Mark 13:32-36 - Mystery and Response

We’re diving into Mark 13:32-36, where Jesus wraps up His prophetic teaching with a profound mystery and a clear call to action. In these verses, we marvel at the mystery of the Incarnation—Jesus, fully God yet fully man, speaking of a day only the Father knows. Then, He urges us, His church, to be on guard and stay awake, ready to respond to the world around us and faithful in the work He’s given us until He returns. This passage isn’t just prophecy; it’s a challenge to live alert and purposeful in light of eternity. Join me as we unpack this vital moment in Christ’s teaching, lean into God’s Word, and look to Jesus, our true hope!

Transcript

96 - Mark 13:32-36 - Mystery and Response

Intro

• If you have your Bibles please turn with me to Mark 13 and find verse 32.
  • Today, after three months, we will be closing out another chapter in the Gospel of Mark.
  • We have spent the last 12 weeks studying through this chapter of prophecy spoken by Christ in the final days of His life.
• My hope is that over the course of these last three months that this chapter has been an encouragement and comforting to you and that it has drawn you nearer to the Father.
  • My prayer is much the same even today as we close out this passage, I hope that as Jesus closes out this teaching moment that you would be encouraged and you would be drawn nearer to the Father.
  • Today our time will be divided into two parts…
    • The Mystery of the Incarnation - Vs. 32
    • The Response of the Church - Vs. 33-36
• Knowing our direction let's read our text and open in prayer.

Mark 13:32-36

• I think it would do us well at the start of our time together, and especially as we close out another chapter in Mark, that we briefly be reminded of the context of this passage.
  • Much of our time in this chapter has been examining this teaching moment Christ shared with four of His apostles….
    • However, let us not forget when He spoke these important words.
    • It was as He left the Temple for the final time…
      • And as He left He pronounced the coming destruction upon that structure and upon that city.
      • He was then asked about when this would occur and what would be the sign of when these things would come to pass.
      • As He sat opposite the Temple Mount He began to answer not only this question but also pulled back the curtain of what is to come in the last days.  
    • I think we can agree that this would have been important information no matter when Jesus shared it, but let me remind you that…
  • In this chapter Jesus is not only in the final week of His life but He is in the final days.
    • According to Mark’s Gospel this would have occurred on Tuesday of that final week meaning that Jesus spoke these words just three days before the cross.
  • This is not just important for us to keep in mind but we can also tell it is important to Mark as he penned this Gospel.
    • Consider with me for a moment a few facts about this Gospel.
      • Mark is the shortest Gospel that is written and contains just 16 chapters and only 678 verses.
      • The book itself can be divided into two very clear parts…
        • You have Mark 1-10 which is the first three years of Jesus’ ministry.
        • Then you have Mark 11-16 which is the final week of His life and also His resurrection.
      • Think about that…
        • Mark spends 10 chapters to cover 3 years and he takes 6 chapters to cover 10 days.
    • As you are thinking about that it is worth being reminded…
      • He takes up an entire chapter recounting this teaching moment.
  • Not only should we pause and consider the context, remembering that this is a final teaching moment that Jesus shared with these apostles…
    • But we should also consider the importance that Mark as well as the other Gospel writers placed upon this moment.
      • Both Matthew and Luke also record this moment and also take up quite a bit of their writing to share what Jesus taught.
    • This is worth remembering as we close out this chapter together.  
• So even before we get into our first point, I pray you would see this chapter for what it is, a vital moment for these apostles, a critical moment for the church.
  • We have been given a glimpse at what is to come…
    • It is not to frighten us…
    • It is not so that we would be fearful…
    • It is not so that we would fight with one another…
  • No, we have been given this chapter and others like it so that we would be prepared for what lies ahead.
    • This chapter for us today is a call to action as much as it is a chapter of prophecy.
      • Let us keep that in mind as we prepare to look at these verses.
      • Jesus did simply share this so that we would have a few talking points.
      • He shared it so that we would be prepared, be comforted, and be ready for what lies ahead.  
    • Church, this teaching was given and recorded for our good and for His Glory.
  • So as we close out this chapter today I would ask you to lean in, and see what our Lord has to tell us as we close out this chapter.
• With that let us step into the first verse that leaves many scratching their heads, because what we see is…

