Good morning! Please turn in (or on) your Bibles. We are continuing with Part two of a message we began last week, called Good News for Bad Times. If you missed it last week, I would encourage you to go back and listen to it. But let me just recap where we’ve been so far.
We talked about the context of this teaching. He’s just left the Temple, and when the disciples pointed out how impressive the Temple was, Jesus told them that not one stone would be left on top of another. So they climb up the Mount of Olives, and they are looking at the Temple, and the disciples are like, Hey—that thing you mentioned, about the Temple being destroyed—give us a heads up. When is all that going down? So Jesus launches into what Bible scholars call “The Olivet Discourse,” because it all happens on the Mount of Olives. And again, if you missed it, we talked about how
Deception is Coming, so don’t get duped (v. 1-8), and we talked about the Antichrist. Then we talked about how…
Persecution is Coming, and we don’t get Pass (v. 9-13) Then we chased a rabbit about the timing of the Rapture, and whether Christians would have to endure persecution. And we agreed (or at least I hope we agreed) that Christians could have different opinions on this and still be brothers and sisters in Christ.
Then we wrapped up by talking about how the one sure sign of when Jesus would return would be that the gospel would be proclaimed in every nation, and how much more fun it would be to be a part of that than it would being cooped up in your house with all your charts and graphs and YouTube videos and Left Behind books.
[Title Slide]
So we come to this week and we realize that Jesus still hasn’t really answered the disciple’s question of when all these things are going to happen, and we are beginning to realize that he probably won’t. and here’s why…
Quick show of hands: think back to your high school days. The teacher assigns a mammoth research paper. You know from the beginning of the semester when this bad boy is due. Raise your hand if you were the type that started working on it the day it was assigned?
Raise your hand if you started working on it like the week before it was due? Or the night before it was due? Or the morning it was due?
That’s kind of what I thought. I meant to find some scientific data to back up this idea that most people procrastinate, but I kept putting it off, and then I ran out of time.
No, seriously, one study says that 86% of high school students and 88% of college students procrastinate. 66% of high school students pulled at least one all nighter in the previous year, 79% of college students had. . College males are the worst. 92% procrastinate.
So if that is a truth of human nature, that the majority of people, when given a deadline, will wait right up until the last minute to get to work, don’t you see God’s wisdom in NOT giving us a hard date for when Jesus is coming back?
Ok, so with that in mind, let’s continue to look at Mark 13. Our next point in the outline is that …
3. Tribulation is Coming, and it’s gonna get bad (v. 14-23 Let’s read verses 14-19 together:
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter. 19 For in those days there will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning of the creation that God created until now, and never will be.
In these verses, Jesus describes a time of intense tribulation. The Greek word is thleepses which is impossible to say without sounding like you’re missing your two front teeth, but it means a time of distress anguish, intense pressure. And Jesus tells his disciples that there is coming a time of thleepses that will be worse than anything that has ever been experienced from the beginning of creation until now. And never will be.
And its that last phrase that makes it so hard to understand this passage. Is it talking about something that has already taken place? Is it talking about something that is going to take place within the lifetime of the disciples? Or is it talking about something that is going to ultimately happen at the end of all things, just before Jesus comes back? And the answer is, yes. Let me explain:
Imagine you are standing on a dock in a harbor. Say you’ve lived here all your life, so you know from experience what to expect. You’ve seen ships coming in to dock all the time. So you see the dock workers making preparations. You see other smaller boats getting out of the way. You look out across the harbor and you see the drawbridge raised. So you know there is a ship coming in, even if you can’t see it yet.
So you get out your binoculars, and now you can actually see the ship making its way in. In fact, when you see it through the binoculars, it looks really close.
But now, imagine that you do what every kid who’s ever played with a pair of binoculars does: you take the binoculars and you turn them around, so that everything that looked super close now looks incredibly far away.
That’s kind of what its like when you are studying biblical prophecy.
• So sometimes God uses previous history or current events to deliver his message.
• Sometimes prophecy will tell what is going to happen in the near future—either in the lifetime of the prophet/the people he is speaking to, or within the pages of Scripture.
• And often, there is an ultimate fulfillment to the prophecy which even for us today hasn’t happened yet.
So when Jesus talks about a time of great tribulation, he is going to use a historical event— the abomination of desolation— to help the disciples know what to look for in an upcoming time of tribulation which will happen in just a couple of decades; but will then give all his followers from now on a template for the ultimate time of tribulation. Hopefully, this will make more sense when we look at this really strange verse—verse 14:
14 “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand),
So here’s our next rabbit: What about the Abomination of Desolation?
It sounds strange to us, but the concept of “The Abomination of Desolation” was actually really familiar to the Jews of Jesus’ day. See, anout five hundred years before Jesus was born, God revealed to the prophet Daniel that one day, there would rise up a ruler who (this is Daniel 11:31): would
31 Forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate.
Daniel mentions this again in Daniel 12:11-12, and says that there will be a period of 1,290 days, and then a period of 1,335, which put together is just over seven years.
