Christ is Risen! So Be Alert!

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I know that's a little different.

We usually read the scripture reading right after this song.

But I just need to give you all a heads up.

This is going to be an interesting one today, all right?

I don't know if you got a peek at the passage.

It's going to be an interesting one.

And I'm so sorry.

I didn't realize that we have the fourth graders and fifth graders in here.

Because it's going to be a longer one, too.

I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

But last week, of course, was Easter Sunday.

And, you know, Jonathan, of course, he preached on Mark's account of the resurrection of Jesus.

But to conclude our series and Mark's gospel today,

we thought it'd be fitting to cap it off with a sermon on what happens next,

what happens after the resurrection.

So we're going to turn our attention to a teaching that Jesus actually gave before his crucifixion.

But it was a prophetic teaching about what was going to happen after his resurrection and his ascension into heaven.

It's Jesus' longest teaching in the gospel of Mark, Mark chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

Now, if you are new here, you have to know that the length of our passage this morning is way longer than we typically select to preach on.

And again, it's going to be a longer sermon.

And I also promise you that we're not one of those churches that's always preaching about the end times and Judgment Day and the end of the world.

But we still are a church that's committed to preaching what we call the whole counsel of God.

We're still a church that wants to preach all that God's spoken and revealed in the Scriptures

because we believe that all Scriptures are breathed out by God.

They're inspired by God and that they're useful for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, and for training us in righteousness

so that all the servants of God might be equipped for every good work.

So this means we're not going to shy away from passages that are unpalatable or unpopular or hard for people to swallow

or even hard for people to understand.

You know, passages like today, Mark chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

Thank you, Jonathan.

I hope you had a good spring break.

But all this is to say we're going for it today, okay?

We're going for it.

I won't be able to address all 37 verses in what most Bible interpreters call the most difficult chapter of Mark's gospel.

But I do want to take it on as a whole and help us all get a better hold of it.

But more importantly, I hope that the way I preach will help this text get a better hold of us.

And for this to work, this is why we have this insert in our liturgies this morning.

If you could take that out.

For this to work, I'm going to need you to pay extra close attention to the passage today, okay?

So grab those liturgies.

And as the Bible teacher, Paige Benton-Brown, she likes to say,

I want to see tops of heads, all right?

I want to see your heads down, your noses and your eyes in the Word of God, immersed in the Word of God.

It's extra important for us as we address this long, dense, and difficult passage.

Okay?

That's my beginning stuff.

Why don't we all stand now?

And I'm going to read all 37 verses for us.

This is the gospel of our Lord.

As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him,

Look, teacher, what massive stones, what magnificent buildings.

Do you see all these great buildings, replied Jesus?

Not one stone here will be left on another.

Everyone will be thrown down.

As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple,

Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,

Tell us, when will these things happen?

And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?

Jesus said to them,

Watch out that no one deceives you.

Many will come in my name claiming I am he and will deceive many.

When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed.

Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.

Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be earthquakes in various places and famines.

These are the beginning of birth pains.

You must be on your guard.

You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues.

On account of me, you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them,

and the gospel must first be preached to all nations.

Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say.

Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

Brother will betray brother to death and father his child.

Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death.

Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

When you see the abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong, let the reader understand.

Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.

Let no one on the housetop go down or enter the house to take anything out of it.

Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak.

Look how dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers.

Pray that this will not take place in winter because those will be days of distress,

unequaled from the beginning when God created the world until now and never to be equaled again.

If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive,

but for the sake of the elect whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.

At that time, if anyone says to you, look, here is the Messiah, or look, there he is, do not believe it.

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders to deceive,

if possible, even the elect.

So be on your guard. I have told you everything ahead of time.

But in those days, following that distress, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light.

The stars will fall from the sky and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.

At that time, people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory,

and he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds,

from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

Now learn this lesson from the fig tree.

As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.

Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near right at the door.

Truly, I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

But about that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.

Be on guard. Be alert. You do not know when that time will come.

