Mark 13:14-37 | Jesus and the End, Part 2
Mark 13 is in the Bible because Jesus answered a question. He told his disciples the temple would be torn down. But the temple didn’t look in danger. It was huge, ornate, impressive. Furthermore, it was the place of God’s presence. How could it be destroyed? What would that mean? And, the question Jesus answers, when would it happen? Beginning in verse 5, and running throughout the rest of the chapter, Jesus answered.
Now, organizationally, it helps to view the passage in two sections with two parts.
Section 1: Short-Term Future
Part 1: The Abomination of Desolation, verses 14-23.
Part 2: The Lesson of the Fig Tree, verses 28-31.
Section 2: Future to Come
Part 1: The Coming of the Son of Man, verses 24-27.
Part 2: No One Knows the Day or Hour, verses 32-37.
Viewed this way, we can see how Jesus moves back and forth from the short-term to long-term future.
The Abomination of Desolation
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. 20 And if the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days. 21 And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. 22 For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. 23 But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.
The Coming of the Son of Man
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.
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
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. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
No One Knows That Day or Hour
32 “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 33 Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 34 It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. 35 Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— 36 lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”
Introduction
How do you think about the future?
Culturally, books and movies present it bleakly, with destruction and war and suffering. George Orwell, in 1984, had O’Brien say to Winston, “If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”
Is that our future? What does Jesus say? As Jesus answered the disciples’ question about the timing of the temple’s destruction, he wasn’t an Orwellian science-fiction novelist, heightening uncertainty for dramatic effect. Rather, he spoke pastorally. He was honest about the tough road ahead but also promised he was coming back one day. The boot stamping of the enemy has an end date, and Jesus will oversee it.
The tone of Mark 13 is like when my kids have to face something uncertain, and they grow anxious. Their minds go to the darkest extreme and their anxiety heightens. They start asking questions: What will it feel like? What will I see? What do I do? So what do I tell them? Do I highlight details to scare them? Do I sensationalize events to come? No, of course not. But I am honest with them and set expectations because I want them to feel prepared.
We don’t know what the future holds. We can’t even guess. Who of us would have imagined we’d end up where we are today? For all the good, there is also bad, and as we grow older and we suffer, and some of the dreams we dreamed begin to die out, we start to wonder if God even cares. Does he care about my future? Is there anything good out ahead for me? Am I forgotten?
Mark 13 says you are not forgotten. Jesus’ love is big enough to include you and your future. You are, by his grace and for his glory, in his heart forever, and he promised in his death and resurrection to care for you all your days. Mark 13 is in the Bible to prove that to you. As uncertain as your future is, you can take heart that God is reigning and ruling over it and his purposes for his people are always good, no matter how bleak today looks and no matter how uncertain tomorrow is. In the words of my friend Ray Ortlund, “We don’t know what the future holds except for this: we will always be stepping into one more moment after another of the love of God. Forever.”
Mark 13 is part of that promise and, better yet, Jesus himself is the proof. He died and rose for you, and he’s coming again for you. He loves you to the uttermost—deeper than you can imagine and longer than you can see. In the gospel, we have the promise of eternal love today and eternal love tomorrow.
So let’s consider the future under three headings:
The future is in God’s hands, so we know he cares
The future is part of God’s plan, so we don’t despair
The future is given beforehand, so we can prepare
The future is in God’s hands, so we know he cares
The old African-American spiritual song got it right. “He’s got the whole world in his hands.” But how do we know that’s true? This passage is a master class. For starters, look at verse 14. “When you see the abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be (let the reader understand)…” What is Jesus talking about?
We can’t predict the future, but God can and did. Mark’s parenthetical note about letting the reader understand is a way of saying, “Remember Daniel.” 600 years before Jesus, God told the prophet Daniel an abomination of desolation was coming—that a devastating rejection of God was coming in the very place God should be found and accepted. Something so sacrilegious was out ahead that God’s people would feel desolate and devastated when it came. Jesus said it would come, “where he ought not to be”—in the temple sanctuary. Way back in the sixth-century BC, God knew what was to come, and Jesus picks that up and says, “It’s close.”
Jesus came to a religious establishment that abandoned God and rejected his Son. We saw in the preceding chapters, how the temple leaders treated Jesus. They ignored God’s presence and expelled him from their minds and hearts. The temple became the opposite of what it was meant to be. Rather than a place where God was worshiped, he was ignored. When the Son of God came, they rejected him. So rather than a hopeful future of a glorious, holy city, Jerusalem and her temple will be destroyed. A structure cannot stand without its cornerstone.
