Stay Awake!

Mark 13:1-37

Transcript

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, Look,
teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings. And Jesus said to
him, Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone
upon another that will not be thrown down. And as he sat on the Mount of Olives
opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately,
Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these
things are about to be accomplished? And Jesus began to say to them, See that no
one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, I am he, and they will
lead many astray. And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be
alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in
various places. There will be famines. These are but the beginnings, beginning
of the birth pains. But be on your guard, for they will deliver you over to
councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before
governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them. And the gospel must
first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you to trial and deliver
you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is
given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. And
brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and
children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And you will be
hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be
saved. But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought
not to be, let the reader understand, and let those who are in Judea flee to the
mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house
to take anything out. And let the one who is in the field not turn back to take
his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant, and for those who are nursing
infants in those days, pray that it may not happen in winter. For in those days
there will be such a tribulation as not has been from the beginning of creation
that God created until now, and never will be. And if the Lord had not cut short
the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he
chose, he shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, look, here's the
Christ, or look, there he is, do not believe it. For false Christs and false
prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders to lead astray, if possible,
the elect. But be on guard. I have told you all these things beforehand. But in
those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will
not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in
the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in
clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and
gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of
heaven. From the fig tree learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender
and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see
these things taking place, you know that he is near at the very gates. Truly, I
say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take
place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But
concerning that day or hour or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in
heaven nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard. Keep awake. For you do not
know when the time will come. It is like a man going on a journey when he leaves
home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the
doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore, stay awake. For you do not know when the
master of the house will come, in the evening or at midnight, or when the
rooster crows, or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep.
What I say to you, I say to all. Stay awake. Let's take a moment and we'll pray
together. Lord God, we are grateful to be here, and we come humbly in your
presence and under the authority of your word and invite your Holy Spirit to
illuminate us, that this time would be helpful, that you would draw us near to
yourself, that you would shape our hearts and our understanding in this time,
and that we would hear the words of our Lord to stay awake. Lord, I pray for
these things. In Jesus' name, amen. So the passage that Luke just read is,
interpretively speaking anyway, by far the hardest in Mark. And in the eight
plus years that I've been at Community of Grace, it occurred to me this week,
we've spent very little time, as a church, working through passages that are
apocalyptic or eschatological, passages that have to do with the last things.
But this is part of the beauty of preaching systematically through a book of the
Bible. Every so often we get pushed into the deep end of the pool and deal with
a passage that's outside our comfort zone, maybe for the preacher or maybe for
the listener, or maybe both. But that's where we are today. Mark 13 is known as
the Olivet Discourse because Jesus and his disciples are on the Mount of Olives
overlooking the temple as they talk. Mark 13 is the longest extended teaching by
Jesus in the Gospel of Mark. And in the passage, Jesus discusses the future
destruction of the temple, the overthrow of Jerusalem, and he also discusses his
return, his second coming. The big idea for us comes straight from this text,
and it is simply be on guard and stay awake. But let me walk through this text
and we'll see where that big idea emerges from. So in chapter 11 and 12, the
preceding chapters, it's the week of the Passover, the week leading up to Jesus'
death, and this is when Jesus comes into Jerusalem. And he looks around at the
temple and he sees this frenzy of religious activity going on, money is being
changed and animals are being bought and sold, and the place is packed with
religious pilgrims. But the temple is not functioning as a place of true
worship. And Jesus passes judgment on the temple and drives out the money
changers. And he goes on to pass judgment on the hypocritical religious leaders.
He foils all the questions of his accusers. All the attempts to trap him and
trick him fall short. And now, Jesus and his disciples are walking away from the
temple. Mark 13 is Jesus' farewell prophecy. It's kind of like the bridge
between the judgment events of 11 and 12 and the final days of Jesus' life in 14
through 16. So we begin in verse 1 and 2, and it says, As he came out of the
temple, one of his disciples said to him, Look, teacher, what wonderful stones
and what wonderful buildings. And Jesus said to him, Do you see these great
buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be
thrown down. It's important for us to recognize that this temple and the
surrounding courtyard, the surrounding structures, were unbelievable. This
temple was revered by the Jewish people. It was one of the wonders of the
ancient world. And as Jesus and his disciples are leaving, they look back and
say, probably very similar to the same way that we do when we go to Letchworth
or we look at Niagara Falls, or you go up to the Adirondacks, say, Isn't that
amazing? Look at that. Look at these wonderful stones. Look at this wonderful
building. This is the second temple. This is not Solomon's temple. This is the
temple that was rebuilt by Herod the Great over the course of decades. It is
twice the size of the Solomonic temple. Amazing site. Just for some perspective,
the temple and the courtyard covered 35 acres. Inside the temple, the ceiling
was 150 feet high, more than three times the height of the peak of our building.
