Mark 14:48-52 - Am I leading a rebellion

14:48,49

The religious leaders had sent the mob to arrest Jesus as if He was leading a rebellion, they had co-opted Judas as if they needed special inside information to know who a secret troublemaker was. Jesus points out that He was not leading a rebellion, never having incited any action against the Roman authorities. Moreover, He had often been in the temple courts teaching. They knew exactly who He was and could have arrested Him at anytime. Things happened the way they did in fulfilment of the Scriptures. This does not mean that they were acting as automatons, but God knows the end from the beginning.

14:50-52

In fulfilment of Jesus’s words in 14:27-31, which were themselves based on Scripture, everyone deserted Jesus. The young man of v51,52 is not mentioned in any of the other gospels. The anonymity of this person, along with Mark being the only one to mention him, has led some to believe that this person is Mark himself. The fact that losing his garment rendered him naked may suggest that he had dressed in haste to go and be with Jesus.

Mark 14:43-47 -Judas Kiss

14:43

Judas now appears, along with a crowd armed with clubs and swords. The armed crowd probably included the temple guard. This crowd, or mob, had been sent by the religious leaders to do their dirty work. As mentioned earlier, the purpose of Judas was to provide cover for the chief priests. One of His own betrayed Him, there must be something wrong! Note the last words in v42, “Here comes my betrayer”. Judas may have thought he was surprising Jesus, but Jesus knew what was happening and was ready.

14:44,45

Greeting someone with a kiss was a normal form of respectful greeting in the society, so it should have signified that Judas respected Jesus. Instead it signified that he was betraying Jesus. We may wonder why the guards needed to know who the one was that they were to arrest. We do need to remember that they didn’t have television or the internet in those days! Even so, it is still a little strange. Jesus had been prominent, and in the temple area. Also, one would think it was obvious who was the leader. To make matters worse, Judas even called Jesus “Rabbi”.

14:46,47

The men duly seized Jesus and arrested Him. “One of those standing near ...” John 18:10 tells us that this was actually Peter. So we have here another example of Peter’s influence on Mark’s account. Peter was not wanting to do anything that would draw attention to himself in a way that might be thought to exalt him. 

Mark 14:39-42 - RISE! Let us go!

14:39,40

Jesus went away again to pray the same thing. He had not yet received an answer, or strength , from His first round of praying. Sometimes we need to pray the same thing repeatedly. After He had finished He returned, and once again the disciples were sleeping. This was because their eyes were heavy. The events of the past few days had been emotionally exhausting. Yet they were ashamed at their failure, and did not know what to say to Jesus.

14:41,42

Jesus went away to pray for a third time. Once again He returned to find the disciples sleeping yet again. “Enough!” It seems that Jesus was now settled in His mind. He knew that there was no other way, the cross was the only way, and He was going to receive no help from the disciples. “The hour has come”. He knew He was about to be arrested, and then the “trial” and sentence would all commence. The Son of Man would be delivered into the hands of sinners. “Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!” In the words of Isaiah 50:7 Jesus had now set His face like flint. There was no deterring Him from the path God had chosen for Him.

Mark 13:34-37 - Watch!

13:34

Jesus then makes clear how the disciples are supposed to act, and how we are supposed to act. Jesus does this in the form of a parable. The master of the house is Jesus and he goes away. He goes away giving each of his servants a particular task, with one to keep watch at the door. So the thing the servants, and therefore the disciples, and therefore us, are to focus on is carrying out our assigned tasks.

13:35-37

Keeping watch does not mean obsessing about “when”, but being assiduous about the tasks that Jesus has given us to do. For we do not know when the master, i.e. Jesus, will return. The way to be ready is to do the work that the Lord has given us to do. The worst thing to do is to be found sleeping when He returns. Instead, we are to be active and alert.

Mark 13:32,33 - Only the Father

13:32

It is generally taken that the final section of this chapter refers to the second coming. And I would agree, but I also think we have to admit that our interpretation of chapters such as these does require an element of eisegesis, rather than pure exegesis. We now have “that day”, whereas earlier we had “those days”. In fact on the basis of “those days” one would have to say that 13:24,25 refers to the destruction of Jerusalem, which kind of supports my approach of saying it is a mistake to see any of this chapter as referring solely to AD70 or the second coming. Whatever the case, here the key point Jesus is making is that no one knows the day or the hour. So we should not waste time debating when the day or hour will be. 

13:33

“Be on your guard”. In 1 Peter 1:13 Peter tells us to be alert and to have minds that are fully sober. And remember that Peter’s recollections probably lie behind much of Mark’s gospel. One might think that if we could work out when the event was going to happen then we would know when we needed to be on our guard. That is not what we are called to do, rather we are called to be alert at all times.