The Mystery of the Incarnation - Vs. 32

• Read this verse again with me…
  • Vs. 32
• Did you catch the part of that verse that gives people pause?
  • Jesus, speaking of the last days, tells us that concerning this day no one knows.
    • We have no trouble here, there is no concern with this information being withheld from humanity.
    • He does not stop there though…
  • He goes on, and says that not even the angels in heaven know when this moment will be.
    • Again, there is no issue here on this point, if God sees fit to withhold this information from His angelic population we have no concern.
  • Then, Jesus finishes His statement and says the part of the verse that leaves us scratching our heads.
    • He says, “...nor the Son…”
    • How can this be?
      • How can Jesus be speaking about these things that are to come and say that knowledge of when these things will occur is withheld from Him?
    • Or, to make it more pointed and to get to the heart of the question…
      • How can Jesus be Divine as we believe Him to be and there be something that He does not know?
  • One thing that is true of God and His nature is that He is Omniscient, meaning that He is all knowing.
    • God cannot learn something because He already knows what is to happen.
      • We find this to be true throughout the Word of God.
    • Even within this chapter that we have been covering we see His Omniscience on display…
      • His divine foreknowledge of things that are yet to come.  
  • What we find in this verse is a reminder of the great mystery of the incarnation and when we come across verses like this it is worth a pause as we marvel at that which we do not understand.
• To be clear, what I mean when I say we do not understand is really that we cannot fully comprehend.
  • The Bible shows Jesus as fully man as well as fully God, let me share some examples of this…
    • We see that Jesus was born like any man and had to grow in knowledge as we all do.
      • Luke records it this way in Luke 2:52…
      • Luke 2:52 - “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
        • He increased in wisdom…?
        • How can the all wise creator increase in wisdom?
      • However, along with that we find other verses…
    • We also see that He possesses Divine knowledge able to see the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
      • I like how John records this for us in John 2…
        • John 2:24 - “But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people”
      • Furthermore we see time and again Him getting right to the heart of the situation because He knew their thoughts.
  • Let us consider another example…
    • We see Jesus getting hungry and thirsty and growing tired…
      • Yet we see this same Jesus feeding thousands by multiplying the bread and the fish.
      • We see Him walking upon the waves and commanding demons, we see Him silencing the wind and rebuking the waves.
    • The apostles as they witnessed these things asked, “who is this man…?”
      • That is because they recognized that He was doing God things.
    • This mystery is even recorded in the epistles as the authors consider the person of Christ.  
  • We are told in Hebrews 4 verse 15 writing of Jesus…
    • Hebrews 4:15 - “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
      • Jesus understands man because He Himself was tempted in every way, being fully man He experienced temptation to the fullest.
      • Yet, as God He endured that temptation without yielding to it, He lived a perfect life without the stain of sin.
    • There exists countless examples of this tension within the person of Christ. 
  • The technical term for what we are talking about is called the “hypostatic union”.
    • It describes how Jesus took on human nature yet at the same time remained fully God.
      • One other place we see this clearly is in how He interacts with the death of Lazarus.
        • If you recall that story He had been sent word that Lazarus was sick, with that information He declared that this sickness would not end in death.
        • Yet, he tarried where He was for two more days…
          • Then as He made His way to see Him we learned out that He knew His friend had already died.
      • The apostles did not know this but Jesus told them that Lazarous was dead.
        • In this He displayed Divine knowledge…
          • However, when He gets there we find Him asking questions.
        • He asks Mary, where have they laid Him?
      • Now you would think that Jesus having divinely known that he died would also know where his grave was.
