Mark 14:1-9 – Extreme love in the midst of hate

The Jewish leaders’ animosity and hostility against the Lord was reaching a climax. They were aware that they had to seize Him soon if they were to avoid a riot. For Jerusalem was filled with people during this Passover season. It is said that people from the surrounding villages and various parts of the region would gather there to celebrate the Passover, and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The attendance could be as many as three million people. They sensed the urgency as there was only two days left before the celebration would begin, and they must act as soon as the opportunity arose. The reason for their activities was because of their sense of threat to their position. Why was Jesus a threat to them? Because how He lived and what He taught was an affront to their system. Jesus’ teachings revealed their hypocrisy and showed them as charlatans whose interest were merely themselves. Mark tells us that their whole plan was carried out like a clandestine operation. It was done stealthily and in secret. They wanted to seize and kill Him.

However, at another place the mood and purpose was different. We are quickly brought to the home of Simon the leper in Bethany. Jesus was invited to a meal in his house. While they were having the meal, a woman brought her alabaster vial of costly perfume and broke it over Jesus’ head. This act was an indication of her extreme love for Jesus. It was obvious that she didn’t care who was looking at her. She was so consumed by her love for Jesus that she must express it all. So she just bee-lined for Him and poured the vial of costly perfume on His head. Perhaps she thought that others would do the same if they loved the Lord. But alas it was not to be! For some of those present were saying indignantly to each other, “Why has this perfume been wasted?” They felt that it could be sold and the proceeds of the sales could then be given to the poor. The amount calculated in today’s term would be around $30,000.  And they harshly rebuked her.  

The Lord then came to her defense. He saw beyond her act her love for Him. Who would have given up her whole life’s savings if there’s no love? She had placed Him above anyone and anything. There are so much that could be said of her action. She must have heard Jesus’ teaching and knew what would soon be coming. So she came in advance to embalm the Lord before His death and burial. What a passionate way to express love! Isn’t it always better to show love when a person is alive than when he is gone? So the Lord praised her and said that her act would be enacted whenever the Gospel is preached. How so? What she did was exactly what our God had done. She gave her best, so God also gave His best. “God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son….” What she did was also what Christ had done. He gave His life for us. Her action also signifies God’s gift of the Holy Spirit poured out on us.

Her story is a picture to show us what must take place when a life is touched by the Gospel. She gave her best in return to God. What do we value most in our lives? If we have been truly touched by the Lord and His Gospel, nothing is too big to give up for Him. Nothing is too costly to give to Him. 

Mark 13:33-37 – Be watchful and faithful

Rounding up Mark 13, we see the Lord’s call to be both watchful and faithful. He had said that no one knows the timing of His return. Yet many people today are engaged in speculating when He will return. This is exactly what the Lord does not want us to do. The purpose of telling us that His return is a closely guarded secret is to keep us alert and anticipating. Notice that in these five verses this word “alert” is used four times: verses 33, 34, 35 and 37. The “alert” in verse 33 is a call to be discerning and aware. The next three times the word “alert” has a different meaning. It carries the meaning of being watchful and yet at the same time being faithful.

Verse 33 says, “Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come.” He was calling on believers to be discerning and be aware of what’s going on. And having made the call, He proceeded to tell a story to remind His disciples and us, to exercise faithful discipleship while waiting for His coming.

The story tells of a master who would be going for a long journey. Prior to his journey he summoned his servants and put them in charge of various tasks. He specially told the doorkeeper to stay on the alert for the master could return anytime.  The doorkeeper was expected to be at his post, alert, awake and guarding. He could be susceptible to tiredness or to the enemies’ attack. He might even be lured by temptation and found deserting his post. Or He might even desert his post because of disloyalty in times of danger and crisis, and switch allegiance.