Mark 13:30,31 - Truly I will tell you

13:30

“Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened”. If “these things” is taken as referring to the destruction of Jerusalem, then this verse presents no problem, for it was to happen within about forty years, so some would indeed still be alive. It is only if we take it as referring to the second coming that the words present a problem, for which there is no satisfactory answer.

13:31

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”. The word of the Lord is the most solid thing in the world, the surest foundation that we can ever build upon. The chapter began with the disciples remarking on how wonderful and substantial the temple looked, Jesus tells them what is truly trustworthy. In Jer 7:4 God warns the people not to say “the temple of the Lord”, i.e. putting trust in the temple itself. Note that Jesus says “my words”, the word of Jesus is the word of the Lord.

Mark 13:26-29 - With great power and glory

13:26,27

“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory”. The primary focus of this is on the second coming of Jesus, but has relevance for AD 70, and many other times in between as well! At many points in history, and in many places today Christians face great danger, including death and torture. Even in those times God will be working to “gather His elect from the four winds”. And at some point Christ will come “with great power and glory”.

13:28,29

Earlier, Mark 11:13, we had the incident of Jesus cursing the fig tree. Jesus’ words here could be referring back to that lesson, or it could just be a general lesson to be learnt from fig trees. “These things” in this section (13:26-31) are referring primarily to the destruction of Jerusalem. As the fig tree in chapter 11 did not fare well, there could be a lesson relating to Jerusalem, i.e. God will actually destroy Jerusalem and the temple. If it is a more general lesson from fig trees, Jesus is telling them to take the warnings seriously. In v29 NIV has “it”, with “he” as a footnote, ESV has “he”.

Mark 13:23-25 - Be on your guard

13:23

The answer to these dangers is for the disciples to be “on their guard”. “I have told you in advance”. Sometimes God does miracles, or gives spiritual gifts, at other times He gives sound advice and expects us to use our godly wisdom and common sense. And when miracles happen we are still to use godly wisdom.

13:24,25

The quote comes from Isaiah 13:10; 34:4. Schnabel (and others) see 13:24-27 as marking a clear break from the destruction of Jerusalem and now refers to the very end times. As indicated earlier, I do not think there is any need to see things as referring only to AD 70, or only to the very end times. Some parts may focus more on one or the other, but there are lessons relevant to both. The language in the quoted texts is apocalyptic, but it can refer to actual events, or be a dramatic way of referring to great political upheaval. Again, I think we make a mistake if we think we have to see it as purely actual events, or purely metaphorical language to describe political/military events.

Mark 13:20-22 - Do not believe it

13:20

The Lord cut short the number of days of the siege. The siege lasted “only” five months. This was quite long enough, but sieges could go on for a lot longer than that. If it had gone on much longer then no one would have survived. Why did God cut the days short? “For the sake of the elect”. Note that in all this while men are taking actions, ultimately it is the Lord who is in control. This should induce both fear and hope. Fear because God is a God of judgement, and judgement comes. Hope, because God is also a God of mercy. If we focus on only one of these aspects we will not have a complete or accurate picture.

13:21,22

When there are times of great crisis people are desperate for an answer, so are particularly prone to believe “answers” proffered by all sorts of people. Jesus warns the disciples that “at that time” false messiahs will appear. Schnabel reports a number of false messiahs and false prophets who appeared in the time leading up to AD70. People will also be looking for a messiah. Jesus also says that the false messiahs and prophets will “appear and perform signs and wonders”, with the intention of deceiving the elect. Now these people claimed various things were signs, but were not great at doing wonders! These words also apply to the very end, for Revelation also speaks of the beat out of the sea performing signs and wonders (Rev 13:12-14).

Mark 13:17-19 - How dreadful it will be

13:17,18

Jesus remarks on how dreadful it would be for “pregnant women and nursing mothers”, and presumably for the old and infirm. Remember that Jesus is talking, in immediate terms, about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple, things that the people held dear. “Pray that this will not take place in winter”. Things would be bad enough for the weaker people, but would be even worse if they occurred in winter. So Jesus urges them to pray that these events would not happen in winter. This actually implies that while these events would certainly occur, the prayers of the people could have some influence on what God did.

13:19

“Days of distress unequaled from the beginning ... until now”. It is always difficult to compare terrible events, but the days of the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple were certainly terrible. At one point the Romans were crucifying up to five hundred people a day in front of the city walls in an attempt to persuade the people to surrender. Josephus claimed that over a million people died, now these may be exaggerated figures but still indicate the size of the suffering. “Never to be equalled again” is a hyperbolic statement (Schnabel) pointing to the continuation of history.

