On the Return of Jesus: An Exposition of Mark 13:24-37
For the Christian, nothing is more comforting to know that Jesus is going to return and receive us unto Himself. All the things which trouble us so much will be gone. We will be relieved of that great pressures (tribulations) that we feel. It is this hope that we remember as we come into the season of Advent.
For this Christian, nothing is more unsettling that the controversies concerning the return of Christ. Will the church be raptured before this Great Tribulation or will we have to go through it? Or will Jesus take His church in the middle of this Tribulation? We certainly do not desire to undergo either the persecutions of this time or the judgments of God. Will we be ready when He comes? These are things we desperately want answers for. And there are many who try to give us answers. I can only pray that I will give comfort in trying to address these issues rather than add one more theory on the return of Christ.
The lectionary text seems to start in the middle of Jesus’ sermon to the hearers on the Mount of Olives at verse 24. So we need to fill in some context to the selected text that we might understand it. If we follow Luke, Jesus had left the Temple for the last time, after noticing the widow who had cast her last two mites in the treasury. The treasury was supposed to help support widows and orphans. Instead, it seems that the gold and silver coin was used in the renovation of the Temple. The disciples noticed how impressive the Temple was. Jesus’ answer is shocking: “Not one stone shall be left upon another.” This becomes the basis of Jesus’ discourse here. So at least in part, the prophecies in this message seem to do with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. But like many prophecies in Scripture, they also seem to point to a distant fulfillment. To me at least, we need to see the prophesied destruction of Jerusalem as a paradigm for the destruction and judgment at the end of the age. It will be like the destruction of Jerusalem except that it will be worldwide.
If one were to read of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD, he would find it to be nauseating. Many people died during the siege. Factions arose within the city and hurt each other almost as much as the Romans. Josephus records the miserable details. Many false “messiahs” arose. Jesus warns of such in this passage. The discourse talks about events leading up to the final destruction of the city. All of the Gospels and probably Revelation as well associate this destruction as a result of Jewish rejection of Jesus as their Messiah (Christ). To that point in history, the Jews had never suffered such great tribulation. There was a lull in the seven year war against the Jews in which the siege was temporarily lifted as Vespasian and the Roman armies departed to Rome after the death of Nero to seize power. This was 3 ½ years into the siege. The warning went out among the Christians to leave the city or be destroyed. So the Christian believers fled to Pella and escaped the final destruction of the city.
As we can see, the events are very similar to those which the students of prophesy say will happen at the end of the age. On the surface, if one were to use the history of the fall of the Jerusalem, the Christians would be taken in the midst of this tribulation. In further support of this, we can look at the plagues by which Yahweh delivered Israel from Egypt. The Israelites suffered with the Egyptians for the first few plagues. But the LORD them made a distinction between His people and the Egyptians. For example, when there was darkness in the Land of Egypt, the land of Goshen where the Israelites lived still had light.
But this view of the end times is one of many. Some feel all of this prophecy refers to the destruction of Jerusalem. It has already been fulfilled. Therefore it speaks to the Christians of 66-73 AD and not directly to us. Others hold that all of it remains to be fulfilled in the Great Tribulation. This would say that it speaks to us and not to the original hearers. But it seems to me that it might speak to both. This idea of dual fulfillment of prophecy can be demonstrated in Scripture. The Immanuel Prophecy of Isaiah 7 has details which seems to indicate that this child was born in the days of Ahaz as a sign that the two kings who oppressed Judah would be dead before the child was weaned. But we also hold that it prophecies of the Virgin Birth of Jesus Christ. The first fulfillment of the prophecy within the lives of the original hearers becomes a type to a greater deliverance and fulfillment in the future. The fulfillment of the first proves that the prophet had been sent by the LORD. It then validates the greater fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth. The birth of Maher-shalal-hash-baz was a sign of deliverance of Judah from Syrian and Israel. The birth of Jesus is the promise of deliverance of the world from sin. Both children were a sign that God is with us, which is the translation of Immanu-El.
