“And then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” Mark 13:26-27 ESV
Reflection: what time are we in?
As Jesus spoke so strongly to the Sadducees about the resurrection as they were “greatly mistaken”, is the same true today regarding the return of the Son of Man? There are many “theories” about what that will be like, and they differ greatly. Not just a little bit. Greatly. So some must therefore be “greatly mistaken” about His return.
But why is this important?
Jesus spoke extensively about the coming times, what would happen after His ascension. It was very important to Him to teach about what was to come, what His followers could expect. So that people throughout the ages would not lose hope, but could better understand what is happening in the midst of all the tribulation and persecution. And, if it is important to our Lord for us to understand, it has to be an important part of our own studies. Mark covered Jesus teaching on the end times (known as eschatology) in chapter 13, and I highly recommend reading the entire chapter. For additional reference of what Jesus said, you can read Matthew chapters 24, 25 and Luke chapter 21. And, as you read this, try to look at this not based on what you have heard from the pulpit, or read in popular books, even seen in movies.
Focus only on what Jesus is actually teaching.
If you read the entirety of Mark 13, what would you say the main themes are from Jesus? What is most important to Him to tell His followers then and through the ages, including us today? We know that a good teacher will start with, and end with the main point they want to get across in an important lesson. Turns out Jesus did exactly that. If you look at Mark 13 verses 5, 9, 23, 33, 35, 37, depending on your translation, you will see the words like “watch”, “pay attention” “be on guard”, “stay awake”. The closing verse of His teaching of the end times is
“And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”” Mark 13:37 ESV
What was the reason why Jesus repeatedly told His followers to stay awake, and be on guard? It clearly must have been due to a great risk of being led astray, of falling asleep spiritually. We looked yesterday at the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, which happened in around 70 AD; around 40 years after Jesus’ final command to “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”” Matthew 28:19-20 ESV. All nations; all the world. We have the great benefit in our age to be able to read about the history of the church, what happened, and compare that to the teachings of Jesus in Mark 13. And, we can see that fulfilled in Jesus words “And the gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations.” Mark 13:10 ESV. But in which time context did he say that?
Many Bible translations have split the time of tribulation into two, the first called the “tribulation” (Mark 13:3-13), and one called the “great tribulation”, (Mark 13:14-23). Jesus refers her to the entire section of Mark, v3-23, as “tribulation”, as we see in the verse following, ““But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.” Mark 13:24-25 ESV. And, as we look back at church history, there has been horrific persecution of Christians, from the very beginning, and all along to this day. Did you know that, for over 1000 years, it was punishable by death to read the Bible? And millions Christians have been tortured and put to death, slaughtered all across Europe, for their faith in Jesus since He taught this. We see persecution of Christians today all across the world.
How much worse can it get?
If the church history hasn’t already demonstrated that Christians have been in a time of “tribulation”, even “great tribulation”, not sure what tribulation would look like. But in our focus verses today, we see the promise to all followers of Jesus, that after the tribulation time, after a period of darkness, “then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.” Mark 13:26 ESV. Notice that this time, He is coming “in the clouds” which is a reference to the power and glory of God, as we remember from many biblical stories, such as in the desert. The “clouds” here is not referring to weather clouds in the sky. And, in His power and glory, He will call His own to Himself. “And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.” Mark 13:27 ESV.
There is a lot here to take in, to process, especially as many have tried to take end time prophecy out of context, and create all sorts of second coming variations. Jesus is actually pretty clear, in all three gospels. The confusion here may be exactly why Jesus warned us time and again, to watch out, to be on guard. To stay awake and in prayer, so that we do not fall into the temptation of false doctrine.
