“If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”
Mark 13:36-37
Main Readings: Revelation 3 & Mark 13
Supporting Readings: 2 Peter 3 & 1 Thessalonians 5
I can remember where I was - the first time I ever looked through a Kaleidoscope. I was at primary school – maybe year 1.
I don’t remember too much about that time, but I do remember looking through that kaleidoscope - all those colours and shapes tumbling together to give a perplexing but quite exhilarating experience.
Mark 13 is a bit of a kaleidoscope chapter, because, it seems to record Jesus talking simultaneously about different events, but with no clearbreak to show which event he’s talking about at any given moment.
But, as much as the picture is quite puzzling, Jesus conveys an unbelievably clear message through it all. And it’s that message that I want us to take away with us this morning.
If you come out of today’s message thinking I’m still confused by the chapter, please come and see me if you want to, but really the message is a one-word message: ‘watch!’
All the rest of the detail in the chapter is about why we should watch. Jesus doesn’t say ‘watch’ for nothing, he has some important reasons for saying it.
I said a few weeks back that chapter 13 would be the conclusion of this temple focus we’ve been witnessing through chapters 11 and 12, and that is absolutely the case.
Verse 1 says that as the disciples and Jesus were ‘leaving the temple’ one of the disciples remarked to Jesus about the size and splendor of the temple and its construction.
And Jesus agreed, the temple was great in his estimation too - you can see that in verse 2. But that doesn’t stop him from quickly making a prophetic judgment about it.
With seemingly no hesitation, Jesus anticipates the comprehensive destruction of that very temple that they were walking out of.
The stones looked big; immovable; and permanent, but Jesus declares ‘not one of them will be left on another; every one will be thrown down’.
And at the end of verse 2 you think that’s the end of it, his statement is so abrupt and arresting. But it’s not the end of it. Mark picks up the story in verse 3.
Evidently some time had elapsed between verses 2 and 3 because the disciples and Jesus are back at their base of operations now in verse 3 - on the Mount of Olives, and overlooking the temple.
It’s as if Jesus’ prophetic remarks have been percolating in the minds of some of his disciples (Peter, James, John and Andrew), because they are emboldened to ask Jesus two things about his prophecy.
The two questions are these: when will the destruction of the temple happen? And secondly, what will be the sign that it is about to be destroyed?
When? And what will be the sign?
And Jesus is going to use the rest of the chapter to answer those two questions. But whereas the disciple’s questions are exclusively about the temple, Jesus’ focus is simultaneously, it seems to me, on two distinct and separate events as he gives his answer.
Let me show you first, why I think that is the case, and then let me show you that this is not an unsual pattern for biblical prophecy.
There are details within Jesus’ answer which are unmistakably rooted in the setting of the temple. See if you agree.
Verse 9 sounds very local - ‘you will be handed over to the localcouncils and flogged in the synagogues’.
Verse 14 is another example, ‘when you see the abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong’ - we know from Matthew’s account that Jesus means standing in the temple.
‘Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains’. That sounds very local to me.
Verse 18 says, ‘pray that this will not take place in winter’ and Matthew adds ‘on a Sabbath day’.
So, these references sound nothing more than local-scale I would say. Remember he’s answering their question about signs relating to Jesus’ prophecy that the temple will be destroyed, so we would expect lots of local details, right?
But then, by contrast, other things Jesus says sound much more large-scale. We encounter Jesus talking about nations and kingdoms rising against each other (v.8). We hear of the gospel being preached to allnations in verse 10. Verse 18 says that the distress of those days will be unparalleled in all history. And in verse 20 he alludes to those days being cut short for the sake of the elect.
Granted, you could, at a stretch, interpret those things in a more localised way - maybe. But then in verses 24 and 25 Jesus speaks of unmistakably cosmic events - the sun darkened, the moon no longer giving its light, and the stars falling from the sky.
And verses 26 and 27 leave no doubt that Jesus has in mind final and climatic, global-scale events, when he speaks of his own return and the gathering in of the elect. There is nothing local about Jesus’ return! Revelation 1:7 says, ‘every eye will see him’.