That abomination of desolation that God foretold came to pass in the year AD 70 when the Roman Titus seiged Jerusalem. The temple was burned and destroyed. But it began to fall well before that. The temple leaders were not who they should have been. They left God long before that fateful day of the siege. His people were forsaken by their leaders and Daniel’s prophecy came true. The future is in God’s hands. What he says will come to pass.
So how does this show God cares? Well, we see here that God cares on two levels. He cares on the level of his glory and our good.
First, he cares about his glory. His temple will not be desecrated forever. He will not dwell with people who do not want him. The temple’s destruction was God’s judgment of what the temple and its leaders became. He gave his glory to his Son and they rejected him. He will not give his glory to another. They should have repented. They could have repented. Jesus said in verse 30, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” Between his crucifixion and the temple’s destruction stood 37 years of gospel preaching. But instead of repenting, they continued sinning. God cares about his glory. An institution claiming his presence without his word or his heart cannot stand.
God also cares about our good. Evidence of that care is woven throughout. Foretelling the destruction, he told his people what to do. In verse 14 he said, “let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” For forever, Jerusalem was the place of ultimate refuge. But not anymore. Rather than fleeing to it, Jesus’ people are to flee from it. Ordinarily, the wilderness was not a place of safety. Safety was found inside the well-fortified city walls. But when the siege came, scores of people—Jews who rejected Jesus as savior—died because they ran into the city. But the Christians didn’t die because they listened to Jesus’ word.
We keep reading. Look at verse 20. “If the Lord had not cut short the days, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, whom he chose, he shortened the days.” Notice this is past tense: he shortened the days. Everything up to this point has been future tense because it hadn’t happened yet, but because the future is in God’s hands, it’s as good as done. Before it happens, Jesus wants his people to know that God’s sovereign hand is over it all. He’s overseeing this and he will care for his people during it. The entire siege lasted about five months. God stopped it for the sake of his people. That means the future is not a vague possibility but a determined hope you can stake your life on. God knows definitively what will happen. And he knows his people. He determined before the foundation of the world to care for them all their days and for all eternity. That means, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God cares about you too. He’s overseeing all of this for his glory and your good.
And he doesn’t want anyone distracting his people from following him. Look at verses 21-22. Jesus says not to listen to those who say, “Here is the Christ!” Why would people even say that? To delay them and keep them in the city. He doesn’t want his people to be fooled, so in verse 23 he said, “Be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.” There will be no surprises for God’s people. They know what’s coming. The only question is when. So in verses 28-31, Jesus uses an illustration of the fig tree. When the fig tree is green, summer isn’t only coming; it’s very near. That’s the lesson. Historical evidence shows that around 66 or 67 BC, the Christians in Jerusalem started to see the tree turn green and fled. When the siege came, the Christians weren’t there because they listened to Jesus. He told them all things beforehand because he knows what’s coming and he cares about his people.
But that specific event is in the past, so how does all this help us today? The way God deals with his people in the past is a really good indicator of how he deals with his people today, which is why our second point is so important.
The future is part of God’s plan, so we don’t despair
There is a subtext in the disciples’ question—something that runs through our minds too. “Will we be okay?”
If the future is in God’s hands, it means the future is part of God’s plan, which means not only that he cares but also that we don’t have to despair. There is a God above who loves and saves. If God has the whole world in his hands, then little me and you fit firmly in his grip.
What happened as those Christians fled the city into the wilderness? Well, what always happens when God drives his people into the wilderness? He goes with them. Like the shepherd of Psalm 23, he takes them through the valley of the shadow of death only to bring them to green pastures and still waters. He was not only with them, he used them to spread his kingdom. As those early Christians fled, they took the gospel of Jesus with them. In the midst of bad news, they took good news to a dying world, to all the nations. He had a purpose of glory for those people.
If he had a purpose of glory for his people long ago, he has a purpose of glory for you and me today. Because of Christ’s cross, you are part of God’s glorious plan. Your future, as undetermined and unpredictable as it seems, is not left to chance. Your future is planned by God himself. God is already out there ahead of you, and he will be there to welcome you into that future day and carry you through it to himself. Even if we must flee all we’ve ever known, Jesus will give us all we’ll ever need. You may see only destruction, but Jesus will build something glorious out of the ruins.
So while Jesus is answering the disciples’ question about the coming events, he’s also answering eternal questions. That’s what verses 24-27 are about. Look at verse 24. “But in those days, after that tribulation…” Jesus transitions to a day far-out ahead when he returns. Using the words of the prophets, he said the sun will be darkened, the moon won’t give light, the stars will fall, and so on. Then, look at verse 26, “they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” The language reminds us of the way God was present with his people in the Old Testament, especially in the days of the wilderness after the Exodus, where God’s presence is described as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. Jesus is saying he will make a powerful and glorious return. As surely as he came the first time, he will come a second time.
