Sunday School Lesson 11 - Mark 13:24-37 - PREDICTS/PROMISES
BACKGROUND: To save time, I'm not going to review last week's lesson. Today, in MK. 13:24-37, we will study a part of what's known as the Olivet Discourse, which is also called the "Little" Apocalypse because it's an end-time prophecy that has many parallels to John's Book of Revelation. It is also reported in the other synoptic gospels (Mt. 24 and 25 and Lk. 21:25-36). But before we jump into it, we need to develop the context that leads up to it. Chapters 11 and 12 were filled with conflicts between Jesus and the religious leaders who were trying to discredit Jesus' authority and entrap Him in questions that would give them grounds for His arrest (and execution). Quite clearly, Chapter 11 and 12 lay the foundation for what Jesus will teach in Chapter 13: That the religious system in Israel has become corrupt to its core, and the disciples can expect this corruption to lead to the events He will teach in Chapter 13. We skip the first 23 verses of Chapter 13, which I will summarize: in vv. 1-2, Jesus prophecies the destruction of the Temple; and in vv. 3-23, with out being specific as to the timing, He warns His disciples of signs that will come in the form of wars, calamities, and false prophets that will be the beginning of a Great Tribulation but not the end, and this is where we come into today' lesson.
A LITTLE MORE BACKGROUND: We already know that for Jews, the Temple was the place where God dwelled-the place where people could come to be in the presence of God. Now, Jesus prophecy in this chapter declares that the Son of Man will take the place of the Temple as the place/person through whom people can find access to God. This chapter presents Jesus' promise that time is moving toward the coming of the Son of Man, who will gather all the people together and make things right. The church today is divided between Christians who expectantly await Jesus' return and those who ignore this aspect of Jesus' teaching in general. But the truth and the warning is that we need to take Jesus' words in this Chapter just as seriously as His words elsewhere in the NT. And we should wholeheartedly cling to the promise that God has prepared something wonderful for us beyond our world and time.
Read Mark 13:24-27 - THE RETURN OF CHRIST
24 "But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENEED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are 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 forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the end of the earth to the end of heaven.
v. 24a: "But in those days" - Up to this point, Jesus has been foretelling the destruction of the Temple and the persecution of His followers. The conjunction "But" signals a transition: after the events of vv. 5-23 take place, the sun, moon, and stars will reveal a momentous happening, followed by the Son of Man coming in glory.
v. 24b-25: "after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENEED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken." - In the beginning, when the earth was formless and dark (Gen. 1:1-2), God created the lights in the sky in the form of the sun, moon, and stars (Gen. 1:14-19), as the heavenly bodies that were essential to the creation of life. Now Jesus is pointing to a day when God will strip away those heavenly bodies and return the earth to the chaotic state that existed before creation.
v. 26: "And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory" - This event shows that the cosmic powers will be gone and Godly power will reign. The title "Son of Man" comes from Dan. 7:13-14, where God (referred to as the Ancient of days) would send His only Son (i.e, "One like a son of man" who is fully God and fully human) who would have dominion (sovereign control) over everything and all people (humankind) to establish His everlasting kingdom. The title, "Son of man," has none of the militaristic ideas associated with the title "Messiah," who the Jews were expecting to come for the purpose of raising an army that would drive out the Romans and reestablish the Davidic kingdom.
v. 27: "And 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" - The reference to the "four winds" and "from the end of the earth to the end of heaven" is intended to convey the all-encompassing scope of this gathering. And the "elect" are a very broad group: The believing Christians, both Jewish and Gentile, will live in the Millennial Kingdom, and believers who were previously raptured or died during the Tribulation will also live in the Millennial Kingdom in glorified bodies, and for a thousand years the world will be at peace. People of all nations will come to Mount Zion and follow Jesus (Micah 4:1-5), and every covenant God made with Israel will be fulfilled.
Read Mark 13:28-31 - MY WORDS WILL NOT PASS AWAY
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. 29 So you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. 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.
v. 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" - Every culture has signs that are associated with the changing of seasons. For example in the U.S., pre-season football games mean summer is almost over. Fig trees are a good sign that summer is near because their leaves fall in the winter and return in late spring, a couple of months behind other plants. By analogy, we can consider how the signs given in the Bible compare to what we experience to determine if the end times are near. But it's not simple: Jesus promises that the wars and other calamities are just the beginning of birth pangs (Mark 13:8). And we in the church age will not know the date until it arrives (Acts 1:6-7).
v. 29: "So you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door - Most commentators interpret "these things" not as the end-the Second Coming-but the tribulation period described in vv. 5-23, and thus have no application to believers who have been raptured. But for those who are saved during the Tribulation, this prophecy is vitally important. It tells them that God has a timeline in spite of the persecution, natural disasters, and hardships they suffer. If they can hang on for seven years, they will live to see Jesus victorious, and join Him in His kingdom (Mt. 24:13).
v. 30: "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" - This is a difficult passage, and many interpretations of meaning of "this generation" have been offered, but we don't have time to cover all the details here. Some contend it was the generation of disciples who were living at the time when Jesus was speaking, who might have lived to see the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. And some see it to mean the "generation" that sees "all these things" when the final period of the Great Tribulations begins. Take your pick of these or do some research on the other alternatives.
v. 31: "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away" - This is a bold claim, but one that has withstood the test of time: kingdoms and dynasties have risen and fallen, oppressive regimes have done everything in their power to eradicate Christianity, but people from all walks of life and in every land still look to Jesus Christ as Lord.
