Mark 13:1-13--Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13:1-13
English Standard Version

Jesus Foretells Destruction of the Temple
13 And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Signs of the End of the Age
3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

​9 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

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This is the beginning of the Olivet Discourse in the book of Mark (it occurs in Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21).  In this discourse, Jesus is focused on the end times, and answering the question that His disciples all wanted to ask, "Is this the end?"  The reason this was on their minds was because they associated the coming of the Messiah with the events that we now call the Second Coming--the end of this age and this world and the beginning of the age to come and the new heavens and the new earth.  Jesus wants to tell them that there is still much that must happen and that they must be ready for, but there will be signs that end is approaching.

The first sign that Jesus told His disciples to watch for was the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.  As they were walking along by the Temple where Jesus had been preaching and teaching, one of the disciples pointed out the wonderful architecture of the Temple (though it didn't hold a candle to Solomon's Temple) and all the memories that they had of this place--I'm sure they included the many times that Jesus was teaching there and the times the Jews confronted Him and tried to kill Him right there in the Temple.  Jesus doesn't disagree with the disciple but instead uses this statement as a jumping-off point for His discourse by pointing out the buildings to everyone else and then telling them that a time was coming when not one stone of these buildings would be left on top of another--they would all be thrown down.  While the "Wailing Wall" has been rebuilt, this is exactly what happened to the Temple in 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed the Temple.  Jesus said that this would be the beginning of the end--the first of many signs that we should be looking for.

From there, He went up to the Mount of Olives and sat down to teach them (that is why this discourse is called the Olivet Discourse, as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives while He was teaching).  Peter, James, John, and Andrew (the four that were closest to Jesus) were concerned about what He just said about the Temple, and they wanted to know when this would happen, and if there was some sign that they should be looking for that these things were about to take place.  They approached Him privately to ask Him about these things, and He answered them by saying that many false teachers and even false Christs would come in His name, trying to deceive many.  However, they should be on their guard so they would not be deceived.  They will also hear of wars and rumors of wars, and nation will rise up against nation (we would probably point to the "world wars" that we have encountered as a fulfillment of this).  Yet, even in all of this, they are not to be alarmed, but they should know when they see these things that the time is near.  No exact time is given because Jesus already told them earlier that even He doesn't know the exact hour that He would be coming--only the Father knows that.  However, He knew the way that history must unfold, and He was happy to share that with His disciples so they would not be caught off guard.

He also warned them that there would be trials and persecution that would come on them.  They would be arrested and delivered over to councils (brought before the Sanhedrin).  They would be beaten in the synagogues, and they would even have to stand trial before the Gentile governors and kings because of the fact that they were bearing witness to Him and His gospel.  Yet, all this must take place so that the gospel will be spread to all nations (the Greek word here is ethnos, which doesn't imply political boundaries, but ethnicities or "people groups.")  This fits with what we see in the book of Revelation where we see an uncountable multitude of people that are a remnant from every tribe, tongue, nation (same word), and language gathered around the throne together.  The end will not come until the gospel has gone out to the whole world.  How long will that take?  We're still working on it, but the timing of that largely depends on the obedience of the Church in obeying The Great Commission.  We are always mathematically about one generation away from the whole world being evangelized and discipled if we follow an exponential growth model where one person tells one person who tells another person.  Clearly, it's possible for us to tell many more people the gospel than we can disciples, and it's also possible for us to disciple more than one person--Jesus discipled thousands of people who followed Him, though He only called the Twelve to follow Him everywhere He went and learn everything He had to teach them.

Jesus tells them not to worry about what they will say when they are in front of the councils and governors and kings, because the Holy Spirit would give them the words to say (the coming of the Holy Spirit upon believers is therefore another sign they should be looking for).  He also told them not to worry that their brothers (the Jews) and possibly their own flesh-and-blood family members would be the ones turning them over to the authorities.  Brother will betray brother, father will betray child, and children will betray their parents to have them put to death.  This too is something that must take place, and it should not alarm them when they see it taking place.  We see this happening in certain parts of the world today, and it is not far off from happening even here in the United States of America where I live.  The next verse describes very well where I feel where we are at, "And you will be hated for My name's sake."  Yet, notice how it is not us they really hate, but Him.  They hate us because we are called by His name and proclaim salvation in no other name but the name of Jesus.

Then Jesus finishes this portion by saying, "The one who endures to the end will be saved."  This is not a statement of the test of our endurance, or some statement that if we die during this time, it is evidence that we were not saved.  No, Jesus is talking about the one who does not turn away from God (become apostate), for there will be great apostasy during this time as well.  The ones that God has really saved will persevere until the end.  If their faith is genuine then it will hold up through all these trials, tribulations, and persecutions.  However, many will be shown to be the seed that fell on rocky soil that had no depth.  When the hard times come, it shriveled up and died and it was fruitless because there was no genuine salvation and no faith that was able to persevere.  Others will be shown to be the ones who love everything this world has to offer, and the cares of this world and all of its pleasures that it has to offer will choke out the message of the gospel so that they will not pay attention to eternity because they are trying to live their "best life now."  Still others will show the hardness of their hearts and their utter and total rebellion against God.  Their hearts are hard like the seed that falls on the path and is stollen away by the birds or trampled underfoot by men.  It has no chance to take root and be fruitful because they have no interest in hearing and believing the gospel--in fact, many times they are hostile to it.  This time will prove who is who.  Every reason and opportunity will be given for who want to reject the gospel or turn away to become apostates.  Who will love Jesus more than even their own lives so that they would be willing to be tried, convicted, imprisoned, and possibly even executed for the "crime" of being a Christian? This is the cost of calling ourselves by His name and being His disciple.  Anyone not willing to endure this is not worthy of being called His disciple.