What does it mean to live in expectation of Christ's return? In this profound exploration of Mark 13:28-37, we unpack Jesus' teachings from the Olivet Discourse about spiritual readiness and watchfulness.
Jesus uses the powerful imagery of a master leaving his household in the care of servants to illustrate our responsibility during His absence. Three times He emphasizes the command to "be on the alert," yet simultaneously makes clear that "of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." This tension creates the framework for how believers should live: spiritually vigilant without obsessive speculation about timing.
We tackle the controversial phrase "this generation will not pass away until all these things take place," unpacking the broader meanings of the Greek word "genea" and examining how context shapes our understanding. Rather than supporting skeptics' criticisms or preterists' claims that all prophecy was fulfilled in the first century, this verse actually reinforces Jesus' teaching about the generation that will witness the specific apocalyptic signs He described.
Perhaps most comforting is Jesus' declaration that "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away." In a world of instability, God's Word remains our unchanging foundation. This promise grounds our faith through life's uncertainties and gives us confidence in the reliability of Scripture.
The practical application of this passage challenges us to examine our lives: Are we distracted by end-times speculation, or focused on the Great Commission? Are we maintaining short accounts with God and others, living as if we could meet Jesus today? Whether through His return or our mortality, readiness for that divine encounter should transform how we live now.
Join us as we reason through Scripture to discover what it truly means to stay spiritually awake while waiting for our Master's return. Subscribe to continue exploring God's Word verse by verse.
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May God Bless you!! - Glenn and Steve
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
We're told in the Bible to be watchful, that
Jesus' coming could be soon, butwe don't know.
When he tells us in Mark,chapter 13, in the Olivet
Discourse, to be watchful.
That's what we're going to findout today.
Is what did Jesus teach abouthow we should act while we're
waiting for him to return?
(00:42):
Hi, my name's Glenn.
I'm here with Steve.
While we're waiting for him toreturn?
Hi, my name's Glenn.
I'm here with Steve.
We are Reasoning Through theBible and open your Bibles to
Mark, chapter 13.
We're going to start in verse28.
This is the last part of what'scalled the Olivet Discourse.
Jesus has given some great,profound teachings as he sat on
the Mount of Olives overlookingthe city of Jerusalem.
(01:02):
Steve, can you jump in at verse28 and read down to verse 37?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Now learn the parable from the fig tree when its
branch has already become tenderand puts forth its leaves, you
know that summer is near.
Even so, you too, when you seethese things happening,
recognize that he is near, rightat the door.
Truly, I say to you, thisgeneration will not pass away
(01:28):
until all these things takeplace.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass
away.
But of that day or hour, no oneknows, not even the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but theFather alone.
Take heed, keep on the alert,for you do not know when the
appointed time will come.
(01:49):
It is like a man away on ajourney who, upon leaving his
house and putting his slaves incharge, assigning to each one
his task, also commanded thedoorkeeper to stay on the alert.
Therefore, be on the alert, foryou do not know when the master
of the house is coming, whetherin the evening, at midnight, or
(02:12):
when the rooster crows, or inthe morning, in case he should
come suddenly and find youasleep.
What I say to you, I say to allbe on the alert.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
We have here Jesus giving some very clear warnings.
If we look at verse 28 and 29,he says when you see these
things happening, well, what arethe these things?
Well, these things are the oneshe's just mentioned in the last
half dozen verses.
He's saying when you see allthese cataclysmic things going
(02:44):
on, then you realize that it'svery close.
Well, steve, if we contrastthat with what he said back in
verse 32 when he talked aboutwatch out, there's false Christ
coming.
How should we approach this?
How should we, as Christians inthe church age, look for signs
of the times?
(03:05):
How much can we tell about?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
when Jesus is going to return.
Well, we have specific thingsthat have been told to us
through the prophets and alsotold to us by Jesus here in this
Olivet Discourse.
But he has told us three timeshere in what we just read be
alert, we're to be ready.
But he also tells us but wedon't know specifically when the
hour is going to be or when thetime's going to be.
(03:31):
I think that there are certainthings that we can be aware of.
The main thing that is notedhere to be aware of is when the
abomination of desolationhappens.
I think to me that is apinnacle item when you see that
that's going to be the mid partof this tribulation.
After that we just talked aboutthat in our last session all
(03:54):
these cataclysmic events, all ofthose things that he's
mentioned in there, are going tohappen at the time of the
tribulation.
This specific verse here istalking about that those times
of when those things arehappening.
It's not talking about thingsbefore that.
I think that we should be awareof what's going on in the world
(04:15):
, but I don't think that weshould just hang on every single
happening in the world that'sgoing on and try and cram it
into the time period of whenJesus is going to return.
Keep this in the context ofwhat he's talking about.
This is in context of thetribulation period and the time
(04:36):
that's after that and circlingthose events that are taking
place during that tribulationperiod.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
The human mind has a grand ability to see patterns
and things, even sometimes whenthere's no real pattern.
They're watching the daily newsand trying to see God's hand
and it sometimes is futile.
God's hand may be there, but usseeing it all the time is
sometimes futile.
He says here in verse 32, ofthat day or hour no one knows.
(05:07):
I've heard some teachersfalsely claim well, you can't
know the day or the hour, butyou can know the season.
Well, I submit to you Acts,chapter 1, verse 6 and 7.
There the apostles said well,is it now?
He says you don't know thetimes or the season.
If times mean years and seasonsmean months, he specifically
(05:29):
says you don't know the season.
We don't know the day or thehour, or the year or the month.
We don't know.
And the spirit of what he saysin both these passages is just
be watchful, because we don'tknow when he's going to come.
The whole figurative languagehere, the little short parable
about you know it could come atmidnight, could come when the
rooster crows, could come anytime.
(05:50):
That's our job is to bewatchful, to keep our eyes on
the horizon, because he willcome.
