1. Background
The temple and its abandonment by God as been the topic since Chapter 11. The corruption of the temple by its leaders has brought on God’s final rejection and replacing it with Jesus Himself. In Chapter 12 we saw the final showdown between Jesus and the Sanhedrin in which Jesus superior knowledge and authority over the OT. Now Jesus is walking away from the temple symbolically with his disciples. A final discussion on the temple’s destruction and end times begins.
2. What Can We Observe About God?
What God reveals is for the benefit of our faith. V31
The disciples ask for clarity of a puzzling statement Jesus made as they left the temple for He had said the temple would be completely demolished. They had expected Him to say something in admiration of the beauty for so their comment of Temple’s grandeur suggests, but His response was surprising and perhaps very dangerous if the wrong hears should hear it.
So once they crossed the valley and ascended to the Mount of Olives, Peter James and John asked Jesus privately what He meant. They ask for two specific pieces of information. Our hermeneutics will be contained in the scope of these questions:
1. When will the destruction of the temple be?
2. What the (miraculous) signs of their final fulfillment (the end).
Jesus begins to reveal what man would in no otherwise could ever know. It is revelation, not merely what anyone could learn from keen observations. It is revelation from God’s mind given to them to help them in the days ahead. These disciples and Christians through the ages will face dark times and the revelation God is giving now is to benefit their faith and bolster their trust in God, even when times are dark.
To answer their question regarding the temple, Jesus does it somewhat indirectly. He doesn’t want to simply satisfy their curiosity about the specific timing of the events but focus on the importance of their faith during the coming perilous times. Before the temple is destroyed, several events will begin to take place that they must be ready for, namely false Christs, v6.
As tensions mount between Jews and Romans, there will be many Messianic pretenders. Jesus said they will deceive many, so Jesus is warning them now of this so their faith would not be subverted. One particular example of a false Christ that arose in those days is recording in Acts 5:36:
36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.
Many such men arose during the Roman occupation with different amounts of “success” only in deceiving many. There were other threats than just false Messiahs. The threat of war, natural disasters, and famines are all causes for anxiety and despair if their faith is not planted firmly in the God who is in control, v8. Jesus tells them, “be ye not troubled..the end shall not yet be”, v7.
Jesus continues to reveal that in this time persecutions on them for their faith will begin. The powers that be, both Jewish and Gentile, will be upon them for ill. Christians will be imprisoned, beaten, killed for the faith. But even then the coming persecution serves a purpose to testify of the Gospel before kings, governors, and princes.
9 But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them.
Jesus doesn’t pull any punches in warning them of the cost of discipleship. Faith in Jesus means persecution even amongst family members. Verse 12 says, “brother shall betray brother”, fathers against sons, children against parents. In spite of the persecution, the Gospel will be preached to the whole world, v10. Again through the devices of God’s enemies, He will accomplish all His desire.
Persecution will have another purpose in weeding out the unbelievers from the believers.
“13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”
Endurance will be hallmarks of those who believe. There will be Christian pretenders either willfully or ignorantly, but true belief will be evidenced by their faith’s endurance to the end. As Jesus ends the warning about false Christs and persecution, it seems He is not only addressing the disciples of that generation when He picks up an allusion from Daniel 
14 But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand,) then let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains:
“The abomination of desolation” mentioned by Daniel 11:31 refers to an event already in the disciple’s past. But Jesus is alluding to it as a paradigm and warning to a future event so horrendous that the pain and suffering of “those days” will not be matched for anguish.
19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
Still, even in these days of incredible suffering, God will still be reigning, and divinely working on the benefit of His own people, v20. Such promises in this revelation are given to encourage anyone who’s faith will be tested in these days. The final sign of God’s promise will be the appearance of Jesus, the Son of Man, in the clouds returning to the earth in power. Then all who are persecuting God’s power will see and be shaken by His great power.
25 And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. 26 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory.
Upon Jesus’ return, His angels will collect up all who belong to God through faith, v27. And their enduring faith will be the token of their salvation as it endures persecution and all the earth’s anxieties.
