The King Has Left the Building!
Preached by Pastor Jason Abbott
August 31, 2014
Reintroduction to Mark as we rejoin the book at chapter 13:
Jesus has been introduced as Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus’ ministry reveals him as Messiah, the Son of God.
Jesus’ ministry and revelation of his identity put him more and more at odds with the teachers and leaders of Israel.
Finally, Jesus condemns their leadership and their temple worship.
Throughout all of this, Jesus has set his face toward the cross.
Now, here in chapter 13, Jesus gives his disciples a farewell address as he moves with immediacy toward his crucifixion.
Things we should establish about Mark 13 or The Olivet Discourse:
Throughout chapter 13, Jesus has two horizons in view during his sermon. He sees the temple’s destruction, but he also sees the very end—his 2nd coming. Both must come into focus here. If they do not then Jesus is either in error or a liar. For, if he’s only talking about one or the other then there are things he teaches here about which he is either mistaken or lying (e.g. his 2nd coming, v. 30).The difficulty arises as we try to determine which horizon Jesus has in view. In other words, at what point is Jesus teaching about the destruction of the temple, and at what point is he teaching about his 2nd coming? It’s often difficult to decide. Consequently, one commentator points out:
[Mark chapter 13 is] one of the most perplexing chapters in the Bible to understand, for readers and interpreters alike.1
This is all to say that in the next three weeks we’ll be having a kind of trust building exercise together as we study through chapter 13 of Mark’s gospel. Benjamin and I have needed to make decisions about how to understand the text. These aren’t arbitrary decisions but neither are they always definitive decisions. Instead, they are decisions based on study as well as our own personal convictions about this text. So:This week I will preach vv. 1-13 and argue that they’re about the temple. Next week Benjamin will preach vv. 14-27 and argue they’re about Jesus’ return. On the 3rd week, I’ll cover vv. 28-37 and argue they’re a bit of both.
Mark 13:1-13
1And as he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” 2 And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”3 And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” 5 And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. 6 Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray. 7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.9 “But be on your guard. For they will deliver you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them. 10 And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 And when they bring you to trial and deliver you over, do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. 12 And brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death. 13 And you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.Before I get into my outline, let me 1st take a potential hurdle out of our way. I’m arguing that in these verses Jesus is talking about things that will happen before the temple’s destruction by Titus (70 AD) which Jesus predicts here (v. 2). And, it’s rather easy to show that most of these things happened by 70 AD.2However, what about the gospel being proclaimed to all nations (v. 10)? How do we see that being fulfilled before the temple was destroyed in 70 AD? Well, we must do two things:We must (1st) recognize in ourselves the tendency to too quickly read this from our perspective without giving any thought to the disciples’ perspective. Indeed, all the nations meant something very different to them than it does to us. For the disciples, all nations most certainly meant all nations of which they knew, not the nations of North and South America, not Australia, etc.Once we’ve established the scope, we must (2nd) simply ask whether or not the gospel was proclaimed to all these nations before the destruction of the temple. And in Scripture, we find that the answer to this question is an overwhelming: Yes! Consider what the biblical authors say:
Paul encourages the Colossians to continue in their faith in the gospel, “which has been proclaimed in all creation…” (Colossians 1:23).
Luke reports that Peter preached the good news of Jesus Christ to “devout men from every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5).
Do we demand that “all” or “every” in these two passages must include nations yet undiscovered? Certainly not! Then, why would we demand that of Jesus’ words in Mark 13:10?I hope that helps to clarify for you all what (at least, I believe) Jesus means, in this passage, when he says that the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. Furthermore, I hope you see that his statement doesn’t preclude that he’s talking about things that will take place before the temple is destroyed.Now let’s dig into this text by asking ourselves two important questions: First, we must ask ourselves, where are the stumbling stones in this text? And, second, we must ask ourselves, what is Jesus saying through the clamor of those stumbling stones?
1. Where are the stumbling stones (vv. 1-2)?
Before youth group in Missouri, we’d have free pizza before the lessons. Yet, each week, from one kid (who will remain nameless), I knew I’d catch flack! You see no matter what kind of pizza we had, no matter how hard I tried to please, he would invariably complain that we were having pizza (FREE PIZZA!!) again. On one evening, I worked hard to please him and brought tacos from Taco Bell. “Surely,” I thought, “he will rightly appreciate my grand efforts on this occasion!” Instead, he came and saw the taco feast and cut in line and gorged himself on them, but he never said a word of praise about my work!I think this youth was a lot like the Israelites when it comes to the temple. Recall that we were just in Haggai where God tells Israel to rebuild the temple.