Mark 13:32-37 - STAY ALERT; FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW
32 But 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. 34 It 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. 35 Therefore, 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- 36 so that he does not come suddenly and find you asleep. 37 What I say to you I say to all: 'Stay alert!'"
v. 32: "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone" - The short answer to why Jesus didn't know relates to the fact that the exact nature of the Trinity is a puzzle which theologians have struggled with for centuries. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are members of the Trinity, and are all fully God, and are all One, but they are individuals and not each other. While He inhabited a physical body on earth, Jesus had to suppress His divine powers, and some commentaries suggest that He was not omniscient (= infinite awareness, understanding, and insight) at this interval. Paul explained it this way: "[Jesus], who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:6-7). Part of being emptied meant that Jesus gave up His rights to manifest the full nature of His deity, what theologians call the kenosis.
v. 33a: "Watch out, stay alert" - This is about spiritual alertness, which is every bit as important as physical security. We live in a world full of soul-killing temptations and distractions. We are subjected to advertising that trivializes life, entertainment media that glamorizes violence, sex, and drugs, and thousands of other tempters.
v. 33b: "for you do not know when the appointed time is" - The word used for time here (Gk. kairos) means a decisive moment rather than the time of the day, and the moment Jesus refers to is one that defines a person's fate for all eternity. If Jesus didn't, we certainly don't.
v. 34: "It 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. This verse, with vv. 35 and 36, form a mini-parable: The man going on a journey is Jesus, who ascended to heaven (Acts 1:6-11) and will return at a later, unknown date. The slaves (servants) are the disciples who establish the church and Christian followers who continue and maintain it. The doorkeeper could be a metaphor for pastors, elders, deacons, and others who are responsible for protecting the spiritual integrity of the church. Thus, God is the master and we Christians, in our various roles in the church, are commanded to "stay alert."
v. 35: "Therefore, 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- In the context of the verse, Jesus is talking about being ready for His Second coming. The action verb (Gk. gregore) for "stay alert" means to keep your eyes open and your attention focused like a soldier on guard duty. If you ever served on guard duty in the military service, you know exactly how hard this is when done for hours on end in the middle of the night and sometimes, when you're freezing half to death. The four intervals He mentions (6-9 pm, 9 pm-Midnight, Midnight-3 am , and 3 am-6 am) are all night watches. Night is the time when we are least likely to be alert and thus the most dangerous time, but Jesus is telling us to be ready even in these times. What He's telling us to do is a serious call to discipleship.
v. 36: "so that he does not come suddenly and find you asleep" - This is why. In the very next chapter, we see a clear example of this when Peter, James, and John fall asleep as Jesus prays at Gethsemane. Later, and even worse, they will desert Him when He's arrested (Mk. 14:50). For us, as His 21st Century Christian disciples, the equivalent of falling asleep is lack of spiritual preparation-a failure in our Christian walk that prevents us from doing what Christ has called us to do: "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mk. 16:15).
v. 37: "What I say to you I say to all: 'Stay alert!" - This is the whole point of the parable: to "Stay alert" as Jesus' disciples in order to be prepared when He returns. Staying alert doesn't mean becoming night owls who suffer from sleep disorders, but has to do with spiritual alertness and wakefulness, spiritual preparation, and spiritual readiness as if Christ might show up tomorrow.
APPLICATION:
1. As Jesus' present-day disciples, we need to pay close attention to His words of warning. The church today is divided between Christians who expectantly await Jesus' return and those who generally ignore this aspect of His teachings. But the truth is that we should take Jesus' words of warning about the future just as seriously as His words elsewhere in the NT.
2. As Jesus' present-day disciples we should be especially watchful for the signs that point to His return (v. 29). A majority of pastors in evangelical churches today see signs of the end times in current events, e.g.: (1) rise of false prophets and false teaching; (2) a falling away from faith by large numbers of Christians; (3) a general decline in Christian moral standards; (4) increase in wars and national conflicts: (5) increase of earthquakes and natural disasters: (6) a rise in famines and diseases; and (7) and an increase in anti-Semitism worldwide. Although we won't know the exact date until it arrives, we need to pay attention to these developments as the time grows nearer.
3. When Jesus warns us three times to "Watch out, stay alert" (vv. 33, 35, and 37), he is referring to our spiritual alertness. Constant and relentless spiritual alertness is every bit as important as maintaining physical safety and security. We live in a sinful world full of soul-killing temptations and distractions. We are subjected to advertising that trivializes life, entertainment media that glamorizes violence, sex, and drugs, and thousands of other tempters.
4. The possibility of Jesus returning soon should intensify our burden for the lost. When Jesus comes, only the "elect" may enter the Millennial Kingdom and go to heaven (v. 27). As Jesus' present-day disciples, this is our number one missional responsibility, to "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation" (Mk. 16:15).
PRAYER: Lord God, our Almighty Creator and Sustainer of all life, we come before You this morning with thankful hearts, praising You for Your love, mercy, and the underserved grace you have shown us and this good church. Father, we can never thank you enough that You loved us so much that You sent Jesus, Your only Son, to die on a cross for us so that we can be forgiven our sins and have a personal relationship with You as our God. We thank you, dear God, for the freedom we have this morning to gather together and learn from the truth of Your word. As we study and learn, I pray that You will use it to strengthen our faith walk and our love for one another. In today's lesson, You warn us three times to be alert-specifically, to be spiritually alert. Help us, God, to be on guard for ourselves, our families, and our brothers and sisters in this church against all the different kinds of spiritual corruption that this sinful world throws at us. We know that the end-times may be near, but we don't know when, so Father, please help us and empower us to be stronger witnesses for Jesus Christ to all the lost souls right outside the doors of this church who desperately need a Savior. Please help us to extend Your invitation before it's too late. I ask these things in the Names above all names, Jesus Christ, AMEN
