Mark 13:21-27 - The Coming of the Son of Man

We are in the middle of Jesus’s so-called Olivet Discourse and we are looking for signs of the times—the end times—but so far we aren’t finding any. Jesus began by naming a lot of things that were not signs. Then he gave them an actual sign, but it was a sign pointing to the destruction of the temple in 70 AD, not a sign of the end times like we think of them. Almost everything in this chapter, in fact, finds its fulfillment in 70 AD. Almost. But I explain that in the sermon.

One of the things Jesus does here is employ apocalyptic language. He borrows from the vocabulary of the Old Testament prophets and describes what is going to take place in those terms. This apocalyptic language is often misunderstood in our day.




Before we can properly interpret any writing we must try to place ourself in the writer’s shoes, understand who his audience is, and take into account any way of speaking he may have employed. The problem we run into with a passage like this in our modern American context is that we seek to interpret apocalyptic language as if it were modern and western. It wasn’t, and attempting to do this only leads to misunderstanding. This, too, is explained in the sermon.

I’m also going to explain how Old Testament Israel represents us, how the age we live in is the age of the Messiah, and how verse 26 probably does refer to the second coming of Christ (something which is typified in his coming in judgment against the temple in 70 AD). So click 5e link below and have a listen! It’s probably unlike any take on this passage you’ve ever heard before, but it’s really nothing new in the history of Christian teaching. God bless.


Click here: Mark 13:21-27 - The Coming of the Son of Man


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Mark 13:14-20 - Great Tribulation

End times speculation is a popular pastime in American evangelical circles, and a money-making proposition. The average southern evangelical can tell you next to nothing about the Trinity, has never heard of things like the aseity, or the sovereignty, or the simplicity of God, and has no idea what to make of words like propitiation or transcendence. He couldn’t explain original sin or the atonement, and likely couldn’t even name the books of the Bible. But he can tell you all about the seven year tribulation and the beast and the European Union. He can tell you for sure we need to support Israel no matter what, and that there’s going to be a war called Armageddon, and Russia is going to be involved, and thank God none of us will be here because the church is going to be raptured out. We are end-times crazy.

But what Jesus is saying in Mark 13 has very little to do with what we think of as the end times. He is talking about the destruction of the temple and the coming of his kingdom, two things which will take place within the lifespans of the people he is talking to.

In the previous sermon the disciples asked Jesus for signs. And in the first thirteen verses Jesus gives them none. But finally in verse 14 he does. What does it mean? What does it have to do with their questions or of the end of the age? Take a listen to the sermon below where I give answers to all these things and more.

Just click the link below. God bless.


Click here: Mark 13:14-20 - Great Tribulation


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Mark 13:1-13 - The End Is Not Yet

Chapter 13 has been a daunting mountain landscape looming on the horizon of my mind since I began preaching through this gospel over a year ago. I knew it was coming and that I wasn’t ready for it, so I began reading books in preparation months ahead of time. One of the books I read was Herman Ridderbos’s Coming of the Kingdom. I wanted to be sure I was interpreting Jesus’s words in this chapter in a way that was consistent with the rest of what he and Mark were saying in this gospel, as well as in the greater context of all the Bible.

By the time I got to this chapter, though, I was feeling more confident. And I believe I have conveyed the sense accurately. You may be the judge of that. In the end I took four sermons to cover the chapter. The first one I called “The End Is Not Yet.” I’ve linked it below.

My take on this chapter is probably different than what you’re used to if you’ve heard any preaching from Jesus’s Olivet Discourse before. Although it may be different from a more modern take, I assure you it is right in the center of Christian orthodoxy. There is no new teaching here as far as the history of the Church. In fact, I would argue that what you’ve heard is the new teaching. What I went digging to find is just older, perhaps forgotten in our day, but certainly more accurate to the text.

So I want to encourage you to click the link below and listen to Jesus’s words of prophecy concerning Jerusalem and the temple in an older, fresher way. God bless.


Click here: Mark 13:1-13 - The End Is Not Yet


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