Mark 13:1-8

Jesus is the embodiment of the world as we know it being turned upside down. This is evident by the very first thing we hear Him say in v. 2 of this text “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” Jesus by His very presence there in the temple was an act of prevenient grace, the kind that cautions us to repent. His very feet on the temple floor began the vibrations that would later bring down the walls (just as later His last breath will cause Jerusalem to shake and the curtain to tear).

This passage will make your head spin. Hands down this is about as dismal as Jesus seems to get in the gospel. Just when you think you’ve got a hold on things, on Jesus’ teachings, on where this whole kingdom of God thing is going, then you get this periscope of despair. All I can think of when reading this is about my grandparents and the TV preachers who so often filled their living rooms. So much of the theology packaged there is this ominous final countdown theology. It is a belief that the eschaton is something to be feared rather than welcomed. I mean how many times have we heard said to us, “The world is just getting worse and worse!” If you just sit down and read Mark 13 though, interpreting the rest of the Gospel through the lens of these few verses here (rather than the other way around) you may be riding the doomsday bandwagon yourself!

We wonder, “Jesus why can’t we talk about all the good things that are happening before the end instead?”

Generally in the gospels when we catch someone asking Jesus about a sign He seems a little perturbed and says something like, “The only sign you’ll receive is the sign of Jonah!”[1] In other words, “life, death, and resurrection,” in other words “the Pascal mystery,” in other words the sign you’ll receive is “My life.” When we want a sign we are hungry for something to give us the bottom truth of it all. When we want a sign we want to know what is really real. Here Jesus’ disciples ask for a sign not about a “Who” this time, but about a “When.” Here outside the temple in words that are eerily familiar to those who know the Prophets well, it’s almost as if Jesus says, “you want to know what some ‘signs’ will be of this temple crumbling kingdom finale? Well ok, here goes.” Jesus is saying this world will continue to be at odds and in rebellion against the reality of the coming of the kingdom of God. He says that many will come pretending to be the Messiah and if you hear of wars, it’s not a big deal because this must take place. Isn’t that interesting that all this war and chaos must happen? According to Jesus there’s going to be tension and lots of it. There is going to be a great abrasion between nations, in synagogues, and even in families… the Earth itself will quake. “But if you endure to the end,” Jesus says, “you will be saved.”[2]

So what’s going on? The future of God’s people in the world will still involve tension, struggle, temptation, suffering, and crosses. Are we really surprised? Again, Jesus gives us a sign, death before new life. This entire text seems to be summed up as Jesus names this “birth pangs.” In other words, all these things, all this abrasion, are all contractions because something is being born! Something is coming! There is a great arriving and coming kingdom!

In fact, I can’t help but notice the echoes that reverberate into other parts of the New Testament such as Romans 8. Paul writes,

18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; 23 and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.[3]

These themes of the suffering of creation, birth, eschatological hope, and intercession of the Spirit in Mark 13 continue in the story of God’s people because these are in fact the signs themselves. That behind everything that is and is to come are the rhythms of the Universe. The life, death, and rebirth. Yes, the Kingdom of God comes further everyday, but Jesus says, “be on the look out,” for the kingdom of God comes very different than the kingdom and powers of this world. The ego of this world will not give up without a fight and the coming kingdom of God will not be fully birthed without struggle.

Come, Lord Jesus.

[1] Matthew 16:4. [2] Mark 13:13 (NRSV). [3] Romans 8:18-25 (NRSV)