“What you really Need to Know” Mark 13:1-8
• Parents do not tell their children everything. They don’t want their children to be burdened or to worry about things children should not worry about.
• And God, likewise, does not tell us everything, perhaps for similar reasons.
1. Jesus comes out of the Temple with the disciples and they seem to be astonished
• Is it possible that the Disciples had never been to the big city before
• This might have been their first trip to Jerusalem. They probably had not wandered far from the Sea of Galilee, which gave them their livelihood.
• I recall when I went to the airport in Detroit over whelmed. Disciples say, “Look at these buildings! So cool! Look at this temple! And the size of the blocks of granite! Wow!”\
• No wonder, then, that as they were leaving the temple, some of the disciples remarked on the beauty of the temple, expressing amazement at the size of the stones used to construct it. “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” (v. 1).
2. Jesus has something’s he wants to tell the disciples
• Jesus told the disciples that. The day is coming when not a stone will be left untouched. Its going down.”
• Peter, James, John and Andrew — took Jesus aside and away from the others “and they asked him ‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’” 3-4(
• Then Jesus basically changes the conversation you don’t need to know when this will happen.
• Jesus says, “you don’t need to know the day that this will happen but here are some things you need to know
• “Beware that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and will lead many astray.
• When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.
• For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs” (vv. 5-8).
3. So what do the disciples need to know? What do we need to know?
• We need to know that false shepherds exist. False shepherds are always lurking
4. We need to know that faithfulness to God is not about buildings, regardless of their size.
• The temple was beautiful. No doubt about it. But the temple of stone and marble was destroyed. All that remains is a wall. Yet, the church of Jesus Christ is alive and well. We may worship in buildings, but God does not live in buildings made by human hands. God dwells in the human heart.
• We need to know that our faith is headed in a meaningful direction. Life doesn’t keep going round and round in meaningless and repetitious rounds of suffering and despair. Rather, it is headed toward a concluding point There was a beginning, and there is an end point. God did not create us and the world in which we live to languish indefinitely with the consequences of our sin. God is a God of history. God is going to wrap things up. This is our hope. Jesus told the disciples that when the temple comes down, it is not the end, but the beginning of the “birth pangs” … the end is still to come, and then a new beginning.
6 We need to know that when our temples and stones fall and into rubble
• Jesus reminds us that in the midst of the rubble, God is standing there and to help us rebuild.
• We really don’t need to know when Jesus is coming again. But we do need to be ready
• What should we do?
• First, and therefore most important, keep calm and get ready for Thanksgiving dinner.
• Don’t forget cranberry sauce. The turkey and stuffens,
• Second, be alert and watchful. Jesus, tells us to “keep awake.” Let’s watch the way we live.
• Let’s prepare our hearts for the day-to-day demands of living. Let’s be in a state of readiness.
