Living with Christ in the Shadow of the Cross (Mark 13)

Living with Christ in the Shadow of the Cross:
Mark 13

INTRODUCTION:
The last week of Jesus on earth was full of events and teachings which He shared with His followers and others. So significant is His last week on earth that Matthew gives 29% of his gospel account to those last eight days; Mark, 38%; Luke, 25%; and John, 48%!

Last month, we studied from Matthew’s account, Matthew 23, where Jesus spent a great deal of time criticizing the religious leaders among the Jews, specifically the Pharisees. He called them blind leaders and hypocrites over and over again.

It was out of that context that Jesus gives the sermon we have recorded here in Mark 13 which will occupy our attention this morning. The parallel accounts are found in Matthew 24 and Luke 21. John does not deal with the destruction of Jerusalem, likely because he wrote long after Jerusalem was destroyed. What lessons does Jesus have to teach us in this sermon?

There are many Christians who are fearful that our society is becoming antagonistic toward Christianity. Our government is not so congenial toward Christians and their beliefs, if those beliefs do not support the government’s position. God has a message for those Christians; part of that message is found here in Mark 13 and that message is repeated in the book of Revelation, which is why we are going to dedicate 12 sermons next year on “Rich Realities from Revelation.”

THE CONTEXT - 13:1-4:
King Herod had worked on the temple, to “make nice” with the Jews, beginning in 19/20 BC. The construction had been under way for 46 years (John 2:20) during the ministry of Jesus. In fact, it was not finished until A. D. 64, six years before the Roman soldiers invaded.

Jesus had criticized the Pharisees and other Jewish leaders in Matthew 23. At the end of that sermon, Jesus had warned them that God would make their “house” (temple) “desolate:” “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!” (23:38).

The “Western Wall” or “Wailing Wall” where Jews often go today to pray is not a part of the temple itself. It is a part of the outside wall that was built around the temple itself. Nothing is left of the temple itself. The stones used in building the temple were massive. The stones in the “Wailing Wall” - some of them - are nearly 5’ high and over 12’ long! Most weigh between 2 and 5 tons each with the largest weighing almost 400 tons.

The Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote that the stones of the temple were 45 cubits by 5 cubits high, by 6 cubits broad. The cubit (from the elbow to the tip of the large finger) was 20.67 inches by Josephus’ day. That would be 77 1/2’ by 8 1/2’ by 10’. The temple was made out of white marble, with the eastern side plated in gold. The Jews thought it looked as if it had come directly from God.

In both Luke’s account (19:41-44) and Matthew’s account (23:36-38), Jesus wept over the anticipation of the destruction of Jerusalem and the loss of lives that would come through it. But even more, He lamented that the whole destruction was coming because of how the Jews would treat Jesus, the Son of God.

Notice the substance of the apostles’ questions in verses 3-4. They were concerned about the destruction of Jerusalem and they wanted to know what “signs” to look for in order to know when it was about to happen!

DO NOT BE MISLEAD - 13:5-13:
In this paragraph, Jesus’ main concern is that His disciples not be deceived. We learn of a few “false Messiahs” in the book of Acts: 5:33-37; 21:38. One major event was the “false Messiah” named Simon Bar Kochba who led a revolt against Rome in A. D. 132-135, claiming to be the “star” promised in Numbers 24:17. That revolt led Rome to completely stamp out the Jewish nation in the city of Jerusalem. It was renamed Aelia Capitolina.

People are deceived today into believing that various wars are a sign that Jesus is coming back again. There have been an estimated 300 wars just in Europe from 1600 to 1980. In the first century, there were three wars that impacted the Jews, inspired by the Roman Emperors and another three revolts among various Gentile groups that also impacted the Jews. In fact, for the next few hundred years, Rome would be constantly fighting invaders on their borders, especially along the northern borders. Jesus said, “The end is not yet.” Right before the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, there were four different emperors to sit on the throne in Rome.

That period of political turbulence reminds me of the years leading up to our own Civil War. President Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, was the last president to serve two terms in office until Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President, and when he was re-elected in 1865, he was assassinated. That illustrates the turbulent years in our own country during that period of time and the same thing was happening in Rome leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70.

There were four major earthquakes that hit the Mediterranean World during those years. They were in: Crete in A. D. 46-47; Rome in A. D. 51, and Laodicea in A. D. 61, and Pompeii in A. D. 62/63. Famines were also destructive to the Jewish nation. One of the more serious ones happened in the 50s A. D. when Emperor Claudius drove Jews and Christians out of Rome (Acts 11:28; 18:2).

