Sermon Tone Analysis

*Mark 13:1-2…* Now as Jesus was going out of the temple courts, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look at these tremendous stones and buildings!” 2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings?

Not one stone will be left on another.

All will be torn down!”

 

*Commentary*

On the Wednesday before his Friday death Jesus left the temple in Jerusalem with his disciples.

As they left the city one of the men commented to Jesus as to how beautiful and magnificent the Jewish temple was.

And it was, by all accounts, a magnificent structure.

Tacitus, a Roman historian, said that the temple was a place of immense wealth.

Another man said, “He that never saw the temple of Herod never saw a fine building.”

It must have been a truly awesome sight.

Now while the disciples were in awe over the magnificence of the temple, Jesus told them that it would eventually be overthrown and completely torn down.

And 35 years later, in AD 70, that’s exactly what happened.

The Romans surrounded the city, overran it, and tore down the temple leaving it in a heap of rubble.

Truly Jesus knew the future of his chosen people.

The Jews were intensely interested in their prophetical future given that they had been under political dominion for over 600 years.

Their Hebrew Scriptures promised a deliverer, but they were forbidden to consult mediums as to when that would be (Deut.

18:9-14).

The OT promised a governmental leader who would rise up (Isa.

9:6-7), and the Spirit of the Lord would rest on him (Isa.

11:1-2).

His name would be called the “Lord our righteousness” (Jer.

23:5-6), and they looked forward to the day when they would divide spoil among themselves, when living waters would flow out of Jerusalem, and where the curse would be no more (Zech.

14:1, 8, 11).

In short, they longed for a restored kingdom in Israel that would never be destroyed (Dan.

2:44).

First century Jewish literature reveals that the Jews believed their Messiah would return following a time of terrible tribulation.

They held that one like the prophet Elijah would return in the midst of great turmoil to announce the coming of the Messiah.

They believed the Messiah would then set up his kingdom and would free them from the political domination of the Gentiles.

They also believed that there would be an alliance of nations that would fight against the Messiah, but the nations would succumb to the Messiah’s power and be destroyed.

The Jews expected that after this event they would be regathered to the land of Israel which would become the center of the world.

Then they would live in everlasting peace in the Promised Land.

All of these Jewish expectations can be found in the OT as part of the prophecies of the coming Christ, but the problem with the Jews was that they had no expectation of their Christ coming twice – the first time in humility to atone for sin.

They didn’t recognize him because of their preconceived notions of the Messiah.

They had no idea of their need for inward deliverance from sin and were only concerned with their outward deliverance from political oppression.

This is likely why Judas betrayed Jesus.

His ideas of the Messiah were not only wrong (that he would set up his kingdom right then and there), they also revealed his hypocritical devotion to Jesus.

Once he realized that he wouldn’t be reigning with Jesus in Jerusalem as part of his inner circle with power and wealth, he betrayed him by handing him over to the Romans to be crucified.

*Food for Thought*

The church age, the time immediately following Christ’s first coming extending to his second coming, was a mystery to the Jews.

Even the Apostle Paul called the church age a “mystery” kept secret for many years but which is now “manifested” (Rom.

16:25-26).

God has revealed the mystery of the church, and He’s given her the protection from the end-times wrath He will pour out on those who reject Jesus Christ.

Jesus took that wrath for us at the cross.

*Mark 13:3-8…* While Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, & Andrew asked him, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen?

And what will be the sign that all these things are about to take place?” 5 Jesus said, “Watch out that no one misleads you.

6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he’ and will mislead many.

7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed.

These things must happen, but the end is still to come.

8 For nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be earthquakes in various places and famines.

These are but the beginning of birth-pangs.”

*Commentary*

This section of Scripture is called the Olivet Discourse because Jesus teaches the disciples about the end-times while on the Mount of Olives just outside of Jerusalem.

The disciples wanted to know when the temple would be destroyed and what sign would precede the catastrophe.

Jesus’ answer was insightful in that it revealed the distant future for all mankind.