Mark 13:14-16 - The abomination that causes desolation

13:14

Now we come to the interesting bit! Of course, all this chapter is interesting, but this part causes all sorts of debate and problems, “the abomination that causes desolation”. Let’s start on solid ground, there are three references in Daniel that this is referring to: Dan 9:27; 11:31; 12:11. The term “abomination that causes desolation” is a translation of a Hebrew term that means “detestable thing”, and standing where it does not belong means standing in the temple. 1 Maccabees 1:54 refers to Antiochus Epiphanes IV erecting a desolating sacrifice  on the altar of burnt offering in 167 BC. Josephesus tells us that pigs were sacrificed. The immediate fulfilment may have been in August of AD 70 when Roman troops made sacrifices in the temple court. However, this is contested. Other possibilities can be seen in Schnabel. This does not mean that related events would not happen later.

13:15.16

The “let the reader understand” in the previous verse shows that the people of the time would, or at least could, understand the meaning.The warning in v14 was not an esoteric comment on the book of Daniel, but a very practical warning, and in these two verses they are warned that when these things happen there is no time to lose. They will need to flee, and it will not be an orderly departure. There will be no time to gather up one’s possessions.

Mark 13:11-13 - Brother will betray brother

13:11

The prospect of being hauled before councils and others is not in itself a very enticing one. But there are two things they needed to bear in mind, as do we if we ever find ourselves in a similar position. One is the purpose, and it is God’s purpose. It is not us doing something and hoping God shows up. Rather it is God involving us in what He is doing. The second is that the Holy Spirit will help us. On our own merits and abilities we are not up to the task, but it is not about us doing things in our own strength. And note that God involves men and women in all that He does.

13:12,13

However, Jesus makes no attempt to sugar-coat the issue. Jesus is utterly realistic, both about the cost, and about the purpose. We need to have both in view, to focus on just one or the other is a half-truth. So Jesus warns that “brother will betray brother to death”. Schnabel says that there was limited evidence of “brother betraying brother” before AD 70, but so what? There certainly was persecution, for we read about it in Acts, and trying to see things purely in terms of events leading up to AD 70 is, in my view, a mistake. There was partial fulfilment in the events leading up to AD 70, and to ignore that is foolishness, but so is trying to see it all as pertaining to AD 70. Children would rebel against their parents and have them put to death. “Everyone will hate you”, this is hyperbolic, though it may seem as if everyone was against them. And there are many Christians today who encounter such things.

Mark 13:9,10 - You must be on your guard

13:9

The things mentioned in 13:6-8 were general, affecting everyone. Jesus now turns to things which are more personal, and affect us because we are Christians, “on account of me”. They would be “handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues”, and we read of these things happening in Acts. Today Christians in many places face persecution. If they were not Christians they would not be persecuted, but there is a purpose in the persecutions. They would “stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them”. In the trials of Jesus it was ostensibly Jesus who was on trial, but in reality it was the Jewish religious leaders, the Roman authorities and, indeed, all of us, who were on trial.

13:10

The purpose went much further than the immediacy of Judea, but “the gospel must first be preached to all nations”. This matches up with the Great Commission in Matt 28:18-20. The first disciples undoubtedly did not appreciate the full extent of the world, and therefore of the meaning of “all nations”, but God certainly did! God’s purposes are greater than ours, or as it says in Is 55:5,8.

Mark 13:7,8 - Wars, and rumours of wars

13:7

The AD 30-70 period was a time of relative peace, but even so there were a number of conflicts in that period. Every period in history has “wars” and “rumours of wars”, and our age is no different. Jesus tells us that these things must happen, but the end is still to come. There can be a natural tendency to view our own times as the most dangerous times there have ever been. This is natural because they are the risks that we face, and so are the most real to us. But Jesus tells us “do not be alarmed”. This does not mean that these things do not matter, but does affect how we are to react. We do not “head for the hill” in panic, but react calmly, seeking to help where we can.

13:8

“Nation will rise against nation”. This clearly goes beyond the immediate situation that the disciples would face. The world is unstable, for it is a world that has abandoned God,a world run on human lines, not godly lines. Today we see kingdom rising against kingdom. We see America, China and Russia rising against each other. We see Iran and Israel rising against each other. We see kingdoms like “wokism” seeking to exert its power, and we see counter kingdoms rising against “wokism”. We may rejoice when we see “wokism” being exposed for the nonsense that it is, but we should also be careful about what might be seeking to replace it. There are also natural disasters like famines and earthquakes. We must not be alarmed.

Mark 13:5,6 - Watch that no one deceives you

13:5

Jesus, as was often the case, took a slightly different tack. They needed to beware of being deceived. Throughout history there have been false predictions of the return of Christ, none of them proving to be accurate! We sometimes ask the wrong questions, or are concerned about the wrong things. Now look at the disciples' question. It was natural for them to want to know when these things would happen, even sensible for them to want to know. But in fact, that was not the most important thing, they had work to do in the meantime. We too can be concerned about the wrong things, when God has something different He wants us to be concerned about.