We should not lose heart,because he will come, but we
don't know when.
Therefore, anyone who doespredict when Jesus is going to
return is going to fail.
I think we mentioned a coupleof sessions ago there's a long
list of people that predict ohJesus, right around the corner,
(06:15):
going to be here any minute, anyyear, any month.
Now Some of them even predictdates.
Well, you're not going to hearus do that, because we don't
want to be one more on the longlist of false prophets.
Therefore, every generation,since the early days of the
church, have felt they were inthe last days.
We are told we are in the lastera.
(06:36):
In that sense we're in the lastdays, but when he's going to
come we just don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And again, the context is at the end of the
tribulation.
There he's telling them thatthis generation, we'll get into
that here, in just a second,when they see these things, that
he's going to be at the door.
I believe, glenn, that he'sgiving them this instruction to
be alert and that they're notgoing to know the hour.
I know that some people haveinterpreted that and said, well,
(07:04):
if this is at the end of thetribulation, at seven years, and
people will be able tocalculate, the unbelieving
people aren't going to know,they don't even care.
They don't care today aboutJesus Christ.
They don't even care that hecame the first time.
So I believe that Jesus isreferring specifically to the
unbelieving world.
The unbelieving world is notgoing to know the time or the
(07:27):
event whenever he's going tocome.
But what was the greatcommission that Jesus gave to us
?
To go out and make disciples,teaching them the things that I
have taught you.
I believe that Jesus is givingthis type of a directive to us,
them now, so that they won't bedistracted from that.
(07:47):
That's what we should be.
Our mission is to spread thegospel.
Our mission is to care forfellow Christians and to support
them.
Pray for them, help them, helpthe widow, don't forget about
the orphan.
Love our neighbor as ourselves.
That is what we primarily needto do.
I believe Jesus is saying,really in an indirect way if
(08:11):
you're there, out there, alwaystrying to figure out when I'm
coming, you're at risk ofabandoning what I actually want
you to go and do and just startwatching and looking for
whenever I come.
Now we should do that, he saysbe on the alert, but we should
not abandon the commission thathe's given to us to go and
(08:34):
spread the gospel.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
That's exactly what happened in the first century,
because even before the NewTestament was finished written,
there were people that had quittheir jobs and were going off
waiting for Jesus to return.
Paul wrote in Thessalonians ifthey don't work, they shouldn't
eat.
That we should be about theLord's business.
Look at verse 29.
In there the Greek grammarcould say there that he is near,
(08:58):
as our New American standardssay, or it could say it is near,
as some of the other goodtranslations say.
The Greek grammar could beeither he, jesus, or it, the
kingdom.
Therefore, how do we determinewhich one it says?
Well, we must ask ourselveswhat is the context here and how
(09:18):
would it fit?
The preterist and theamillennialist and the
postmillennialist want to saywell, it is the event of 70 AD,
or it is the judgment, or it isthe kingdom coming.
If we were to take that view,then verse 29 would mean the
kingdom was near immediatelyafter the events of 70 AD.
(09:41):
But that's not the case becausewe know it was there at least
from the day of Pentecost.
Really again, salvation bygrace, through faith, was
throughout time.
There was nothing in salvationthat was true or changed or
closer after 70 AD than it wasfor the 40 years prior, 70 AD.
The kingdom of personalsalvation was just as close on
(10:06):
the day of Pentecost as it wasafter 70 AD or during 70 AD.
There was not any more angelsgathering elect before 70 AD
than after 70 AD.
Therefore, verse 29 is talkingabout the second coming of
Christ.
He is near.
That's why many of thetranslations say that.
Plus, jesus is always in the NewTestament the one spoken of as
(10:31):
being at the door.
The kingdom is never spoken ofas being at the door.
Salvation is never at the door.
Jesus is at the door.
Revelation 3.20,.
Jesus says I stand at the doorand knock.
James 5, verse 7 and 8, twicetalk about the coming of the
Lord.
Then the next verse 5, 9, quotethe judge is standing right at
(10:56):
the door talking about the Lordthat it just got through.
Speaking of John, 10, 9,.
Jesus says I am the door.
Nowhere else in Scripture isthe kingdom being at the door.
Jesus is at the door.
Jesus is at the door.
Therefore, here in mark 13 hewill be at the door.
Steve, six times in thischapter it talks about the
(11:18):
coming of jesus.
What do you think the maintheme is of mark chapter 13?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
I think the theme here, in this part at least, is
that he is coming beyond thealert.
But I do want to point out inverse 33, glenn, that there is
an appointed time.
It says in verse 33, for you donot know when the appointed
time will come.
There is a definite time ofJesus's second coming.
(11:44):
It's not going to be arbitraryand we have enough information
to be able to know certainthings that are going on.
He said in the earlier versesI'm telling you all these things
in advance.
Well, why would he do that?
So that we would know some ofthe things that are going to
happen.
The main gist here in 13 inthis section is he's coming
(12:07):
again beyond the alert.
You don't know the specifictime, but yet there is an
appointed time whenever he isgoing to come again.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Next we have verse 30 .
There's a big question aroundwhat he means when he says this
generation.
He says verse 30, truly, I sayto you, this generation will not
pass away until all thesethings take place.
So, steve, I've seen in recentdays and throughout the years
groups of people some of themare skeptics saying well, see,
(12:37):
he said it would happen thisgeneration.
It didn't.
Therefore, we can dismiss theBible.
Another is the preterists thatsay well, look, it says this
generation.
He means this generation.
So all these things weresymbolically fulfilled in the
first century.
Steve, what does he mean therewhen he says this generation?
What are the range of?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
meanings.
There is a saying in the realestate world that whenever
you're selling something that islocation, location, location,
that means everything to thereal estate property that you're
selling to someone.
Whenever we're interpreting theBible and looking at things, I
think the thing that applies iscontext, context, context.