When things get hard, people often turn on each other. You can imagine when Jerusalem was seized that the Christians were telling their Jewish neighbors and friends: “This is happening because of what you did to Jesus.” You can also imagine the Romans telling both Jews and Christians: “This is happening because you are not worshipping the gods of the Roman Empire!” The Jews would be making similar accusations against both Christians and the Romans.

This would lead Christians to be dragged into court, which the book of Acts testifies on a number of occasions. Paul appeared before the Jewish Sanhedrin, and governors of Rome Felix and Festus as well as King Herod Agrippa. Eventually, he appeared before the emperor himself, Caesar.

But the job of Christians was to teach the gospel of Christ. To stay faithful. The Jews could not be saved without Christ. The Roman persecutors could not be saved without Christ. So the Jews needed to be faithful. If we fast-forward about 100 years, a Christian who lived between 160 and 220 A. D., wrote to the Romans:

“Your cruelty profits you nothing, though it grows ever more ingenious; it is one of the attractions of our sect. As often you mow us down the more numerous do we become; the blood of the Christians is the seed” (Apologetics, 50; quoted in Henry Bettenson, The Early Christian Fathers, page 167).

Verse 11: This text shows the inspiration of the apostles by the Holy Spirit when they were taken into the Jewish and Roman courts to give a defense of their faith.

As then, so it is true now - we have to be faithful to God, regardless of the cost. Faithfulness to the gospel is our highest priority.

THE “SIGNS” OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM - 13:14-29:
The destruction of Jerusalem is the “abomination of desolation” prophesied by Daniel - verses 14-16:
Some 600 years before Jesus came, the prophet Daniel prophesied that someone would commit an abominable act of sacrilege and desolate the temple of God: Daniel 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. The Jews believed that the Greek ruler Antiochus Epiphanes IV fulfilled that prediction in 165 BC when he offered a pig on the altar of Jehovah God in their temple. Jesus, however, comes along and says the “abomination of desolation” was going to be fulfilled when the Roman armies surround the city of Jerusalem. “Let the reader understand” (ver. 14). In Luke’s account (21:20), Jesus says that Jerusalem would be surrounded by armies when this happens. In Matthew’s account (24:15), Jesus specifically refers to Daniel’s prophecy. The Romans had all sorts of pagan emblems and images on their flags and other accoutrements on them when they entered Jerusalem.

The Jewish historian, Josephus, wrote that the Jews “swam away from the city, as from a ship when it was going to sink” (Wars 2.20.1 [633]).

The fall of Jerusalem was God’s exclamation mark on the completion of the Jewish nation as the conduit for the Messianic seed. The Messiah had come; the Jews rejected Him. God did not and does not need the Jewish nation any more. The destruction of Jerusalem brought an end to the 2,000 years of “favored nation status” of the seed of Abraham. That designation now applies in a spiritual way to the church of Jesus Christ.

Jesus warns His disciples - 13:17-23:
Because Jesus had warned His disciples about these events, Christians fled generally to a village named Pella. The war began in May 66 A. D. The weather probably was nice, mild, and allowed God’s people to get to safety.

But Jerusalem, and the Jews who were inside, were sieged. Starvation. Pestilence. Sword. In October A. D. 66, the general, General Cestius Gallus withdrew the attack for a few months, and historians today do not know why. Perhaps that was the occasion when God “shortened those days” (ver. 20) so that His disciples could flee to safety. However, the Jews were dominated by fanatics who antagonized the Roman soldiers and made the whole ordeal much worse than it had to be.

There would be those who would not allow a crisis to go to waste and who would claim to be the “Messiah.” Jesus warned again that His followers should not be deceived, even if they claimed to perform miracles. These would, of course, be false miracles (2 Thess. 2:10-12). Jesus is not with those who do not submit to His authority (Matt. 7:21-23).

The Coming of the Son of Man in Judgment against Jerusalem - 13:24-27:
The “apocalyptic” description in these verses are standard prophetic descriptions of God’s judgment on nations. The first example I have found in Scripture that reflect this is David’s words in 2 Samuel 22:7-10, which are just a sample of that poem. He wrote it when the Lord delivered David from his enemies:

“In my distress I called upon the Lord, Yes, I cried to my God; And from His temple He heard my voice, And my cry for help came into His ears. “Then the earth shook and quaked, The foundations of heaven were trembling And were shaken, because He was angry. “Smoke went up out of His nostrils, Fire from His mouth devoured; Coals were kindled by it. “He bowed the heavens also, and came down With thick darkness under His feet. “And He rode on a cherub and flew; And He appeared on the wings of the wind.”

