An Interpretation of Mark, chapter 13
Rev. Dwight A Moody, PhD
The Gospel of Mark contains a summary of what is often called Jesus’ Prophetic Sermon (or Jesus’ Eschatological Sermon). A similar text is found in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24. Both of these texts contain material that has been extraordinarily influential in the history of Christian thought and practice.
It is important to recognize that any interpretative scheme, such as the one I am describing here, has strengths and weaknesses. Each answers some questions but raises others. No way of understanding these texts erases all the difficulties inherent in reading and embracing the teaching of a Jewish rabbi (Jesus) as it was recorded and disseminated by his followers almost 2000 years ago (and as it has been embedded into Christianity culture and teaching).
That being said, I read this “sermon” as divided into four parts, followed by several parables. Here is the outline.
Part One: the Questions 13:1-4
Jesus and his disciples are on Temple Mount, the massive and impressive structure built by Herod the Great and housing the Temple, which is the prime site and center of Jewish religion. A visit to Jerusalem today will include a walk along these ancient walls (as they have been excavated by archeologists); it is still quite impressive.
Jesus responds to the admiring comments of his disciples by speaking words of judgment and destruction upon Jerusalem and its Jewish community and culture. “Not one stone will be left upon another.” This sort of prophetic word of judgment against Jerusalem is an old and established tradition with the Hebrew prophets. They were not averse to surveying the moral and political failure of Israel and announcing the judgment of God that would result in death and destruction.
Later, the disciples asked Jesus to say more about this: “When will this happen?”
Part Two: the Way Things Always Are 13:5-8
Jesus begins by warning his disciples not to be misled by people and prophets who are predicting the end of things (the world, the age, the city, etc.). He says, in effect, that all these disasters–wars, rebellions, earthquakes, famines, and such–are not “signs of the end” but rather the natural order of things, from the beginning of creation and history. Many people will be misled, he says, by “prophets” warning of the end of the age; but Jesus contends it is not the end of anything but the beginning “with more to come.”
Our proper response is to be prepared for trial and tribulation, to organize to help one another endure the normal hardships of life, and to trust God’s protection and provision during these seasons of distress.
Part Three: What’s Coming Upon Jerusalem 13:9-23
Jesus then turns to the destructive future awaiting Jerusalem and her citizens. Jesus is responding to what he sees and hears around him: the oppression of the Romans, the discontent of the Jews, the rumblings of rebellion, and the resistance of the Jews to the preaching of Jesus and the prophets. In other words, Jesus discerns where all of this social ferment is headed: open rebellion against Roman occupation and domination.
The major portion of Jesus’ Prophetic Sermon is therefore focused on this Jewish rebellion, what came to be known as the Jewish War of 66-70 C.E. In other words, what Jesus predicted actually happened: open rebellion broke out and the Roman legions under the command of Vespasian (who later became emperor), and later, his son Titus came to conquer, destroy, and subjugate. After subduing the northern territory, Galilee, and then the hill country and Jerusalem, the Romans moved to take the wilderness fortress at Masada in the year 70 C.E.
This is what Jesus predicted, and this is what happened, and this is why Jesus advised his disciples to disengage and flee the city of Jerusalem. “Don’t even go home to grab a coat,” Jesus urged his people. The Jews could not resist the power of the Roman Empire, and Jesus knew that.
This section concludes with this stark warning: “If anybody tells you, ‘Look, it is the Messiah!’ don’t believe it!” In other words, the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century was the fulfillment of the warning of Jesus but it was not a sign of the end of anything (except the freedom of the Jewish people).
Part Four: After the Destruction of Jerusalem 13:24-27
Following the section on the judgment on Jerusalem, the language changes: “the sun will be darkened, the moon will give no light, the stars will fall from the sky, the powers of heaven will be shaken.” This is what is known as apocalyptic language. It uses poetry, and imagination, and unworldly images to convey the uncertainty of the distant future. Jesus foresaw the defeat of his nation, but he was unclear about what came after that. He imagines a world that cannot be described in ordinary language and images. In this way, he was consistent with the entire tradition of Hebrew prophecy: After judgment, God will act to redeem but we don’t know when and how that will happen.
In this context of mystery, Jesus sees the “return of the son of man.” The angels, he says, will “gather the chosen ones from all over the world.” The appearance of the son of man, whoever that is, is also part of the prophetic tradition of Israel. In this case, however, it fueled the belief among Jesus’ disciples that Jesus himself would soon return (after his death, resurrection, and ascension). The belief in the soon return of Jesus (within their lifetimes) is woven into much of the early Christian documents included in the New Testament. The failure of that return constituted a major theological and spiritual crisis, as you might imagine; and different groups, authors, and communities have handled that “failure” in different ways. Scholars often refer to this “failure” as the Delay of the Parousia (using the Greek word for “appearing”).
Addendum: Matthew 24
Here I want to direct your attention to Matthew chapter 24 (Matthew’s version of this Prophetic Sermon), where it is written, “When the Son of Man returns, it will be like it was in the days of Noah. Two men will be working together in the fields; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding flour at the mill; one will be taken, the other left.”
This passage of one taken away, one left behind has served as foundation for what is known as the Rapture, which is the idea that suddenly, without warning, some people will be snatched away. One set of believers has woven this into a whole cloth of end-of-the-world fantasy. In their interpretation, Jesus will appear to “take away” (or rapture) the true believers and leave behind those who are lost. This has given rise to a very popular and influential doctrine of end times.
I reject this idea and doctrine completely. I will point out here only this: in “the days of Noah,” those taken away were the wicked not the saved! This is the image of the great flood. After the flood, those left behind were Noah and his family; everybody else was gone. It was the righteous who were left behind to live and marry and work and die. This is the very opposite of the popular Rapture idea so common among some Christians.
Finally … Matthew 25
Matthew, like Mark, concludes Jesus’ Prophetic Sermon (a warning about the judgment coming upon Jerusalem and her people) with a series of stories focused on how, given this warning, we are to live today. Living today is and was the focus of Jesus: not speculation about the future but discipline and virtue today. It is in this context that Jesus tells the story of the great judgment day, Matthew 25: 31-46. God the judge will separate the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the wicked. The righteous are those who fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, healed the sick, visited the prisoner, and distributed cups of water to the thirsty. In other words, we are to focus on these six things today, now, this moment, with those in need around us.
Jesus’ Prophetic Sermon warns his contemporaries of the coming destruction upon Jerusalem and then urges the people to attend to the human and social needs around them. In this way, we are to live out the Beatitudes described in the Sermon on the Mount and we are to fulfill the announcement of Jesus when, in his inaugural sermon (Luke chapter 4), Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me … to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, and freedom to the oppressed. The time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