So, Jesus seems to be talking simultaneously about the temple - which the disciples asked him about - and at the same time about the end of all things.
And the thing is, he doesn’t give us a nice marker where you can say ‘he just transitioned from temple focus to end times focus right there’. It’s like a kaleidoscope of detail. It’s both mesmerising and quite confusing.
So, to help take some confusion away, I just want to tell you that it was not uncommon for the Old Testament prophets to speak prophecy which had both near and far fulfilments.
One example would be a prophecy like the birth of a son in Isaiah 7 - which we all know. That prophecy in its immediate context was fulfilled in the birth of Isaiah’s own son. But Matthew explicitly applies it to the birth of Jesus.
Another example would be Hosea 11:1 which looks back and recalls God’s deliverance of Israel from Egypt - referring to Israel as his ‘son’. But Matthew tells us that Jesus’ family, fleeing to Egypt to avoid the decree of Herod, was the fulfilment of that word: ‘Out of Egypt I have called my son’.
There are other examples, but in short, it’s not uncommon in the prophetic pattern to have double fulfilment in view. And I think that is the case here too.
The question then becomes, did Jesus’ prophetic words about the temple’s destruction come true? And the answer is ‘yes’.
Between AD66 and AD70 the Roman emperor Titus led a campaign against Jerusalem.
The Jewish historian Josephus records how the Romans offered pagan sacrifices in the temple and set up their standard bearing the image of the deified emperor in the temple.
He also records that they set the city and the temple on fire, and that the temple was completely levelled. Over 1 million Jews were either slaughtered or enslaved and many early Christians fled to places beyond the Jordan and into the mountains for refuge.
So, history records clearly that Jesus’ prophecy came to pass around 35 years after he rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.
And I don’t doubt that all the warnings Jesus gives his disciples in this passage are designed so that when the time came for fulfilment of that prophecy, in AD70, that they would stand firm in the face of that terrible trial.
In fact, verse 13 has Jesus’ goal in view, ‘Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved’. In other words, Jesus wanted to exhort his disciples to stand firm in the face of the terrible trials that would accompany the destruction of the temple.
Jesus didn’t tell them when it was going to happen, he only told them signs that would indicate it was about to happen, and what to do to get ready for its appearing.
The aim of Jesus is, their steadfast, resolute, unwavering commitmentto Jesus even though it cost them their lives when, at last, it arrived. He says the result of standing firm like that, will be final salvation.
Now, clearly that fulfilment of Jesus’ words doesn’t apply to us - we live on the other side of AD70 - most Christians have.
But Jesus, by his kaleidoscopic speech, is showing us, I think, that AD70 was a shadowy foretaste of a cosmic-scale event that is coming down the line. And as we sit here this morning is yet future.
How much future, we do not know. For the disciples, they didn’t know that in just 40 years’ time they would go through it.
In 40 years from now will we go through the greater and global reality of what Jesus anticipated?
And the answer is, we don’t know. Jesus says in verse 32 ‘About that day, no one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father’.
But there is certainly no reason to think that it couldn’t come in our lifetime.
That means that Jesus wants us to be ready for it - like he wanted the disciples to be ready for AD70 - so that, if it does come in our lifetime, we will be ready to stand firm to the end!
This is a promise from Jesus – ‘if we stand firm we will be saved’. But he underscores the serious nature of this readiness by adding a warning at the end of the chapter doesn’t he?
In verse 34 he says, ‘it’s like a man going away [that’s Jesus]: he leaves his house and puts it in the hands of his servants [that’s us], each with their assigned task [as Christians we have assigned tasks] and tells the one at the door to keep watch’.
And then, in verse 35, he talks about the owner of the house returning(check out verse 26 for the details of what that looks like) and he says, ‘if he comes suddenly [which he will] do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: watch!’
So, Jesus wants everyone to take his return so seriously that it will not catch them unawares - that’s why he promises salvation to those who stand firm; and warns us all against complacency.
