How long, O Lord? - Mark 13:1-4, 32-37

How long, O Lord?

Mark 13:1-4, 32-37

Introduction: Yogi Berra probably wasn’t the first person to say, “It’s very difficult to make predictions, especially about the future!” If you ever try to check the weather forecasts you know what I mean! The story is told of a group of Sioux Native Americans living in South Dakota who asked their tribal chief if it was going to be a cold winter. He said, “I’ll get back to you.” Then he used his cell phone and called the National Weather Service. They said they were pretty sure it would be a cold winter. The chief went back to his tribe and said, “It’s going to be a cold winter, start gathering firewood.” The members of his tribe soon asked him again, so he called the Weather Service again and got the same answer. The Chief went back and said, “Keep gathering firewood for a cold winter.” After a few weeks, a member of the tribe asked him again if it was going to be a cold winter. So, for the third time, he called the National Weather Service. This time the meteorologists said, “We are now certain that this is going to be one of the coldest winters on record.” The chief said, “What makes you say that?” The meteorologist said, “The members of the Sioux tribe are gathering firewood like crazy!”

       Even with all the sophisticated computer models meteorologists have, they still miss a forecast sometimes. And the more extended the forecast, the greater the chance of error.  We read about God’s standard for prophets in Dt 18:21-22…

²¹ And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?'-  ²² when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

Ok then, the National Weather Service is clearly a “non-prophet” organization! Over the next month or so we’re going to work our way through this prophetic teaching of Jesus, known as the Olivet Discourse.  Today we’ll introduce chapter 13 of Mark. Jesus was speaking in this context of future events that some of His disciples would see, as well as some more distant events that they foreshadowed leading up to His second coming.  And, unlike some weathermen, you can be certain Jesus’ forecast is accurate!  This chapter is challenging to interpret. I like the rule that Alistair Begg follows when preaching on prophecy: “The main things are the plain things and the plain things are the main things.”

       The Olivet Discourse predicted both the impending destruction of the Temple and the second coming of Christ. Through the years, many false prophets have tried to predict the date of Christ’s return. In 1988, when I was a young pastor in NJ, I received a book in the mail, 88 Reasons Jesus will return in 1988. The next year, again, unsolicited, I received the sequel, On Borrowed Time: What went wrong in 1988. In that volume the author recalculated and was suggesting a date in 1989. A few years later a layman who owned a small network of radio stations that I think was called Family Radio, published a book called 1994. In that book he was predicting, with great confidence and certainty, that he had calculated the time of the Lord’s return to be October of 1994. He later modified his calculation to 2011. Before he died he conceded that his attempt to predict the date of the Lord’s return was sinful and wrong, and said that he continued to search the Bible not to predict a date, but to gain further understanding. He is not the only one who has gone off track with date setting.  The Jehovah’s Witnesses have offered at least nine predictions from 1874 to 1984, each time having to explain away their miscalculation. Jesus made it clear that it is not for us to know, in advance, the time of His return, and that is exactly the point! The church in every age is to be watchful, expectant, faithful, and engaged in the mission until He comes. After the resurrection the disciples had a question for Jesus on this subject…

...for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."  ⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"  ⁷ He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.  ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."  ⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,  ¹¹ and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."  ¹² Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away… (Acts 1:5-12).

In other words, “when” is the wrong question. The concern, until He comes, should be “what,” that is, what is our mission until that day? The Bible does speak a lot about the return of Christ and about a future kingdom. The prophets, the apostles, the Lord himself, all look ahead with expectation and hope. That brings us to...

The Maine* Idea: Stay faithful! Life will get hard but Jesus is coming!

I. A Prophetic Word: A Near Term Prophecy and His future return.

      Jesus predicts the razing of the Temple (which occurred in AD 70). The interaction between Jesus and the leaders since the triumphal entry has been in and around the Temple. Jesus has been there, teaching the people, and His disciples, knowing full well how this story had to unfold. It was Passover week after all, and the Lamb had to be presented according to the eternal counsel of the Godhead to accomplish the redemption of the elect, all who would trust in Him alone as their hope of salvation. As they were leaving the Temple, perhaps on Wednesday afternoon, the disciples made an observation concerning the grandeur of the Temple complex. Jesus’ reply had to be shocking to them…

And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!"  ² 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…" (Mk 13:1-2).  

       As we work through this chapter we’ll see that Jesus in His reply to the disciples refers to the destruction of the Temple (which would occur in A.D. 70), and also to the “end of the age” and His second coming (Mt 24:3). Put the questions of the disciples in Mark side by side with what we have in the parallel account in Matthew…

Mark 13:4	Matthew 24:3
"Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?"	"Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?"

       First of all, let’s be clear that the variation in the wording of the second part of the question, “…what will be the sign…”, does not indicate an error by either evangelist in reporting what Jesus and the disciples said. Neither writer is giving us an exhaustive, word-for-word transcript of the exchange! Both, under the inspiration of God, selected a portion of what was said to make the point that they are attempting to address. Matthew simply includes two more parts to the question, which also helps us understand why Jesus expands His answer from the near term, “these things,” i.e. the destruction of the Temple, and includes His parousia at the end of the age. It seems pretty clear that the disciples did not separate these things in their minds. How could the destruction of the Temple signal anything less that the “end of the age”? As they will later ask in Acts 1:6, “Is it at this time that you will restore the kingdom to Israel?”

       Like the prophets of old, Jesus put near and distant events side-by-side. We see this frequently in Scripture. We use the term, “prophetic perspective” to explain how the prophets put near and distant events side-by-side, as though they were peaks of two mountains, one seen in the distance, and then another that seemingly is right behind it, disguising the great distance between them. And so, the Old Testament Scriptures spoke of His first coming (in humility) and His second coming in power and glory. There was almost no way for contemporary readers to discern how these ideas could both be true, much less could they understand that more than 2000 years would lie between the two events!