13:6

Jesus then goes on to warn them about the sorts of things that might seek to deceive them. It is worth noting that the things mentioned here did have a relevance to the immediate future, but also a much wider relevance. There were a number of false messiahs in the pre AD 70 times, Josephus mentions a few of them. And there have, of course, been many false prophets throughout the ages, and even today. We need to be careful who we listen to.

Mark 13:1-4 - Not one stone

13:1,2

The disciples are leaving the temple, and one of them remarks on the “massive stones” and “magnificent buildings”. The buildings were probably other parts of the temple complex. Jesus does not deny that the buildings were magnificent. However, He then goes on to say that the buildings would be completely destroyed. This did indeed happen in AD 70.

13:3,4

What Jesus had just said was quite momentous, and Peter, James, John and Andrew all wanted to know when these things would happen. They also want to know what the sign would be that these things were about to happen. They appreciated the enormity of what would happen, and wanted warning of them being about to happen. 

Mark 13:1 - Look, Teacher!

13:1

This chapter contains the longest recorded speech by Jesus in Mark. With its apocalyptic tone it provides controversy and difficulty in interpreting it. I must admit that the problems do not seem to me to be as great as are sometimes made out. The passage refers to both the destruction of the temple, which occurred in AD 70, and to the very end times. There are some extreme views that see it referring predominantly to one or the other. The simplest outline sees vv 5-23 as referring to the destruction of the temple, and vv 24-37 to the second coming. A slightly more complicated pattern is 5-23 and 28-31 refer to the destruction of the temple, and 24-27 and 32-37 to the second coming. Schnabel (from whom I got the above information) simplifies this structure with 5-23 to the destruction of the temple, 24-27 to the second coming, and 28-37 with the consequences to the disciples of the destruction of the temple, and the second coming of Jesus. My own view is that while some parts clearly refer to one or the other, the two are related. With a number of promises in the Bible, and things like the dedication of the temple (1 Kings 8) have both an immediate fulfilment and  also look forward to the greater and complete fulfilment in Christ.

Mark 12:41-44 - A poor woman

12:41,42

Having seen examples of people who do not understand, or people who have far too high opinion of themselves, and are regarded highly in society, we now get the opposite. We encounter a person who was considered to be of little value by society, but is actually contributing more to God than all the “important” people. Many rich people were making large contributions, and everyone would know about it for the money would be checked before it was put in the temple treasury. Then there was a poor widow who put in two small coins, an apparently very meagre contribution. So the natural assessment of the situation would be that the rich people had given generously, but that the widow had given little.

12:43,44

Jesus gave a very different assessment of the situation. It was the widow who had actually given the most, for she had given “all she had to live on”, she had given out of her poverty. The others had given out of their wealth. Now this does not mean it is wrong to give out of our wealth, nor that it is wrong to be wealthy. The Bible contains a number of good wealthy people. What does matter is our heart attitude. If we are blessed with wealth we should give generously, but we should not think we are anything special.

Mark 12:38b-40 - Watch out for the teachers of the Law

12:38b-40

The teachers of the Law walked around in flowing robes, receiving greetings in the market-places. It was the custom that inferiors should greet their superiors. The teachers of the Law had a high opinion of themselves, and liked to milk their supposed status.  They took the best seats in the synagogues and at banquets. One might say that many bishops today like to wear fancy garments. 

In the Old Testament there are many commands to look after the poor, orphans and widows, and we are told that God has a special concern for widows. Instead of following these commands, the teachers of the Law “devoured” widow’s houses. Even using “legal” means to take their property. They also made lengthy prayers, boasting of how clever they were. Jesus assures the people that “these men will be punished most severely”. There are always individuals or groups of people who seem to get away with things, but no one can escape the judgement of God.

Mark 14:62-65 -You will see he Son of Man at thr right hand of the Mighty One

14:62

The latter point is brought out all the more clearly in Jesus’ reply. He affirms that He is the Messiah and the Son of God. Interestingly He also sticks with the title Son of Man as well. Then, as He often did, He makes the situation “worse”, ie far from compromising He makes the situation even more acute. Jesus tells them that one day they would see Him seated at the right hand of God. There is now no doubt about the situation.

 

14:63

The high priest knew exactly what Jesus was saying, there was no room for “interpretation”. So he tore his clothes, this is a common idiom in the Bible, representing repentance or horror at what one has done, or what someone else has done. In this case it was the amazing claims of Jesus.

14:64,65

In the eyes of the high priest Jesus had blasphemed, He had claimed equality with God. So the “court” was unanimously agreed that Jesus must die, He was deserving of death. So they mocked Jesus and spat upon Him, and He was beaten with many blows. All this was outside the proper functioning of the court. They also had the problem that they did not have the authority to actually put Jesus to death, which is why the Romans had to be brought into the picture.