It's like a man going away.

He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task,

and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

Therefore, keep watch, because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back,

whether in the evening or at midnight or when the rooster crows or at dawn.

If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.

What I say to you, I say to everyone, watch.

This is the gospel of our Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

You can take your seats.

Let's pray.

Let's pray.

Lord God, this passage is a hard one, but we confess that your word is true,

and that your word is good, and that your word is life.

So would your Holy Spirit guide us this morning, not just to understand your word,

but to trust it and to live by it?

For Jesus' sake and for the world, we pray.

Amen.

All right, so let's just dive right in.

You need a little bit of a helpful background as we get into Mark chapter 13,

Mark 13 · chapter mention

and what you have to remember is that what happens in chapter 11?

Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey.

He enters the temple, and then what does he do?

He clears it out, right?

He clears it out.

He calls it a den of robbers.

He creates quite a stir.

He overturns the money changers' tables, and he drives out all the buyers and sellers.

And then from then on in chapter 12, you have a bunch of religious leaders who come to question

him and test him and challenge his authority in and around the temple.

So you might say that coming into chapter 13 here, the temple had become a hostile place

to Jesus.

And you might even say that one key to understanding Jesus' whole teaching in Mark chapter 13 is

Mark 13 · chapter mention

to understand that he has come to make that temple obsolete and to challenge people to

place their hopes somewhere else and not in that temple.

So now we come to chapter 13, verse 1, and it says, as Jesus was leaving the temple, again,

this place had been so hostile to Jesus, and that in many ways Jesus had just undermined

and discredited as Jesus was leaving this temple, one of his disciples, totally missing the point

of all that's just been happening at the temple, one of his disciples says to him, look, teacher,

what massive stones, what magnificent buildings.

And he might as well have said, teacher, what a beautiful temple.

Aren't we so lucky to call this temple ours, to be Jewish worshipers at this most magnificent

house of worship?

How befitting it is that we, who have the greatest religion and culture in the world, also have

the greatest temple in the world.

I mean, look at those stones, look at these magnificent buildings.

And for sure, these were massive stones.

Think like shipping cargo containers, all right, 400 tons each, beautifully stacked on one another.

And for sure, the building was magnificent.

King Herod and Jewish people from all over the world had put tons of money into this reconstruction

of a temple.

Its foundation was twice as big as the original temple that Solomon had built.

And as the ancient historian Josephus recounts, it was covered all over with plates of gold

of great weight.

And at the first rising of the sun, it reflected back a very fiery splendor and made those who

forced themselves to look upon it to turn their eyes away, just as they would have done

at the sun's own rays.

So in one sense, the disciples, that disciple wasn't wrong.

This was an impressive sight to behold, probably the greatest house of worship in the known world.

But is Jesus as impressed by this temple as his disciple?

No.

No, because he, like the prophet he is, he sees the temple for what it really is and what

it will ultimately be, a mere architectural structure, merely built by deep pockets and

a vain king, King Herod.

Just a place ruled by a Jewish religious establishment whose hearts were far from the Lord and a house

of worship filled with religious people who couldn't even recognize the Messiah right in

front of them.

That's what the temple was to Jesus.

And so Jesus saw in this temple something ultimately doomed to crumble into a pile of rubble.

In fact, the whole reason Jesus came, we know, from the other parts of the Scriptures was

to be a better, more ultimate temple, right?

The perfect place where the fullness of God dwelt.

The perfect and true meeting place between God and humanity.

Not centralized in one little place in Jerusalem, waiting for people to come and convert to join

him, but a person who by his spirit would go out with his disciples to the world.

And so he responds in verse 2.

He says,

Do you see all these great buildings?

Not one stone here will be left on another.

Every one will be thrown down.

And you have to understand how rattling this would have been to his disciples to hear this.

Because to the Jewish people, the temple was the centralized dwelling place of God, the

very heart of the kingdom, the core of God's holy city.

The temple was the religious, political, and cultural center of Jewish life.