Notice the Lord developed his story around the four watches of the Roman night: evening – 6 to 9 pm; midnight – 9 pm to 12 midnight; rooster crows - midnight to 3 am; and morning - 3 to 6 am. We will see that the events that would happen soon happened around these watches. In the evening at the upper room; at midnight in Gethsemane; rooster crows in the home of the high priest; and morning before Pilate. It also appears as if the Lord was also hinting to the disciples what they would be doing - the betrayal of Judas; the inner circle sleeping in prayer at Gethsemane; the denial of Peter; the desertion after the Lord’s arrest, and etc.  

The call of the Lord to them and us is to stay alert, be discerning and be faithful. There will be situations that we will encounter in life that may distract us and cause us to compromise, while awaiting for His return. We must be careful not to be lured into thinking that it’s still a long way before He will come back, and start to engage in activities that will made us lose our focus, and become unfaithful in our service and walk with Him.       

O for a closer walk with God, a calm and heavenly frame,
A light to shine upon the road, that leads me to the Lamb!

Mark 13:28-32 – Lessons from the fig tree

In these verses, the Lord used the fig tree to illustrate some very needful lessons for the disciples. Like them, we need to have our ears perked up to pick up the spiritual lessons from the parable of the fig tree. What exactly can we learn from the fig tree?

Firstly, the fig tree indicates the changing of a season. When a physical fig tree is budding, its branches will become tender and the leaves begin to show. Looking at that one can sure that summer is coming. From natural observation Jesus said, we know the season. During springtime when a tree begins to gain leaves, one will know that after spring would come summer. Here’s a lesson we can derive from, that is: God is faithful. The promises He had already fulfilled assure us that He will fulfill all other promises that He had made.  

Secondly, the parable of the fig tree was the Lord’s call to His disciples to be discerning, to look beyond just the natural. He had just recently pronounced a curse on a luxuriant fig tree full of leaves but bearing no fruit. It stood for Israel, the temple and all those in-charge of it. Israel would pay dearly for her fruitlessness. It was about to be destroyed. But soon another fig tree would be cultivated and growing. It would be the community of believers in Christ, called the church. It would usher in a new season of fruit-bearing. The temple of this new community would be raised by the Spirit and not made with human hands. The demise of the first temple is not the end of God’s work, it’s an indication of a new direction God was taking. The Lord expects us, His new community to be fruit-bearing. He is working out His divine purpose through the church. When we know who we are in Christ and who we are serving, the church should be the greatest force on earth.

In verses 30-32, the Lord very quickly turned to make a solemn statement. He said, “This generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word will not pass away. But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, not the Son, but the Father alone.”  

These few verses had given us some difficulties but we are not called to speculate. What Jesus was saying to them was this: whatever God had scheduled to happen within that generation would happen and it did. Events such as the desecration and destruction of the temple actually took place as Jesus had predicted. But He clearly made known to them that not a single person knew when His return would be. The timing of His return, He said, was a closely guarded secret that the Father alone knows. However, as everyone waits for His coming, each one should reckon every minute with anticipation that He can come anytime. This will keep them staying alert and on their toes.

Isn’t this how we should also conduct our lives? We must reckon every minute as if the Lord can come anytime. But when we serve Him, we must serve faithfully and work diligently as if it would take a long while more before He will come. This will help us to stay alert to His coming and stay committed and faithful in service.           

Mark 13:24-27 – Lo! He comes…

In Mark 13:24-27, the Lord took the disciples from what would signal the destruction of the temple to the end of the world itself. This section made up of some Old Testament allusions, referring to the coming of the Son of Man, to usher in a new age. Prior to the coming of the Son of Man, the Lord referred to the tribulation, a tough time that would be so terrible that God in His mercy would have to intervene to shorten it for the sake of the elect.