But there are some differences between that first time and this second time. When Jesus first came, he came weak and humble. He came to lay down his life. In John 12:47, Jesus says, “I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.” His first coming was a mission of salvation by way of the cross, upon which he was judged for his people. But his second coming will be a mission of salvation by way of power and glory, by which he will bring judgment rather than take it. When he comes again he will judge those who reject him and save those who accept him. And the emphasis here is on the saving. Look at verse 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.”
If you look closely at verses 26 and 27, you notice that every action belongs to Jesus. If history has been a great boot stamping on the face of his people, which it has, Jesus is coming to put those enemies under his feet once and for all. He is not outsourcing this job. He’s bringing his people home himself. Jesus will come and he will gather his people. And he knows where his people are—even you.
We don’t know when this will happen. We’re not meant to know. But we can know this: If you are his, your future is determined, and you don’t need to despair the days to come. Yes, some days will be hard, but those hard days will lead you into more of God’s glory, deeper into the well of his promises. Part of the gospel hope is that as we suffer, rather than falling further from God, we grow closer to him. Paul said in Romans we become heirs with Christ as we suffer with him. We fear suffering will ruin us, but God says, in Christ, suffering will glorify us.
The older I get the more I see that my future days will hurt. I just don’t see a way around it. People will get sick and die. Parents and children will be taken. Marriages will end. Tragedies will pop up, as we just saw with Kobe Bryant’s death. And one day I will suffer something that I cannot right now see that will flatten me. I know it’s out there. And it’s out there for you too. And some of us have already suffered that. The wound is so deep and still so raw that we wonder if it will ever heal. We doubt it can. Some of us have had unspeakable things done to us, and it’s not our fault but here we are left to deal with not only our sad past but also our uncertain future.
How does a passage like this help us? It helps because the return of Christ says that place of your deepest pain and your deepest shame where that wrong done to you lives on will one day find the justice it seeks. When he comes in clouds with great power and glory, he will come to set everything right. From the deepest part of your heart that only God can see, you may cry out, “How long, O Lord?” That’s an honest cry that God takes seriously. In Revelation, the martyrs cry that out (Revelation 6). It feels like he’s taking so long. Will he ever come? In the gospel, God’s answer is a definitive, “Yes.” No qualifications but that we faithfully wait. The Son will bring justice. He’s on the way!
When he comes, we will be like Sam in the Lord of the Rings upon seeing Gandalf at the end of it all.
“Gandalf! I thought you were dead! But then I thought I was dead myself. Is everything sad going to come untrue? What's happened to the world?"
“A great Shadow has departed," said Gandalf, and then he laughed and the sound was like music, or like water in a parched land; and as he listened the thought came to Sam that he had not heard laughter, the pure sound of merriment, for days upon days without count.”
A day is coming, friends, when that pure sound of merriment will never end as everything bad comes untrue.
So what do we do in the meantime? We trust God. We trust that Jesus will not only remove our suffering like some cosmic eraser but he will redeem our suffering as only a Savior can. He will make all things new.
Right now, we can trust God with our greatest suffering and our greatest fears about suffering. We can trust him because we’ve seen what God can do with suffering. We’ve seen the cross, that great instrument of torture and despair and humiliation, become an instrument of redemption, a doorway into heaven, a grave that leads to life. If he can do that, what can he not do?
We might not have all the answers we’d like about the future. What we do have, though, is Jesus. An unknown future with a known Savior is better than a known future without a known Savior. We can look to the crucified Christ and see the dying love of God on our behalf. Jesus is trustworthy and your future is part of his plan. You need not despair—not as long as Jesus is alive. The days of laughter are coming.
And to help us get there, we have Mark 13 in our Bibles, which leads us to our final point.
The future is given beforehand, so we can prepare
The second coming is mentioned 300 times in the New Testament—one of out every 13 verses. It’s always presented as a sudden event. It will not be like the events of AD 70, where preparations can be made in the days immediately ahead. Preparation must be life-long. So in verses 32-37, Jesus sums the main takeaway: stay awake, be ready. In fact, he says “stay awake” four times in these six verses. Tim Keller points out that there are only two things that we can be sure about regarding the second coming: First, it’s definitely going to happen. Second, there is absolutely no way to predict when.