It was the place from which God was going to establish his rule and reign over all the

nations and vindicate his own honor and his people's honor.

And remember, this is the second temple, okay?

So it's not Solomon's original temple.

This is the temple that was built after the Israelites had been returned to Israel after

their exile in Babylon.

So it's not just the central place of God's presence, but it's a sign, right?

It's a sign of God's favor.

It's a sign of God's commitment to them that he would indeed keep his promise to them of

an everlasting kingdom in the line of David.

And now here the disciples were.

They'd believe they'd identified the Messiah as Jesus of Nazareth, right?

And they believed that the everlasting kingdom was soon to be inaugurated and that such a

grand temple was well-suited for such a long-waited Messiah.

But then Jesus tells them that not one stone of it will be left on another.

Jesus prophesies that this site that's so central to all of Jewish life and carrying all their

hopes and dreams, this architectural structure that had been in construction for over 50 years

up to this point when they're pointing out these stones.

And it wouldn't be completed for another 30 years.

Jesus is saying, it's all going to come crashing down.

And so in verse 3 and 4, four of the disciples approach Jesus because they absolutely need

to know more details.

And they ask him in verse 4, actually they don't ask him, they command him, tell us, when

will these things happen?

Specifically, when will the temple be destroyed?

And they ask, and what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?

All right, and these are some super loaded questions.

Because see, in the disciples' minds, yes, their question is about the end of the temple,

but as Jewish students of the scriptures, in their minds, the end of the temple was also

the same thing as the end of the world.

Remember, the temple was a central feature in their world, so for the temple to be destroyed,

for the dwelling place of God and his people to be torn down, that would signal the end of

the world.

And not only that, but notice how they phrased their second question, what will be the sign

that they are all about to be fulfilled?

There's this prophecy in the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 12, and it's about the end of

Daniel 12 · chapter mention

the world.

And Daniel has this vision of a man asking a very similar question, and this man asks,

how long will it be before these astonishing things are fulfilled?

And then Daniel hears the answer.

Another man cries out, it will be for a time, listen, when the power of the holy people has

finally been broken.

All these things will be completed.

When the power of the holy people has finally been broken, all these things will be completed.

So in short, the disciples understand Jesus' prophecy about the temple to be more than a prediction

about some building, they understand it to be a prophecy about the last days.

And that's why the disciples don't just ask, when will this happen?

When will the temple be destroyed?

But when will these things, plural, happen?

What will be the sign that they will all be fulfilled?

They have a lot of things in mind when they're thinking about the destruction of the temple.

And it's even clearer if you look on page 805 in your pew Bibles, if you'd like,

in Matthew's account of this discussion.

Matthew chapter 24, verse 3.

Matthew 24:3

In Matthew's more expanded account, he puts it like this when they ask the question,

when will this happen?

And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?

So that's what's on their mind when they're asking this question.

And that's where the difficulty of this passage really comes in.

It's in how to understand Jesus' response to this loaded question.

When Jesus responds to their questions with a list of a whole bunch of things that will happen,

the question is, when did or when does that actually happen?

Like what time period was he referring to?

Especially since we know that the temple was destroyed in 70 AD.

And you know what?

First, I was going to share with you the view that I felt most comfortable with.

But then yesterday morning, I listened to one more talk about this chapter.

And it was with a different view.

And I was like, I don't know, maybe I'm wrong.

I'm not quite sure.

And so I spent yesterday afternoon trying to figure out how to concisely summarize

maybe three of the most popular views for you.

But then I realized that it was going to take way too much time

and distract us from what I think Jesus is most importantly wanting us to have our attention focused upon.

So all I'm going to say, and we can talk about this offline,

come to my equipping class the last Tuesday of every month.

We can talk about that more.

But all I'm going to say is that some people,

some people think that what is predicted from verses 5 to 31,

all right, again, tops of heads, tops of heads, verses 5 to 31.

