Mark 13:1-11
A. INTRODUCTION
If you were told that your church was to be closed and, later, you saw a bulldozer flattening the building, so there was nothing left standing, how would you feel? If you were told that you would be faced with people who weren’t all they claimed to be, and then you found yourself trapped by someone who was taking you for a ride, how would you respond? And, if you were told that you would be faced with people who would be obstructive, and then you were confronted with people who hated everything you stood for, what would your reaction be?
Now, do I sound like a prophet of doom and gloom? Well, I should. But then, that’s exactly how Jesus portrayed it would be, in this passage from Mark’s gospel. Because Jesus related to his disciples the things that they were about to face. But there is a major difference . . . And that is the level of doom and gloom.
Let me start at the beginning . . .
B. A PROPHECY OF DOOM AND GLOOM (Negative)
1. Destruction (1-4)
The story begins with Jesus and the disciples coming out of the Temple in Jerusalem—something that Jesus and the disciples would have done on many occasions. Only this time the disciples stopped and spent time looking at the spectacle of the Temple area. And what they saw was a magnificent building, and they couldn’t help holding what they saw in awe.
They were amazed at the magnificence of the construction: the adornment of the sanctuary, with its complex of courts, porches, balconies, and buildings. Indeed, it would have been one of the most impressive man-made structures in the world at the time (even if it was a pale imitation of Solomon’s original).
But more than that, they stood there in reverence, because this wasn’t just any special building, this was the place where God symbolically chose to live. It was the centre of Jewish culture and religion. So you can imagine the extent of the awe and wonder that the disciples felt.
Can you imagine, then, the shock of Jesus’s startling prediction that, in the near future, not one stone would be left upon another. That during the disciples’ own lifetime they would see the building totally destroyed; that there would be a day when utter devastation would overtake the city and not one stone of the Temple would be left upon another.
Now that would have been a devastating revelation, and no doubt hard for the disciples to take in. Here they were standing in awe and wonder, not only of the magnificent structure but of the symbolic presence of God in their midst, and yet Jesus was telling them that in the not-too-distant future all of it would be gone. The building and God’s symbolic presence would be wiped away.
Now, the disciples would have clearly understood what Jesus was trying to say. In conquests of cities by invading armies it was normal for invaders to systematically demolish significant buildings. It was a way of breaking the resolve of those being invaded. It would have been clear, too, to the disciples, that the occupying Roman forces would at some stage lose patience with the Jews, and that they would resort to such tactics in order to repress their rebellious nature.
And, as Jesus and the disciples wandered off on the short journey from the city to the Mount of Olives—with the imposing view of the Temple sanctuary looming over the valley (and in constant view as they travelled)—the disciples would have been thinking about Jesus’s shocking revelation.
2. Comment
In contrast to how we consider people feel when they are told that their church is about to be closed, then, that is nothing to what the disciples would have felt. The Temple was more than just their local ‘church’; it was more than just a great awe-inspiring building. It was the central focus of the whole Jewish religion, and they’d just been told it was going to be completely demolished.
3. Deception (5-8)
When Jesus and the disciples arrived at the Mount of Olives, then, the disciples, who had been thinking about what Jesus had said about the Temple, naturally wanted to know more.
By this stage, however, the disciples had taken Jesus’s words about the destruction of the Temple to heart. They understood what Jesus had said also meant that the city of Jerusalem would be destroyed. And that that was only part of what was to come. And what Jesus had described was only the prelude to the consummation of the world.
The disciples, with their religious background, however, didn’t question the reality of his prophecy. But they did want more detail. And they pursued the question of when the end would be. And while Jesus did not put a specific time and date on the issue, he did spend time warning them of the things that would happen before the end would come.
And one of the things he said would happen was that people would try to deceive them; there would be people popping up and claiming to be either the Messiah or a messenger from God; and there would be people who would say that the end was nigh.