So we must stay awake because no one knows the day or hour, not even the Son. Now, the Son not knowing has caused some problems over the years. But, basically, it’s saying that, in his humanity, Jesus doesn’t have that knowledge. It’s his way of identifying with us as those who must live by faith, trusting and obeying God all our days.
To illustrate this trusting and obeying, Jesus tells a parable of a man going on a journey. He puts his servants in charge and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake because no one knows when the man will return, only that he will. The point of the parable is clear: we are to be about the Master’s work, doing what he’s called us to do and watching for his return. He told us he’s coming so we can prepare to meet him. We do that through repentance and faith, through trust and obedience.
What Jesus said to his disciples, he said to all. So, let me ask the same question we asked last week. Are you ready to meet Jesus? Let me ask it another way: is his coming for you a problem or a promise?
Let me speak first to those for whom it’s a problem.
There are at least two kinds of people in this group. Some of you have been running from Jesus. His coming would mean the end, and that doesn’t sound like good news. Well, let me ask a few questions. Are there things about this world that make you angry—injustices and wrongs you see that no one stops? Have you or someone you love suffered things that ought not to have been done? Are you afraid the future is just another boot stamping? The gospel says when Jesus comes back, he will right all those wrongs. The injustice you’re rightly angry about will be dealt with.
But what about the injustices you’ve committed? Let’s be honest, we’ve all stamped on someone along the way—most of all, God’s image in us. What will happen to you? Unless you repent, when Jesus comes to set things right, he’ll have to set you right too. But if you’ll accept his offer of forgiveness in the gospel, you will see that on the cross, Jesus paid for all the wrongs you’ve committed as if they were his wrongs. He will take your sin and give you his righteousness and you will have the peace of Christ. Jesus’ return will turn from a problem of impending judgment to a promise of eternal hope.
So here’s what you can do right now. You can settle accounts with God. Say to him, as honestly as you know how, “Jesus, I don’t know you, but I want to. Will you show yourself to me and forgive me?” Then you tell someone else you said that and let them help you find answers to your questions. The Lord will not turn you away. Your presence here this morning is proof of his welcoming arms.
The other kind of person in this group would say something like this. “Well, I think I’m a Christian, and I think I’m going to heaven when I die, but who can really know? I try to do my best but I’m never sure I’m good enough. So, yeah, this second coming talk is a bit of a problem. I’m not sure I’ll make the cut.”
If you will give that doubt over to Jesus, he will help you. He will receive it as he received the doubts of his disciple Thomas and he will come to you by his Spirit and make himself visible and touchable. He wants you to have assurance. He wants you to see that it’s not your goodness but his goodness that gets you to heaven. All he’s asking is faith in his sufficiency for all your need. The entire Bible and the gift of the Holy Spirit bear witness to that. Talk to him about it and then talk to someone else to find answers to your deep and honest questions.
Now, to those for whom this is a promise. Rejoice that Jesus is coming again to make all things new! Hold fast to this hope and stay awake. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his words will not. Cling to them. He is surely coming. Follow him wherever he leads. Trust him moment by moment by his grace and for his glory. He’s preparing a place for you, and he’s coming again to take you to it.
Conclusion
I’ll close with this. There’s a PBS Kids show called Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood. It’s a spin-off of Mister Rogers. Daniel Tiger was one of his puppets, and they made an animated show out of him and his friends. Anyway, in one episode, Daniel and his friends are starting school and they’re worried about their parents leaving. Each episode has a catchy little song to help kids grasp the message of that particular show. The song this time was simple: Grown-ups come back.
When kids start school, they need to know their parents care enough about their future to come back and get them. They don’t want to be forgotten. In some sense, we never really outgrow that, do we?
When our kids want to know what’s ahead, and when we wonder about our future, we’re really wondering if we will be left to face this harsh world alone. The second coming of Jesus says we will not be. Like Daniel Tiger’s parents, God is saying to us this morning that he will be back.
That truth can sustain us our whole life. We don’t know if he’ll be back to tomorrow or ten thousand years from now and, really, it doesn’t matter because though he’s absent in body, he’s with us in his Holy Spirit right now and forevermore.
The future is uncertain, and we know some days will be hard. Shakespeare’s Richard II says, “Cry woe, destruction, ruin, loss, decay: The worst is death, and death will have his day.” That’s true. But we can also say, “Cry woe, destruction, ruin, loss, decay: The best is Christ, and Christ will have his day.” The world is hard and it may get harder still, but take heart, Jesus has overcome the world. He’s coming in the clouds with great power and glory, to gather and repair, to save his elect, to redeem his chosen. He will come.
