Mark 13 | Stay Tuned!
Enriching Tradition | Advent: Coming Soon • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 43:25
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· 21 viewsAllow the promises and prophecies of what will happen then, shape your faith in and mission with Christ here and now!
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Who in here fancies themselves movie buffs? Show of hands. Now, who in here enjoys going to the theatre?
One of my good friends here loves movies, specifically marvel movies. Honestly, I’m not a huge movie theatre guy myself, but because my buddy enjoys going so much, I’ve seen probably 4 or 5 marvel movies with him in the theatre over the past couple years.
And you all know how this process starts. It starts with a movie trailer. A short clip edited together to give you a taste or a glimpse of what’s to come. Some movie trailers you watch and think, that’s a no for me dawg! Right, I’m gonna pass on that one, but other movie trailers are epic. They paint such a compelling picture of things to come that it actually shapes your future. And you may think I’m being dramatic but I’m not. Some movie trailers are so dramatic they shape your future.
Because you are so compelled by the story told in that 2 minute clip, you begin to plan in the present for the future. You start looking up show times. You send texts out to your favorite baby sitter and you mark your calendar so that when that movie drops, you can be there in the theatre to take it all in, in all of it’s cinematic glory!
And here’s what I want you to see this morning. The Advent season, of which this is the first Sunday, the Advent season, that time on the Church calendar where the people of God remember and reflect on the anticipation of the birth of Jesus, the advent season actually follows quite well the flow of a movie. This morning we’ll look at a trailer of sorts and then as we work through advent we’ll see character development, plot twists, a climax in the story with the arrival of Christ on Christmas as well as a cliff hanger ending of sorts. That’s where we’re headed with our new series I’m calling “Coming Soon”.
And with that, let’s take a look at a text that at first glance doesn’t really feel like a Christmas narrative, to set the stage for the movie trailer of sorts for our Advent season. We’ll be in Mark 13 this morning.
Look with me at v 1 to find the setting of this chapter.
Jesus is leaving the temple with His disciples. This is not the temple that Solomon built in the Old Testament, that was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. No, while the temple that Jesus is leaving is in the same place as Solomon’s temple and while it serves the same purpose, it’s not Solomon’s temple but rather this is the second Temple that was reconstructed by King Herod and although it wasn’t quite as glorious as the first, it was apparently a thing to marvel at. Which is exactly what Jesus’ disciples do as they’re leaving it.
Also from v. 1 of chapter 13. Look at it with me, As they’re leaving the temple, Jesus’ disciples say to Him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” These guys are proud of their building. And we have to believe by how Jesus responds that it’s not just pride they feel, but hope! Look at this structure! If we could build this, surely we can build anything! If we can build this beacon of religious life, surely this building and what happens in it will preserve our future and our legacy of faith!
To which Jesus responds, in vs. 2 “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”
And the natural response to this statement is to ask when? When will this happen and what signs will there be to tip us off to when this all is going to happen.
And don’t miss this, Jesus isn’t just about to prophecy about the future, He is going to do that, He’s going to prophecy about the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, but that’s not all He’s doing, along with that, He is teaching his followers! He instructs their hearts and ours!
As we’ll read together, Jesus is warning them: don’t trust in buildings or religious institutions, they’ll be destroyed, don’t trust in miracles or miracle workers, many are fake and counterfeits. Don’t trust in governments either, they’re going to go to war against each other, nations and kingdoms will rise and fall! Don’t trust in any of it, trust in God and don’t mistrust God if hardship comes. God cares for you and all that is about to happen, even when there is suffering, and there will be, God is active, He is working, all that will happen is purposeful, you can and should preserve in trusting God!
And thus, as Jesus prophesies in the preceding verses, we get a movie trailer of sorts foretelling what will happen in the future. Now before we read it, what I need you to know is that there’s lots of debate about this passage. Is it just referring to the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem or is it also referring to the second coming of Jesus?
And I need us all to agree this morning, that we don’t need to fight over this as a Church or becoming overly dogmatic about such things. But we do try to do our best to understand what God’s word says. And while I’m not going to fight anyone over this, as I read things in the text, I personally think this passage is primarily speaking about the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. I think for 3 reasons. The first comes in vs. 30, where Jesus says, “I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.” The most natural reading of this statement from Jesus is that he’s referring to the generation he’s speaking to.