        • The story does not end there though…
          • Jesus, knowing what is to come, knowing that He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead is found weeping at his grave.
          • His weeping is really brought into question because of what happens next.
        • He does not just weep, He commands the stone to be moved and calls Lazarus from the grave.  
      • He brings Him back to life by simply saying, “Lazarus come out.”
    • Throughout that account in John 11 we see both the humanity of Christ and Divinity of Christ on display.
      • Jesus never ceased to be human after the incarnation…
      • Jesus never ceased to be God…
        • He is One being, He is and forever will be the God-man.
        • Fully God and Fully man, two natures that are inseparable in the One Person of Christ.
      • This reality that we see in scripture is a glorious mystery.  
  • I want you to know that as we discuss this mystery that it has been discussed for the last two millennia.
    • We find that even in the early 400’s there were church fathers looking upon this mystery.
    • One such was Cyril the Bishop of Alexandria, some of his words are recorded for us today.
    • He wrote, regarding this union and specifically Mark 13:33…
      • “Just as the Saviour was willing to endure hunger, and thirst, and other sufferings of this kind, so also, as man, He is ignorant of “that great day.” For He sometimes speaks as God, and sometimes as man, in order that He may show Himself to be both very God and very man. As God He said to His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth,” when no one had told Him. As man He asked the sister of Lazarus, when He came to them at the end of His journey, “Where have ye laid him?” He who, when far off, knew that Lazarus was dead, how could He be ignorant, when present, of the place where the body of Lazarus was? It is utterly improbable that He should have known the one thing, and been ignorant of the other. But the truth is, that He knew both as God, while He was ignorant of both as man. Therefore, in the same way, He both knew not and yet knew “that day and that hour.” As man He knew not. As God He knew.”
    • Cyril perished in 444 AD, but we can see that even in the 5th century this reality of Christ was being wrestled with.
  • The benefit of us looking into these things and considering them is two-fold.
    • First, it is to marvel at God becoming man…
      • Jesus, fully and truly God stepped into His Creation to be clothed in flesh.
        • Though this is marvelous on its own it is even more glorious when we consider the reason.
        • He came and humbled Himself by being clothed in humanity so that He could perish in the place of man.
      • We cannot consider the mystery of the incarnation of Jesus without considering the reason why He was clothed in flesh in the first place.
        • So as you consider it and marvel at it do not forget about the reason for it.
        • It was because of the cross, it was to redeem rebellious man.  
      • So we marvel at the incarnation of Christ.  
    • Second, we are humbled in our understanding.
      • It matters not who looks into the incarnation or when they look into it, man’s intellect falls short in understanding the God-man.
      • We are humbled because we are reminded that our thoughts are temporal and before us is a God who is eternal.
        • Isaiah 55:8-9 - “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
      • Here is reality…
        • The more we learn of God and Christ, the more we look into the Gospel and our salvation the more we should be humbled…
          • For the more we learn about God the more we find that which we do not know about Him.
        • It is like climbing the highest mountain and reaching the top only to see that there is a higher mountain still to climb.
          • When you reach the top of that peak and look out you find a higher one yet still.  
      • It is humbling to consider all that we cannot understand and it is humbling still to know that we never will fully understand.
  • Do not miss this though, even though our minds are limited and our reasoning falls short.
    • The Bible clearly shows the humanity and the Divinity of our Lord, it is undeniable and has been a part of Christianity from the very beginning. 
    • So I urge you today to consider it, to be humbled by it, to stand amazed at the lengths that our God endured for the redemption of man.  
• Now let us turn our attention to the final verses as we consider…

