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Jesus, God's Servant A Survey of the Gospel of Mark CHAPTER EIGHT: THE SERVANT'S PREDICTION by Massimo Lorenzini VII. The Servant's Prediction (13:1-37)
v. 1 what manner of stones and what buildings are here - The Temple is in view here. This third Temple was built by Herod the Great. Construction began in 20 B.C. as a rebuilding and remodeling of the second Temple which had stood for nearly 500 years, since the days of Ezra. It was not completed until A.D. 64, just six years before it was destroyed by Rome in A.D. 70. According to Josephus, some stones were 37' x 12' x 18'. The stones were white, making the temple shine in the daylight. The front of the temple was covered with plates of gold that reflected the sunlight. v. 2 not one stone shall be left upon another - Jesus predicted the destruction of the Temple almost 40 years before it happened. The Temple was burned, then to get the gold that had melted into the cracks, every stone was removed. Thus, Jesus' prediction was fulfilled exactly. When Jesus predicted His death and resurrection, the disciples never asked when it would happen; but talk of the Temple's destruction arose their interest. They associated the Temple's destruction with the end of the age. v. 3 The Mount of Olives - is just east of Jerusalem and slighted elevated above it. They could look down upon the entire Temple mount from there. v. 5 take heed - The NIV translates it, "watch out." The Greek, blepo, means "discernment concerning realities which lie beyond the observations of the physical senses." v. 6 many will come in My name - One commentator wrote, "They usurp the name and lay claim for themselves divine authority that rightfully belongs only to Jesus." Cults steal Christian vocabulary and concepts for their own credibility. v. 8 These are the beginning of sorrows (literally, "birth pains") - The suffering only marks the beginning. We do not know how long the labor will be, but we do know that there is hope of it ending one day. vv. 9-13 - Jesus wanted His disciples to understand that through their suffering the kingdom of God silently advances as they proclaim the gospel in the midst of trial and tribulation. The central issue that Jesus addressed is not how the disciples can learn the timing of the end from external events but what they will do when they are handed over. Will they wilt under pressure? Will they succumb to temptation and renounce Christ to save their earthly lives? Jesus gave them assurance that they would receive divine help. Notice Jesus promised divine help to preach, not divine deliverance. Deliverance will come only after death and after His final coming in glory at the end of the age. Illustration. One cartoon has a man looking up in the sky when another asks him what he's doing. He responds, "I am waiting for Him to come back, that's what I'm doing." The other responds, "But that's silly; He won't come back from up there." "You can find Him in ordinary life--in loving your neighbor, doing good to those who hate you, in suffering for the truth." The man replies, "Did you say suffering for the truth?" The last panel shows them both looking up into the sky, and the first man says, "I find this position more comfortable." v. 10 the gospel must first be preached - This is the most important thing for Christians to be doing during this time. When Jesus returns, He will not ask us about whose predictions of His return were accurate. He will want to know if we were proclaiming the gospel to all people groups. v. 14 abomination of desolation - In 168 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes, king of Syria and a ruler of part of the Greek empire that Alexander the Great established, entered into the temple and sacrificed a pig to Zeus on the altar. This will be ultimately fulfilled during the future Great Tribulation when the Antichrist will set up an image of himself in the yet to be rebuilt temple in Jerusalem (2 Thess 2:4). v. 27 the elect - will include the 144,000 Jewish witnesses of Revelation 7 and their converts. They will also include the Old Testament saints, gathered out of their graves and united with their redeemed spirits. The church will already be in heaven having been raptured just before the seven-year tribulation. v. 30 this generation - Literally, "this race." The Jewish race has continued to exist throughout the ages of dispersion and persecution. v. 31 my words shall never pass away - God and His word provide the only stability in an unstable world. We should give more attention to serving God and learning about His word than to learning about this temporary world and accumulating possessions that will pass away. v. 32 nor the Son - Since Jesus told the disciples that He didn't know the day of His return, we should be suspicious of others who claim to know the day. Though Jesus was fully God, when He became man, He voluntarily restricted the use of certain divine attributes (Phil 2:6-8). v. 37 watch - Be faithful under pressure. This entire passage (3-37) tells us how to live while we wait for Christ's return. One commentator wrote, "The disciple is not called to eliminate his ignorance of the timing of the End, he is called to cope with it, and respond to it appropriately." Application. Since the purpose of the discourse is not to provide a chronology of end-time events, what is its purpose and how can it be applied? 1. To exhort the readers. It contains 17 imperatives such as take heed, do not be troubled, endure, pray, watch. Some applications are: (1) We are not to be misled by confusing claims or idle interpretations of what will happen (vv. 5-6). (2) We should not be afraid to tell anyone about Christ, despite what they might say or do to us (vv. 9-11). (3) We must endure by faith and not be surprised by persecutions (v. 13). (4) We must be morally alert and obedient to the commands for living found in God's Word (vv. 32-37). 2. This discourse also serves as a warning. First, it's a warning to those who spend too much time speculating about end-time events which distracts from serving Christ in the present (1 Thess 5:1-11; 2 Thess 2:1-12). Second, it's a warning to skeptics not to fall asleep, lose interest, faith, or concentration (2 Pet 3). One commentator illustrated it this way: "Mark's theology of the advancing kingdom is much more like a relay race in which persecution for the sake of the gospel is the baton passed on from each runner to the next as they take their round on the track . . . or (to stick closer to Mark's imagery), it is the cross passed on from shoulder to shoulder as new recruits travel the 'way' from Galilee to Jerusalem." The baton passes from John the Baptist to Jesus, to His disciples, to us. We are in the next leg of the race. We do not know if we run the last leg or not, and it should make no difference how we run the race. Running in a race requires giving it one's all. In John Bunyan's classic book Pilgrim's Progress, this image is also found. When Mr. Valiant-for-truth is summoned to cross over the river, he says: "I am going to my Father's; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not repent of all the trouble I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have fought His battles who will now be my rewarder."
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