The second reasons is that we have a recorded history of the events surrounding the destruction of the Temple in AD 70 from a man named Josephus. And while we don’t have time to unpack all that he wrote, I’ll post video from RC Sproul who does that you can watch later, but suffice to say, Josephus records that what happened is precisely and exactly what Jesus prophesied and promised would happen! (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL30acyfm60fWm9jA8LNRnYizJj5VEduus - see video 3-7)
And lastly, I think Jesus’ prophecy here is primarily about the destruction of the temple and with it the Old Covenant as well as the institution of the New Covenant because Jesus quotes the Old Testament extensively in this section. And if you were to track down all his quotes as well as the symbolic language that He uses, you’d discover that God had foretold of the day where He would do away with the Old Covenant and it’s sacrificial system and institute a new covenant will all people from every tribe, tongue and nation, where Jesus’ sacrifice would now become the only one required. (https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL30acyfm60fWm9jA8LNRnYizJj5VEduus - see video 6)
For those three reasons, the statement of Jesus about this generation not passing away before all this happens, the history of Josephus recorded about what actually happened and how well is squares with what Jesus said would happen and the use of OT quotations, language and symbolism, I believe this text is primarily speaking about AD 70.
That said, there does seem to be some kind of shift in v. 32 where Jesus takes his eyes off of the coming suffering, persecution and destruction surrounding the fall of the temple and He sort of expands His gaze to all of human history where we will see such signs continue into the end of the age, not just the old covenant jewish age, which is what was ended up on Christ Resurrection, but the end of our current Church age where Jesus will return and institute the eternal age of the New Heaven and New Earth!
There is a relationship between the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 and the 2nd Coming of Jesus that Jesus wants us to see. Jesus is hinting at the fact that everything that happens to us is projected on to the screen of eternity. The Bible doesn’t just tell us what happened, it tells us what always happens and what will happen in the future. We are becoming what eternally we shall be. Everything has a double point of reference—now and then. And we are called to live now in the light of then.
And thus, the warnings about future sufferings, challenges of where to place our trust, and call to stay alert and active in our faith still applies as much to us as it does to the generation of Jesus! What I mean by that is, much like movie trailer, Jesus’ glimpse of things to come for His present hearer’s and for us, should shape not only our presents but also our futures as well!
Now, let’s read it together starting in v. 5-6:
5 Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.d 6 Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.
Here Jesus is warning them! Don’t trust miracle workers or miracles! It’s not that God doesn’t do miracles any more or that He can’t. He does and can to heal and help His people. However, miracles can be counterfeit. So Jesus warns, don’t trust every miracle or every miracle worker that comes along! Trust God’s word and Jesus, the Jesus who says His words will never pass away! This Church is why we will never stop preaching the Bible!
Listen I pray for miracles and the power of God to be displayed more in the working of miracles within our midst, but even more than miracles I pray for the preaching of God’s word to go forth, because the Word of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God to change our world! Hopefully miracles will accompany this preaching but at the end of the day it’s the good news about Jesus that people need most! Buildings get torn down. Miracles can be counterfeit by Satan. Governments come and go, but the good news that Jesus is Lord and savior, that He came and died and was raised, that fact will never change and that is what we need more than anything else!
Jesus continues,
7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
Governments and Kingdoms fight and fail. Nature brings about devastation and suffering on the earth. Jesus says when you see this, don’t be alarmed, God’s aware of it and it’s purposeful. As a woman in labor goes through pain and suffering so this world will experience contractions as Christ brings about the restoration of all things! Don’t be alarmed, don’t be surprised! All this has to take place before the end Jesus says!
Don’t be alarmed but rather,
9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues.e On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
Jesus says, as don’t trust in buildings. Don’t trust in miracle workers. Don’t trust in Governements. Trust in Him and His word and don’t waiver in that trust when you experience persecution, pain and suffering! The Holy Spirit is with you. God Himself lives in you and He will guide you, even in those unexpected moments of life that catch you off guard. God is never caught off guard. He knows the future as He tells it here to His disciples and as Josephus recorded. What He said would happen did indeed happen. And if you don’t believe because of that, believe and trust because of Christmas. God said He would come. Thousands of years before the birth of Jesus to Mary, He said He would come and He did! He knows the future Church. Although life may catch you off guard, your God is not caught off guard!
v. 12
12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.g 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
I haven’t highlighted this one yet, but Jesus here warns also of trusting in family.
Church, Jesus will divide families. Do not be surprised by this. Do not mistrust Him, when it happens. I realize blood runs deep, especially here in a small town like ours. Nothing is more important than family we say, but that’s not true. There is a blood that runs deeper than family. There is something more important than family and His name is Jesus! His blood is what unites us. Faith in Him is more important than even our familial bonds!
I heard a preacher say it this way and I’ve made it a mantra in my home. Son, Daughter, I’m not for you or against you. I’m for Jesus. If you’re of and for the things of Jesus, then I’m for you. If you are against Jesus or the things of Jesus, then I’m against you!
Loved ones, if you’re hated, even by your own family because of Jesus, because of standing with Jesus and His word, don’t be surprised, also don’t loose heart! Stand firm in your faith and loyalty to Jesus and be saved!
v. 14-19 then speak prophetically of what Jesus foretold what would and what did happen concerning the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in 70AD. I’ll let you read those verses on your own, but I want to highlight v 20. The suffering surrounding the destruction on Jerusalem was brutal. Josephus writes (again from the RC Sproul videos) of the seige and apparently starvation was so serve he records of a mother roasting her nursing age child and consuming its flesh! If you read vv. 14-19 this is foretold. It’s gruesome! But look at v. 20
20 “If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.
