people have suggested that everything is pointing to the return of Jesus very soon.

I have listened to people who are looking forward to something very special, like marriage, and hope that Jesus doesn’t return before the event happens.

I have listened to other people who are facing difficulty and hope that Jesus comes back before it happens so they don’t have to face it.

How does Jesus answer that question?

Following the question in verse 4 we eagerly read verse 5 and on through each verse of the chapter waiting for an answer.

Sometimes it seems like the next line will give an answer, but we don’t find an answer until we come Mark 13:32 and finally Jesus answers the question.

What is his answer?

His answer is, “I don’t know.”

So we come to the end of the chapter and we realize that Jesus has not answered the question.

In fact he warns against speculating about the answer to that question when he says “no one knows about that day or hour…”

It seems kind of disappointing to read a question that we want an answer to, but find that no answer is given and that the one whom we are asking doesn’t even know the answer.

But that is how it is.

When?

We don’t know.

There is no answer in this text.

!! B.                 What will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?

The second question is, “What will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

Once again we read a question that we would like an answer to.

If we can’t know the time, perhaps there will be some signs which will help us see that the time is near.

Sometimes when we travel to a location that we are unfamiliar with, we look for signs to tell us that we are close.

I remember traveling once and I had been told that the place we were looking for was right next to a lake.

We saw a lake and believed that we were almost there.

Quite a long time later we realized that that was not the lake and we needed to look for another one.

We want a clear sign to let us know that we have almost arrived at the end of our journey.

As we once again read through the text to look for an answer to the question, once again we are disappointed.

Nowhere does Jesus use the word “sign” or say to the disciples, “Here are the signs.”

When we come to verse 14 it may seem as if we have found a sign.

There we read, “When you see the abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong…” But what kind of a sign is that?

What does it mean?

The phrase “abomination of desolation” speaks of some unholy thing inappropriately standing in a holy place.

It speaks of that which is abhorrent to God standing in the place where God belongs.

This phrase has a history in the literature of Israel.

In I Maccabees 1:54, which is a book that is not in the Bible, but tells stories of the history of Israel, it says, “Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege on the altar of burnt offering.”

When that desolating sacrilege was set up, the people of Israel rebelled against the Greek occupiers and were able to remove the desolating sacrilege and establish pure worship again.

In 40 AD Caligula ordered a statue of himself to be set up in the temple.

The Jewish people made such a fuss that it didn’t happen and once again the desolating sacrilege did not come to be.

But Jesus is warning that when this kind of a thing happens again then there will be a war of such magnitude that the people of Judea should flee.

At that time they will not be able to prevent the desolating sacrilege from being placed.

That exact thing happened in 70 AD when the Romans, tired of the rebellion of the Jews, attacked and totally destroyed the nation, Jerusalem and also the temple.

That was the desolating sacrilege which Jesus was speaking of here.

It was an answer to the issue Jesus raised when he warned that the temple would be destroyed.

It was a sign which fulfilled the prophecy of the destruction of the temple which He has spoken of in Mark 13:2.

So in part, Jesus did answer the question about a sign.

Our question is, “What does this sign have to do with us?” because it clearly did not signal the end of things.

In some ways the judgment mentioned here seems to go beyond the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD.

Is Jesus warning about something beyond that event?

There is a concept in the Bible, which some call “bifocal prophecy.”

For example, in Habakkuk 2:3 we read, “For there is still a vision for the appointed time; it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it; it will surely come, it will not delay.”

In that context Habakkuk was talking about the destruction of Babylon, but the prophecy also points beyond it to the final destruction of evil.

This happens numerous times when a prophecy is given and has an immediate fulfillment, but also points forward to another more complete fulfillment.

Is that what is going on here?

It may well be but if so, it retains a considerable degree of ambiguity and in the end we do not have a very clear answer to our question about the signs which will indicate the end of time and the return of Jesus.

So in the end, it seems that Jesus is deliberately ambiguous about answering the question regarding signs.

In fact, he actually warns about those who announce signs.

In Mark 13:22 Jesus says, "For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible."

All of this makes us think that once again the question, as we want to know the answer to it, is not answered.

Geddert suggests, “The chapter contains an astonishing number of ambiguous expressions…Interpreting this chapter does not mean getting rid of the ambiguity but understanding why it is there and what role it plays.”

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II.

Living In the End Time

So we see that Jesus did not answer the questions which the disciples asked, questions we would dearly like answered.

But that does not mean He did not respond with answers that were useful for the disciples and for us.

He gave answers that help us live in light of what will yet happen.