There were individual stones that weighed over a million pounds. The ancient
historian Josephus says this about the temple. This is written in the first
century. I'm going to read it. The exterior of the building wanted nothing that
could astound either mind or eye. For being covered on all sides with massive
plates of gold, the sun was no sooner up than it radiated so fiery a flash that
a person straining to look at it were compelled to aver their eyes as from the
solar rays. To approaching strangers, it appeared from a distance like a snow-
clad mountain, for all that was not overlaid with gold was of purest white. Some
of the stones in the building were 45 cubits in length, five in height, and six
in breadth. And Jesus looks down from his elevated spot at this spectacular
temple and he says, There won't be left one stone upon another that will not be
thrown down. For the disciples who hear him, this would be a shocking, almost
bizarre statement. There is nothing going on in their world or in their thought
world that would make them think that is conceivable. Maybe for perspective,
sometime next year, the new Bill Stadium is scheduled to be completed. It has
been, it will be when it's done, and already is by far the most expensive
building project that has ever happened in western New York. The cost of that
place is already over 2 billion dollars, and when it's completed next year,
there will be media coverage all over western New York, but around the country.
But imagine someone as they look at that spectacular new stadium, standing on
top of say, Chestnut Ridge, looking down at that place and saying, This is all
going to crumble. Nothing is going to be left standing. And people would look at
you and say, What are you talking about? What are you talking about? When Jesus
said this to the disciples, it would have been a shocking statement. So they
follow up, verses 3 through 4. As he sat on the Mount of Olives, opposite the
temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, Tell us, when
will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about
to be accomplished? So they're asking a two-part question. When is this going to
happen? And, what will be the sign that it's about to happen? Those questions
are important to keep in mind because it's kind of the framework for the answer
that follows from Jesus. What he says in his upcoming discourse is largely
answering those two questions. When will it happen? What will be the signs? So
what unfolds is a prophecy. This is Jesus predicting events that are to come,
and he predicts them with amazing accuracy. Let me give you a few historic dates
to frame this. Jesus was crucified around 33 AD. Mark was written 53, 55 AD,
about 20 years later. Jerusalem was invaded and destroyed. The temple was
destroyed between 66 and 73 AD. The temple went down in 70. So, in verses 5
through 13, I believe that Jesus is prophesying about events that would happen
in the future and did indeed happen in the first century. So, in other words,
these prophecies, I'm talking about 5 through 13, have already been fulfilled.
He's giving instructions for those who are hearing about what they will
encounter in the events leading up to 70 AD. I'm going to read verses 5 through
13. And Jesus began to say to them, See that no one leads you astray. Many will
come in my name, saying, I am he, and they will lead many astray. And when you
hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but
the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines.
These are but the beginning of the birth pings. But be on your guard, for they
will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you
will stand before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them.
And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. And when they bring you
to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say,
but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the
Holy Spirit. And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his
child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. And
you will be hated by all for my name's sake, but the one who endures to the end
will be saved. So in love for his disciples, knowing that he is about to depart,
Jesus gives his disciples warnings about the events that are going to take place
in the future. There would be false teaching and false messiahs. False teaching
was rampant in the first century, as we know by reading the New Testament, and
from reading the, particularly the New Testament letters. There would be natural
disasters, wars and rumors of wars, and famines. So just for example, in the
year 60 AD, the city of Laodicea would be devastated by an earthquake. In the
years 41 to 54, there was severe famine in Rome during the time of Claudius. You
can read about that in Acts 11. In the year 79, Mount Vesuvius erupted,
completely buried this Roman city of Pompeii. There were natural disasters, wars
and rumors of war, famines, and these were signs to the disciples. I bring this
up partly to say that these are events that happened, and partly to say all of
us, when we read about prophecy, we tend to be naturally self-centered, so we
tend to think about the critical timing and nature of our own generation. And we
tend to think of our own time in history as always having one of very special
emphasis. So we're prone to think about natural disasters, or events going on in
the Middle East, and quickly correlate them to our own end times calendar. There
are many modern prognosticators who try to look at current events and speculate
about the end times. But in this section of Mark 13, Jesus is talking about
events that have now been completed. And the takeaway for the disciples was to
know that they ought to expect these things, and second, to be prepared to
endure and to be on their guard. Look at the imperatives in the text. Verse 8,
be on your guard. Verse 11, do not be anxious. And verse 13 is phrased kind of
like an imperative, endure to the end. This is Jesus in love for his followers,
knowing that he is to depart, preparing them for the challenges that will await
them. And what is described in Mark 13, 9 through 13, is a perfect description,
almost an outline, of what the apostles will deal with in the book of Acts. Look
at this again. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be
beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake,
to bear witness before them. And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all
nations, and when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be
anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given to you in that
hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. This is incredibly
descriptive of the events of the book of Acts. Now you can wonder about verse
10, which says, the gospel must be first proclaimed to all nations. Some people
have interpreted that passage in a way that says the return of Jesus is
contingent on the gospel being preached to every last ethnic group, and once
that finally happens, then he will be able to return. Or you can read that and
say, well, the apostles didn't preach in Antarctica or Australia, so the gospel
wasn't preached to the whole world in the first century. Of course not
geographically, it was not. But what we're talking about in this context is the
known world. If you look at how the apostle Paul uses that phrase in the New
Testament, the apostle Paul says in Colossians 1, he says, the gospel which has
come to you as indeed in the whole world, it is bearing fruit and growing. Later
on in Colossians 1, verse 23, Paul says, not shifting from the hope of the
gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.
