March 17, 2006

“BE ON GUARD!”

Mark 13

When I was about 15 years old, I attended the annual conference in Kenya for the members of the mission organization to which my parents belonged. The speaker was from America, and he spoke on the subject of prophecy and the events of the End Times. He was an excellent communicator, and I remember being spell-bound by his messages. For the first time I was introduced to words like the rapture and the tribulation and the millennium and the Antichrist. I was hooked. I even got copies of the tapes and listened to them over and over. In the days that followed, though, as I overheard my parents and other adults talking, I became aware of another fact. A portion of the missionaries with our organization came from Europe, primarily from the U.K. I found out that they were less than enthralled with the messages and the speaker. In fact, some even threatened not to come if such a speaker were invited again. So from a rather tender age, I was introduced to the fact that not all Christians understand the prophetic Scriptures in the same way. In fact there are many different viewpoints, and these different opinions can often stir rather strong emotions.

Today, in Mark 13, we have read the only extensive section of prophetic teaching that came from Jesus’ own lips. It is a section of teaching that is often referred to as the Olivet Discourse, because it was given on the Mount of Olives. Once again, one doesn’t have to read many commentaries on this chapter to realize that there are many different opinions and viewpoints on these verses. All I am able to do is to present my understanding of the passage for your consideration. If you like it and find it reasonable, that’s great. If you disagree with me or have a different opinion, that’s OK. You could well be right!

The fact of the matter is that on many of the fine points of prophetic teaching and end time details, Jesus is silent. When he speaks, he speaks with authority, but he paints with a very broad brush. Let’s first recapture the setting. As Jesus was leaving the temple one day, one of his disciples walking alongside of him began to comment enthusiastically on the temple structures and the massive stones with which they were constructed. Jesus brings him up short with the dramatic words: Do you see all these great buildings? Not one stone here will be left on another. Every one of them will be thrown down.

A little later, probably the next day, four of Jesus’ disciples came to him as he was sitting on the Mount of Olives overlooking the temple and the city of Jerusalem. They asked him: Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled? Now, let’s remember where we are in the context of the Book of Mark and the account of the unfolding ministry of Jesus. First, they are stunned by his prophecy of the temple’s destruction. Although it falls in line with his cleansing of the temple earlier in the week, and represents a fulfillment of his words of judgment against the corrupt worship there, the fact that the temple itself will be destroyed shatters their image of a restored kingdom centered around the temple. On top of that, they are coping with the evident opposition of the religious leaders to Jesus and his own predictions of his rejection and coming death. So these disciples are in a very uncomfortable position. Their whole world view is crumbling, and their presuppositions and expectations are being radically challenged. It is a paradigm shift of massive proportions.

We might paraphrase their question like this. “We know you are the Messiah. But what about the kingdom? When will that be established? If the temple is to be destroyed, when will it happen? How will that affect your kingdom? And how is it all going to end?”

What Jesus gives them is not a specific answer to their questions, and certainly not a prophetic time-line for end-time events. Rather he tells them what they need to know to cope effectively with both the certainties and the uncertainties of life in the intervening period between his first coming and his second coming. This whole chapter is peppered with warnings and admonitions to be watchful and alert.

To work our way through the text, I am going to use a technique called “a running commentary.” I see this passage as breaking down into five paragraphs. I am going to read each paragraph, give it a summary title, and then make any relevant comments to help us understand it.

Read Mark 13:5-13

I would give this section the title: Situation Normal. Why do I say that? Many commentators label this as Signs of the End. But I think that misses the point. I think what Jesus is giving us here is a description of life on earth as we wait for Christ’s return. I believe the key phrases in the paragraph are, “Watch out,” in verse 5, “Do not be alarmed,” in verse 7, and especially “But the end is yet to come,” also in verse 7. That last translation is a little misleading. The actual words are, “But the end is not yet.”

Jesus actually gives his followers three distinct warnings in this section. First, he warns us against being deceived by false Christs. Many will come in my name, claiming “I am he.” False teachers, false prophets, false Messiahs have abounded in church history. There were numerous Jewish claimants to the title in the first century. Down through history, others have claimed to be the Christ or to being unique prophets are prophetic voices. Watch out that no one deceives you.

Second he warns us against being panicked by a false sense of crisis. (Read v.7-8). What is the warning? The kinds of events he mentions: wars, earthquakes, famines, are life-shattering events. They certainly are real crises for those affected. These are events that feel like the end of the world. There is a tendency to say, “This is it! This is the end! The Lord must be coming back!” Instead, Jesus tells us, “The end is not yet.” “Such things must happen.” The Sovereign Lord of history is allowing history to run its course. Don’t panic and run off to the top of some mountain to wait for the end. He even adds these sobering words: These are the beginning of birth pains. Now that is usually taken to mean that the end is near at hand. But another way to take it is in a comparative sense. These are just little pains compared to the pain that will accompany the actual birth event.