God shortened the suffering! Church, Jesus tells of a time where suffering will be so serve for His hearers where they may begin to question God’s presence or Jesus’ perceived absence! They may feel as though they’ve been forsaken and forgotten and neglected by God, but see the hope and compassion of v. 20! Jesus is recorded here as saying that (perhaps when his own people will be complaining about his absence) God actually shortens such times for the good of his people. You see, we are unwise to pass judgment as though we have the full story when we’re suffering. Living by faith often means simply trusting when one cannot see. God is still good even when our lives are not. He cares even when we cannot feel His care. He is working for the good of all those who’ve been called according to His purposes and if you have faith in Jesus, that’s you! (paraphrased from English, Donald. 1992. The Message of Mark: The Mystery of Faith. The Bible Speaks Today. Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.)
v. 21-23 is yet another warning to be discerning against false preachers and miracle workers, which we’ve already discussed and I’ll let you read on your own.
vv. 24-27 then quote from the Old Testament in the use of symbolic language and in the use of a direct quotation from Daniel 7. Siting what will happen in the future (which again I believe is primarily focusing on the the future destruction of Jerusalem, but may also have a focus in the vents before Christ’s 2nd coming.
24 “But in those days, following that distress, “ ‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; 25 the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken. (An allusion to Isa 13:10, 34:4; Joel 2:10.)
26 “At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory (A quotation of Daniel 7:13).
27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.
And then Jesus tells His disciples to pay attention to the signs. V. 28:
28 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.v 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
And then v. 32 sort of shifts. If the destruction of the temple in 70 AD had been the focus, it now appears that Jesus is expanding is gaze to include farther out future events, those surround His return in judgement and glory. Of which He says:
Mark 13:32–37 (NIV)
32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. 35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”
Phew, ok that was a quick trip though a hotly contested portion of scripture with some imagery that makes even the best movie trailers pale in comparison.
The prophetic, in the future telling sense, whether it be about the birth of Christ, the destruction of Jerusalem or the 2nd coming of Christ, always peaks our interest and with that peaked interest, speculation about dates and times almost always follow.
Which again, Jesus offers us a warning. As we are not to trust in religious institutions or their building, miracles or miracle workers, governments, or even our own flesh and blood for salvation, so too we are not to trust in nailing down the date and time of Christ’s return! He doesn’t even know it!
So what are we to do. Why does Jesus give us a prophecy like this with it’s warnings?
His desire is the same as that of a good movie editors! He gives us a glimpse of the future to motivate us to change our present. In the same way a good movie trailer can compel us to make plans for the future, Jesus tells us not in full detail of what to expect in our future. We can expect counterfeit gospels and miracle workers. We can expect buildings and religious institutions to come and go. We can expect governments to fight and fail. We can expect our own family’s to turn against us as we turn to Jesus. And none of this is cause for alarm!
It’s cause to stay vigilant. All of these things are signs, signs that the God who told us He would come as a baby and did, is the same God who stands over the future as tumultuous as it might be and that He will come again to make good on His promise to bring about the redemption of all things!
Until that day, let me encourage you! Don’t just hunker down and pray for these things to happen so Jesus can just come back already. That’s not what Jesus says we are supposed to do! It’s not wrong to pray for Christ’s return, but it is wrong to just hunker down and wait in hiding for Him to return. We win church. We don’t need to fear all the signs! Nor should we turn them into a battle cry of God’s judgement! What we should do is allow them to keep us active an alert, in prayer and proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
Church too many Christians are looking for signs so that they can plan to hunker down from some great tribulation and try and protect themselves and make themselves comfortable as they wait for God to bring the judgement upon the world! This is not what Jesus desires! Look at the text!
Be on your guard he says. Like a man who went away, Jesus ascended and He left us here in charge, each of us assigned with our own tasks! To keep watch and to tell those who would perish to join us!
Too many Christians are hunkering down in fear as they see the signs of the time, hunkering down in fear waiting for God to bring the judgement, when what we should be doing is telling anyone and everyone who will listen that Jesus came to take that judgement! There is an escape from it! Their is a refuge from what’s coming!
As we look to the signs, as we consider Christ 1st coming at Christmas and the reality that He will one day return, let us not hide or hunker down, may our God give us faith to proclaim the powerful and good news to the lost. Jesus came. Jesus saves. He’s coming again, and like Noah was saved from the judgement of the flood by entering the ark, all who enter Jesus can escape the judgement as well.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but the word of Jesus, Jesus Himself and all those with faith in Him, never will!
You’ve been shown a glimpse of what will happen then. Don’t leave here this morning without letting that then reshape your here and now!
Let’s pray.