And the idea there is in those passages, it's the known world, it's the
Mediterranean world that we're talking about, not every geographic corner of the
earth that's being referred to in verse 10. But let me bring this up. If you
want to talk to someone about who Jesus really is and was, look at Mark 13 and
consider this. Jesus lived as a real historical person who died in the 30s AD.
Mark was written in the 50s. Jerusalem is overthrown and the temple is destroyed
in AD 70. Just as he said, Rome invaded Jerusalem. The temple was burned to the
ground, and in their greed for the melted gold that was inside, the soldiers
took apart the very stones of the temple. These are very, very easily verified
historic dates and facts, and we see Jesus making authoritative prophecy about
things that took place only decades later. It all happened. It's a powerful
authentication of who Jesus is. After talking about the signs preceding the
overthrow of Jerusalem, Jesus now goes on to talk about the abomination of
desolation, which is a phrase that comes from the Old Testament. I'm going to
pick up in Mark 13, verse 14. When you see the abomination of desolation,
standing where he ought not to be, let the reader understand, then let those who
are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go
down, nor enter his house to take anything out, and let the one who is in the
field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas, for women who are pregnant, and
for those who are nursing infants in those days, pray that it may not happen in
winter. For in those days, there will be such tribulation as has never been from
the beginning of the creation that God created until now and never will be. And
if the Lord did not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for
the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. And if anyone says
to you, look, here is the Christ, or look, there he is, do not believe it. For
false Christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders to
lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard. I've told you all things
beforehand. So, the abomination of desolation, referred to in verse 14, this is
something that the prophet Daniel had written about in the prophetic portion of
his book, both in chapter 9 and 11. Daniel 11, 31 says this, forces from him
shall appear and profane the temple and fortress and shall take away the regular
burnt offering, and they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate. So
Daniel describes someone who would invade the temple, meaning the temple of
Jerusalem, and desecrate it and make the temple desolate. In the second century
BC, this is predating Jesus' earthly ministry, Antiochus IV invaded Jerusalem
and tried to Hellenize the Jews by trying to eliminate their sacrificial system,
make them do things that would be blasphemous for them as Jews, forcing them to
offer pork on their altars. That had already happened. Most people see at least
partial fulfillment of the abomination of desolation in what Antiochus did. But
subsequent to Jesus'... Jesus must be referring to more than that because he's
now talking about it after Antiochus. Subsequent to Jesus' words, in the 40s or
50s, the Roman emperor Caligula tried to put up an image of himself in the
temple, which would be blasphemous. And there were murders and atrocities that
took place within the temple in the chaos leading up to the overthrow of 70 AD.
So, I believe the abomination of desolation has multiple fulfillments with both
a past and future dynamic. It has been partially fulfilled, but I also believe
there will be a future fulfillment because the apostle Paul seems to refer to
this when he writes about the second coming of Christ in 2 Thessalonians. We
read this, this is 2 Thessalonians 2, 1-4. Paul says to the church, Now
concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together
to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed,
either by a spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us, to the
effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for
that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of
lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself
against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes a seat in the
temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. So, to summarize what I'm trying
to say, Jesus prepared his followers for great acts of blasphemy that would
precede the overthrow of Jerusalem. I believe that is a partial fulfillment of
what is to come before Christ returns when the Antichrist sets himself up
against God. Now, when the temple was overthrown in AD 70, it was a giant
catastrophe, a horrific catastrophe for the Jewish people, and people vary on
estimates here, but according to Josephus, according to Josephus, 1.1 million
Jewish people died in the Jewish-Roman war from 66 to 73 AD. And the destruction
of the temple essentially ended the Jewish sacrificial system and was one of the
key factors in helping the world understand that Christianity was not a subset
of Judaism. Because of the warning that Jesus gave, the fleeing Christians got
away. The traditional wisdom in that time would have been, if your city is being
invaded or potentially being invaded, to seek security in the walled cities. The
prophetic warning of Jesus was to flee to the mountains, and therefore they
survived. So this tribulation that Jesus speaks about has already happened.