a. (Haggai’s about the beginnings of) God restoring the temple’s glory
What was the stumbling block for the people when God called them to this? They doubted whether God was with them and doubted God’s power to restore it. They were thinking in human terms—“We’re weak. We’re poor. This will fail.” Consequently, they were distracted from trusting and worshiping God!Now, fast forward with me, and let’s zoom in on today’s text for a moment. Through the prophet Haggai, God had promised the people that the temple’s future glory would be even greater than its former glory in the days of King Solomon. And, here, Jesus and his disciples are leaving the temple as the finishing touches are being put upon a far more glorious building.
b. (In this passage we see the ending of) God restoring the temple’s glory
What was the stumbling block for the disciples when exiting the temple? Their stumbling stones were the actual, glorious stones being used in the temple. Consider what the unnamed disciple says:
Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings (v. 1)!
As the Israelites began to rebuild the temple, they missed the glory of God because of the huge task before them; they missed God by thinking as men think! In a similar fashion, as the disciples begin to leave the temple, they miss the glorious faithfulness of God (in fulfilling his promises) by thinking as men do! They are distracted from trusting and worshiping God, the Creator, by dwelling on his creation (i.e. like the youth’s distraction and, thus, lack of thanks).We must learn to see and war against the same tendency in our own lives. Often we may worship the things of this world—money, clothes, relationships—instead of the one who created these good things for his glory.Let me give you an extremely pernicious example of this in the church. Sometimes we can subtly begin to confuse the events of worship for real worship. Sometimes we can mistakenly participate in a beautiful worship service and assume that because we participated in it that we have worshiped God beautifully. Nothing could be further from the truth (e.g. Mark 12:41-44).
I urge you: Don’t confuse the worship of God for real worship of God!
2. What does Jesus say thru the clamor of the stumbling stones (vv. 5-13)?
a. Stay on target
See that no one leads you astray (v. 6).
But be on your guard (v. 9).
But the one who endures to the end will be saved (v. 13).
Ironically, Mark 13 is often used by believers to try and predict the future. This is hugely ironic because Jesus’ primary point isn’t to help us tell the future. Rather, Jesus speaks about what’s coming in the future so that his followers might think rightly about and, therefore, live well in the present.Allow me to give an example. I used to coach the 400 meter dash in track. One of the things we would tell our athletes in order to help them run each moment of the race at the very highest level was that the last 100 meters will be terrible! There’s no way around it.I never had an athlete, in all of my years of coaching the 400 meter dash, upon hearing this terrible future reality, get caught up in predicting its coming. Instead, they usually became much better students at each moment of the race leading up to that inevitable future reality so that they might run the race well—start, corner, backstretch, corner, finish—simply taking one moment at a time! Likewise, our biblical knowledge of the future should help our present living.As we close, think about how Jesus’ little sermon about the future began. The disciples begin by asking Jesus for a sign of the temple’s demise (v. 4). Ironically, by looking for a future sign, they missed a present sign.But, we must not miss it. We must:
b. See the sign (Ezekiel 8-11)
If you were a disciple of Jesus, you would have shared a common history. The Old Testament history of Israel would have been well known to each disciple. Particularly well known to them would have been moments in which God judges his people for their faithlessness (e.g. Ezekiel 8-11).In this portion of Ezekiel, the prophet has a vision of God’s judgment. Chapter 8 details the abominations the people are committing in the temple of God; chapter 9 is a vision of God’s judgment against their perversion of temple worship. In chapter 10, Ezekiel is given a vision of God leaving the temple in judgment—the prophet reports that the glory of God went to the east gate of the temple (v. 19). There is then another judgment scene in chapter 11 just before the glory of God ascends to the top of “the mountain that is on the east side of the city” (v. 23).I tell you all this because these events should and would have been well known to the twelve and (really) any Israelite who had paid even a bit of attention at synagogue school.I tell you all this because Jesus’ actions (here in the gospel of Mark) should’ve caused the twelve to pause and recall these events from Israel’s history. His activities should have been a powerful sign to them.Jesus has detailed the abominations being committed in the temple of God. Jesus (in word and in deed) has judged this perversion of true temple worship. Following all these events, Jesus exits the temple by the east gate just as God had. Finally, he positions himself on the mountain that is on the east side of the city—the Mount of Olives.Following his judgment, the King (Jesus of Nazareth) has left the building. In doing so, he gave a powerful sign concerning his true identity as God incarnate. This King, however, will not go back again to the temple but, instead, to the cross in order to make individual hearts the very sanctuary, the very temple, of God.
1James Edwards, The Gospel According To Mark, 383.2See Edwards’ thorough listing of events, preceding the temple’s destruction, which particularly fit Jesus’ description in Mark 13. Ibid, 390-392.