God is revealing this through Jesus now to “take heed lest any man deceives you” and thereby subverting your faith in Christ Jesus, the Son of Man who will return in great power. This passage is often the subject of great division amongst brethren who quarrel the particulars. Yet, no matter where one splits the hair, the purpose of God’s heart and intention is not altered. He is delivering encouragement and promises to bolster the persecuted Christian’s faith.
Even the mysteries of God are sealed up for the furtherance of our faith. V32
This is mixed with what God reveals and chooses not to reveal. Even what He chooses not to reveal until a time of His own choosing serve the same purpose as His other revelations, for our benefit to faith.
32 But of that day and of that our knowers no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.
When God says a thing will be kept secret then there isn’t left anything to do but trust Him with the responsibility of it. But history has shown us that humanity still make attempts to calculate the timing of His return. Even when we are relieved of the burden to carry such things, we will attempt to take it off the shoulders of God. It is a matter of faith to watch and pray for His return, even though we are not given the time. To wait for Him in such a state serves the purpose of preaching the Gospel with urgency yet in the context of possible delays.
God chooses faith to be the deciding factor of your future. V36
At the conclusion of Jesus’ response to the disciple’s questions, He directs their attention to thee question of whether or not God will find faith in you at the moment of His return.
“36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.”
Because Jesus is teaching there may be a significant delay in His return, there may be a temptation to let down one’s guard and loosen the grip on faith to pursue the flesh. So that is why we are admonished to keep a vigilant watch on His return, thereby maintaining our faith. This summary lets us know the whole point if this apocalyptic revelation is focused upon our faith. We may use this material to participate in arguments of interpretation, but none should need to argue the true matter of your life is faith in Jesus Christ. Your eternity will not be determined in your arguments of interpretation, but on the existence of your faith in Christ according to the scriptures.
3. How Does it Point to Jesus and the Gospel?
God’s final revelation is in Jesus Christ Himself.
When you pick up the New Testament of Jesus Christ, you are reading the collaborated witness from three different sources:
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- From Old Testament Scripture
- The eyewitness’s testimony
- The revelation of God
- Through the abundant use of quotes and allusions to Old Testament Scripture, the NT shows how every theme, role, and ritual is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. The failures of humanity are picked up by Jesus, atoned for, and are completed in His cross and resurrection. In our passage uses quotation of Daniel 13:7 cross-referenced with v26 for example. Jesus is the Son of Man comes with God’s authority to fulfill all His will.
2. The reports of Jesus’ life and disciples commission to the world were “not done in a corner”. What we read are “those things most certainly believed” among a multitude of eyewitnesses. These aren’t legends written centuries later of a man who has been deified through exaggeration, but eye witness accounts who with difficulty but undeniably confess their faith in Christ.
3. The Jews have asked for a sign for who Jesus is and now the disciples have asked for a sign that will signal the timing of His coming. The Gospel according to Mark gives us two major signs that both stand as the foundation for our belief but also condemnation against disbelief and the are the first and second coming of Jesus Christ. Very shortly after Jesus is arrested, He will be killed and raised from the dead—the sign of His ultimate authority, but also again when Jesus says He will return, namely the “Son of Man” will return in the clouds and all will see Him. This reference to Daniel’s Son of man is God revealing Himself in human flesh and carrying all His majesty and authority with Him. Indeed Jesus performed other signs through God’s power, but His first and second coming are like bookends of the gospel that mark where men may enter into a relationship with God through Jesus’ gospel. Jesus’ death and resurrection open the way for righteousness by faith, and Jesus’ second coming marks the end and ensuing judgment. If Jesus were merely a man, He would not be capable of either of these signs, nor of the healings, exorcisms, and raising the dead. All such power witnessed by the public reveals God’s witness of Jesus Christ—God’s ultimate self-disclosure in human flesh.
John records for us what Jesus said:
John 10:38
38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.
4. Application
The exhortation to watch and pray needs little imagination to apply. It is a call to recalibrate our days in the truth of Jesus’ return. Because He has done so much for me, I want to be found faithful when He returns. He has left us here to do a job, a job most rewarding and satisfying to fellowship together with Him. As a teacher, may I use these words to encourage others to find their joy in His coming and waiting for His return.
J. C. Walz – Faith, Fiction, and DEvotional Writing 
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