13:3,4
Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, opposite the temple. Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Jesus about what He meant. This was one of the rare occasions when Andrew is mentioned. “When will these things be, and what will the sign be that they are about to happen?”. They did not doubt that these things would happen, and they expected there to be a sign that they were about to happen. So in the ensuing teaching we should not be surprised if at least some of it pertains to this question. We should also expect Jesus to take us beyond this immediate question.
13:5,6
“Watch out that no one deceives you” Given the number of books on the second coming, and the numbers sold, it seems that many have paid no heed to this warning. Many will come seeking to deceive. In our day it is usually books on the topic, and the hayday for this seems to have passed, though interest still remains. In the first century there had been several messianic cults, all of which died out. We need to keep a clam head with relation to these matters.
13:7,8
So, individuals are one source of deception. The other source is our wrong interpretation of events. It seems to be human nature to assume that every major event or disaster has a deep meaning, possibly heralding the end of the world. This trait is not limited to religious types, just look at the love that we have for fortelling environmental disaster, or some cataclysmic disease outbreak. There will be tragedies of various sorts, and these are important in their own right, but they do not herald the end of the world. There will be wars, earthquakes and famines. They are a symptom of the fallen state of the world, but do not mark the end itself.
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