Some people think that all that's predicted there,

about all the wars and the earthquakes and the famines and persecution and false prophets

and the gospel being preached to all the nations

and the tribulation and the abomination that causes desolation,

leading people to flee to the mountains,

and the destruction of the temple and the sun and the moon,

darkening stars falling from the sky,

the son of man coming in clouds with great power and glory,

and the angels gathering all God's people from the ends of the earth,

and this whole generation not passing away before all these things happen.

Some people think that this is all in the future.

You might call that the futurist view or the dispensationalist view,

particularly conservative American evangelicals,

Moody Bible Institute, Dallas Theological Seminary,

guys like Billy Graham, Chuck Swindoll, John MacArthur, Charles Stanley, Tony Evans.

You may have heard of Hal Lindsey, right?

And those famous New York Times best-selling books,

the Left Behind series, Tim LaHaye, that's this view, right?

And while I probably would consider myself a theologically conservative American evangelical,

while I also grew up being taught this view,

today I would say I actually find this the least compelling, the least compelling view.

Because the temple was destroyed,

and a lot of this stuff already did happen by 70 A.D.

And Jesus says in verse 30 that the generation that he's speaking to

would not pass away until all these things happened.

And some people think, well, maybe he's talking about generations upon generations,

not just, you know, beyond the time of Jesus' disciples,

but the best Greek and New Testament scholars feel that that's kind of a dishonest reading,

a twisting of the word generation, beyond how the word generation is used in the rest of the Bible

and in the rest of classic Greek literature.

So it seems to me that you have to at least admit that a lot of this stuff has already happened

by 70 A.D. at the destruction of the temple.

Now there's another camp, they're called the Preterist Camp.

I wasn't going to say that, but Jonathan dared me to use that word in this sermon, all right?

But they think that all these things mentioned in verses 5 through 31,

that they already happened by 70 A.D., by the time the temple was destroyed.

Even the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds with great power and glory

and his gathering of all people from the four winds.

And honestly, as I studied this passage this week,

I actually became a lot more sympathetic to this view

for a variety of reasons I can share with you later.

The top commentator on the Gospel of Mark, his name was Richard France.

He was a scholar out at Oxford.

He held this view.

So does N.T. Wright, R.C. Sproul, Kevin DeYoung.

But that part about the Son of Man already coming,

even if we take that spiritually and figuratively

and believe in another physical coming of Jesus,

it doesn't sit right with me.

I think it takes kind of some gymnastics to hold this view as well.

And then there was the view that I was taught in seminary

that some of these things did happen leading up to the destruction of the temple,

but other things, like the Son of Man returning, hasn't happened yet.

That's the view I was probably going to teach and promote,

but honestly, I'm not really sure that one's right either.

I think it takes maybe a less intuitive kind of lumpy,

back-and-forth reading of this text.

All right, so that's the end of the sermon.

No, but I think from time to time you need to hear

that the pastor doesn't know.

And that's the truth.

That's God's word to you this morning.

The pastors don't know everything.

And this was just a brief and broad sketch

of some of the most popular views out there,

but again, I guess what I need to admit here is,

as your pastor, I'm not really sure exactly

what Jesus was referring to here in Mark chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

But also as your pastor, I want you to hear

that that doesn't mean what Jesus is saying here isn't important,

or that we can just ignore his teaching about the end of the age,

or that there is nothing we can hold onto and glean

from these portions of Scripture

that are more difficult to interpret and get consensus upon.

Actually, in this very difficult passage about the last days,

there is still a ton of relevant, significant,

and even profound truth here

for us to trust and apply in our lives.

The end times aren't some speculative Christian teachings

that Christians are meant to bicker over

or raise alarm about to manipulate people.

Jesus' teaching on the end

has incredible significance for the present.

And if you're here today

and you're having trouble seeing the relevance

of this apocalyptic end-of-the-age conversation

between Jesus and his disciples,

maybe you're here,

you're not even sure if you believe in God.