(13:19):
And what is the context ofwhat's going on when he makes
this statement of thisgeneration?
What's going on when he makesthis statement of this
generation?
He's talking about end timeevents prior to his second
coming at that time of thetribulation, the tribulation
that has never been as great asit has before and never will be
(13:40):
again.
Back in verse 19.
That's the whole context ofwhat he's talking about here.
Is at that time.
The phrase here of thisgeneration, glenn, I think, when
you put it into the context of,is that it's this generation
that is going to see all ofthese events that are happening.
(14:00):
This is the generation that'sgoing to be there and that he's
talking about at this particularpoint in time.
I think you're going to go onto a little bit more detail of
what this generation could be,but to me it's the context of
everything else that he's beentalking about makes it clear If
we look at the word generation.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
It's the Greek word geneo, which is Strong's 1074.
The Greek word has a widerrange of meanings than the
English word generation.
Just right out of the lexiconnot my opinion just again right
out of the Greek lexicons, theword geneo can mean a race of
people, such as a nation.
(14:41):
It can mean all the peopleliving at the same time, which
is the one that we tend to thinkof first.
It can also mean the age of atime period, of when people were
living.
It could also mean a familyhistory, just a history of a
household.
It could mean any group withsimilar qualities the word is
(15:03):
used for, such as all the malesacross time or all the females
across time, anybody with thesame quality to them, regardless
of a time period.
Any group that has the samequalities could be in the same
geneo.
The Greek term has a widerusage than just a Greek.
Also, notice that in thischapter, here this verse and
(15:26):
mark, there's no other timemarkers used in this verse.
No first generation orgeneration to generation.
There's no time marker otherthan this generation.
Then we have to go to the wordthis.
You'd think that this is aclear word, but it actually,
grammatically has more to itthan that.
(15:47):
It's not quite as simple.
And there's again, many peoplehang their entire faith on this
verse here when it says thisgeneration.
I've done some research andI'll give you something that I
got from a Dr Peter Gaiman, whohas researched this quite a bit.
If we go over to John, chapter4, there's a story there of the
(16:08):
woman at the well and Jesus goesto this well and this woman
comes in the middle of the dayand he's having this
conversation with her.
And at one point in theconversation John 4, 13, jesus
says this water.
If people drink this water,they're going to get thirsty
again, but if they give theliving water that I have, they
(16:32):
won't be thirsty again.
And the woman in the next verseverse 14, says well, give me
this water.
Well, which water is shetalking about?
Because he just got throughtalking about two waters.
He mentioned this water, whichwas the water in the well they
were sitting next to, and theliving water.
And she says give me this water.
(16:54):
Well, if we were to just lookat the pure grammar then we
would say oh, he's talking aboutthe well, because he just got
through saying this water wasthe water in the well they were
next to.
We know from the context of shesays give me this water's, the
(17:18):
well water.
When she says this water, it'sthe living water, the figurative
water, the spiritual water.
Therefore, just because he saysthis generation in Mark 13
doesn't mean it's the onestanding in front of them at the
time.
Therefore, we have to look atthe context to tell us which
(17:39):
generation he's talking about.
Another example that we can haveis that the you will see these
things.
That's also in this passage.
I've heard that.
Well, you will see these things.
Well, zechariah was stoned todeath in 2 Chronicles 24, about
775 years earlier.
(18:00):
Jesus says to the Pharisees inMatthew 23-35, you murdered them
.
You murdered them because the?
You was the Jewish leadershipof which they were part of.
The generation there in Matthew, the you was this group of
people that crossed a thousandyears of time.
(18:20):
We have to look at the rest ofScripture.
Therefore, this one president,this generation, and you will
see, might not be the people whowere standing there at the time
.
Again, dr Peter Gaiman says thatfor the first 200 years of the
church, the church was almostunanimous in starting with the
(18:41):
abomination of desolation inthis passage.
The passage speaks about afuture occurrence not fulfilled
in the first century.
People who taught this includedIrenaeus, hippolytus and
Tertullian.
Second century Irenaeus wasvery premillennial.
Therefore, again, as we've beenvery careful to walk through
and took enough time to walkthrough all of this so we could
(19:05):
get to a passage here where wesay this generation, which
generation?
Well, matthew tells us thegeneration that sees all these
things.
What things?
All the apocalyptic things thatwe just got through talking
about the sun darkened, the moonwon't give its light, the earth
is shaken.
What are that?
(19:26):
Back to Isaiah 13,.
That's God pouring out hisjudgment on the whole world, all
the nations of the world.
When the generation that seesGod pour out his wrath on all
the nations of the earth, whathe just got through quoting,
that's the generation he'stalking about.
Steve, it's a lot harder toexplain all that than it is to
(19:48):
just throw out a.
Well, it's obviously thisgeneration.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
It is, but we've spent two.
I think this is our thirdsession now in this particular
section of Mark and in our priorcouple of sessions we've made a
clear case that the timeframethat he's talking about in this
particular part is somethingthat's still yet future.
It just makes sense that in thecontext that this generation is
(20:12):
the generation that's going tosee all of that, just in a
couple of verses further inverse 32, he says but of that
day.
So again, the context is allfuture things that are going to
happen.
To me it's really playing thecontext of where he's talking
about when he says thisgeneration, the one that's going
to see all of those cataclysmicand apocalyptic events that
(20:35):
he's just been talking aboutwith the disciples there.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Steve, let's talk about something in this passage
that's sort of personal andcomforting making apocalyptic
events that he's just beentalking about with the disciples
there.
Steve, let's talk aboutsomething in this passage that's
sort of personal and comfortingVerse 31,.
Jesus says here that heaven andearth will pass away, but my
words will not.
Isn't it comforting to knowthat God's word will never pass
away?
We live in a world where thingsare moving and it's kind of
crazy and it's very stressful.
