Jesus’ Final Week in Jerusalem
Mark 11:1–16:20
Teaching (11:1–13:37)
King (11:1-11)
Sunday: Triumphal Entry (11:1-11).
Lawgiver (11:12–12:44)
Monday (11:12-19).
Tuesday (11:20–14:2).
Lesson from Fig Tree (11:20-26).
Jesus’ Authority Questioned (11:27-33).
Parable of Wicked Vinedressers (12:1-12).
On Taxes (12:13-17).
On Resurrection (12:18-27).
The Greatest Commandment (12:28-34).
An Unanswerable Question (12:35-37).
Warning About the Scribes (12:38-40).
Widow’s mites (12:41-44).
Prophet (13:1-37)
On Temple’s Destruction (13:1-30).
Difficulties in interpretation.
Setting the stage (13:1-4).
Leading up to the destruction (13:5-13).
Jerusalem’s destruction (13:14-27).
Parable of the fig tree (13:28-30).Mark records very few parables of Jesus.
The official count is five: four in Mark 4, and one in Mark 12.
There are other illustrations, however, that Jesus uses in this book that are called parables (e.g. here and in Mark 3:23-27).
In this case, Jesus is using this parable to express the imminence of the events about to occur.
Recall the cursing of the fig tree that happened the day before, and they noticed early that morning that the fig tree had been withered (11:20-21).
It was spring and not the season for figs, but they had the buds on it before and as the tree’s leaves return.
After the leaves came, the summer was not long after that.
This is something we also know with any deciduous tree, though the fig tree was very familiar to Jesus and His contemporaries.
As summer occurs only a few months after a tree leafs, so quickly the events will occur when the signs manifest themselves.
This very clearly is not talking about the end of time, but with the events Jesus had just finished talking about, the destruction of Jerusalem.
He had just told them what the signs were, and the one that is unmistakable is the abomination of desolation, or Jerusalem surrounded by armies (13:14; Luke 21:20).
The destruction of the temple, that question which Jesus was answering (13:4), was going to happen soon after—at the doors!
We find many people today trying to predict Jesus’ Second Coming, using this passage21 to say that it applies to that event and saying that it’s going to happen soon!
And they have been saying that for generations now—this hardly reflects Jesus’ statement that it is “at the doors.”
But this does reflect what we have been talking about, that once they see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, it’s time to go!
In fact, such would occur within 40 years of Jesus’ saying these words, from about a.d. 33 to a.d. 70.
Here is the segue that many give for the discussion to change focus from the destruction of the temple to the Second Coming at the end of time.
Heavens and Earth Pass Away (13:31-37).
Focus shift.
Most of the commentators I have seen have placed from here on as happening in our future.
I have seen no convincing case that anything after this was fulfilled in a.d. 70.
But something about it doesn’t seem right.
In Matthew’s version of the Olivet Discourse, most people comment on the two questions the disciples ask Jesus, and it is around this point that Jesus shifts focus to answer the other question (Matt. 24:3, 35-36).
But it’s clear to me that the disciples had no idea they were asking questions about two separate events.
And we have just talked about how the coming of the Son of Man was foretold in the judgment upon Jerusalem (13:26).
At the same time, Mark’s version doesn’t even have one of those questions that is asked in Matthew (13:4).
Let’s compare them here, along with Luke’s.
Matthew 24:3 — “Tell us, when will these things [destruction of temple] be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?”
Mark 13:4 — “Tell us, when will these things [destruction of temple] be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?”
Luke 21:7 — “Teacher, but when will these things [destruction of temple] be? And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?”
I don’t think the disciples had any clue they were asking a new question as recorded in Matthew, but the content in some places fits the end of time far more than what happened in a.d. 70.
There is one key concept later in Mark (13:32-33) that leads me to believe Jesus must be talking about the very end.
So, despite the disciples’ not really asking about it, Jesus shifts focus anyway.
Jesus’ words will not pass away (13:31).
This is the transition verse, that, even though heaven and earth will pass away, the words of Jesus will remain.
This phrase, “heaven and earth passes away,” is a peculiar one.
First of all, “heaven and earth” and its variations is meant both literally and figuratively throughout Scripture.
If you recall, when we talked about the celestial events earlier on (13:24-25), we looked at Isaiah 13:10.
There the passage is clearly talking about the destruction of Babylon at the hand of the Medes.
And in Isaiah 13:13, the Lord uses similar language as we see in the Olivet Discourse: “Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth will move out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger.”
This is clearly figurative, like someone saying, “I will move heaven and earth to be there.”
So can we interpret this verse by rephrasing it, saying, “No matter what happens, My words will last forever”?
Well, I certainly think that’s an application we can take.
In any event, the words of Jesus will last forever, meaning He has all authority, and there will be none to come after Him that we should listen to—hence His earlier warnings of the false christs.
But Jesus says this, that heaven and earth will pass away, as if it’s a future reality.
And the next couple of verses suggests that this must be referring to something beyond a.d. 70.
No one knows when (13:32-33).