And maybe you're not even sure you can believe

there was a beginning or that there will be an end,

even if the AI robots take over and wipe us out,

or we wipe ourselves out with wars and nukes

and consuming so much that we make this world uninhabitable.

Or maybe you're here and you are a Christian

and you do technically believe

that there's a beginning and an end,

but honestly, you have trouble thinking that far ahead.

You're just trying to keep your head above the water, right?

And the end of the age just seems so far,

so distant that functionally,

it seems just as irrelevant to you

as to those here who aren't even sure they believe in God.

Well, I'm sorry, I don't have time

to give a comprehensive argument

about why you should believe in the end of the age,

but what I will say is that if we try to live

as if there is no grand story,

if we try to live as if there is no meta-narrative,

no rightful ending,

no one in control of the beginning or the middle

or the end of the story,

we will never live with a kind of confident hope,

comforting peace, and convicted purpose

that we all long to live with.

See, underlying the entire Christian faith

is the conviction that we are living in God's story,

a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end,

a good creation, a world gone wrong,

and God's redemptive action to judge the world

and yet at the same time save it

and transfigure it into something glorious and imperishable.

But without a grand narrative like the Christian narrative,

if we don't have a good beginning,

and if we're confused or divided

about how to understand the messy middle

that we all find ourselves in,

and if we don't know the end

or if there even is an end,

and whether or not it bends toward justice

like Dr. King used to preach

from his own Christian convictions,

then it's gonna be hard to live this life

with hope for the future,

peace in the present,

and convictions about the way

things were always meant to be

from the beginning.

So what I hope to show you from this passage

is more than just the details

about the end of the ages

that the Bible interpreters

disagree with each other about.

What I hope to show you

and what is clear from this passage

is that it's only when we entrust ourselves

to the end of God's story

that we'll ever live with confident hope,

comforting, peace,

and convicted purpose.

It's only when we entrust ourselves

to the end of God's story

that we'll ever live with confident hope,

comforting, peace,

and convicted purpose.

I think that's what Jesus most importantly

was trying to get across

to his disciples

who were asking him

about the destruction of the temple

and the end of the world,

and I think that's what he wants

for us this morning too.

Now notice how I phrased this

kind of main point that I just spoke.

I didn't say when we know the details

of the end of God's story.

I said when we entrust ourselves

to the end of God's story.

And that's absolutely key

to understanding this most important thrust

in Mark chapter 13.

Mark 13 · chapter mention

Rather than focusing on all the details

and the events that Jesus speaks about

and rather than trying to predict

the future and the exact time

when the end will come,

which Jesus says in verse 32,

even he doesn't know,

a better way to read and understand

Mark chapter 13

Mark 13 · chapter mention

is by focusing on Jesus' clear

and direct commands and promises, I think.

To focus on the when, I think,

is not the point

or not the main point.

And in fact, it shows that

we are totally missing the heart

and the mind

and the person of Jesus.

I want you to notice something here.

So this isn't the first time, right,

that Jesus has prophesied

about the future to his disciples.

He's prophesied many times.

We've seen him many times

constantly foretelling them

of his suffering, right,

and of his death.

And yet this is the first time

when they're actually curious enough

to ask him when.

When this prophecy would be fulfilled,

when it would happen.

Not when it's about his destruction,

but when it's about

their beloved temple's destruction.

And this should show us

not only how much Jesus' disciples

were totally missing the point

and how far their hearts were from him,

but it's a mirror for us, too,

to consider the ways

that we might be missing the point

and ultimately missing Jesus.

This is an opportunity

to consider the areas

where our hearts

might be less concerned about Jesus

and more concerned about things

like the temple

that won't last.

What are the things

that we think

are more important

than they actually are

to Jesus?

Notice also how the disciples ask,

they ask when,

but they don't ask why,

or how do you want us

to live and respond?

They were more concerned

with the bare facts

and the circumstances

around them

than God's purposes around them.

More concerned with factual knowing

than with faithful living.

And the application question for us is,

do we also care more

about our circumstances

than God's purpose for our lives?