(21:01):
Isn't it comforting to knowthat we can hang on to something
God's Word that's going to bethe same yesterday, today and
tomorrow.
It will never fail.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
It's the reason why you and I, Glenn, are here going
through His Word, going throughall of the books of the Bible,
verse by verse in the chapters,is because it's so steady.
It's stable, it's believableand it's true, it has a meaning
to our life.
So, yeah, it is comforting toknow that there is a foundation
(21:34):
in the word of God that we canstake and live our lives on.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Next verse, verse 32, .
We have another question thatcomes up often.
He says of that day or hour noone knows, not even the angels
in heaven, nor the Son, but theFather alone.
Steve, the people that deny thedeity of Christ bring this up
fairly regularly.
This is the one verse they knowabout and they say well, see,
(22:00):
he doesn't know something andGod's supposed to know
everything.
So Jesus is not God and so it'snot quite that easy.
There's, of course, a lot ofother Bible passages to deal
with, so how would we respond?
Is Jesus somehow a problem herebecause he doesn't know
something?
Jesus?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
is fully God and fully man.
He is both.
When he refers to somethinglike this in 32, I believe that
he's referring to his human side, that his human side doesn't
know that appointed time.
Obviously the divine part, orthe God part, does know that
(22:39):
because he is God.
To me it's clear that he'sexplaining to himself that the
Son of man, the human side,doesn't even know this time,
only the Father in heaven.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Exactly, not an issue at all that there was something
Jesus didn't know.
Several reasons.
Main thrust is what you justsaid, steve he was both fully
human and fully divine.
So, yes, god knows everything,but he's also fully human.
He has a human nature and thereis a distinction in persons of
(23:11):
the Trinity.
Yes, they are all the one God,but the Father didn't come and
die on the cross, so they haddifferent roles.
The Son doesn't empower peoplelike the Holy Spirit does.
There are different roles fordifferent things.
(23:31):
Jesus voluntarily limitedhimself when he put on humanity.
He limited his omnipresence.
He limited his glory.
He was not everywhere.
He was not fully glorious whilehe was here on the earth.
Luke 2.52, it speaks of Jesuswhile he was growing up says
that he increased in wisdom.
That's not an issue, because hecame as a baby and grew as any
human would.
(23:52):
If he hadn't have grown, hewouldn't have been fully human.
It's entirely also logical thatthe human brain cannot hold all
the knowledge of an infiniteGod.
Why would we think that ourpuny little brain would know
everything that God would know?
So we have no issue with Jesus'human body not having all the
(24:12):
aspects of a disembodied God.
Therefore, we have no issuewith Jesus' humanity not having
all the knowledge of his deity.
Jesus slept, he became hungry,he ate food, he walked, he did
all the aspects of humanity andnone of which happened to a
spiritual God.
(24:33):
Therefore, there's no issuewith the human nature of Jesus
not having all the knowledge ofthe divine nature of the Father.
Then verse 34 is really kind ofthe main thrust of this last
part.
He tells this parable of a mangoing on a journey and leaving
his servants in charge.
In the parable, who's the manand who are the servants?
(24:55):
So, steve, this reminds me hetold similar parables like this
at different times in theGospels.
When he gives this ministry,who's the man?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
and who are the servants?
The man in this parable is him,is Jesus.
He is going to be going awayafter his resurrection.
He is going to ascend intoheaven.
He is presently sitting at theright hand of the Father.
So that is the man that's inthe journey.
The slaves are the saints, theones his believers that are here
(25:28):
, as well as the doorkeeper,which are to stay on the alert.
This, I think, is the meaningof the parable.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
In verse 34, it says the man left his house.
In the Bible, house can mean aphysical house.
It also used as descendants orfamily.
Get the picture he, jesus, lefthis family, the church, his
house, the church, and he isgoing away, leaving the servants
in charge.
(25:56):
That's what's happening here inthe church age.
What is our job while Jesus isaway?
Well, go and make disciples.
Our job is to watch.
Be ready, be alert, be sober,don't fall asleep.
And go and make disciples, likehe says in Matthew, chapter 28.
Steve, what did Peter do duringthe Garden of Gethsemane when
(26:18):
Jesus said stay here and beawake and watch.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
We're going to be reading that here in the next
couple of sessions when we getinto chapter 14.
He fell asleep and he didn'tstay awake.
In fact, he didn't fall asleepjust one time, he fell asleep a
couple of times.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
What we should do is to be awake, be sober, be
watchful in case Jesus were toreturn at any time.
That's our job Repent of oursins, keep short accounts with
God, ask forgiveness of ourfamily and our friends, focus on
kingdom work.
Don't be worldly-minded, but beheavenly-minded and just be
(26:53):
ready because our Savior, ourDeliverer, could be back at any
moment.
Another aspect of beingwatchful is that we don't know
the hour of our own death.
Steve, any of us could be withthe Lord.
Unexpectedly, we could die andfind ourselves in front of the
judgment seat at any point.
(27:14):
So, yes, we should be watchfuland be all those things I just
mentioned sober, prayed up,short accounts with God, make
sure we're on short accountswith our family and friends
because Jesus could come back atany time, but it's also because
, just frankly, we could die atany time.
How would someone live if theyexpected to meet the Lord any
(27:37):
minute?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
If a person truly lives with the expectation that
Jesus could return at any momentwhich I think that we believe
that he could come to take hischurch, Glenn, and take it away
at any moment, in thatparticular case their lives
would be different.
Living under that expectation,They'd want to be ready, They'd
(27:59):
want to be, as you say, haveshort accounts with other people
.
Paul says many times that weare to treat fellow Christians
in a different way, that we'reto love them different.
Why?
Because they're the body ofChrist and we're part of the
body of Christ.
It's a long-winded answer toyour question, Christ.
(28:20):
It's a long-winded answer toyour question, but our lives
should be different wheneverwe're truly living with the
expectation that Christ couldcome and take us at any moment,
whether that's through death orwhether that's through the
catching away of the church andtaking us back to heaven.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That brings us to the end of chapter 13.
