Sermon Tone Analysis

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This morning we are picking back up in the Gospel of Mark.
If you’re new to MCF, it would be good for you to know that we practice a form of preaching called “Expository Preaching”.
What that means is we believe the Bible is best taught and understood by taking books of the Bible and then studying them from beginning to end, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, in order to understand what it means for our lives today.
With that said, we are currently walking through The gospel of Mark.
A book written to help us understand who Jesus is, what he came to do, and what it means to follow him.
So, if you haven’t been with us, I would encourage you to download our smartphone app or go online to marysvillefellowship.com where you can listen to all the messages leading up to today.
As we come back to
Today as we come back to Mark’s Gospel, you may recall we came to the end of chapter 12 and the end of Jesus’s public ministry.
And what we’re going to discover is that from chapter 14 on, the remainder of the Gospel will be focused on the events leading up to Jesus’s death and resurrection.
However, before Mark takes us to these final events, he strategically gives us chapter 13.
A chapter that is different than any other chapter in Mark’s Gospel.
A chapter that is meant to give us hope and encouragement as dark days loom ahead.
And so in order to give us framework and set the tone for where Mark is taking us, I want to begin by asking you this question.
Hook Question - Have you ever wondered when the end of the world is coming?
You know, that point when something catastrophic happens, and life as we know it on planet earth comes to an end.
The point when somebody presses a button and nuclear weapons ravage the earth.
The point where a virus is unleashed and wipes out mankind.
Or maybe that moment when an astroid strikes the earth and decimates the planet.
Now, you might be thinking, “Wow, pastor.
That’s rather grim.
Is that what you sit around thinking about?
That’s depressing.”
The truth is, I think if we’re all honest, we’ve probably all considered an end of the world or end time scenario.
As we’ve watched the news, as we’ve witnessed the moral decay of our culture, as it seems like life couldn’t get much worse, we’ve all wondered, “When will the end finally come and how will it take place?”
In fact, I would say our culture is consumed by this thinking.
For example, it might surprise you to know in the last 8 years Hollywood has produced 75 movies that focus on some type of end of the world scenario.
Movies like:
World War Z - Where a lethal virus spreads through a single bite turning healthy people into vicious zombies.
or
Battle: Los Angeles - Where aliens invade the planet and start taking out mankind.
or the movie
2012 - Where a series of global catastrophes threatens to annihilate mankind.
And the list of movies goes on and on as the earth and mankind face some type of end time or end of the world cataclysmic event.
The truth is, our modern culture is fascinated by apocalyptic events or stories.
The truth is, we are fascinated by apocalyptic events or stories.
And what is true now, was true in .
Because as we come back to Mark’s Gospel today, the disciples have the same type of curiosity.
And they have a question for Jesus concerning the end of the world.
And their question is going to lead Jesus to give us an apocalyptic scenario.
A story that foretells the end of life as we know it on planet earth.
But in this case, it’s not a movie.
It’s not a work of fiction or fantasy.
It’s not something that might happen in the future.
In this case it’s a true story, it’s something we can count on.
So, if you’ve ever wondered when the end of the world is coming, what to look for, and what we can expect, then you don’t want to miss the next few weeks because Jesus has much to say about this.
Because from this chapter we are going to learn what has happened, what is happening, and what is to come when it comes to the end of life as we know it on planet earth.
might happen.
In this case it’s a true story, it’s something that has happened, is happening, and will happen.
But before we get into the text, and to understand what Jesus is saying, we need some context for chapter 13, and to do that we need to answer a few key questions.
Question 1 - How does the Bible convey end time material?
In other words, just like we often use movies to depict end of the world scenarios, what method does the Bible use to tell its end time stories.
Interestingly enough, the Bible uses a specific genre of literature called “apocalyptic literature”.
The word “apocalyptic” literally means “revealed”, with the idea of revealing end time events.
However, there are some challenges with apocalyptic literature.
Because unlike modern literature, apocalyptic literature is often difficult to interpret.
The reason being, a large percent of apocalyptic literature is written using symbols and imagery that is derived form dreams and visions.
For example, the majority of the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible, is written in this way.
Just to give you a taste of what I’m talking about, listen to how the Apostle John describes his apocalyptic vision of Jesus in :
“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.
His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”
(ESV)
As you can see, John’s vision of Jesus is complex.
It’s full of imagery and symbols and within that imagery are hidden meanings that must be deciphered in order to understand what John is seeing and describing.
Because in this instance John isn’t just describing the physical appearance of Jesus, but the very essence of who Jesus is, what he represents, and the power he holds.
But he does it through symbolic imagery.
And that’s what makes a book like Revelation so difficult to interpret and apply.
The good news for you and I though is, Jesus doesn’t use typical apocalyptic language in .
Instead he uses a mix of apocalyptic and what we might call narrative literature.
In other words, Jesus uses plain words.
Because while there is some imagery in what he says, Jesus also mixes in some practical material, which is going to help us as we seek to understand what he is saying.
Question 2 - What apocalyptic question do the disciples ask, and why do they ask it?
As I said, the disciples have an end time question, but in this case it’s not so much their curiosity that spawns their question as it is something Jesus says.
So, what does Jesus say that leads to their question?
Let’s find out as we begin to move into the text.
Listen to what Mark tells us beginning in :
“And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!”
(ESV)
Mark says as Jesus and his disciples exit the temple, one of the disciples makes an observation as he begins to marvel at the temple structure and the buildings that surround it.
As he looks around at the temple he says, “Wow Jesus, look at how amazing these buildings are!”
Now, you might be wondering, “Why would this disciple say this?” Well, it could be for a number of reasons.
Maybe he thought Jesus would be impressed with his observation.
Maybe he thought it was important to Jesus.
To be honest, we really don’t know.
But what we do know is the temple was something to marvel at.
In fact, in the first century the temple in Jerusalem was considered one of the most impressive sights in the ancient world and was regarded as an architectural wonder.
It had been built by Herod the Great, the same man that had tried to kill Jesus when he was a baby.
And although Herod was a wicked person, he was an architectural genius.
Just to give you an idea of what I’m talking about, according to 1st century historians, some of the stones that made up the temple structure were 37 feet long by 12 feet high, by 18 feet deep.
That’s a large stone.
And keep in mind they didn’t have cranes in the first century to move or stack these massive hand cut stones.
Just to give you an idea of what they looked like.
Here’s a picture I took of my wife Denise standing next to what’s left of the outer wall that surrounded the temple.
Show picture
All that to say, for the disciples to wonder at the temple and it’s structures shouldn’t come as a surprise.
It was something to see.
I remember feeling this way when I stood next to the Empire state building.
I was like, “Wow, what amazing building!”.
Same thing here.
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