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Mark 13. I'm going to start reading in verse 24. Last week, we read the entire chapter and we'll kind of cover some of what happened before, but I'm going to read beginning in verse 24. It says:
"But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 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."
"From the fig tree learn its lesson. As soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out leaves, you know that summer is near. So also when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
"But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake, for you do not know when the time will come. 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. 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—lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake."
I told Rory I was going to, every few minutes or so during the sermon, say to her, “Lorelei, stay awake.” I'm not actually going to do that, but Jesus repeats that phrase over and over there in the last section. Stay awake. That's why it's the title of the sermon.
As I mentioned last week, Mark 13 is a hard passage to put all the pieces together and understand what's going on. I'm just going to briefly now run over three—there's way more nuances than this, I mean, there's all kinds of different positions—but the three big buckets that people fall into as they interpret this.
The first one is to take everything that's in this chapter other than the destruction of the temple itself—so everything from verse 3 on—to take it all as in the future. That's probably the most common way people understand it today, to look at the wars and rumors of wars and the gospel being proclaimed in all the nations, the abomination of desolation—that's all out there in the future. We're waiting for that to happen.
Why I don't think that particular reading makes sense is because of what Jesus says in verse 30: “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” In a chapter full of symbols, a chapter full of confusing imagery for us, the clearest thing Jesus says is that these things will take place within one generation. And you could try to say, well, it's the generation that sees these things that's going to see him come back. Or you could say generation just means the world will be like this when he comes back. But everybody standing there listening to Jesus, everybody reading the first copies of Mark's gospel would have understood "generation" to mean about a 40-year period starting when Jesus said these words, which would put it between about 30, 33 AD, when Jesus spoke this, and 70 AD, you have the destruction of the temple. And one of the things we walked through last week was seeing, well, I think all of the things from verse 3 through verse 23 we can say were accomplished in that one generation.
So I don't think to look at this as all happening out in the future really makes sense of the text itself.
The second view is completely on the other side. If you want some theological jargon, it would be a full preterist reading of the text, and it would say that all of it's in the past. Everything here has already happened, including verses 24 to 27, the coming of the Son of Man. This again, it acknowledges the fulfillment of verses 3 through 23 before 70 AD, and it sees a connection between the destruction of the temple in verse 2 with the cosmic destruction language in verses 24 and 25.
And some of that makes sense. We'll talk about that in a minute. But in this view, the coming of the Son of Man that we read about in verse 26 is seen, instead of being Jesus coming back to earth, they take it as a picture of him ascending to his throne in heaven. The great strength of this view is that it takes Jesus' statement about, in verse 30, about all this happening within one generation—it takes that seriously. But I don't think it's the best way to understand Jesus in this chapter.
The third view, the one that I hold—albeit in a pretty loose grip because there's a lot of questions—but the view that I hold and that I've been teaching based on is to pay really close attention to that phrase, “these things.” I think some of these things are past. But then when he gets to verse 24, I think he's talking about something that's happening in the future.
The disciples asked in verse 4 when these things will happen. And then in verse 23, Jesus says, “I have told you all things.” And so I think what he's saying in verse 30 when he says, “these things will take place within one generation,” I think he's saying everything between verse 3 and verse 23, when he says all things have been told. And then I think what he's saying is that when we come to verse 24 and the coming of the Son of Man, what we have there is something that can happen after these things have taken place—after the preparation, after the signs of verses 3 through 23.
So again, hopefully that's clarifying. If it's not, you can come ask me questions. And just like last week when Jan came and asked me a question, my answer was, that's a really good question. I don't have all the answers. This is, again, a perplexing passage. But I think, again, we're going to get to the end and the main point of what Jesus is trying to say is incredibly clear. The reason he's telling these things is very, very clear.
So we're going to structure this message around three questions: What is the coming of the Son of Man (verses 24 to 27)? When is the coming of the Son of Man (verses 28 to 31)? And why does the coming of the Son of Man matter (verses 32 through 37)?
So what is the coming? Verses 24 and 25, it's some terrifying imagery. “In those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened. The moon will not give its light. Stars will be falling from heaven and the powers in the heavens will be shaking.” When you read that, I mean, what's that sound like? It sounds like the end of the world, right? It sounds like chaos. The stars falling from the sky, like fireballs falling from heaven at the same time that the sun and moon have gone dark. So we're freezing and burning to death at the same time. Like it is terrifying imagery.