He says here what I say to youall is to be on the alert.
That's how he leaves us at theend of the Olivet Discourse.
Next time we're going to see avery tender moment.
We're going to leave thesedoctrinal areas and we're going
to move to a very profound andtender moment when a woman
(28:59):
anoints his feet, and that'llteach us some great spiritual
lessons next time as we continueto reason through the book of
Mark.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Thank you so much for watching and listening.
May God bless you.
We're told in the Bible to be watchful, that
Jesus' coming could be soon, butwe don't know.
When he tells us in Mark,chapter 13, in the Olivet
Discourse, to be watchful.
That's what we're going to findout today.
Is what did Jesus teach abouthow we should act while we're
waiting for him to return?
(00:42):
Hi, my name's Glenn.
I'm here with Steve.
While we're waiting for him toreturn?
Hi, my name's Glenn.
I'm here with Steve.
We are Reasoning Through theBible and open your Bibles to
Mark, chapter 13.
We're going to start in verse28.
This is the last part of what'scalled the Olivet Discourse.
Jesus has given some great,profound teachings as he sat on
the Mount of Olives overlookingthe city of Jerusalem.
(01:02):
Steve, can you jump in at verse28 and read down to verse 37?
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Now learn the parable from the fig tree when its
branch has already become tenderand puts forth its leaves, you
know that summer is near.
Even so, you too, when you seethese things happening,
recognize that he is near, rightat the door.
Truly, I say to you, thisgeneration will not pass away
(01:28):
until all these things takeplace.
Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass
away.
But of that day or hour, no oneknows, not even the angels in
heaven, nor the Son, but theFather alone.
Take heed, keep on the alert,for you do not know when the
appointed time will come.
(01:49):
It is like a man away on ajourney who, upon leaving his
house and putting his slaves incharge, assigning to each one
his task, also commanded thedoorkeeper to stay on the alert.
Therefore, be on the alert, foryou do not know when the master
of the house is coming, whetherin the evening, at midnight, or
(02:12):
when the rooster crows, or inthe morning, in case he should
come suddenly and find youasleep.
What I say to you, I say to allbe on the alert.
Speaker 1 (02:23):
We have here Jesus giving some very clear warnings.
If we look at verse 28 and 29,he says when you see these
things happening, well, what arethe these things?
Well, these things are the oneshe's just mentioned in the last
half dozen verses.
He's saying when you see allthese cataclysmic things going
(02:44):
on, then you realize that it'svery close.
Well, steve, if we contrastthat with what he said back in
verse 32 when he talked aboutwatch out, there's false Christ
coming.
How should we approach this?
How should we, as Christians inthe church age, look for signs
of the times?
(03:05):
How much can we tell about?
Speaker 2 (03:10):
when Jesus is going to return.
Well, we have specific thingsthat have been told to us
through the prophets and alsotold to us by Jesus here in this
Olivet Discourse.
But he has told us three timeshere in what we just read be
alert, we're to be ready.
But he also tells us but wedon't know specifically when the
hour is going to be or when thetime's going to be.
(03:31):
I think that there are certainthings that we can be aware of.
The main thing that is notedhere to be aware of is when the
abomination of desolationhappens.
I think to me that is apinnacle item when you see that
that's going to be the mid partof this tribulation.
After that we just talked aboutthat in our last session all
(03:54):
these cataclysmic events, all ofthose things that he's
mentioned in there, are going tohappen at the time of the
tribulation.
This specific verse here istalking about that those times
of when those things arehappening.
It's not talking about thingsbefore that.
I think that we should be awareof what's going on in the world
(04:15):
, but I don't think that weshould just hang on every single
happening in the world that'sgoing on and try and cram it
into the time period of whenJesus is going to return.
Keep this in the context ofwhat he's talking about.
This is in context of thetribulation period and the time
(04:36):
that's after that and circlingthose events that are taking
place during that tribulationperiod.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
The human mind has a grand ability to see patterns
and things, even sometimes whenthere's no real pattern.
They're watching the daily newsand trying to see God's hand
and it sometimes is futile.
God's hand may be there, but usseeing it all the time is
sometimes futile.
He says here in verse 32, ofthat day or hour no one knows.
(05:07):
I've heard some teachersfalsely claim well, you can't
know the day or the hour, butyou can know the season.
Well, I submit to you Acts,chapter 1, verse 6 and 7.
There the apostles said well,is it now?
He says you don't know thetimes or the season.
If times mean years and seasonsmean months, he specifically
(05:29):
says you don't know the season.
We don't know the day or thehour, or the year or the month.
We don't know.
And the spirit of what he saysin both these passages is just
be watchful, because we don'tknow when he's going to come.
The whole figurative languagehere, the little short parable
about you know it could come atmidnight, could come when the
rooster crows, could come anytime.
(05:50):
That's our job is to bewatchful, to keep our eyes on
the horizon, because he willcome.
We should not lose heart,because he will come, but we
don't know when.
Therefore, anyone who doespredict when Jesus is going to
return is going to fail.
I think we mentioned a coupleof sessions ago there's a long
list of people that predict ohJesus, right around the corner,
(06:15):
going to be here any minute, anyyear, any month.
Now Some of them even predictdates.
Well, you're not going to hearus do that, because we don't
want to be one more on the longlist of false prophets.
Therefore, every generation,since the early days of the
church, have felt they were inthe last days.
We are told we are in the lastera.
(06:36):
In that sense we're in the lastdays, but when he's going to
come we just don't know.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
And again, the context is at the end of the
tribulation.
There he's telling them thatthis generation, we'll get into
that here, in just a second,when they see these things, that
he's going to be at the door.
I believe, glenn, that he'sgiving them this instruction to
be alert and that they're notgoing to know the hour.