Are we more concerned

with predicting the future

and setting ourselves up

for favorable circumstances

than we are

with a personal relationship with God

and living into his purposes?

The disciples totally missed the point.

And we will too

if we only see Jesus' response

as an answer to their

when will this happen question.

Jesus isn't interested

in just simply answering

their question

and puffing them up

with knowledge

about the details

of their future circumstances.

No, he is far more interested

as we will see

in how they will live faithfully

into and toward the future

as his disciples

even without knowing

the exact timing of the end.

I love how this commentator,

he was formerly the president

at Baylor,

David Garland,

he puts it this way

in his commentary

on this passage.

He says,

Mark's message

is more subtle

than to give us events

to enter onto our

end of time charts.

The message is simply this.

God's way,

God's Christ,

and God's people

will be vindicated

in a conclusive manner

that all will recognize.

That time is not yet.

The disciple is not called

to eliminate his ignorance

of the timing of the end.

He is called to cope with it

and respond to it appropriately.

The question the text addresses

is how does one live

in difficult times?

The end times drama

will run its course

scene by scene,

but the actors on the stage

have only vague clues

about where they are

precisely in the play.

Only the stage director knows.

He has given the actors

instructions about what to do

and what to say

when they see certain things happen,

but that is it.

They know how the play ends,

but they do not know

when the curtain will fall.

And I would add,

they don't need to know.

They don't need to know

when the curtain will fall.

They need to know

the father,

the play director.

Now, I don't have that much time left,

but I do want to draw your attention

to what I believe

were the most important things

Jesus wanted to get across

to his disciples,

far more important

than accurately timing

and predicting the future.

I want to draw your attention

to three commands

and a promise.

Three commands and a promise.

So first, notice the first thing

Jesus says in verse five.

He actually doesn't direct,

he doesn't directly answer

their question,

their when will this happen question,

but he gives them a command instead.

They ask him,

when's this going to happen?

And what does he say?

He says,

watch out

that no one deceives you.

Many will come in my name

claiming I am he

and will deceive many.

Jesus' first response

is not to answer their question

and tell them

when these things will happen,

like when the temple

will be destroyed

and when he will return

at the end of the age,

but his main concern

is that they watch out,

hold steadfast to him

and not be deceived

by fake Messiah figures

who will claim to solve

all the world's problems

if people would just trust

and hope in them.

And this isn't just because

he wants them to just know

the right things,

know the right facts

from the wrong ones,

but it's because he wants them

to know him.

He wants them to trust him.

The more important thing to Jesus

is his relationship

with his disciples.

That they don't fall away

after false messiahs

who do not love them

and cannot save them,

no matter how powerful,

no matter how charming,

beautiful, impressive,

and promising,

they seem to be

just like Herod's

shiny temple was.

They too will fall.

They too will crumble.

So that's the first command.

Watch out

and do not be deceived.

It's a command

to hold fast to Jesus

and not go after false messiahs.

It's relevant to them.

It's relevant to us.

Another command Jesus gives

is a word of preparation

and peace in verse 7.

Do not be alarmed.

Notice even when Jesus

begins to approach

this topic of when

in verse 7,

when you hear of wars

and rumors of wars,

do not be alarmed.

Such things must happen,

but the end is still to come.

Notice he's not saying

certain wars.

Look out for this special war

in Iran,

in Iraq,

in Palestine.

That's going to be the one

that's going to finally signal

the end to come.

He's just saying that wars

will definitely come.

There will be wars

on the way toward the end

and they shouldn't alarm us

or turn us into

alarmist future predictors.

They simply will happen,

but he says,

they're not the end.

The end, he says,

is still to come.

It's still to come,

verse 7.

Verse 8,

nation will rise against nation

and kingdom against kingdom.

There will be earthquakes

in various places

and famines,

but Jesus says,

these are just the beginning

of birth pains.