Clearly, being a Christian is not what makes the difference. Being a Christian doesn’t make a person automatically alert because Jesus is warning Christians here to be on guard.
His watchword is unmistakable. Eight times he tells Christians to be vigilant in this passage. In verse 5 he says, ‘watch out’.
In verse 9, and 23, and 33, ‘be on guard’. Also in verse 33, ‘be alert’. In verse 34, ‘keep watch’. And finally in verse 37, simply: ‘watch!’
Sometimes the Greek word behind these exhortations is the idea of being perceptive or discerning. And other times it’s the word for being vigilant. Which probably shows that Jesus wants us to read the signs of the times. And he wants us to be prepared for his arrival. It’s both.
To that end, then, I want to show you how Jesus’ words ready us for that moment which could come at any time.
In this passage I see three separate periods of time. I don’t know how quickly they pass; I don’t know how long they last. I just see different characteristics which seem to mark out different periods in this chapter.
The first period is detailed by Jesus in verses 5-13 and he seems to call it ‘the beginning of birth pains’ in verse 8. I happen to think we are currently living in that period.
And I suspect all Christians have been living in it since the end of the old covenant was signified in the destruction of the temple in AD70.
You can see, from what Jesus says, that it’s a time characterised by wars and rumours of wars. Nations and kingdoms in conflict. By natural disasters in various places, and famines.
These sound to me like events that are significant enough to be newsworthy, in that they are common and distributed throughout the globe, but they are not all-encompassing.
I think we see signs that we’re in this ‘beginning’ period when we see Russia invade Ukraine for example. Or when we see Hamas slaughter Israeli civilians and Israel retaliate in whole-sale invasion in the Gaza Strip.
We see it when we watch wildfires consuming wealthy parts of California or we see volcanoes displace residents in Iceland. The famines of South Sudan, and Haiti, and Yemen, and elsewhere – they are just furthersigns of the times.
We think these things are terrible - and they absolutely are – but Jesus calls them ‘beginnings; like when a pregnant woman starts her contractions - they lead to the main event, they are not themselves the main event.
That’s not all Jesus says about this period. Verse 6 he says, ‘many will come in my name, even claiming “I am he” and will deceive many’.
We might not hear too many saying they are the messiah, but we see some of the most powerful posing as messiah-type figures.
And Jesus adds that this time will be characterised by some form of persecution - not as bad as it could be; that’s coming next - but arrests, trials, physical persecutions, hatred for the name of Christ; all that will be experienced in measure by Christians at this time.
Again, I think we see those things playing out in the world now - differing levels of severity depending on location - but persecution and trials, nonetheless.
Amid all this, Jesus leaves us in no doubt that we will need to be faithful witnesses for him, verse 9 tells us. The preaching of the gospel is characteristic of this time. In fact, Jesus says all nations will hear the gospel, which sounds a lot like the great commission of Matthew 28.
As hard as that will be with the backdrop of everything Jesus has said that will characterise this time of early-onset birth pains – and verse 12 introduces the extra dimension of martyrdom - we don’t need to worryabout what we might say, because the Holy Spirit, we are promised, will give us the words to say - verse 11 encourages us with that.
So, depending on where you live out your Christian life on earth it could look more or less like what Jesus says in these verses.
But at root there will be characteristics of this period playing out in every Christian context – I think that’s the point of Jesus’ teaching.
So, if I’m right, and we are in that time now, then you might be tempted to think, ‘that’s not so much to be concerned about - we’re definitively at the right end of Jesus’ prophecy.
That would be the opposite of the way Jesus wants us to think! He says, you don’t know when this time will be over! And you don’t know how short-lived the next step will be either.
Does he not say in verse 20, ‘If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive’. He’s talking about the time directly after these initial birth pains and it’s going to be cut short!
This whole thing could unravel in a decade, or a year, or even a matter of months, if God so wills!
So, don’t think this will not happen in your lifetime, you do not knowthe day or the hour!