But such people, Jesus claimed, would be false. And what was required of the disciples was patience and vigilance.
Now, of course, the disciples had been used to people claiming to be the Messiah. Indeed, many people had been drawn in by false Messiahs and false prophets. And while the person concerned had had their five minutes of fame, only Jesus had lasted the distance. The others had only represented a misplacement of hope that had led to deception and disaster. And, as a consequence, the disciples would have easily understood Jesus’s prophecy that people like this would continue to appear, and at an ever-increasing rate.
However, in addition to the dangers of being deceived by other people, for the disciples, there was the danger of being deceived by events as well. They would hear about wars and natural disasters. And while these were signs that the end was coming, Jesus said, that they would not mean that the end was imminent. They were not signs of the end, but only birth pangs. And, as Jesus implied, events of even greater significance and intensity would be expected to follow before the end would come.
4. Comment
In contrast, then, to how we consider the general run of the mill people who try to deceive us—people who try to take us for a ride—that is nothing to what the disciples were expected to experience.
The disciples had already faced deception from many false messiahs—false messiahs that had led people away from God. So to be told that that would continue, and on a greater level, would have been very difficult to cope with, indeed.
5. Persecution (9-11(-13))
But Jesus continued . . . Because, on top of all that, he told them that not only would there be people trying to deceive them, but people would openly reject them and persecute them too. And that would have been difficult for them to take in too.
For those who were believers, the prospect of suffering and the, perhaps, automatic rejection and abuse they were to face—because of their association with Jesus—was not an idea that the disciples would have relished. And yet, Jesus said, that his own personal experience of being rejected would be the cruel prototype of their own rejection too.
If he was rejected by the Jewish authorities, so would they. If his life was plotted against, so would theirs. Indeed, by implication, if he was put to death, then so would they.
As far as Jesus was concerned, the disciples would be regarded as apostates: people who had renounced their Jewish vows for the adoption of the Christian faith. As a consequence, they could expect to be brought before the local courts accused of heresy. And they would be subjected to public scourging in the synagogues for their crime. However, even this would be just the beginning.
Because, after that, they would be turned over to the Gentile authorities. And they would be charged as disloyal provincials, charged with disturbing the peace and inciting riots. And, in a sense, Jesus said, there was nothing they could do about it. And he reminded them that it was the preaching of the Gospel that would cause offence and generate the public action against them. Indeed, their concern for evangelism would automatically provoke both mission and persecution.
6. Comment
In contrast to how we consider that people can be obstructive to us—and maybe even hate everything we stand for—then, is nothing to what Jesus said was ahead for the disciples. Not for them, people just opposing everything that they said and did. But, for them, people who were prepared to go to any lengths to remove them out of the way for good.
C. A PROPHECY OF DOOM AND GLOOM (Positive)
Now, I think if I’d been a disciple, there and then, in Jesus’s day, I would not have been impressed with the things that Jesus had to say. Talk about being a prophet of doom and gloom.
So the question, maybe, we should ask is ‘Why all the doom and gloom? Why did Jesus talk to the disciples in such a way?’
Well, I don’t believe Jesus’s purpose was to emphasise the negative. Rather he wanted to teach the disciples, so that armed with the negative, they could use the information in a far more positive and constructive way. Jesus wanted to warn his disciples about the things that were to come, but not so that they would crumple in a heap and give up. Rather. so they could approach each aspect in a positive and creative way.
1. Destruction (1-4)
So, when Jesus talked about the destruction of the Temple, Jesus was warning his disciples to be alert, to look out for the signs. Then, they could escape the hostilities with their skin intact.
If they saw the signs, they could flee for safety. They could remove themselves from Jerusalem before the real hostilities began. After all, there was not much point in being flattened for nothing when the Roman ‘bulldozers’ came trundling in.