In these verses, using language that they understood, the Lord narrated to the disciples what would happen at His coming. In the ancient world, people believed that the celestial bodies, the sun, moon and stars were controlled by gods or goddesses. The shaking of the heavens and the darkening of the heavenly bodies that gave light suggest that those gods or goddesses are not in control of the luminaries, but God is. He would shake everything in the celestial and cause the sun, moon and stars to eclipse. When that takes place, then earth will be engulfed by darkness. And the Son of Man will come in the clouds with great power and glory. Everything described here is intended to portray the divinity of the Son of Man. The luminaries in heavens, the cloud, power and glory and splendor, all belongs to God. In verse 27 the Son of Man will then send His messengers to gather all of God’s people from every corner of the earth. Everyone will be gathered.  

The destruction of the temple would have discouraged the disciples. It appeared as if God was defeated. The narration of the ultimate triumph of the Son of Man provided the assurance and helped them, and now us, to look beyond existing circumstances. The Son of Man will not come in defeat. He might have come in the first time to be humiliated, but it was all planned. But when He comes again, it would be in great splendor and majesty. And we look forward to it with great expectation and anticipation. How appropriate are the words of Charles Wesley:   

Lo! He comes with clouds descending,

Once for favored sinners slain;

Thousand thousand saints attending,

Swell the triumph of His train:

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

God appears on earth to reign.

Now redemption, long expected,

See in solemn pomp appear;

All His saints, by man rejected

Now shall meet Him in the air:

Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

See the day of God appear!

Yea, Amen! Let all adore Thee

High on Thine eternal throne;

Savior, take the power and glory,

Claim the kingdom for Thine own:

O come quickly! O come quickly! O come quickly!

Everlasting God, come down!

Mark 13:14-23 – Temple destruction and the signs

The Lord Jesus now moved to answer the question that Peter, James, John and Andrew asked, concerning the signs of the destruction of the temple. He told them in Mark 13:14-16 saying, “But when you see the abomination of desolation standing where it should not be (let the reader understand), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one who is on the housetop must not go down, or go in to get anything out of his house; and the one who is in the field must not turn back to get his coat.”

What is the “Abomination of the desolation”? The disciples probably knew what He meant, for Daniel 12:11 had mentioned this. This statement is referring to the coming of a person that would desecrate the temple and put an end to the daily temple sacrifices. So outrageous would be the act that people would desert the temple of God for fear.

In the history of the Jews, a Seleucid ruler, Antiochus Epiphane IV, conquered Jerusalem and attempted to Hellenize the people. He actually set up a statue of Zeus and very likely an image of himself, on the altar of burnt offering. The straw that broke the camel’s back was when he offered a swine on the altar of sacrifice. This precipitated a revolt against him, led by the family of the Maccabees. All these took place some 150 years earlier. And as despicable as Antiochus had been, it was not what the Lord was referring to.

Then again in AD 40 Emperor Caligula tried to install an image of himself in the temple, thinking he was a god. In the midst of all the chaos and commotion, the Zealots managed to occupy the temple around AD 67. They then allowed criminals to access the Holy of holies. These Zealots also committed murders in the temple and even installed a person that knew next to nothing to the priesthood. Great number of people, including Christians, fled from Jerusalem. And then there were also people who saw the persecution under Nero, who claimed to be divine as this “Abomination of desolation.”   

In verses 17-20, Jesus told them to take flight when the “Abomination of desolation” takes place. The Lord seemed to be warning the people, prior to the destruction of the temple, who were in Jerusalem at that time. The fact that they were told to flee and stay away from the catastrophe that was coming, suggests that this message was for the early believers. If it was about the end of the world where would a safe place to run to and hide from the unavoidable catastrophe? But all the description of the horrendous happenings that had taken place served as a prophetic picture warning of a future tribulation.  

All these warnings were for the believers to stay alert. So the Lord told them to pray and assured them that what they would experience would be cut short for the sake of the elect. He again repeated His warning about the claims of false christs and prophets with their intentions to lead the people astray. The Lord’s warning did not fall on deaf ears of the early Church. Many Christians then took Christ’s warning seriously, fled and were preserved to propagate the Gospel. The call for us today is to maintain the same alertness the early believers had. We are to watch and pray and then serve, as we wait for the climatic coming of the Lord!  