I know that some people haveinterpreted that and said, well,
(07:04):
if this is at the end of thetribulation, at seven years, and
people will be able tocalculate, the unbelieving
people aren't going to know,they don't even care.
They don't care today aboutJesus Christ.
They don't even care that hecame the first time.
So I believe that Jesus isreferring specifically to the
unbelieving world.
The unbelieving world is notgoing to know the time or the
(07:27):
event whenever he's going tocome.
But what was the greatcommission that Jesus gave to us
?
To go out and make disciples,teaching them the things that I
have taught you.
I believe that Jesus is givingthis type of a directive to us,
them now, so that they won't bedistracted from that.
(07:47):
That's what we should be.
Our mission is to spread thegospel.
Our mission is to care forfellow Christians and to support
them.
Pray for them, help them, helpthe widow, don't forget about
the orphan.
Love our neighbor as ourselves.
That is what we primarily needto do.
I believe Jesus is saying,really in an indirect way if
(08:11):
you're there, out there, alwaystrying to figure out when I'm
coming, you're at risk ofabandoning what I actually want
you to go and do and just startwatching and looking for
whenever I come.
Now we should do that, he saysbe on the alert, but we should
not abandon the commission thathe's given to us to go and
(08:34):
spread the gospel.
Speaker 1 (08:35):
That's exactly what happened in the first century,
because even before the NewTestament was finished written,
there were people that had quittheir jobs and were going off
waiting for Jesus to return.
Paul wrote in Thessalonians ifthey don't work, they shouldn't
eat.
That we should be about theLord's business.
Look at verse 29.
In there the Greek grammarcould say there that he is near,
(08:58):
as our New American standardssay, or it could say it is near,
as some of the other goodtranslations say.
The Greek grammar could beeither he, jesus, or it, the
kingdom.
Therefore, how do we determinewhich one it says?
Well, we must ask ourselveswhat is the context here and how
(09:18):
would it fit?
The preterist and theamillennialist and the
postmillennialist want to saywell, it is the event of 70 AD,
or it is the judgment, or it isthe kingdom coming.
If we were to take that view,then verse 29 would mean the
kingdom was near immediatelyafter the events of 70 AD.
(09:41):
But that's not the case becausewe know it was there at least
from the day of Pentecost.
Really again, salvation bygrace, through faith, was
throughout time.
There was nothing in salvationthat was true or changed or
closer after 70 AD than it wasfor the 40 years prior, 70 AD.
The kingdom of personalsalvation was just as close on
(10:06):
the day of Pentecost as it wasafter 70 AD or during 70 AD.
There was not any more angelsgathering elect before 70 AD
than after 70 AD.
Therefore, verse 29 is talkingabout the second coming of
Christ.
He is near.
That's why many of thetranslations say that.
Plus, jesus is always in the NewTestament the one spoken of as
(10:31):
being at the door.
The kingdom is never spoken ofas being at the door.
Salvation is never at the door.
Jesus is at the door.
Revelation 3.20,.
Jesus says I stand at the doorand knock.
James 5, verse 7 and 8, twicetalk about the coming of the
Lord.
Then the next verse 5, 9, quotethe judge is standing right at
(10:56):
the door talking about the Lordthat it just got through.
Speaking of John, 10, 9,.
Jesus says I am the door.
Nowhere else in Scripture isthe kingdom being at the door.
Jesus is at the door.
Jesus is at the door.
Therefore, here in mark 13 hewill be at the door.
Steve, six times in thischapter it talks about the
(11:18):
coming of jesus.
What do you think the maintheme is of mark chapter 13?
Speaker 2 (11:23):
I think the theme here, in this part at least, is
that he is coming beyond thealert.
But I do want to point out inverse 33, glenn, that there is
an appointed time.
It says in verse 33, for you donot know when the appointed
time will come.
There is a definite time ofJesus's second coming.
(11:44):
It's not going to be arbitraryand we have enough information
to be able to know certainthings that are going on.
He said in the earlier versesI'm telling you all these things
in advance.
Well, why would he do that?
So that we would know some ofthe things that are going to
happen.
The main gist here in 13 inthis section is he's coming
(12:07):
again beyond the alert.
You don't know the specifictime, but yet there is an
appointed time whenever he isgoing to come again.
Speaker 1 (12:16):
Next we have verse 30 .
There's a big question aroundwhat he means when he says this
generation.
He says verse 30, truly, I sayto you, this generation will not
pass away until all thesethings take place.
So, steve, I've seen in recentdays and throughout the years
groups of people some of themare skeptics saying well, see,
(12:37):
he said it would happen thisgeneration.
It didn't.
Therefore, we can dismiss theBible.
Another is the preterists thatsay well, look, it says this
generation.
He means this generation.
So all these things weresymbolically fulfilled in the
first century.
Steve, what does he mean therewhen he says this generation?
What are the range of?
Speaker 2 (12:56):
meanings.
There is a saying in the realestate world that whenever
you're selling something that islocation, location, location,
that means everything to thereal estate property that you're
selling to someone.
Whenever we're interpreting theBible and looking at things, I
think the thing that applies iscontext, context, context.
(13:19):
And what is the context ofwhat's going on when he makes
this statement of thisgeneration?
What's going on when he makesthis statement of this
generation?
He's talking about end timeevents prior to his second
coming at that time of thetribulation, the tribulation
that has never been as great asit has before and never will be
(13:40):
again.
Back in verse 19.
That's the whole context ofwhat he's talking about here.
Is at that time.
The phrase here of thisgeneration, glenn, I think, when
you put it into the context of,is that it's this generation
that is going to see all ofthese events that are happening.
(14:00):
This is the generation that'sgoing to be there and that he's
talking about at this particularpoint in time.
I think you're going to go onto a little bit more detail of
what this generation could be,but to me it's the context of
everything else that he's beentalking about makes it clear If
we look at the word generation.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
It's the Greek word geneo, which is Strong's 1074.