The Response of the Church - Vs. 33-36

• Look again with me at our text, specifically verse 33 and verse 37.
  • Vs. 33, 37
    • Here, in these two verses, Jesus tells us plainly what the response of those who hear His words should be.
    • In that we see two very important things, and if you mark in your Bibles I would encourage you to circle or underline these two phrases.
      • In verse 33 Jesus tells us to first…
        • “Be on guard…”, circle or underline that.
      • Then, in the same verse immediate after He tells us to…
        • “...keep awake…”, circle or underline that phrase.
      • Now I do know that those who have the King James Version or the New King James Version contain the word “pray” in verse 33.
        • All modern translations do not have it but this is much like we have seen before.
        • When the King James Version was originally translated in the 16th century they used the most modern manuscripts available.
        • Since that time earlier manuscripts have been discovered and the earliest manuscripts do not contain the word “pray”.
      • Much like what we have seen before, I just want to point out these differences when we see them, now let us keep going.  
    • At the end of this chapter what we have is the practical application of the prophecy that Jesus has shared.
  • Even in verses 34 through 36 we do not have new information but instead a short parable to drive home the point that Jesus is making.
    • He is urging these apostles and therefore He is urging the church that when we consider the things that are yet to come we should…
      • Be on guard… and
      • Stay awake…
• Let us talk about both of these and what our Lord meant by them as we consider our response to the last days.
  • First, He tells us we are to be on guard, this word means to “watch closely” and it is important that we know that this word, when used, is tied to a response.
    • For example, in Matthew 6 when Jesus is teaching on prayer He says…
      • Matthew 6:4b - “...And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”
        • The word that is translated as “sees” in Matthew 6 is the same word we see used in Mark 13:33.
      • So what God watches closely He will respond too. 
    • The point that we need to see is that Jesus is not simply telling us to watch what happens but rather to watch and respond to what we see.
      • Think of how pointless a lifeguard would be if all their job consisted of was watching without responding.
      • That misses the point entirely, a lifeguard is useless if they only watch without responding.
      • However, they are equally as useless if they are not watching in the first place.
    • Jesus is urging us to consider that which is to come, that which He has revealed throughout this chapter, and He is telling us to be watchful and ready to respond.
      • So here we find that what our Lord is telling us is to pay attention to what is going on around you.
        • Church, we cannot and should not bury our heads in the sand as history unfolds around us.
        • The temptation is for the church today to ignore and turn a blind eye to the things that are happening around us.
          • However that goes completely against what the church is to do and who the church is to be.
          • Jesus tells us to be on guard that means we are to watch and respond to what we see.
      • Knowing this, then how are we to respond in our world today?
        • What the world around us needs is for the church to stand strong upon the Word of God without compromise.
        • We live in a post-truth culture where the predominant idea of the day is that truth is relative…
          • The thought is that truth can change depending on the person or even the time of the day.
      • We must not cave into that way of thinking but instead must stand strong upon what the Word tells us regarding truth.
        • The truth of how we are created in the image of God.
          • Made either male or female…
        • The truth of how humanity is fallen, wrecked by sin and shame and how we are unable to redeem ourselves.
        • The truth of how Jesus came forth and lived a perfect life and died in our place and rose in Victory.
        • The truth that He is coming again to Judge the wicked. 
    • As we live and exist in a time of inconsistency and a time of objective morality we must stand opposed to that way of thinking.
      • As the world caves all around us let us not waver upon the Truth of God's written Word.  
      • So stand guard, pay attention, and respond accordingly. 
  • Then, second, we are to keep awake, or stay awake, or stay alert.
    • Specifically the parable that Jesus shares in our verses seems to focus on this second response that He is commanding us.
    • Let’s read those verses again…
      • Vs. 34-36
    • Jesus has gone, He has ascended to the right hand of the Father and is dwelling on high.
      • We know that He will return in a like manner but we do not know when that will be.
      • He has equated it in these verses to a master going on a journey and leaving His servants in charge of His house.
      • These servants have a job to do but as the master tarries the temptation might arise to slack off, to sleep, to rest and take it easy.
      • What Jesus does in these verses is remind us that we do not know the day or the hour of His return.
        • Grab a hold of this reality…
          • It could be today…
          • It could be tonight as we lay down…
            It could be tomorrow before the dawn…
          • It could be next week.
        • We know not when our Lord will return.
      • The temptation then for us very well may be to slack off, to rest, to sleep.
    • Jesus urges us to do just the opposite, instead we are told to stay away, to stay alert, and to continue the task at hand.
      • Acting as though our Lord could return at any moment.
      • So much like the first point where we are not just to watch without responding we also should not stay awake without working.
      • The fact is that Christ has left us with a glorious task to make His Name known throughout the nations.
        • We have a job to do, there is still work to be done, and we cannot rest.
        • We are not to sleep but we are to be about the Lord’s work.
        • As we consider this please turn with me to Luke 12.
      • In Luke 12 our Lord shares a parable that has been labeled, the parable of the rich fool.
      • Let’s read it together…
        • Luke 12:16-19
          • So we find this man who has been given a great amount of wealth who decides to rest in his comfort.
          • Behold, church, this is the temptation of our day to rest in our possessions…
            • To enjoy our comforts, to lay back and kick our feet up as the world is quickly approaching the judgment of God.
          • I cannot help but think that this is one of our greatest battles that we are currently fighting.
            • Though it is a struggle we must heed the words of Christ and stay awake and to continue the work.
          • Otherwise we may find ourselves like this man in this parable, look what our Lord says about him.
        • Luke 12:20-21
          • This is the end result if we trust in our comforts…
          • We will be counted as fools missing the fact that our Lord could return at any moment.
    • We must not simply stay awake but we must keep our hands to the plow and give ourselves to the task that is before us.
  • The Gospel must be proclaimed!
    • I remind you that the church exists for the purpose of glorifying the Father, proclaiming the Son, as we make disciples of all nations.  
    • If we give ourselves to something less than what our Lord has commanded then we are missing the point.
• As we consider these final verses in Mark 13, as we think about all we have seen over the last 12 weeks, I want to reiterate the response of the church once more.
  • As we consider the last days, as we think about the judgment to come and the eternity that will follow.
  • Jesus tells the church to…
    • Watch out and respond to the world around us.
  • He tells us to…
    • Stay awake and alert and continue the task at hand.
• The question we must consider today is whether or not we are individually and corporately giving ourselves to the obedience of these commands.

Closing

• As we close I would ask two questions to those who are found in Christ…
  • Are you awake and working?
  • Are you watching and responding?
  • I assure you the Sovereign Lord has placed you in this time to be used for His purpose.
    • Yield yourself to that today.
• Then those who are outside of Christ, I remind you that Christ is coming back…
  • Eternity is at hand and the reality is that He could return at any moment.
  • If you have not placed your faith in Him and repented of your sins then at His return you will stand condemned.
    • I urge you today to place your faith in Him and be saved.  
• With that let us pray.