       Jesus uses this teaching to encourage His disciples, and as Mark writes he offers encouragement to the believers in Rome who were suffering for their faith, and to all believers through the ages who have suffered… and to us! The Maine* Idea he would teach us: Stay faithful! Life will get hard but Jesus is coming!

II. Signs of the Times? The beginning of the “birth pains” (v.8). 

⁴ And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray.  ⁵ For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray.  ⁶ And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.  ⁷ For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  ⁸ All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.

       It seems clear that Jesus is saying these kinds of things, wars, rumors of wars, conflict, famines and earthquakes, are exactly the kinds of things that will happen in this fallen world. The world is broken, under the curse, and so both conflict between humans and natural disasters of all kinds will happen… and both pagans and the people of God will suffer. Will believers go through the tribulation? Since the Fall, the world is under the curse. Jesus told His disciples in the Upper Room, “In the world you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” That is essentially what Jesus is saying in this discourse, spoken just a day or two before the gathering in the upper room.  He says, “Do not be led astray by false messiahs” (or those who teach another Christ!), and don’t be anxious when the “birth pains” start… Jesus is in control.

       When our daughter was having her second child, back in 2014, we were in NJ for the birth. The plan was that we would stay with Arden, who was two years old, while Sarah was in the hospital for the birth. We were at my brother’s house sleeping when we got a call in the middle of the night, the labor pains had started! We drove over quickly, no doubt breaking a few speed limits on the way, and when we got to the old farm house where they were renting an upstairs apartment, the outside door was locked. We called up, and who came down the long flight of stairs to open the door? Sarah! Ian was upstairs having a bowl of cereal! They had a forty-minute drive to the hospital, I thought they would be in the car with the motor running! Don’t be anxious – these are just the beginning of the birth pains. (They made it to the hospital in plenty of time!).

       We can expect that just as labor pains become more frequent and intense as the birth approaches, so also tribulation will intensify as His return draws near. But it will be impossible to predict when it will be. And so, be ready, and as we see in the Maine* Idea, stay faithful! Life will get hard but Jesus is coming!

III. Practical Application of “Eschatology” (end-time studies): Be ready and stay faithful (v.5,9,23,33 [cf. “stay awake!” 34,35,37]).

       One thing you notice as you study the Bible is that theology is always practical. The indicative statements of truth are the basis for imperatives that tell us how we should live in the light of that truth. That applies to prophecy and the study of “last things” (eschatology) as well. One of the things we’ll notice as we work through Mark 13 over the next few weeks is that the chapter is full of imperatives, if I counted correctly nineteen times Jesus tells His disciples (and us!) how we should therefore live. Notice just a few…

  Mark 13:5   And Jesus began to say to them, "See that no one leads you astray.”

  Mark 13:9  "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.”

  Mark 13:11 “…do not be anxious beforehand what you will say…”

  Mark 13:21   “And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it.”

 *Mark 13:23   “But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.”

  Mark 13:33  “Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.”

  Mark 13:35   “Therefore stay awake- for you do not know when the master of the house will come…”

You get the idea? Look at 13:23, “Be on guard, I have told you all things beforehand.” The short-term fulfillment of prophecy in AD 70 can encourage us. We can look back and see God’s sovereign hand. As those prophecies came to pass in chilling detail, so will His warnings concerning ongoing tribulation, and His promise concerning His return and the ultimate deliverance of those who believe. Remember our context in Mark. Jesus had cursed the Fig Tree, He had cleansed the Temple. These were symbolic acts of Judgment on the leaders of Israel. The worship of the nation had become in large part lifeless and external. The Passover King was now on the scene, and the final sacrifice would soon be offered. From Mark’s perspective, as he wrote the Gospel, the Lamb had been slain, and so God could be Just and the Justifier of all who believe (Rom 3:21-26). How long are we to bring that message to the world? “…even to the end of the age...” (Mt 28:20).

What is God saying to me in this passage? It is a difficult thing to prophesy, especially about the future, but even so, we can be sure that Jesus got it 100% correct. He is coming back! So, stay faithful! Life will get hard, but Jesus is coming!

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? We’ll take our time working through this chapter. Think about three different audiences as you read this passage. First of all, Jesus’ disciples. They needed to know what was coming. After the Cross, Jesus would reveal His power in the resurrection. But then He would ascend, leaving His disciples behind, in this fallen world, with a mandate to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth, making disciples from every nation. In the course of that mission they would be persecuted, suffer, and most of them would ultimately give their lives. They needed to know that God had a plan, and that Jesus will return and establish His kingdom. They needed hope!

      Think also of Mark’s audience, maybe 30 years after the resurrection. The Roman believers were already being persecuted... Caligula… Claudius… then Nero. The believers still in Jerusalem needed to know that the city would soon fall and that the Temple would be razed. But God had already established a new temple. By the time of Mark’s writing Paul had by now told the Corinthians,

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?  ¹⁷ If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple… (I Cor 3:16,17).

The believers in Rome, to whom Mark wrote, likewise needed to be encouraged to watch, to be encouraged, and to continue to be engaged in the mission, being His witnesses, knowing their labor was not in vain in the Lord.

       And think of His Word to us. We can look back and see how precisely the predictions about Jerusalem were fulfilled in A.D. 70.  Just as certainly we can be assured of what is coming, and we can know, with certainty, that Jesus wins, and so do we if we belong to Him!  Jesus Christ, Crucified-Risen-Coming again. And by grace, we are His! We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us!  The Lord’s Table invites us to look back and remember, while we worship and witness, we continue to show forth the Lord’s death until He comes.    AMEN.