Well, should we read it literally? Yes and no. Literally in the sense of, yes, we should read it as it was literally intended to be read. To be honest, I prefer the term, we should read the Bible literarily. We should read it as it is intended to be read. And sometimes you're reading something that's intended to be taken literally. And sometimes you're reading something that is intentionally metaphorical. And so we should always read for the author's original intent—or here, Jesus' original intent—in using this language.
And Jesus isn't drawing this language out of thin air. This language of the sun and the moon going dark, of the skies being turned to blood—this is language that's present in the Old Testament prophets. So I just want to look at two passages quickly that use very similar language to this. It's not a direct quote, but it's very similar.
Isaiah 13. And here, this is an oracle that Isaiah sees of the judgment of Babylon. So God has given Isaiah this picture of judgment upon the nation of Babylon, who was going to come. Isaiah is prophesying around 700 AD, and the Babylonians come and capture Jerusalem a little over 100 years later. And so God is prophesying that after Babylon has conquered Judah, then God is going to judge Babylon.
Verse 9 of Isaiah 13: “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with wrath and fierce anger, to make the land a desolation and to destroy sinners from it. For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give light. The sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light. I will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their iniquity. I will put an end to the pomp of the arrogant and lay low the pompous pride of the ruthless. I will make people more rare than fine gold, and mankind than the gold of Ophir. Therefore I will make the heavens tremble, and the earth will be shaken out of its place, at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day of his fierce anger.”
Then over in Ezekiel, Chapter 32, here Ezekiel is singing a vision. He's raising a lamentation—a sad song—over Pharaoh and the king of Egypt. Ezekiel 32, verse 7 says: “When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark. I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light. All the bright lights of heaven will I make dark over you and put darkness on your land,” declares the Lord.
So there in both Isaiah 13 and Ezekiel 32, we see similar language. There's also language like this in other prophets—Joel 2 in particular. But in each of those circumstances, what we see is God using this cosmic sun, moon, and stars language to describe his judgment upon a particular nation. And I think the image that we're supposed to have is that for these nations, when they receive the wrath of God, the judgment of God, it is going to feel like the sky is falling down on them. Everything that's solid and stable—people for thousands of years—we measure times and seasons by the stars. We measure every day by the sunlight that we have. And it's going to seem like everything that you know, everything that you count on, is thrown into upheaval when God brings judgment on the nation.
Now, again, the people who would say, “Yeah, all of Jesus' statements here in Mark 13, they're in the past”—what they would say is that then Jesus is using this language of this judgment to refer specifically to God's judgment on Jerusalem and on the temple in 70 AD.
And that's possible. That could be what it's talking about. I don't think that's what Jesus is doing here. I think he's taking that language that in the Old Testament was used for a particular time and a particular place and he's broadening it out and applying it to all nations and kingdoms at the end of history when Christ returns.
The reason I think that is because he connects it with other language from the Old Testament, from the book of Daniel. And we've looked at this passage a number of times while we've looked at Mark's gospel. Because it's incredibly important for understanding who Jesus is—thought himself to be and taught about who he was. And it's Daniel chapter seven, beginning in verse 13. Daniel writes:
"I saw in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man. And he came to the ancient of days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and a glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed."
And so Jesus is tying this judgment language from places like Ezekiel and Isaiah with this cosmic rule language—that he has power over all authorities in heaven and on earth, as Jesus says in Matthew 28. You know, he's taking these two images and he's putting them together.
And so when I think the picture that we have here in Mark 13 is when Jesus returns visibly on clouds of glory, it is a sign of judgment for the whole world—everyone underneath of his authority, which is everyone. Everyone's under the authority of Jesus. And it's judgment that's coming for all of those who are underneath his rule and yet refuse to bow to him. All of those in the world who refuse to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ, when he returns, they're out of chances.
And so what was a fearful time of judgment for Egypt and for Babylon in the past, for Jerusalem in 70 AD, when they came under the wrath of God, that time is coming for the whole world when Christ returns. The paradox here is that at the same time that Christ comes in judgment, it's also a message of salvation for his people.
Verse 27: "Then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of earth to the ends of heaven."
I was just talking with Kate about this yesterday—like in the scriptures, this idea of God's judgment and God's salvation coming at the same time is pervasive. You see this all the way back in the book of Genesis with the flood. When God comes and he looks at the earth and the earth is so full of sin and vileness that he decides to destroy it all—how does he do it? He does it with a flood. And the same flood that destroys the earth and destroys the people on it is the same flood that lifts to safety the ark with the people of God inside, Noah and his family. They are brought to safety through the same means that God brings judgment on the earth.