So when I look at this prophecy, is see it as type and antitype. There are details given which correspond to the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. The greater fulfillment will be along the lines of the first, but not all the details need correspond. We know that the Temple and the Holy Place was desecrated just before the final overthrow. This is the abomination of desolation spoken of here. The greater fulfillment does not necessitate the rebuilding of the Jerusalem Temple. It could also refer to a world wide desecration of the holy name of God and of His Son Jesus. This is a desolation of the heart and not of a building. This is not to say, of course, that the Temple will not be rebuilt. All I am saying is that it does not necessarily require it.
Up to verse 24, there seems to be some ambiguity about the details, whether they belong to the destruction of Jerusalem, the destruction at the end of the age, or both. But is seems that starting at verse 24, the details seem to refer to the Second Coming of Christ at the end of the age. This verse talks about the falling of the stars and the darkening of the sun and moon. The powers in heaven will be shaken, and then the Son of Man will come in great power and glory. This is highly metaphorical language which some like Bass still think refers to a judgment coming in Jerusalem in 70 AD and not a literal one. But with all due respect to this view, the coming of the Son of Man seems highly literal even though it is hard to find words to describe the scene. It certainly sounds to me that these verses refer to the return of Christ at the end of the age. In it, He is going to gather the elect from the entire earth and heaven.
We have to determine who the “elect” are. Are they elect “Jews” or “Christians” of every nationality? Some see the state of Israel’s restoration in 1948 referred to here, but why such a distance in time between His coming in judgment in Jerusalem in 70 AD and 1948? This is another reason to see the elect as “Christians” and the event being the Second Coming of Christ.
So what Jesus is saying here using the parable of the fig tree is that Christians need to be prepared for the coming of Christ. We should look at the leafing of the fig tree in spring as a sign of the LORD’s return. Does this mean we need to look at the prophesied events taking place to tell us that the end of the age is upon us just as the troubling events before the Jewish War pointed to the destruction of Jerusalem? We do indeed live in troubling times. The world economy is breaking down. We are in the middle of a pandemic. Hate and misery are rampant. Genuine Christianity is under great attack everywhere. This may indeed be so. But equally troubling times existed, for example, during the reign of Justinian as well as the time of the Reformation. We have had two terrible world wars. Even though these were times of great tribulation, the end was not yet.
If then we cannot be sure that we are at the very end of the age, how are we to prepare? We do know that Jesus told us that only the Father knows the time. So if we are having trouble with the tea leaves, perhaps there is a better way to prepare. Jesus calls us not to figure the time or seasons which are in the Father’s authority but to be His witnesses, first in Jerusalem. Then Judaea and Samaria, and then to the uttermost parts of the world. So I think the best way to prepare for the return of Christ is to be busy with what the Lord has commanded us, to be His witnesses. We need to be proclaiming the Gospel while it is still day. We have the promise that He will be with us in this endeavor until the end of the age. Jesus tells us to occupy until he comes. The servant whom he finds when He comes suddenly who is busy at His assigned tasks will be commended. Those who are not will be condemned.
Perhaps this is the only certain way to be right concerning the Lord’s return. We need to be reminded that the Jews were anticipating the arrival of the Messiah in the days of Jesus. They saw the misery of the times. They were right about the Messiah coming, even though there were disagreements about the nature and mission of the Messiah or whether there would be one or two of them. They were right about much, but even so, they were totally unprepared when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. They could tell Herod where the Christ would be born, but were not interested in following the Magi to where Jesus was staying in Bethlehem. We need to admonish each other about too much speculation about prophecy. Many have been led astray over the centuries by false prophetic interpretations. In some case, like Thomas Munzer and David Koresh, the results have been catastrophic. We should not be going after them. Let us then continue to prepare by being faithful to the task which Jesus has commanded us. This is how we should watch. Be like St. Francis who was asked while planting wheat that if he knew for sure that the Lord was returning that very day replied by saying that he would continue planting the wheat.