   

Mark 13:9 – 13 – Overcoming hardship

Having urged them not be deceived, the Lord now turned His attention to warn His disciples about what would happen to them personally. In verses 9-13, He said to then, “But be on your guard; for they will deliver you to the courts, and you will be flogged in the synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them. The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour; for it is not you who speak, but it is the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”

Earlier the Lord warned them against the proliferation of false teachers and teachings, now He warned them against persecution and personal hardship. The persecution would not come from the religious leadership only but it would also come from the secular authorities. He warned them to anticipate hard times ahead. To the Lord, persecution was not an indication of the end of all things, but an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel.  To Him the Gospel must be preached to all the nations.

The Lord promised believers that the person of the Holy Spirit would be present in each situation to assist them in their witness. Believers are not to be unduly worried about what to say for they will be prompted at the critical moment. Jesus told believers that they would also experience intense hatred even by close family members – one’s own brothers, children and even parents. Some believers, He said, would be put to death. All men would hate believers on account of Jesus. It’s true that when we are radically committed to the claims of the Gospel, we must be prepared to be shunned by people who claimed to love us. When we choose to follow Christ and make a stand for Him, we can expect to be ostracized and even ridiculed. Why? It’s because the values of Christ’s new community are radically different from that of the world. It will show them up. And it’s natural for them to want to eliminate all seeming oppositions.

The Lord then rounded up with a call for believers to stand firm to the very end because they will be rescued. As Christ’s followers, we are to persevere regardless of the hardship. We are called to remain faithful to the very end. There is always the tendency and temptation to quit when the time is tough. We need to learn to place our focus in the Lord during hard times. Where we focus will determine our victory. We will either see the thorns or the roses. Don’t ask “Why must there be thorns among roses?” Instead say, “Praise God that even among thorns there are beautiful roses!”    

Mark 13:3–8 – Be discerning and watchful

In verse 2, the Lord had predicted the destruction of the temple. As magnificent as it might be, He said that not a single stone would remain upon another. Tragically, these words were so true. The Romans conquered Jerusalem under Titus, had ordered that the Temple be preserved. But a soldier set fire that gutted the temple. Titus then ordered that both Jerusalem and the temple be destroyed. Driven by greed, the soldiers literally chiseled every stone apart just to retrieve the melted gold.

When Jesus and the disciples had ascended Mount Olives, they sat opposite the dramatic view of the temple. The inner circle of Jesus – Peter, James, John plus Andrew sought an audience with the Lord. Still astounded by what the Lord had prophesied earlier, they said to the Lord, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign, when all these things are going to be fulfilled.” They wanted to know two things: the time and the sign that would indicate the destruction of the temple. The Lord then proceeded to answer their questions.  While doing that, He also gave instructions to the church about His return. He would not give them any date but told them, and us as well, to remain steadfast and faithful till He comes.  

The first thing the Lord warned believers against was deception. His people must not be deceived. There would be false claims. Many would come claiming to be Christ.  Believers must not be taken in and be misled by them. In other words don’t be deceived by false teachings. When news of war break out don’t be alarmed. There would be wars as well as rumors of wars. Nations would rise against nations and kingdoms against kingdoms.  Then there would be natural disasters such as earthquakes and famines in several places. When all these are seen, they would only be the beginning. It would just be like a pregnant woman’s initial birth pangs.  

During the times after Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension, and the destruction of the temple, there were experiences of earthquakes in several places. There was experience of famine even in Rome itself. It was not the end of all things as yet. And Christ did not return. Today, we are seeing such signs in increasing proportion. The truth is this: with each natural disaster and wars and rumors of wars, there is also an increase in the number of false Christs that purport to have the answers to human crises. The warning to us by the Lord is: do not be deceived by any of these things!

Mankind will continue to sin till the end of time. Our best actions are: be faithful to the Lord; be committed to the His service; and be watchful for His coming; but do not be deceived.