You see it in Luke. The Exodus—when God brings the people through the Red Sea, the waters part, they pass through, they're praising God for how he split the sea apart for them. And that same sea that's split so that the people of God could pass through in safety collapses in and brings judgment upon God's enemies, upon Pharaoh and his host as they seek to destroy the children of Israel.
And we see this most importantly in scripture at the cross. Because on the cross Jesus was absorbing the wrath of God against sin and sinners. Colossians 2 says on the cross Christ was canceling the record of debt that stood against us—the sins that we all commit, Christ bore on the tree, took the wrath of God until it was completely exhausted. And Jesus cried out on the cross, “It is finished.” He canceled the record of debt that stood against us.
In doing so, Colossians goes on to say, he was putting to shame all of the cosmic powers that line up against us. Satan and all of his hosts are destroyed, are made fun of. They still are active in the world, but they do not have the power they once had because Christ has taken away the power of sin and the power of death. Those things are not gone yet, but they do not have the teeth they once had because Christ in the cross is both displaying God's anger and hatred against sin and delivering all of those who would trust in him. That same death that we deserve for sin is a death that has brought us life.
The paradox of Christianity is that God's salvation and his judgment are not far-off realities from one another that we can't reconcile. They come together. His judgment against sin and his salvation of sinners always are present together.
When is his coming? If what is happening in verses 24 to 27 is Christ returning in power and glory to judge sin and to deliver his people, I think ultimately the picture we see in Revelation is that they're delivered to the new heavens and the new earth. And there's a great wedding feast—a wedding supper of the Lamb in Revelation 19. We're delivered to be with him forever in the presence of the Lord, as 1 Thessalonians says.
When does that happen? Verses 28 to 31 say this: "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. So also when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near at the very gates. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
Jesus uses a fig tree multiple times as an example. And here he says, okay, you know that when the fig trees all start growing new growth and they put on their leaves, that's when you expect summer to be near. That's when you expect figs to be coming onto the tree. In that same way, when you see the signs of verses 3 through 23—wars and rumors of wars, Christians being persecuted, the gospel going to the Gentiles, and Christians, the destruction that happened in Jerusalem in the late 60s and into 70 AD—when you see all of that, you know that everything that has to be accomplished before Christ can return is accomplished.
This is part of why I think it's not useful or beneficial to us to be looking at the news going, “Oh, are the prophetic pieces lining up so that Christ could come back?” Christ can already come back. Everything that he said has to be accomplished has already been accomplished, and so he could come back at any moment. And he tells us this is sure. You should 100% be banking on the fact that Jesus is coming back. Verse 31 says, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."
When is he coming back? Well, it has to wait for all of those signs to take place. They've already taken place, and so we should expect that Jesus could come back at any time. Now, we know for 2,000 years he hasn't. We don't know an exact time and date, and we're going to find out in just a verse here that—duh—we should have known that already, that we don't know an exact time and date. But we should live with the expectation that he could come back at any moment.
That's what we're going to get to in this third part. Why does his coming matter? Why does Jesus tell his disciples this?
Verse 32: "But concerning that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." So even the Son, Jesus, while he was on earth and choosing voluntarily to limit some of his access to divine knowledge—I think he was fully God, even in his earthly existence. And yet he chose, Philippians 2 says, he emptied himself. And so in taking on human form, Christ limited his access to some of divine knowledge and relied on the Spirit to guide him through this life. So he didn't at that point even know when he was coming back. Only the Father knows.
And he says, be on guard. Keep awake. So Jesus is telling his disciples about his coming back not so that they would be trying to figure out the date. He says no one knows. The angels don't know. The Son doesn't know. Only the Father knows. So we shouldn't be trying to go, “Is it 1989?” Oh, that one didn't work out. “1991?” That didn't work out. “2001?” That didn't work out. However many times, whatever that guy's name was—I can't remember—Harold Camping, whoever tried to predict it. He's not the only one that tried to predict the return of Christ and look like a fool every time, but still sell books about the next time he thinks it's going to happen. It drives me nuts. People are so gullible.
Anyway, he doesn't tell them that so that they can try to figure it out. They won't be able to. He also doesn't tell them that so that they will sit on their hands waiting around. One of the most important texts on the return of Christ in the New Testament is Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians in chapters four and five. But then in 2 Thessalonians, apparently there are some people in that church who are like, well, if Jesus could come back any time, let's just sit around and have a worship service the whole time. Let's just sit around and not do anything. We're just waiting for Jesus to come back. And Paul says, don't even hang out with people who are idle. If somebody's going to not work, if somebody's going to just sit around like, “Oh, we're waiting for Jesus to come back,” that's not somebody you should spend any time with. Get to work. Provide for yourself. Don't eat the bread of idleness. Eat your own bread. Work quietly and maintain a living. Keep working. Keep living.