Meaning,

meaning that yes,

these indicate that

we are in the last days,

but these are just

the beginning

of the last days

and signs at the end

will eventually come,

even though

we don't know

the exact time.

We can't know.

Just as a mother

having her initial contractions

knows the baby is coming

and even soon,

but does not know

the exact time

and hour

that the baby will come,

whether in half an hour,

or in 24 hours,

he's telling them

what to expect

and reminding them

that none of these hard things

is the end of the world.

Do not be alarmed,

but in fact,

these things,

these hard things

are the very way

of Jesus himself.

More than predicting,

more important

than predicting the future,

what he's doing

is he's preparing them

for a life

of faithfully following

in his footsteps.

Notice all these details.

Verse 6,

deceivers,

false teachers,

verse 7,

wars,

rumors of wars,

verse 8,

national and kingdom hostilities,

earthquakes,

famines,

verse 9,

disciples handed over

to local councils,

flogged in synagogues,

standing before governors

and kings,

verse 11,

arrested and put on trial,

verse 12,

families divided,

verse 13,

hatred from the world.

These are all things

that in many ways

could very much describe

Jesus' human experience,

can't they?

So when he says,

do not be alarmed,

he's telling them

that yes,

hard times will come,

but you don't need

to be alarmed.

No,

you're simply following

in the way of your Lord,

a road that involves suffering,

but that ends in glories.

He's telling them

that their stories

are being written

exactly how Jesus' story

was written,

and that that's an honor

and a privilege,

and that is exactly

how God intended

to write their stories

with a guarantee

of a better ending

to come.

Do not be alarmed,

he commands them.

The last command

I want to draw

your attention to

is toward the end

of the passage

in verse 32.

It's in verses 32 to 37.

It's a couple commands,

but I want to clump them together.

Be on guard,

he says.

Be alert,

he says.

Stay awake,

keep watch,

Jesus says.

And he gives this illustration

of servants not knowing

when their master

will come home.

Now I know that this

can sound pretty scary,

like a terrible way

to end this teaching,

right?

And when we read this,

you know,

I think a lot of us

can think,

like, wait,

do I have to be perfect

all the time

with every second

of my existence?

Am I supposed to live

with a kind of anxiety

like Jesus could return

at any second

and be like,

boo,

I caught you.

I caught you

not being faithful.

Is this saying

that I better stay awake

and be on edge

all the time?

Even be afraid

of Jesus' return?

You know,

for most of my life,

that's how I read

this passage.

And I said,

how is this good news?

When I gave some deeper thought

to this illustration

that Jesus gives,

I began to wonder

if it was actually

less about being on edge

and fearful

of the master

who could arrive

at any moment

and more about understanding,

appreciating,

believing in,

and taking pride

in the good job

and role

that I've been

graciously assigned

by my all-wise,

all-loving master,

a master who I definitely

want to be serving

in the first place.

Like, think of it that way.

Jesus is not saying,

be on edge

because you never know

when I might peekaboo.

No.

He's saying,

be vigilant.

Stay on task.

Do not grow weary

in doing good.

Do not grow weary

or lazy

or do not get distracted

from the good mission

and purpose

that God has called you to,

even if you don't know

how long you'll be

on this mission.

Even if you don't know

when the curtain's

gonna fall,

play your role,

play your part

and enjoy it.

Jesus is calling us

to keep living

in light of the end,

to stay awake,

to have our eyes open

and attentive

to his story

and how it ends.

Even when we don't know

the time,

the end will come.

Those are the three commands.

Now let's end

with this last,

with the promise,

right?

Because I'm probably

over time

but know this,

Jesus doesn't just

give us commands,

he gives us promises.

He gives us promises

to sustain and inspire

our obedience

to his commands

and if I had time,

I'd give you like

three more,

like verse 13,

the promise that

those who stand firm

will be saved

no matter what

they go through,

salvation's coming

for those who stand firm

in Christ

or verse 26,

the promise that

regardless of how we

interpret the events

discussed here,

the Son of Man

will come in glory

and power.

