Mark 13:1-13 (Part 30) Olivet Discourse #1

Mark 13:1-13 (Part 30); Olivet Discourse#1 In this study we will explore what was perhaps the first written account of the life of Jesus, the gospel of Mark.

Episode 23S15 Mark 13:1-13 (Part 30) Olivet Discourse #1. (Written by Kip Wehrman© 05/12/2023)

  Today we are continuing our study of the gospel according to Mark with Mark 13:1-13 (Part 30) with the Olivet Discourse #1.

Before we start, we need to understand a little about this amazing book in the bible.  Most historians believe Mark was the first written account of Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection.  The identity of Mark is not known for sure, but most believe this is John Mark.  John Mark is spoken of by Luke in Acts as the cousin of Barnabas, John Mark is mentioned in many other books on the New Testament.  Many believe he spent time traveling with Peter, so it is thought that much of Mark’s gospel is actually from the perspective of Peter.  We also believe that John Mark knew Jesus.  There are accounts that Jesus stayed at Mark’s mother’s home, there are also some unique story details in Mark that are not in either Matthew’s or Luke’s accounts.  We will try to highlight some of these as we go through the stories in Mark. 

I don’t usually do this but I’m going to read the entire chapter first before we begin to break it down. I’m reading from the New American Standard version (NAS) today.

Mark 13:1-37 (NAS) ¹As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look! What wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” ²And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”  ³As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴“Tell us, when will these things come about, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” ⁵And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁶Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and they will mislead many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. ⁸For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are only the beginning of birth pains. ⁹“But be on your guard; for they will hand you over to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹And when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time; for you are not the ones speaking, but it is the Holy Spirit. ¹²And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³And you will be hated by everyone because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. ¹⁴“Now when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be—let the reader understand—then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. ¹⁵Whoever is on the housetop must not go down, nor go in to get anything out of his house. ¹⁶And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. ¹⁷But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! ¹⁸Moreover, pray that it will not happen in winter. ¹⁹For those days will be such a time of tribulation as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will again. ²⁰And if the Lord had not shortened those days, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect, whom He chose, He shortened the days. ²¹And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ’; or, ‘Look, there He is’; do not believe it; ²²for false christs and false prophets will arise, and will provide signs and wonders, in order to mislead, if possible, the elect. ²³But beware; I have told you everything in advance.  ²⁴“But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, ²⁵AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. ²⁶And then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory. ²⁷And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.  ²⁸“Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near. ²⁹So you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. ³⁰Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. ³²But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.  ³³“Watch out, stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is. ³⁴It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. ³⁵Therefore, stay alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— ³⁶so that he does not come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷What I say to you I say to all: ‘Stay alert!’”

Now let’s look at these verse closer,  

Mark 13:1-2 (NAS) ¹As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look! What wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” ²And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another, which will not be torn down.”

The disciples are making small talk.  Look at these amazing buildings.  The temple was a very impressive building for sure.  It was one of the ancient wonders of the world.  The Roman empire consider the temple in Jerusalem one of the marque sites of the Roman world.  It was a point of pride for the Jews and the Romans.  And Jesus just said, oh by the way it’s going to be destroyed.  Not a single stone on top of another.  I’m sure this disturbed the disciples.  So when they got back to the Mount of Olives they asked.

Mark 13:3-4 (NAS) ³As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew were questioning Him privately, ⁴“Tell us, when will these things come about, and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?”

This seems like an obvious question when is the temple going to be destroyed and how will we know it’s about to happen.  This scripture is paralleled in Matthew 24 and Luke 21.  The combination of these three accounts help us to understand these passages

Next, Matthew 24:3-4 (NAS) ³And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”

Next, Luke 21:7 (NAS) ⁷They asked Him questions, saying, “Teacher, when therefore will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”

Both Mark and Luke are almost the same When and How will we know are the two questions.  Matthew’s account is the one we typically hear about.  People often say the disciples asked three questions.  When and How, then a third “sign of your coming”.  This is typically thought to be a reference to the second coming of Jesus.  I have always be puzzled by this.  Why would the disciples be asking about the second coming of Jeus, then the did not believe Jesus was going to die.  No need for a second there is nothing in the whole of scripture that would lead us to believe the disciples had any concept of a second advent of Christ, so why would they ask this question.

Lets look at part of the lexicon for Matthew 24:4 (NAS)

Literally, say when? What sign of coming completion time.  Unless you hold to the eschatological version of this scripture, I only see two questions.  The same shown in Mark and Luke.  When will the temple be destroyed and how will we know it is about to happen. 

Mark 13:5-8 (NAS) ⁵And Jesus began to say to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. ⁶Many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He!’ and they will mislead many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; those things must take place; but that is not yet the end. ⁸For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will also be famines. These things are only the beginning of birth pains.

Jesus is about to give the disciples an amazing prophetic look into the future.  Remember Jesus is talking to the disciples, not us.  Let no one mislead you.  Watch about for false-messiahs, and many came before and after Jesus before the fall of Jerusalem in AD70.  Wars and rumors of wars. Nation against nation.  When Jesus said these words, it was the beginning of a period of many military struggles throughout the Roman empire, including a major rebellion in Judea leading to the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70.  These include wars in Germania, Cantabrian, Parthian, Briton, Morbihan,  and many others.  The period of “pax romana” or Roman peace was coming to an end.  The book of Acts talks about the severe famine in Jerusalem, and the Bible tells about a great earthquake at the death of Jesus and many other are historically recorded in the 1^st century.   Wars, earthquakes and famines all before AD70.  Now this could be about events yet to come, but that is not a literal interpretation of these scriptures. 

Mark 13:9-11 (NAS) ⁹“But be on your guard; for they will hand you over to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. ¹¹And when they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time; for you are not the ones speaking, but it is the Holy Spirit.

Many say this is a warning for us.  But it was quite literally a warning for the disciples, and this actually happened to them.  They were arrested, beaten, flogged and killed.  They stood in front of governors and kings.  All  you need to do is read the Acts of the Apostles where Luke outlines many such accounts.  These words of Jesus were very much for the disciples who heard them.

Mark 13:12-13 (NAS) ¹²And brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³And you will be hated by everyone because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.

The disciples and other followers of Jesus were going to be betrayed by many they trusted.  This is what happened in the 1^st century in Jerusalem and through out the Roman world.  Roman history tells us many of these atrocities.

I think this is a good place to stop for now, let’s pick it up next time.

I want you to contemplate.

1. Reason?   What was the reason the disciples asked Jesus .
2. Vantagepoint?  What was their frame of reference.
3. When & How.  When is the temple going to be destroyed and how will they know its is about to happen?

Let me leave you with this today.  It is really important to read scriptures in context.  I know when we do Bible studies like this it is difficult in the time we have.  Read the full chapter and the chapter which have the same story in the other gospel.  When need to do this so we can see the full picture. But of course there are some odd things in our English translations.  We need to see why the three accounts are different, then figure out why.  Sometimes it just a inadvertent error in the translation, or a previous thought we have overlayed on a scripture which is not really there. Thank you for joining me for our study of the gospel of Mark.