Mark 13-14

In Mark 13 & 14 are good news and bad news.  Actually there is a lot of bad news.  Jesus predicted the temple would be destroyed.  One of the disciples had been admiring the sensational structure.  Questions were asked and answered. 

Here’s how one commentator describes the temple: “At the time of Jesus’ ministry, the temple was one of the most impressive structures in the world, made of massive blocks of stone bedecked with gold ornamentation.  Some of the stones in the temple complex measured 40x12x12 feet and were expertly quarried to fit perfectly against one another.  The temple buildings were made of gleaming white marble, and the whole eastern wall of the large main structure was covered with gold plates that reflected the morning sun, making a spectacle that was visible for miles.  The whole temple complex was magnificent by any standard.”  But that beautiful temple that meant so much to the Jews was doomed.

Jesus prediction was literally fulfilled less than 40 years later when the Romans sacked Jerusalem in 70 AD and massacred most of its citizens.  They also set fire to the temple and razed it. 

Then Jesus predicted some terrible things that would happen in the end times – the abomination of desolation; tribulation not paralleled in human history, nor even in the future; the sun and moon and stars adversely affected; heaven and earth passing away.  More bad news about the near future would follow in chapter 14.  There was a plot to arrest Jesus and kill Him.  Judas would betray Jesus.  Peter would deny Him. 

There certainly was a lot of bad news.  And it would get worse.

But don’t ever lose sight of the good news.  Don’t ever forget that if you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are on the winning team.  Don’t forget that even though some of the chapters of human existence and future life are bleak and full of bad news, that we get to peek at the final chapter.  Jesus words are so comforting in 13:26: “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.”

In the final chapter of the Bible, Jesus tells us three times that He is coming soon – Rev. 22:7, 12, 20.  That’s good news!

~Paul Thompson