How does Jesus prepare us then to live in this time of early contractions? Well, he exhorts about some things we must avoid.
The first thing he exhorts us about is deception (v.5). We must not be deceived. That means that this time we live in is characterised bydeception. Deception comes in lots of forms and so the question is: how to do you spot deception?
How will we know if homosexual identity is a thing or not? How will we know if biological sex is a thing or not? How will we know if disciplining children is right or not? How will we know if abortion is right or not? How will we know…?
How do we avoid being deceived in these questions? The answer is we find absolute and reliable truth. And when we have found it, we use it as our lens through which to view everything in the world.
God’s Word is the only reliable source of what is right and true and good. And it alone must be the sieve through which we push every idea and every thought that we encounter in the world we live in.
Paul says, ‘we demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God [we get that through his Word], and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ’.
This is how we test everything and hold on to what is good - we use the bible as the absolute authority.
Jesus also exhorts in verse 7, ‘do not be alarmed’. When we look around and see all that Jesus said unfolding before us, we shouldn’t be shaken. We shouldn’t be afraid. We should be steadfast in the knowledge that Jesus is reigning, like we discovered last time.
Paul says to the Thessalonians, that they sent Timothy to them to strengthen and encourage them in their faith ‘so that no one would be unsettled by these trials, for you know that we are destined for them’.
Therefore, we must be strengthened in our faith so that we won’t be alarmed by the trials we go through – after all, God has destined us for them!
Then in verse 9, we must be ‘on our guard’ because we will be handed over to some degree of persecution for Christ.
For us that might look like reviling, or a court hearing, or family rejection, or loss of friends, or being called a ‘bigot’.
Whatever it is, Jesus doesn’t mean ‘be on your guard’ to avoid that persecution. He means the opposite. He means ‘be on your guard’ notto avoid that persecution.
Every impulse in us will recoil from persecution - even mild persecution. Jesus says beware that impulse. He means be on guard against being ashamed of owning the name of Christ.
The fact that Jesus’ words here to the disciples, in answer to their question, were met with fulfilment in their lifetime is meant to put us on alert that all these things could happen to us in our lifetime too.
When Jesus says in verse 30, ‘Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened’, and then in verse 31 says, ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’. He means for every generation to hear him saying, ‘AD70 stands as a testament to you that what I say will come true.
And you ought to act and think in ways that are in step with your belief that they could come to fulfilment in your generation’.
And so, I ask myself the question: do I live, and act, and think in ways that reflect that I take Jesus at his word about these things? Do I believe that my generation could be the one that these things find their fulfilment in?
If the answer is ‘no’ then I think Jesus would say, ‘in that case you’re not heeding my warning and you’re not striving to obtain my promise when I exhort you to ‘watch’. You are not watching! You are asleep! Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God!’
You know, the owner of the house has left and is in heaven at the right hand of God, and he’s left us in charge of the house.
He’s assigned us each our task. And he’s coming back, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the cock crows, or at dawn - we do not know.
What we do know is that he expects to find us awake and on the lookout for him.
You might think that this kind of teaching from Jesus would make his people mindful of his return.
You might think we would be talking a lot about him coming on the clouds in great power and glory.
You might think that we would be asking each other ‘are you ready for his appearing?’
You’d think we’d be saying to each other, ‘if you see me looking sleepy shake me awake because I don’t want to be caught out’.
But I sense we don’t talk like that very much. I sense an apathy about the return of Jesus - an inclination that all that stuff is a long way off. Maybe we forget that his return will be accompanied by the most testing times for Christians in all history!
I think Jesus shows us he wants us to think more immediately about his return, that we might not fail when it comes. I think he wants us not to be afraid of it, but to be afraid of falling short of it.
I would encourage you to read, here, words from Jesus’ lips that are for us now, and to love them now and live them now too.
Next time I want to deal with the other two periods of time and try to explain them, because as we’ve seen today, we could, if God so wishes, encounter them also in our own lifetimes.