In v. 5 Jesus’ first words are “watch out that no one misleads you.”

Earlier he had warned them to “watch out” for the scribes and their hypocritical teachings, and this would help them discern the truth from error.

For in v. 6 Jesus tells them that false-messiahs would come and say, “I am he.”

The Greek literally reads, “I AM” – the OT designation for Yahweh who appeared to Moses at the burning bush and revealed Himself as “I AM.” Jesus said that the same thing would happen as false messiahs would appear announcing their presence and misleading many.

In v. 7 Jesus said that in relation to the end-times events there would be “rumors of wars” but they were not to be alarmed at such rumors because those rumors and those wars would not signify the end, for it was still to come.

And in v. 8, as part of the events leading up to the end-times, Jesus told them that nations and kingdoms would rise up against one another and that there would be earthquakes in various places along with famines.

But these events, as predicted, would simply signify that the end was /near/.

He called them the beginning of “birth-pangs.”

Now “birth-pangs” are significant in this context.

For when a woman goes into labor she has sudden contractions a few minutes apart, and as time goes by those contractions become more and more frequent and intense.

Like a snowball going down a hill, her pain progresses like a snowball that gets larger as it rolls down.

So it is with labor pains.

They start slow and build up along the way.

By the time the baby is in the birth canal the pain is at a climax.

Then there’s a child!

So it is with the end-times.

World-wide events like false messiahs, wars and rumors of wars, nations rising up against other nations, and earthquakes~/famines in various places signify that the labor pains have begun in relation to the end-times events.

Just as labor pains come upon a woman suddenly (though expectedly) the end-times events will come about suddenly.

The Apostle Paul said, “While they are saying, ‘Peace; safety,’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like birth pangs upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thes.

5:1-3).

*Food for Thought*

            There have been wars and rumors of wars, famines and earthquakes, and false messiahs (Jim Jones, David Koresh, etc.) for millennia.

The events of Mark 13, however, will be unique on every descriptive level when they finally occur.

Even though Jesus was speaking to the disciples, he was actually addressing a generation of people yet future – a common practice in prophecy (cf.

Isa.

33:17-24; 66:10-14; Zech.

9:9).

Jesus was basically saying, “You who are alive at that time, be warned!”

But he does not give the time in which these events occur.

If Jesus would have dated these events people would have lived their lives in chaos up to the time they expected him to return.

Our ignorance of his arrival is designed to keep us sharp and on the alert.

*Mark 13:9-13…* “You must watch out for yourselves.

You will be handed over to councils and beaten in the synagogues.

You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. 10 First the gospel must be preached to all nations.

11 When they arrest you and hand you over for trial, do not worry about what to speak.

But say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

12 Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child.

Children will rise against parents and have them put to death.

13 You will be hated by everyone because of my name.

But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

*Commentary*

            The beginnings of birth pangs that Jesus spoke of are yet future events (false messiahs, wars, rumors of wars, earthquakes, and famines).

The specific time in which these will occurs is called the Tribulation – the final “week” of Daniel’s 70 weeks prophecy (Dan.

9:24-27).

The false messiahs Jesus spoke of equate to the first seal judgment in Rev. 6:1-2 where the rider on the white horse appears wearing a crown and carrying a bow signifying false peace.

He is the Antichrist.

The “wars and rumors of wars” equate to the second seal judgment in Rev. 6:3-4 where the rider on the red horse signifies devastating war.

The earthquakes and famines equate to the third seal judgment in Rev. 6:5-6 where famine results from the world-wide war and catastrophic earthquakes.

The fourth seal of Rev. 6:7-8 equates to what Mark only implies in that there will be a huge death rate as a result of the conditions of the “beginning of birth pangs.”

In v. 9 it appears as if Jesus is telling the disciples that they will be persecuted during that time period.

This is not the case, however, for those events did not occur in their lifetimes, and they’re now deceased.

The prophecy has a near and a far fulfillment.

The near fulfillment was that the disciples were handed over to councils (“handed over” having the basic meaning of being arrested), and most of them were beaten and martyred.