On a cool spring afternoon the disciples made their way from the temple grounds through olive groves to a bluff overlooking the temple itself. Herod had overseen the construction of a magnificent edifice that inspired wonder and awe upon onlookers; he captured what Solomon only envisioned. The temple was completed some twenty years earlier and the boy Jesus might have been one of its first attendees. Jews of all walks of life swelled with pride as the temple was a light to the nations.
Naturally, Peter, John and the disciples draw their attention to the building and made a passing commentary on its glorious beauty. I can’t fault them. I’ve stood in awe on top of Rocky Butte overlooking downtown Portland, Oregon amidst Mt. Hood, the Columbia River, and Mount St. Helens. Impressive. I distinctly recall my visit to Washington DC and how awestruck I was in seeing the Capitol building. Speechless. So the disciples’ attention on the building is not beyond something I might have said. But Jesus’ response was exactly Jesus, “All those stones to build the temple will land in a heap of rubble” (Mk. 13:2).
Shocked. Bewildered. Confused. The disciples sought clarification from their teacher. They wanted answers to two questions, “When will it happen?” and “What will be the sign ahead of fulfillment?” What unfolds in Mark 13 (and Matthew 24) is a difficult answer that requires an understanding of the book of Daniel and apocalyptic literature, neither of which is easily assessed by modern, western thinking Christians. Certainly, followers of Christ have exploited his words, in part because Jesus not only answers their questions, but also points even further down history’s timeline to his return. The real difficulty is figuring out when Jesus is talking about Jerusalem’s fall and when he is talking about his return?
The simplest way to understand Mark 13 is that verses 5-32 all deal with the fall of Jerusalem. When Jesus talks about misdirection of the coming Christ (v. 6, 21-23), or nations warring against each other or cataclysmic events (v. 7-8) or the “abomination of desolation” (v. 14), he’s directly addressing events surrounding 70 AD. Certainly, persecution and betrayal (v. 9-13) will always be part of our faith-walk with Jesus, but Jesus is still looking at events unfolding in their next thirty-five years.
While verses 24-31 sound like Jesus is talking about his second coming, two facts say otherwise. First, “But in those days, following that distress,” (v. 24) means that Jesus is still on the AD 70 events, not his second coming. Secondly, the language of these verses continues apocalyptic images and was often used by prophets to describe God’s judgment on a nation. In other words, Jesus uses the Old Testament visuals to apply to Jerusalem facing God’s wrath through the Romans. Jerusalem will fall and the temple will be razed.
Jesus slowly pivots his exposition at verse 32 by saying, “No one knows about that day or hour . . ..” He has just told his disciples about heaven and earth passing away (v. 31) and the enduring power of God’s word, but no one is privy to when the end comes. I’m sure Jesus knew when Jerusalem was going to fall, or at least the general time frame for its fall. But he, the angels and the many so-called “predictors” do not know when God set the time for him to return.
In order to appreciate the ominous foreshadowing words of Jesus, we need to try to feel the despair of watching Jerusalem being breached and the temple being levelled. For a first century Jew the world was emotionally coming to an end. The game was over. The final chapter was written. Go on home because no “end-scene” credit was shot. We know this because we’ve experienced moments where all looked lost. October 29, 1929 when the stock market crashed forcing America into the Great Depression. December 7, 1941 when America was thrust into the throes of a world war for the second time. September 11, 2001 when terrorists high jacked planes and flew them into the Twin Towers and into the Pentagon. Each of those events changed the direction of the world, but didn’t close the book on the world.
The solution Jesus offers to his disciples is to invite them to his own Watch Party. “Watch out that no one deceives you” (v. 5). “Be alert! You do not know when that time will come” (v. 33). “Keep watch” because you do not know when he returns (v. 34-35). “What I say to everyone: Watch” (v. 37). So he invites us to his Watch Party because it might be at midnight when he’s praying in the garden (v. 35; 14:32), or just before the rooster crows during his trial (v. 35; 14:72), or at dawn when he was sentenced to die (v. 35; 15:1). We watch because we never know how God will take an “end of the world” disaster and breathe new hope into it.
Soli Deo Gloria!
(i.e., only God is glorified!)