I’ll just give you one more example. Jeremiah pictured the destruction of Jerusalem by the Babylonian army in his day with these words (4:23-25): “I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light. I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking, And all the hills moved to and fro. I looked, and behold, there was no man, And all the birds of the heavens had fled.”

God said similar things about the destruction of Babylon in Isaiah 13:10-13 and Edom in Isaiah 34:4-5 and on the northern tribes of Israel in Isaiah 24:19-23.

The “coming of the Son of man” is also a typical prophetic image of God coming in judgment, not physically. To give you two examples, in Isaiah 19:1, God says He is “coming” on a cloud against Babylon. And in Matthew 10:23, Jesus tells His apostles that they will not preach the Gospel through the whole land of Israel before the “Son of Man comes” in judgment against Israel. That has to be a reference to the destruction of Jerusalem and Jesus is referring to Him coming in “judgment” against Jerusalem, not physically, in person.

The imagery of God sending out His “angels” is simply a figure of speech, a metaphor, showing that God will take care of His people. If they die at any time, anywhere, God will have an angel there to take His child home to God.

The parable of the Fig Tree - 13:28-31:
Jesus had cursed the fig tree in 11:13-14, 20-21 which was an “object lesson” to teach His disciples about the fruitlessness of the nation of Israel and her coming destruction. When all of these things happen, that He’s been discussing since verse 5, they should know that the end of Jerusalem is near and that the judgment of God is at hand!

GET READY FOR THE FINAL COMING! 13:32-37:
Jesus introduces a discussion about the destruction of the world by emphasizing that the world would come to an end before Jesus’ words fail to be fulfilled. Of course, that is a figure of speech to emphasize just how certain Jesus’ promise is that Jerusalem will be destroyed.

Notice that Jesus says, “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” That tells us that Jesus has been talking about the destruction of Jerusalem ever since the questions were asked by the apostles in verse 4.

But when it comes to the point when “heaven and earth shall pass away,” no one knows when that will happen. The angels do not know. Even Christ does not know; or at least did not know while He was on earth.

The focus in this last paragraph is that Christians - followers of Christ - need to “stay alert.” Jesus emphasizes this four times!

If a master leaves on a journey and leaves his slaves in charge, he does not know when he will return. Nor do the slaves know when he will return! He could return in the evening, at midnight, when the rooster crows, or in the morning! The slaves do not want to be found asleep and unprepared. Incidentally, that is the danger of drinking alcohol and drunkenness. If someone is under the influence of drugs or alcohol when Jesus comes again and their minds are not spiritually prepared for Jesus, then they will be lost! (Matt. 24:39; Luke 21:34).

CONCLUSION:
The words of Mark 13 that relate to the destruction of Jerusalem do not apply to us except in principle:

The church is the temple of God and individual Christians are also temples of the Holy Spirit: 1 Cor. 3:16-17; 6:19. Jesus is the sacrifice offered “once and for all” so that there is no longer any further need for animal sacrifices nor for a temple in which to offer animals as sacrifices: Hebrews 7:27; 9:12; 10:10.

You and I are not become unfocused as far as our “job” is concerned. We are to worship God through Jesus Christ, staying faithful to Him. And preach the gospel. The Christians in the first century, without any help from their government, was able to preach the gospel to the whole world, at least to the Roman world (Col. 1:5-6, 23).

Christians are to persevere despite tribulation: Romans 12:12. If we endure, we will reign with Him, Paul promised in 2 Timothy 2:12. We are to endure, in order to fulfill our discipline: Hebrews 12:7. John encourages Christians to be “faithful unto death” (Rev. 2:10).

The second coming of Christ will not be preceded by “signs.” Rather, He will come as a “thief in the night:” 1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Peter 3:10.

In light of the second coming of Christ, Peter encourages Christians that we have the knowledge we need through Jesus Christ, everything that pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:2-3).

Take home message: Let us endure unto the end, preaching the gospel of Christ so that others (and we ourselves) can be saved.

Start an evangelism conversation: “Has anything ever happened to you that was dramatic, personal or spectacular enough to cause you to be certain there is a God who is both infinite and personally caring?”