Mark 13:1-37; Be Alert (Part 1)

Hunter McDavid

Mark • Sermon • Submitted 3 months ago • Presented 3 months ago

Mark 13:1–37

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Sermon in a sentence: Like the disciples, we must be alert and ready for the coming of Christ.

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Mark 13:1-37; Be Alert (Part 1)

Sermon in a sentence: Like the disciples, we must be alert for false saviors and be ready for Jesus’ return.

The Warning to the Disciples

Mark §23 Destruction and Persecutions to Come (Mark 13:1–23)

At the outset of our examination of chapter 13, two things must be emphasized. First, as verses 1–4 indicate, Jesus’ sayings are all connected with the prediction about the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in A.D. 70, and was a traumatic experience for Jews—and, it appears, for Jewish Christians as well. Second, the sayings of Jesus recorded here were perceived as relevant to the life of the church in Mark’s own time, and therefore we must ask what the early church thought before we dash too quickly into the matter of the relevance of the sayings for today. That is, to do justice to the sayings of Jesus we must have patience for a historical inquiry into them, and we are to be alerted that the best background for them is not the modern newsmagazine but ancient Jewish and Christian sources.

Jesus was telling his disciples to be ready for the destruction of the literal temple in Jerusalem. (Mark 13:30)

The disciples wanted to know when that temple would be destroyed, because they thought that would be the end of history. (Matthew 24:3, Mark 13:30)

The disciples were warned before that temple fell, there would be false saviors trying to deceive the disciples and the other elect ones. (vs. Mark 13:4-9,11, 21, 23, 33, 35, 37)

The Warning to Us

Like the disciples, we must cling to the words of Christ and be careful to not believe everything we hear.

Ephesians 4:14 ESV

14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.

1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

We will suffer persecution and pain in this world. Jesus wants you to be prepared.

Matthew 16:24–27 ESV

24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done.

2 Timothy 3:12 ESV

12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,