Now, hang with me for some Jewish history that is not in the Bible. In the year 168 BC, roughly 200 years before Jesus had this conversation with his disciples, there was a Syrian king named “Antiochus Epiphanes” (his name meant “God Manifested”) who captured Jerusalem. Antiochus abolished Judaism. He outlawed the observance of the Sabbath, the Jewish festivals, and circumcision. He destroyed every copy of the Torah he could find. Then, worst of all, he sacrificed a pig on the Temple altar, and set up an image of the Greek god Zeus in the Temple.
And for about seven years—remember that Daniel alludes to a seven-year period—the temple was desolate. The Jews had two options—either renounce Judaism or die.
But there was a priestly family called the Hasmoneans who led a resistance movement against Antiochus. The oldest son, Judas Maccabees, became a military leader, and after a series of battles over the next several years, overthrew the Syrians and reclaimed the Temple. To this day, the 8 day festival of Hanukkah commemorates the rededication of the Temple.
Now, I tell you all of that because Peter, James, John and Andrew would have been as famiiar with the story of Antiochus and the Maccabean revolt as we are with George III and the American Revolution. They would have understood the “Abomination of Desolation” like we would understand the Boston Tea Party. And Jesus is basically saying, “guys, get ready, because there is going to be another time just like that.”
And again, don’t forget the context. The disciples had asked Jesus when the Temple was going to be destroyed. And Jesus is answering them. He’s saying, guys, remember all the stories about the Abomination of Desolation? Well, when you see those things happen again— here’s what you need to do: RUN! Look again at 14-18:
then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 15 Let the one who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter his house, to take anything out, 16 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 17 And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 18 Pray that it may not happen in winter.
Jesus can’t be talking about the end times here, because at the end of all things, there will be no point in fleeing to the mountains. Notice what Revelation says about those who flee to the mountains when the day of the Lord comes:
15 Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave[d] and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, 16 calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Rev. 6:15-17)
No, in my opinion, these words are directed specifically to Jewish Christians who are in Jerusalem when the Temple is destroyed in 70AD. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago.
I can’t overstate how important the Temple was to Jews in Jesus’ day. The only thing that even comes close to this that we could relate to is this: On September 11, terrorists hijacked four planes. Two of them hit the World Trade Center. One hit the Pentagon. And intelligence reports say that the fourth plane was heading for either the US Capitol or the White House before the brave passengers of Flight 93 forced it into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Now, can you imagine how we would have felt if it had reached one of those two targets? That’s how the Jews felt when they saw their temple in flames.
When the Romans set fire to the Temple, the Roman historian Dio wrote that the Jews “resisted with more ardor than ever, as if it were a kind of windfall to fall fighting against a foe far outnumbering them. They were not overcome until a part of the Temple had caught fire. Then some impaled themselves voluntarily on the swords of the Romans. Others slew each other. Others leaped into the flames. They all believed… that is was not a disaster but victory, salvation, and happiness to perish together with the Temple.”
But Jesus tells his disciples, don’t have any part of that. The Temple is just a building. The sacrificial system is meaningless. Remember, Jesus has just told them that the gospel must be preached to all nations. How are you gonna do that if you are running back to Jerusalem to throw yourself onto the flames of the Temple?
So we’ve talked about how Jesus used past history to help the disciples know what to look for for an event that would happen in their lifetime. But look again at the last phrase of Jesus’ warning in verse 19– this is going to be a time of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now— and never to be equaled again. That last phrase tells us that there is yet to come one more time of thleepses that is even worse than what they have already experienced. This is why verse 23 says, “So be on your guard, because I’ve told you all this ahead of time. Tribulation is coming, and it’s gonna get bad.
But finally, and most importantly,
Jesus is Coming, and you’ve gotta get Ready (v. 24-37)
Look at verses 24-27:
24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, 25 and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. 26 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
Scripture is clear that this world is one day going to come to an end. This universe as we know it now is going to wind down. And after that, Jesus is going to come back. Those whom he has chosen will be gathered to him, and we will reign with Him forever in a brand new universe, free from death, free from sin, free from hunger, free from pain, free from injustice, free from racism, free from politics, free from sickness.
How do we make ourselves ready for this? Well, on one level we understand that its not really up to us. Verse 27 says that the ones who will be with Jesus forever are the ones whom he chooses—the elect. But we also know that the elect are the ones who have surrendered their lives to the Lordship of Jesus. Who understand that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. But when we trust in what Jesus has done for us on the cross, and believe that his blood can cleanse us from all unrighteousness, that God raised Jesus from the dead after three days so that by putting our faith in Him we never need to be afraid of death, then we are the elect. “God choosing us” means that he has given us the capacity to freely choose him. We make ourselves ready by responding to the Gospel.
God rules: He is the absolute ruler of heaven and earth and all that is in the Universe. He created humans to have a relationship with Him
We sinned: When we rebelled against God's authority in our lives, we broke that relationship. And we are separated from God because of our sin.
God provides: Because of God's love for us, He makes a way for us to be right with Him again.