The Greek word has a widerrange of meanings than the
English word generation.
Just right out of the lexiconnot my opinion just again right
out of the Greek lexicons, theword geneo can mean a race of
people, such as a nation.
(14:41):
It can mean all the peopleliving at the same time, which
is the one that we tend to thinkof first.
It can also mean the age of atime period, of when people were
living.
It could also mean a familyhistory, just a history of a
household.
It could mean any group withsimilar qualities the word is
(15:03):
used for, such as all the malesacross time or all the females
across time, anybody with thesame quality to them, regardless
of a time period.
Any group that has the samequalities could be in the same
geneo.
The Greek term has a widerusage than just a Greek.
Also, notice that in thischapter, here this verse and
(15:26):
mark, there's no other timemarkers used in this verse.
No first generation orgeneration to generation.
There's no time marker otherthan this generation.
Then we have to go to the wordthis.
You'd think that this is aclear word, but it actually,
grammatically has more to itthan that.
(15:47):
It's not quite as simple.
And there's again, many peoplehang their entire faith on this
verse here when it says thisgeneration.
I've done some research andI'll give you something that I
got from a Dr Peter Gaiman, whohas researched this quite a bit.
If we go over to John, chapter4, there's a story there of the
(16:08):
woman at the well and Jesus goesto this well and this woman
comes in the middle of the dayand he's having this
conversation with her.
And at one point in theconversation John 4, 13, jesus
says this water.
If people drink this water,they're going to get thirsty
again, but if they give theliving water that I have, they
(16:32):
won't be thirsty again.
And the woman in the next verseverse 14, says well, give me
this water.
Well, which water is shetalking about?
Because he just got throughtalking about two waters.
He mentioned this water, whichwas the water in the well they
were sitting next to, and theliving water.
And she says give me this water.
(16:54):
Well, if we were to just lookat the pure grammar then we
would say oh, he's talking aboutthe well, because he just got
through saying this water wasthe water in the well they were
next to.
We know from the context of shesays give me this water's, the
(17:18):
well water.
When she says this water, it'sthe living water, the figurative
water, the spiritual water.
Therefore, just because he saysthis generation in Mark 13
doesn't mean it's the onestanding in front of them at the
time.
Therefore, we have to look atthe context to tell us which
(17:39):
generation he's talking about.
Another example that we can haveis that the you will see these
things.
That's also in this passage.
I've heard that.
Well, you will see these things.
Well, zechariah was stoned todeath in 2 Chronicles 24, about
775 years earlier.
(18:00):
Jesus says to the Pharisees inMatthew 23-35, you murdered them
.
You murdered them because the?
You was the Jewish leadershipof which they were part of.
The generation there in Matthew, the you was this group of
people that crossed a thousandyears of time.
(18:20):
We have to look at the rest ofScripture.
Therefore, this one president,this generation, and you will
see, might not be the people whowere standing there at the time
.
Again, dr Peter Gaiman says thatfor the first 200 years of the
church, the church was almostunanimous in starting with the
(18:41):
abomination of desolation inthis passage.
The passage speaks about afuture occurrence not fulfilled
in the first century.
People who taught this includedIrenaeus, hippolytus and
Tertullian.
Second century Irenaeus wasvery premillennial.
Therefore, again, as we've beenvery careful to walk through
and took enough time to walkthrough all of this so we could
(19:05):
get to a passage here where wesay this generation, which
generation?
Well, matthew tells us thegeneration that sees all these
things.
What things?
All the apocalyptic things thatwe just got through talking
about the sun darkened, the moonwon't give its light, the earth
is shaken.
What are that?
(19:26):
Back to Isaiah 13,.
That's God pouring out hisjudgment on the whole world, all
the nations of the world.
When the generation that seesGod pour out his wrath on all
the nations of the earth, whathe just got through quoting,
that's the generation he'stalking about.
Steve, it's a lot harder toexplain all that than it is to
(19:48):
just throw out a.
Well, it's obviously thisgeneration.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
It is, but we've spent two.
I think this is our thirdsession now in this particular
section of Mark and in our priorcouple of sessions we've made a
clear case that the timeframethat he's talking about in this
particular part is somethingthat's still yet future.
It just makes sense that in thecontext that this generation is
(20:12):
the generation that's going tosee all of that, just in a
couple of verses further inverse 32, he says but of that
day.
So again, the context is allfuture things that are going to
happen.
To me it's really playing thecontext of where he's talking
about when he says thisgeneration, the one that's going
to see all of those cataclysmicand apocalyptic events that
(20:35):
he's just been talking aboutwith the disciples there.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Steve, let's talk about something in this passage
that's sort of personal andcomforting making apocalyptic
events that he's just beentalking about with the disciples
there.
Steve, let's talk aboutsomething in this passage that's
sort of personal and comfortingVerse 31,.
Jesus says here that heaven andearth will pass away, but my
words will not.
Isn't it comforting to knowthat God's word will never pass
away?
We live in a world where thingsare moving and it's kind of
crazy and it's very stressful.
(21:01):
Isn't it comforting to knowthat we can hang on to something
God's Word that's going to bethe same yesterday, today and
tomorrow.
It will never fail.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
It's the reason why you and I, Glenn, are here going
through His Word, going throughall of the books of the Bible,
verse by verse in the chapters,is because it's so steady.
It's stable, it's believableand it's true, it has a meaning
to our life.
So, yeah, it is comforting toknow that there is a foundation
(21:34):
in the word of God that we canstake and live our lives on.
Speaker 1 (21:38):
Next verse, verse 32, .
We have another question thatcomes up often.
He says of that day or hour noone knows, not even the angels
in heaven, nor the Son, but theFather alone.
Steve, the people that deny thedeity of Christ bring this up
fairly regularly.