So Jesus didn't tell us this to figure it out. He didn't tell us this to sit on our hands. Why is he saying this? It's the phrase he repeats over and over. So what does it mean? What does Jesus mean when he says, “Stay awake”?
Well, the analogy that he uses is helpful. It's like a master who goes on a journey and says, “Hey, you guys keep things running. You guys stay at your labors.” I remember when I was working for the post office when I was a city carrier. I was a city carrier for eight years, and you would just have your supervisor every now and then would just be like driving a loop, stopping to check on you. And that was—you didn't really want him to stop and check on you. Even if you're taking one of your officially allowed 10-minute breaks, you didn't want him to pull up during your 10-minute break when you're sitting there playing on your phone, right? You want him to come by when you're out carrying mail. I didn't even like when he pulled up and I'm sitting in my truck like organizing the mail. I just don't look like I'm working. I want to be out on the street when Gene drives by.
I remember one time before I was a carrier, I was a clerk for five years. And I was working in this teeny tiny office. I didn't have a whole heck of a lot to do. And so I had got done the things that I had to get done. And I could have found something more to do. Like, there was always something more to do. But I was sitting looking at houses on the computer and where it sat, like where the computer sat, like you are quite a walk out to the counter. And I heard a couple of people come to the counter. So I just left the computer screen open and I walk over, and there is the—called him the POOM—the post office operations manager, who was like the postmaster's boss, and then the district manager. So it was like the boss's boss’s boss were there in our teeny tiny office.
I was like, "Hey guys, how you doing?"
"Do you know who we are?"
"Yes, I know exactly who you are."
"Well, can we come back and look?"
So I walk around and let them in the access door. Forgot to close the screen on looking at the houses. They never said anything to me about it. But it was just like one of those incredibly embarrassing moments. Like, I'm getting paid to be at work, and I was blowing time doing something else.
And Jesus, I think here, is trying to get at that idea. He has ascended to the Father's right hand. He rules and he reigns right now. Christ has all authority in heaven and on earth. And as believers in him, he has left us here to be about his business—his business of just the normal stuff of life that he's given all human beings to do.
Genesis 1:26–28, the dominion mandate. We're supposed to go into the world and take dominion, to exercise God's authority over creation. And so just our normal jobs, whether that's at Jeff's Foods or whether it's at the post office or Wells or the Pheasant—like all the work that God has given human beings to do—we're supposed to do that as Christians for the glory of God.
Colossians 3:23 says to do all things as unto the Lord and not for men. It's from the Lord that we will receive a reward. And so Christ wants us to be living our normal lives, doing it, being diligent to be productive members of society for his glory.
And then specifically as Christians, we've been given the—I think what we could even call—the fulfillment of the dominion mandate, because what Adam and Eve were supposed to be doing is making God's name, his image, fill the earth. You know, it tells them to be fruitful and multiply. They're the image bearers of God in that original temple there in Eden, and they're supposed to go into the world and fill the world with God's image.
I think as Christians, when Jesus says, "Go into all the world and make disciples of all the nations," Mark 16:15, "Go into the world and preach the gospel to every creature," we have the further responsibility to take the message of the gospel to the ends of the earth. This is why Christ has left us here. He has left us here to make disciples and tell people about what Christ has done for us.
And it's really easy to just kind of sit on our laurels and coast through life. But Jesus wants us to be intentionally being productive and to intentionally be spreading the gospel so that when he comes, we don't have to be embarrassed about what's on our computer screen. We don't have to be embarrassed about what we did with the previous day.
We need to be consciously thinking and living in light of the fact that we have a risen Savior and our sins are forgiven. We have a reigning Savior. And so we have nothing—no matter what happens in the world around us, no matter what craziness, wars, rumors of wars, whatever else, people persecuting us—we don't have to be afraid because Jesus is the one who's ultimately in charge. And we have a returning Savior.
So we should be awake and working. Let's pray.
Father God, help us. It's easy to coast, to not think about you, to not think about what you would want us to be doing with our moments and our days. Help us to honor you with the time that you've given us and to stay awake, knowing that our Lord Jesus is returning to finally put the last enemy—death—under his feet and to usher in the kingdom where there is no more pain and no more sadness and no more mourning and no more tears.
Help us to look forward with hope through the hard times and to be motivated by the reality of his one day appearing, to be diligently at work serving you. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
Amen.
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