Jesus Gives: Jesus, the son of God, gave his life for you on the cross. He died, and three days later, he rose again. He is THE way God provides for us to be in relationship with God again.
We respond:We acknowledge God's right to rule in our lives, repent of our sin, and confess that Jesus is the only way to be saved.
What about the Fig Tree (v. 28-30; see also Mark 11:12-14; 20-22)
There’s a couple more questions that come up with this passage of Scripture. One of them is in verse 28. And its, “what’s this about a fig tree?” The Scripture says,
28 “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. 30 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place
Many interpreters, especially from about the mid 20th century on, have argued that the fig tree is a symbol of Israel. And there is some biblical basis for this. There are passages in Hosea and Jeremiah that support that, and I’ve put some additional links in the YouVersion notes about this.
And for that reason, rapture-watchers have made a big deal of the fact that Israel became a nation again in 1948. So when Jesus says that “this generation will not pass away until all these things take place,” a lot of people believed this meant that the end of the world would happen within a generation of Israel being re-established. Others say that the fig tree represents the temple, so they believe that when the Temple gets re-built, that will start the clock for the return of Christ.
Honestly, I don’t think we can say with 100% certainty what Jesus meant, but the best explanation is that when we see the first of the signs of the end, they are going to follow pretty quickly, one after another.
But the million dollar question the disciples asked is still not answered: When will all these things happen? So let’s wrap up by looking at the answer Jesus gave. Are you ready?
32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.
Here’s the last rabbit we’re gonna chase: Jesus, what do you mean you don’t know ?
Now, if you’ve got any orthodox understanding of the Trinity, your brain just blew up, didn’t it? If the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are One, how can the Father know something the son doesn’t know? Christians believe that Jesus is Himself God, posessing all attributes including omniscience, which means perfect knowledge. So HOW CAN HE NOT KNOW?
There’s only one thing that makes this make sense, and that is the Incarnation of Jesus. When God the Son took on flesh and bone, eternity stepped into time. Jesus did not lay aside His deity, but He did lay aside His glory. Philippians 2:5 says that Jesus,
though being in very nature God, did not regard equality with God as something to be used for His own advantage, but made himself nothing, taking on the very nature of a servant.
So for 33 years, God the son willingly, voluntarily relinquished His divine attributes. While He lived on earth as a man, in submission to His Father’s will and in dependence upon the Holy Spirit, Jesus, the All Knowing God willingly set aside His omniscience.
• God, whom the Psalms say would not tell us if He became hungry (Psalm 50:2) became hungry (Mark 11:12).
• The God who never slumbers or sleeps (Psalm 121:1) would grow tired and fall asleep on the floor of a fishing boat (Mark 4:38-40).
The immortal, invisible, only wise God (1 Timothy 1:17) … hung on a cross, exposed for all to see, wondered why God had forsaken him… and died for the sins of the world.
Why? Why lay aside divine knowledge? Why give up His glory? Why relinquish the riches of heaven?
Paul gives us the answer in 2 Cor. 8:9:
9 For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.
I don’t know about you, but I am so glad that Jesus, the Son of God, did not know the day or the hour. Because if He did know, that means He didn’t give up anything so I could have a relationship with Him. The fact that He didn’t know points to the truth that Jesus gave up everything for me.
So I’m fine with not knowing the day and the hour. I’m okay with being “knowledge poor” in this area. You know why? Because Jesus has made me rich in every other area!!! I have access to the very throne room of Almighty God. I get to call the Creator of the Universe “Daddy.” He has given me His peace, which passes all understanding, to guard my heart and my mind. Therefore, I will not fear, though the mountains fall into the heart of the sea. I will not fear, though the earth give way. I will not fear, though all around me be chaos. I will not fear though the nations rage. I will not fear the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
So as we come to the end of this teaching, the end of the Tuesday of Holy Week, the end of Jesus’ teaching about the last days, I want you to notice all the times in these verses when Jesus told his disciples to do something or not do something. In Greek grammar, we call these imperatives. And in this passage, I count 19 imperatives: And for the most part, they can be put into two categories: Watch out and Don’t worry. [Two columns on the screen]
Watch out (v. 5)
Do not be alarmed (v. 7)
Be on your guard (v. 9)
Do not worry (v. 11)
Say whatever is given you (v. 11)
Let the reader understand (v. 14)
Don’t worry about the Temple (Flee) (14)
Don’t worry about your stuff (Don’t go into the house (v. 15)
Don’t take anything from the house (v. 15)
Don’t get your cloak (v. 16)
Pray (v. 18)
Don’t believe everything you hear (v. 21)
Be on your guard (v. 23)
Learn from the fig tree (v. 28)
Know that the time is near (v. 29)
Be on your guard (v. 33)
Be alert (v. 33)
Keep watch (v. 35)
Watch (v. 37)
And this is how we have to live our lives as we wait for his return. Watch out, to make sure you are ready. But if you are ready, don’t worry. Because Jesus has it all under control. The universe is unfolding according to His timetable. And one day, He is coming back to take us home.
And, oh, what a day that will be.