Thirdly, he warns us to expect persecution as Christians. The opening words of this warning were especially applicable to the disciples themselves and the first generation of the church. Their persecutors would be Jewish councils and synagogues, just as the apostles experienced. But the source of persecution would spread and they would stand before kings and governors as Paul and some of the other apostles did. In this section Jesus assures the persecuted Christian not to worry about how to answer his persecutors. The Holy Spirit himself would speak through them. He also urges the persecuted Christian to be faithful and to endure under persecution as the ultimate test and sign of their true salvation. The point I want to make is that such persecution and such assurances are not limited to the first century church, nor are they exclusive to persecuted believers in the end times. Persecution is a constant for the church. No it doesn’t fall on all Christians equally in all places and all time periods. The church has known times of peace and places of safety. But those are actually the exception, not the norm. I didn’t have time to research any recent statistics, but I just happened to run across this in my reading this week: In 1996, the International Bulletin of Missionary Research stated that there were 159,000 Christian martyrs that year, people who died from causes relating to their profession of faith as a Christian. The age of persecution of Christians is not over. “Expect it,” Jesus said. “Stand firm. Don’t let it throw you off course.”

Well that’s the first section. The next section is Mark 13:14-23. (Read) I have entitled this section, The Days of Distress. A common end-time label is The Tribulation. Many scholars see this section as a passage of dual fulfillment. This is in line with many Old Testament prophecies, in which there was a near-term and a far-term fulfillment. Immediate events would take place that fulfilled the prophet’s words, but also that foreshadowed a complete fulfillment in the more distant future. If this is the case, the near fulfillment in these words would have been the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD when the temple was destroyed. Remember this was the prophecy that triggered the disciples’ questions. In this case, the “abomination that causes desolation” would have been fulfilled by the armies of Rome under Titus first surrounding and then desecrating the temple.

But the prophecies here were not completely fulfilled in 70 AD. This is described as a time of unique distress, unique in all of human history. What is more, this is no false crisis. Jesus warns those who live in Judea by telling them to flee to the mountains when these things begin to happen. This is a warning that Jesus says, “I am telling you ahead of time,” so those living in Judea at that time will know how to respond when these things take place. Awful days lie ahead for the world.

The third section is from verses 24-27. (Read) I have given this section the title, The Coming of the Son of Man. There isn’t a lot of detail here, but what is given is fairly clear. First, this event will immediately follow the Days of Distress in the previous paragraph. But in those days, following that distress. (v. 24) Secondly, there will be dramatic cosmic events in the heavens. These words of description of the sun being darkened and the stars falling are in line with various Old Testament prophecies. Whether these are literal or symbolic references, they certainly will be dramatic in their fulfillment. Most dramitally, the climax of this event will be the coming of the Son of Man (a title Jesus used to refer to himself), with great power and glory. We said last week in Mark 11 that when Jesus entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, he came riding on a donkey, the symbol of a king coming humbly and to seek peace. When he comes again he will come in conquest to assert his authority once and for all upon the world.

The fourth section is in verse 28-31. (Read) This section I have called The Lesson of the Fig Tree: How Soon, How Certain? Jesus is going back to the disciples’ question. When will these things be? He urges his disciples to learn a lesson from the fig tree. When the branches begin to put forth leaves, you know that summer is coming. Jesus makes two applications. One relates to “how soon?” The answer is, “Very soon.” It is near, right at the door. It will all happen within a generation. If we take this in the sense of near fulfillment, and the answer to their question about the destruction of the temple, that did happen within a generation. If we take it in terms of far-fulfillment and the events of the end time, it is a little less clear what the budding of the leaves would signify, but it does indicate that when the prophetic events start to happen, it will all happen in a relatively short time frame.

But there is another application of the lesson of the fig tree here. That is the certainty of summer’s coming when the fig tree begins to bud. This is the application Jesus makes in verse 31: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. They will be fulfilled. The destruction of the temple? It’s going to happen. And history confirms that it did happen in 70 AD, and the magnificent stones were toppled into the Kidron Valley. The Son of Man will come with great power and glory. That’s going to happen too.

The final section is verses 32-37. (Read) In the fifth section, Jesus, as a good preacher, moves to application. I have given this the title Instructions for the servants while the master is away. One of the dangers of end-time teaching and a preoccupation with the prophetic Scriptures is that we can become so preoccupied with the end times that we miss the opportunities of our times. Jesus’ closing words will keep us from that error. First, he warns us about becoming preoccupied with dates and days. “Even I don’t know the exact date,” Jesus says. “You don’t know when the time will come. But that does not mean you cannot be effective while you wait.” The parable is an effective one. An absent home owner and servants instructed to keep the house ready for his imminent return. The key is the uncertainty of the time of the return. It could be any time! Evening, midnight, the wee hours of the morning, or at dawn. Our call is to be prepared, and not to be found sleeping.

What is more is that we are not to be idle while we wait. Verse 34 is pretty clear. He puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task. Our day is to be a day of watching, but it is also to be a day of working for the Master. What exactly is our assigned task? Well, that will vary from individual to individual, depending on where the Lord puts us, and the gifts and resources he gives us. But there is one overarching task that belongs to all of us. I don’t know if you caught it, way back in verse 10. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.

That’s where we come in. That’s our job. We have a church motto. It’s on the cover of our bulletin each week: From the nations…to the nations. We all come from many different nations and we came to Christ because someone took the time to explain the gospel to us. We come from the nations, to Christ, and at least for a time to Abu Dhabi. But look at the rest of that. To the nations.  That is the unfinished task that lies before us. Whatever the challenges; in spite of persecution, in the midst of earth shaking events, wars, famines, even earthquakes, we are called to stay alert, to persevere in our faith, and to keep on spreading the Gospel until Jesus comes again. And the gospel must be preached to all nations. May Jesus find us faithful.