That's something

everyone agrees upon.

There's a glorious end

to the story

and Jesus wins

or this other promise

in verse 31,

heaven and earth

will pass away

but Jesus' words

will never pass away

that all that Jesus

has ever said

is true

or will come true

and we can bet

our lives on it

with even more confidence

than we have

that the sun

will rise tomorrow

or that the earth

will continue

to spin in orbit.

I'd love to say more

about all these promises

but I want to pick

one in particular,

the promise in verse 10,

the promise that

the gospel

must first be preached

to all nations

and I want to get

your attention

on this promise

because I think

it illustrates the point

that I'm making

all along

in this chapter of Mark

that we miss out

on so much

if we read Mark 13

as just a puzzle

to try to figure out

the details

and the timing

of the last days.

You know,

for so many years

reading the Bible,

I always just read

verse 10

as a mere sign,

as a mere marker

of when the world

would end,

of when the end

would come

and I've seen

so many like missionaries

and mission agencies

base their whole strategy

off of this, right?

Try to reach this nation

and that nation

so Jesus can finally

come back, right?

But revisiting this text

this week

opened my eyes

to the better emphasis

that I think

that Jesus had

on his heart.

See, verse 10

isn't simply a marker

in time for us

to look at our maps

and say,

okay, how many more

people groups

does the gospel

need to go to

and how long

will that take

so we can predict

the day when Jesus

will come back?

No.

Verse 10

is Jesus' promise

that no matter

what tribulation

may come

that his disciples

will always have

good news

to hope in

and to share

with the world

because his good news

will never fail

to be good news

worth believing in

and living by

and sharing.

And so verse 10

is Jesus' insistence

to his disciples

in these last days

that the most important

thing

is the preaching

of the gospel,

the preaching

of the good news

about Jesus.

It's a promise

that his disciples

filled and empowered

by the Holy Spirit

will not fail this task

but will be incredibly successful

even in spite

of tribulation.

He was saying

just as certainly

as the world

will seem like

it's falling apart

and just as surely

as you will be arrested

and flogged

and hated

just like me,

just as surely

Jesus says

will the good news

still find its way

to the world

from Jerusalem

to Samaria

to the ends

of the earth

all throughout

the Roman Empire

and beyond.

And just like

the suffering

of the cross

could not hold me

down in the grave

nothing,

nothing

is going to be able

to sour

or stop

the good news

about me

and my kingdom.

And that is his promise

to the church.

This was to be

the disciples'

heartbeat

after Jesus'

resurrection

and ascension

into heaven

and this is to be

our heartbeat

as well,

Christ's church

as we await

Jesus' return

in the last days

of history.

No matter

how many millennia

these last days

will last,

no matter what

kinds of difficulties

we face,

no matter who wins

the 2024 elections,

it's not the end

of the world

until Jesus says so

and we will always

have good news

because while kingdoms

may rise and fall

and even the greatest

temples in the world

and even while the Messiah

himself might be slain,

he is risen

and he is returning

and this is good news

for us,

it's good news

for the nations,

the good news

that the greater temple

who was torn down

yet raised

in three days

to pay for our sins

and bring resurrection life

into this world,

this is the gospel,

the gospel of Jesus

and this gospel of Jesus

is the only possible source

of confident hope,

comforting peace

and convicted purpose.

So Christchurch,

is that what we're

going to be about?

Proclaiming the gospel

to all the nations,

is it a must to us

as it was for Jesus

and for his disciples?

The gospel must first

be preached

to all the nations

because if it's true,

how could it not be?

How could it not be

a must to us?

Christ has died,

Christ has risen

and Christ will come again.

Let's pray.

Lord, I thank you

for my brothers and sisters

in this room

who endured

a longer sermon

than normal

but I pray

that they will come away

with that confident hope,

that comforting peace

and that convicted purpose

that you desire

for all those

who would entrust themselves

to your story

as the perfect story writer

who's shown us

the way in Jesus.

In his name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.