2. Deception (5-8)
When Jesus talked about deception, about false prophets, about people who were not all they appeared to be, Jesus was warning his disciples to remain patient and vigilant. They needed to be on their toes against such false claims. They needed to be alert, lest they be diverted from the task of sharing their faith. Their own (and other’s) spiritual welfare was at stake. And they weren’t be taken in by people claiming (falsely) to be the Messiah or to be messengers of God.
3. Persecution (9-11)
And when Jesus talked about persecution, Jesus was warning his followers that this was a natural response to sharing the Gospel. And, in a sense, it was something that they had to learn to accept.
However, as Jesus told them, they need not fear, because God would make all things right in the end. Indeed, they should look beyond the tribunals of men to the tribunal of God. Because, in the end, all the persecutions that they were about to suffer would be reviewed and used as incriminating evidence against those who inflicted them on them.
And, when faced with court, they should not be anxious either. The history of God’s people had shown that God had helped others in the past, and this was their guarantee that he would do so again. It was God who would be vitally involved in the confrontation with the authorities; it was God, who would supply the ground for Christian boldness; and it would be God, through his Holy Spirit, who would give them the right words to say in their defence.
4. Comment
So, at the heart of Jesus’s prophecies of doom and gloom was a concern for his followers’ physical, mental, and spiritual welfare. Yes, they needed to prepare for his (Jesus’s) second coming, but they also needed to steel and prepare themselves not only for the birth pangs but for all the other events that would follow as well.
D. IMPLICATIONS
Now of course one could easily say, ‘That’s all very well, but what has all that got to do with us, living in Australia in the twenty-first century, at a time when we enjoy a level of freedom of religion? After all, none of those things that the disciples faced seem to have anything to do with us.’ Or that’s what some people will say. However, I can assure you that that is not the case.
Regarding the destruction of the Temple, well, that’s already happened. The occupying Roman authorities finally got sick of the rebellious Jews and, in an attempt to subdue the people and break their resolve, in 70 AD they flattened the Temple.
In regard to false prophets and false messiahs . . . Well, don’t we still have them all around? There are plenty of cults and alternative religions. And even within the church, from time to time, there appears someone who seems to be eminently sensible and genuine but, who in fact, only does one thing: and, that is, to lead people away from God. After all, how recently have you heard, seen, or read about someone who purports to be a Christian and yet denies the resurrection of Christ? And yet, if the resurrection never happened, if salvation had not been won through a resurrected saviour, then what is the point of us even meeting together?
Regarding persecution, though . . . Even though we don’t face the kind of court proceedings (in this country) that the disciples faced, we are still faced with pressure to water down our ideas, to conform with the so-called ‘Christian’ ideas adopted by our society; and to be not so open in the expression of our faith. Persecution may not always be so blatant but, then, the subtle approach can be just as harmful.
And, unfortunately, it is the watering down of the gospel—with the desire to make Christianity acceptable to others—that the church has found so tempting over the years. And it is this temptation to which the church often succumbs.
And all these three things add up to the fact that we too need to take the advice of Jesus. We too need to be on our toes regarding our faith and our eternal welfare.
E. CONCLUSION
So, in our particular part of the world we can often get uptight about all sorts of things: like, the closure of church buildings, people wanting to take us for a ride, and people objecting to what we stand for. However, in a sense, they are nothing to the kind of tribulations that we should expect, if we are true followers of Jesus.
The message from Jesus is that we need to be alert; we need to be on constant guard. Because our faith and our eternal wellbeing are at stake, and we should not be easily taken in.
The message of Jesus is that, yes, some dreadful things may happen, and they may happen to us, personally. But if we’re ready, if we’ve got our eyes alert for the warning signs, if we remain patient and vigilant and faithful to God, then come Judgement Day the deceitful and the persecutors will get their own from the hands of God. And we? Well, we will receive nothing less than a pat on the back for being good and faithful servants, and we will then go on to enjoy the ultimate gift: eternal life with God.
Posted: 1st February 2024
© 2024, Brian A Curtis
www.brianacurtis.com.au