However, I do think it's very possible that this is a type of tribulation that
will still come before the day of the Lord, and we still need to hear Jesus'
emphasis, which was, be on your guard. So look at verses 24 through 27 with me.
But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the
moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the
powers in the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man
coming in clouds with great power and glory, and then he will send out the
angels and gather his elect from the four winds from the ends of the earth to
the ends of heaven. Some of the language in Mark 13 is very straightforward, and
some of it is very symbolic. This passage in 24 through 27 is rich with Old
Testament's imagery. And you can read this and think, are these natural
disasters that we're talking about? Are stars literally going to be falling from
the sky? I think that these are simply poetic images of judgment. But
regardless, the second coming of Christ here is referred to as a future event,
the return of Jesus, his second coming. This is our hope, and this is what we
say the mystery of our faith, that Christ has died, that Christ has risen, and
that Christ will come again. He is returning. And when he returns, it will be
for his people, and the angels will gather his elect from every corner of the
globe. And we think, when is that going to happen? That's what the disciples
wanted to know. When will this happen? Now, if you look at verse 30, it says,
Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things
take place. I believe this generation refers to verses 5 through 23. There are
other interpretations that you may be more convinced by that think this
generation refers to, for example, the Jewish people in general. As to the
return of Christ in verses 24 through 27, his second coming, we see in verse 32,
concerning that day and that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven,
nor the Son, but only the Father. So that day in verse 32 refers to Jesus'
second coming in verses 24 through 27. And when Jesus says that he doesn't know,
that refers to his divine attributes, some of the divine attributes that he laid
aside in his earthly life. He does know now. So the timing of his return is
uncertain to us, but the reality that it will happen is not. And that is
sobering, and that is also great hope. He will return. He will gather his elect.
He will make all things right. And there are imperatives for us here. So this is
how Jesus sums this up. He says this, from the fig tree, I'm in verse 28, from
the fig tree, learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts
out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things
taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you,
this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and
earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. But concerning that day
or that hour, no one knows. Not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only
the Father. Be on guard and keep awake, for you do not know when the time will
come. It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his
servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay
awake. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know when the master of the house
will come. In the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or in the
morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you, I say
to all, stay awake. When we read Mark 13, as believers in Christ, it is very
important that the interpretive questions do not take us away from the very
straightforward commands. What I mean by that is, there are things that I've
said today that you might debate with, and that would be fine. You might have
your own different, little bit different framework of interpretation, or you may
just hear this and be like, I want to do more study on this, my own. Good Bible
scholars have been debating some of these verses and passages for a long time.
But Jesus' words, his actual practical commands to his followers are very clear.
He's going away, he's putting his servants in charge, and he's coming back. But
we don't know when that will be. But we are told, be on guard, be vigilant, stay
awake. We should be prepared. And we should know and trust that Jesus is not
surprised by anything. Now you can say, what does that actually mean? What does
that actually mean to stay spiritually alert and awake? A couple thousand years
have passed, or close to that, since these words. What does that mean? Am I
supposed to be in some sort of ongoing state of, like, what sort of state does
that mean for us? Let me give you three very simple points to close us. We, as
believers awaiting his return, need to live trusting his word as the bedrock.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my word will not pass away, Jesus says.
This is the bedrock of our Christian lives. Secondly, we should not be living as
though this world will just go on and on and on forever, as though our comfort
and pleasure in this life are the only thing that matters. The beginning of this
chapter is about a monumental, massive structure that would have taken many,
many people years of their lives to build. But there's a micro question for us.
Are we spending our lives pursuing things that are going to crumble, that are
just going to crumble? If we are alert and staying awake, our lives are built on
the bedrock of Jesus' word, and we are not living as though the comfort and
pleasure of this life are the only things that matter. We're not spending our
lives building things that will crumble. And third, here's how 1 John tells us
very clearly how we ought to prepare ourselves. 1 John 3, verse 2 through 3 says
this, as the apostle instructs the church as to how to prepare for Christ's
return. This is 1 John 3, 2 through 3. He says, Beloved, we are God's children
now, and what we will be has not yet appeared, but we know that when he appears,
we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus
hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. Everyone who hopes in him purifies
himself as he is pure. So we build our lives on the foundation of his word. We
build things that actually matter, things that have eternal value. And we hope
in him and purify himself as he is pure. That's our hope. We anticipate the day
of the Lord, his second coming. That is a sobering day, but it's a day of joy
for those who know him. Let's take this time. We'll pray together.