Opening Question
If you could know your whole future, would you do so?

Introduction
The future always captures our imagination. We worry about our own future and legacy, about our world and its sustainability, about our family and friends, and even about objects like our houses or collectibles. When asked about the future, Jesus tells His disciples the most significant aspects of religious history ahead of them, and the lessons that come from it. Mark 13 parallels Matthew 24-25 in some significant ways.

Mark 13:1-8
Shocked by Jesus’ prophecy that the temple would be dismantled, Peter, Jacob (Greek name usually translated into English as James in honor of King James, a tradition continued to this day) and John ask Jesus to tell them two things: When will this happen? And What will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled? These are two separate questions, but Jesus intermixes His answer; for those seeking exact timing and precise signs, we are left with more questions than answers. Yet Jesus gives clues in the world around them in verses 5-8:

• False Messiahs deceiving people
• Wars
• Earthquakes
• Famines

These are said to be the beginning of “birth pangs.”

Why would Jesus compare these world events to birth pangs? How are a pregnant woman’s contractions and birthing similar to these signs?

Mark 13:9-13
The signs continue, but now focus on the disciple’s mission and the world’s reaction to the gospel proclamation. They could expect mistreatment, floggings, and yet opportunities to testify about Jesus. Even families would be torn apart by the gospel with close relations being those willing to kill.

Is it possible to follow Jesus fully and still please all people? What evidence might I have that I love my family more than God? How can I remain faithful to God if the world turns against me?

Mark 13:14-20
The abomination of desolation referred to in Daniel is now Jesus’ focus. For Jesus, this
event was still future. In Luke’s gospel, the parallel is with the armies of Rome surrounding Jerusalem. In Mark, while also being “Judea-focused,” it also links to a time of distress unequaled in the world, days that were cut short by God in His mercy, or no life would be saved. The unqualified superlatives used in vs. 19 suggest this to be the worst time of tribulation in history, and will not be surpassed in the future. But is this about the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple’s fall? Or is it something else? Adventists have typically said “those days” of verse 19 were the dark ages of church apostasy, but Mark uses the words “those days” in vs. 17 referring to the disciple’s time.

Would it have been encouraging or discouraging to the disciples to know that their future included the worst possible trouble in history? How can/should they respond to this information? What lessons are their for us in the days ahead, days that may be filled with difficulty?

Mark 13:21-31
False Messiahs are mentioned again here, just before the actual sign(s) of Jesus’ return. This suggests that the arrival of the Messiah is always countered and impersonated by the evil one.

How can Jesus’ followers be safe from deception? What safeguards do we have assurance will protect us from being misled?

The actual sign of Jesus’ return is given in vs. 24-27. The signs in the sun, moon, and stars is an allusion to the Day of the Lord passages from the Old Testament, but verse 26 mentioning the coming of the son of man on the clouds appears to be from Daniel 7. There is only one sign that really points to Jesus’ return, and that is his arrival. The gathering of God’s people together with Christ has been the hope of all true disciples since the first advent!

If we cannot use the signs around us to be confident of the exact timing of Jesus’ return, then two questions become obvious: 1) what is the purpose of the signs Jesus’ gives? 2) how should we live while waiting for Christ’s return?

Mark 13:32-37
In many ways, vss. 32-37 answer the previous question, “how shall we live”? We should stay alert, always ready, because as vs. 33 reminds us, we do know when the appointed time will come.

The quarterly offers a couple ideas of how to interpret “this generation,” but another way to understand “this generation” is to see how Jesus uses the term “generation” in other places. When speaking about those looking for a sign as proof for faith, Jesus says “a wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign.” That has always been the case. Likewise, Jesus says in Matthew 23 that all the guilt of bloodshed would come on “this generation” that rejected Jesus, but must extend beyond the Pharisees and Scribes rebuked in that chapter. “This generation” more likely means a line or lineage of people. The Jews had become a generation of Satan rather than the line of Abraham.

What must we do to be part of “this generation” who sees these things take place, a generation that waits with expectation for Jesus’ return rather than with mocking or apathy?

Closing Comments
Mark 13 offers hope for us that Jesus will come again, but most of the chapter is less-than-rosy. Just as birth pains come on a pregnant woman, so will be the coming of Jesus. The great news is that a baby will be born! The new kingdom will arrive, and all things will be new. The travails of labor give way to the miraculous gift of new life!