“Of that day and hour no one knows” – This is an idiom that basically means no one knows when this event is going to happen.
But wait, didn’t He just spend this whole chapter telling us how we can know when that day and hour is going to be? What of the signs we are to spot, as a fig tree’s leaves indicate an imminent summer?
This is the strongest piece of evidence that convinces me that after 13:30, Jesus has changed the subject to refer to a future coming.
After all, how can He inform us of when these events would occur if He didn’t know when they would occur?
And that’s something to talk about. It’s no surprise that the angels do not know when this will happen, they are not omniscient.
Of course God is omniscient, so God the Father clearly knows when heaven and earth will pass away.
But how can God the Son be ignorant of when this was going to happen? Do we have a problem with God not knowing something? How might we explain this?
It depends on how we define “omniscience.” Since omnipotence is defined as having the power to do whatever one wants, then omniscience means knowing whatever one wants.
If Jesus is God and He is both omnipotent and omniscient, are we saying He doesn’t have the power to be ignorant of something if He so chooses? Of course He does.
At the same time, Paul writes in Philippians 2:7 that Jesus “made Himself of no reputation,” which other translations state that He “emptied Himself.”
Thayer defines the Greek word that’s used there as, “to empty, to make empty; to make void, or deprive of force, render vain, useless, of no effect; to make void, or cause a thing to be seen to be empty, hollow, false” (G2758).
Not that Jesus was false in any way, but He was emptied of God’s abilities while He was in “the form of a bondservant, coming in the likeness of men.”
So how was He able to perform miracles and read the hearts of men? Because at His baptism, the Holy Spirit was working through Him (cf. John 1:32-34).
And if the Son doesn’t know when that day or hour will come, you better believe no one alive today knows, either!
People will say, “Well, it doesn’t say we won’t know the week, month, or year.”
Well, they take that too literally. Recall, this is an idiom indicating a complete ignorance of when these things would occur, that is when heaven and earth will pass away.
I knew of someone who said that the Lord would come in 2017. He was absolutely convinced of this! But come Dec. 31st, well then we know the day. And that night at 11 PM, then we know the hour. Well, on Jan. 1, 2018, he was devastated—until he realized the Jewish year ended in March!
Some people will never be convinced of the truth, no matter how much evidence contradicts their blind faith. We don’t know anything about that today, do we?
So regardless of whether or not the disciples knew what Jesus was talking about, it seems clear what is in view here, the Last Day!
In any event, since we don’t know when that Day will come, Jesus urges us to watch and pray!
Watch and pray! (13:33-37).
These are the standing orders we have been given, to watch and pray!
To watch, according to Thayer, is “to be sleepless, keep awake, watch; to be circumspect, attentive, ready” (G69).
So this doesn’t mean that we need to keep our eyes open at all times, but we must be ready for His coming at any moment.
Why? Because there will be no signs for the Second Coming of the Lord.
So, what ought we to do? Be ready, make sure we are right with God at any and every moment.
That’s why we offer the Lord’s invitation at the end of every sermon, because we don’t know when our last day on earth will be, whether by our death or by His return.
Be ready! And pray—pray without ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17).
And since we bring up 1 Thessalonians, let’s not forget what Paul wrote earlier in that chapter (1 Thess. 5:1-11).
As Jesus talks about in Matt. 25:1-13 in the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins, that day will come when we least expect it, therefore be ready!
To buttress His point, Jesus brings up another illustration or parable, similar to that of the Wise and Foolish Virgins.
Jesus is the owner of the house (the church) and is going to a far country (heaven), having left His servants in charge.
The servants to whom He gave that authority are the Apostles. The other servants have been given their tasks (watch and pray, evangelize, edify, help others).
The doorkeeper is told to keep watch for the potential “thief in the night.”
But see, we know that thief is going to come, so we stay awake and keep watch.
Not that Jesus is a thief, but His coming will be just as surprising—a thief won’t announce himself!
You see, we all are to be doorkeepers as these orders inform us.
This is actually another Greek word for “watch” here and in vs. 35, 37. Metaphorically, it means, “give strict attention to, be cautious, be active” (G1127).
W1e have no idea when this end is coming, when the Master will return, so we need to be ready just as the doorkeeper needs to be ready.
For those keeping watch, they must remain awake during their watch.
Recall the rule back then was that if you were supposed to be watching and something happened, it would mean your life.
And the Lord, just as this master, could come in the evening (12-6 PM), at midnight (6 PM – 12 AM), at the crowing of the rooster (12-6 AM), or in the morning (6 AM – 12 PM).
Of course, these times are representative of any time, day or night.
We must not be caught sleeping, showing a lack of readiness, or as Stauffer words it, “spiritual drowsiness that often overtakes disciples who get caught up with life and its material pursuits and become derelict concerning their duties to God” (Stauffer 329), because if we do it could mean our life!
This is a command to all: Watch! Be ready to go at any time!
And to be ready, we must obey Jesus’ words and trust in His promises because His words will by no means pass away!