This is the one verse they knowabout and they say well, see,
(22:00):
he doesn't know something andGod's supposed to know
everything.
So Jesus is not God and so it'snot quite that easy.
There's, of course, a lot ofother Bible passages to deal
with, so how would we respond?
Is Jesus somehow a problem herebecause he doesn't know
something?
Jesus?
Speaker 2 (22:16):
is fully God and fully man.
He is both.
When he refers to somethinglike this in 32, I believe that
he's referring to his human side, that his human side doesn't
know that appointed time.
Obviously the divine part, orthe God part, does know that
(22:39):
because he is God.
To me it's clear that he'sexplaining to himself that the
Son of man, the human side,doesn't even know this time,
only the Father in heaven.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Exactly, not an issue at all that there was something
Jesus didn't know.
Several reasons.
Main thrust is what you justsaid, steve he was both fully
human and fully divine.
So, yes, god knows everything,but he's also fully human.
He has a human nature and thereis a distinction in persons of
(23:11):
the Trinity.
Yes, they are all the one God,but the Father didn't come and
die on the cross, so they haddifferent roles.
The Son doesn't empower peoplelike the Holy Spirit does.
There are different roles fordifferent things.
(23:31):
Jesus voluntarily limitedhimself when he put on humanity.
He limited his omnipresence.
He limited his glory.
He was not everywhere.
He was not fully glorious whilehe was here on the earth.
Luke 2.52, it speaks of Jesuswhile he was growing up says
that he increased in wisdom.
That's not an issue, because hecame as a baby and grew as any
human would.
(23:52):
If he hadn't have grown, hewouldn't have been fully human.
It's entirely also logical thatthe human brain cannot hold all
the knowledge of an infiniteGod.
Why would we think that ourpuny little brain would know
everything that God would know?
So we have no issue with Jesus'human body not having all the
(24:12):
aspects of a disembodied God.
Therefore, we have no issuewith Jesus' humanity not having
all the knowledge of his deity.
Jesus slept, he became hungry,he ate food, he walked, he did
all the aspects of humanity andnone of which happened to a
spiritual God.
(24:33):
Therefore, there's no issuewith the human nature of Jesus
not having all the knowledge ofthe divine nature of the Father.
Then verse 34 is really kind ofthe main thrust of this last
part.
He tells this parable of a mangoing on a journey and leaving
his servants in charge.
In the parable, who's the manand who are the servants?
(24:55):
So, steve, this reminds me hetold similar parables like this
at different times in theGospels.
When he gives this ministry,who's the man?
Speaker 2 (25:06):
and who are the servants?
The man in this parable is him,is Jesus.
He is going to be going awayafter his resurrection.
He is going to ascend intoheaven.
He is presently sitting at theright hand of the Father.
So that is the man that's inthe journey.
The slaves are the saints, theones his believers that are here
(25:28):
, as well as the doorkeeper,which are to stay on the alert.
This, I think, is the meaningof the parable.
Speaker 1 (25:36):
In verse 34, it says the man left his house.
In the Bible, house can mean aphysical house.
It also used as descendants orfamily.
Get the picture he, jesus, lefthis family, the church, his
house, the church, and he isgoing away, leaving the servants
in charge.
(25:56):
That's what's happening here inthe church age.
What is our job while Jesus isaway?
Well, go and make disciples.
Our job is to watch.
Be ready, be alert, be sober,don't fall asleep.
And go and make disciples, likehe says in Matthew, chapter 28.
Steve, what did Peter do duringthe Garden of Gethsemane when
(26:18):
Jesus said stay here and beawake and watch.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
We're going to be reading that here in the next
couple of sessions when we getinto chapter 14.
He fell asleep and he didn'tstay awake.
In fact, he didn't fall asleepjust one time, he fell asleep a
couple of times.
Speaker 1 (26:32):
What we should do is to be awake, be sober, be
watchful in case Jesus were toreturn at any time.
That's our job Repent of oursins, keep short accounts with
God, ask forgiveness of ourfamily and our friends, focus on
kingdom work.
Don't be worldly-minded, but beheavenly-minded and just be
(26:53):
ready because our Savior, ourDeliverer, could be back at any
moment.
Another aspect of beingwatchful is that we don't know
the hour of our own death.
Steve, any of us could be withthe Lord.
Unexpectedly, we could die andfind ourselves in front of the
judgment seat at any point.
(27:14):
So, yes, we should be watchfuland be all those things I just
mentioned sober, prayed up,short accounts with God, make
sure we're on short accountswith our family and friends
because Jesus could come back atany time, but it's also because
, just frankly, we could die atany time.
How would someone live if theyexpected to meet the Lord any
(27:37):
minute?
Speaker 2 (27:38):
If a person truly lives with the expectation that
Jesus could return at any momentwhich I think that we believe
that he could come to take hischurch, Glenn, and take it away
at any moment, in thatparticular case their lives
would be different.
Living under that expectation,They'd want to be ready, They'd
(27:59):
want to be, as you say, haveshort accounts with other people
.
Paul says many times that weare to treat fellow Christians
in a different way, that we'reto love them different.
Why?
Because they're the body ofChrist and we're part of the
body of Christ.
It's a long-winded answer toyour question, Christ.
(28:20):
It's a long-winded answer toyour question, but our lives
should be different wheneverwe're truly living with the
expectation that Christ couldcome and take us at any moment,
whether that's through death orwhether that's through the
catching away of the church andtaking us back to heaven.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That brings us to the end of chapter 13.
He says here what I say to youall is to be on the alert.
That's how he leaves us at theend of the Olivet Discourse.
Next time we're going to see avery tender moment.
We're going to leave thesedoctrinal areas and we're going
to move to a very profound andtender moment when a woman
(28:59):
anoints his feet, and that'llteach us some great spiritual
lessons next time as we continueto reason through the book of
Mark.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Thank you so much for watching and listening.
May God bless you.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.