CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Mark 13:8. Beginnings of sorrows.—Beginning of travail-pangs—the throes that are to issue in the regeneration of the world.
Mark 13:9. Render: But look ye to yourselves; for they shall deliver you unto sanhedrins and unto synagogues; ye shall be beaten; and at-the-bar-of governors and kings ye shall stand on account of Me, for a testimony to them. Meaning of last clause: an opportunity will be given you of proclaiming the truth in the hearing of the highest in the land—those who, in the ordinary course of things, would be unlikely to come in contact with peasants of Galilee.
Mark 13:11. Take no thought beforehand.—Entertain no solicitude as to what, etc. Neither do ye premeditate.—Omitted in many first-rate MSS. and versions. Probably a marginal explanation of preceding clause, which eventually crept into the text.
Mark 13:13. He that shall endure unto the end.—“Here is the cardinal virtue of fortitude, the cheerful hardihood and loyal sense of duty, evinced by Christ’s faithful soldier and servant in meeting all shocks of temptation and all assaults of our enemies; for ὑπομένειν often means to bide the brunt of encounter in battle.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Mark 13:1-13
(PARALLELS: Matthew 24:1-14; Luke 21:5-19.)
The destruction of the Temple.—
I. The function of a prophet.—Of the three characters, Prophet, Priest, and King, which are united in the person of Christ, the first is that in which He was commonly regarded while He lived among men. The original authority of a prophet is grounded, not on the truth of his declarations concerning future events, which can never be ascertained till the accomplishment of those events, but on the proofs of his Divine mission which he offers to his immediate hearers—the signs and wonders which, in connexion with the purity of his doctrine and the holiness of his life, plainly prove him to be a teacher come from God, a prophet at least, if not more than a prophet. When, however, the miracles have done their work, and convinced the men of that generation of the prophetic character of him who performs them, there still remains the test of prophecy, strictly so called—the predictions, if the prophet have uttered any such, relating to future events, to be accomplished in due season. Many such predictions might be gathered out of our Lord’s discourses, and compared with the course of subsequent events, from the time of their delivery unto this day. None, however, will be found more interesting or more convincing than those which He delivered relating to the destruction of that very city and Temple in or near which they were uttered.
II. The prediction of Christ concerning the Temple.—Jerusalem might be called, at that time, a prosperous and flourishing city, not indeed independent, but rather strengthened than weakened by that protection which was extended over it by the Roman power. It was surrounded with lofty walls, along which numerous strong towers were erected at certain distances, according to the best methods of fortification then practised. High above all rose the Temple, at once temple and fortress, to the buildings of which belonged those immense stones which were pointed out to Christ by His disciples on this occasion. Could a finer opportunity have been offered of delivering that prediction which He had always intended to leave behind Him of the approaching destruction of both city and Temple? Or could that destruction have been announced in terms better adapted to sink down into the ears of His disciples? When a building, especially one of the size and massive construction of the Temple, is suffered to fall into decay, its destruction is slow and gradual; and long after the more perishable portions have disappeared the walls remain standing, to shew the form and dimensions of the structure when entire. Even when these have fallen down the foundations continue unimpaired; and no degree of dilapidation, nothing but extreme violence and a deliberate intention to destroy, can ever reduce such an edifice to the state here described. It is manifest, therefore, and must have been manifest to Christ’s hearers, that He spoke of no ravages of time, no process of decay, but of brute force and hostile assaults, when He used this image.
III. The fulfilment of this prediction.—Pass over a period of forty years, and view Jerusalem, as had been foretold of it, compassed with armies, the armies of the Romans under Titus. After several delays, occasioned by the unsettled state of the Roman Government, Vespasian was at last confirmed in the imperial throne, and his son Titus was sent to command the armies in Judea. The days of Jerusalem were now numbered. Failing to take the city by assault, Titus proceeded to surround the entire compass of it with a wall, thereby fulfilling a part of our Lord’s description (Luke 19:43). The inhabitants being thus without the possibility of escape, and all supplies being cut off, the accomplishment of the rest of the prophecy could not be far off. It was hastened by the conduct of the people themselves. Instead of uniting, as one man, in the defence of the city, they weakened themselves by mutual factions and divisions, insomuch that within the short space of five months the city was taken, and the work of destruction begun. It is recorded that Titus himself was very desirous of preserving the Temple as a monument of Roman power and prowess, but was unable to restrain his own soldiers, who, in the heat and excitement of victory, set fire to it, and resisted all attempts to extinguish the conflagration. The preservation of these great buildings being thus rendered impossible, we read that the Roman general, foiled in his first design, now gave orders to complete the demolition both of the city and Temple by actually digging up and levelling the foundations of them; thus, almost literally, leaving “not one stone upon another.”
Lessons.—
1. How differently would things strike us if we could only look forward a few years! What a world of changes do we live in! Desire and seek after “durable riches,” a “building of God,” a “good foundation laid up in store against the time to come.”
2. In connexion with the punishment inflicted on Jerusalem, reflect on our own responsibility as having succeeded to those privileges of which the Jews were dispossessed. Beware of defiling “the temple of the living God.”
3. Where is this temple to be seen in its perfection? Not, will each of us be ready to reply, not in me, nor in my sin-stained, blood-guilty soul. When I look into myself I see a temple indeed, but a temple in ruins; a shrine from which the Divinity has departed; a perverse will, unruly passions, wayward and unsanctified affections; in a word, of that noble fabric which was dedicated to God in baptism, and has been since adorned with so many “gifts of the Holy Ghost,” not one stone is left upon another. I see, and mourn; but I do not despair. The tears of the Christian over the breaches and decays of his spiritual temple are the appointed means by which, under God, those breaches are to be healed, and the whole building restored to its original use, and, if possible, to more than its original beauty.—F. Field, LL.D.
Warning, promise, and encouragement.—There is nothing in these words to encourage speculation, much to induce and strengthen that practical temper and habit, the habit of duty and loyal obedience, in which there lives far more real religion than in all the pious and laborious conjectures good men have framed, and which they sometimes attempt to palm off as infallible certainties on an astonished Church, or world.
I. The warning I take to be that we are to wait with patience for the orderly providential unfolding of the Divine counsel, instead of impatiently jumping at hasty and misleading conclusions. The conceited temper which speaks as though it had been admitted to the secret council-chamber of heaven; the curious temper which is for ever prying into futurity, and busies itself with speculation instead of with the rules of holy living and the problems of obedience; the hasty temper which is impatient for results, and wants to see trees bearing fruit as soon as they are planted; and the faithless temper which is always seeking proofs and signs, and confounds seeing with believing, are all rebuked by this grave and kindly warning.
II. The promise I take to be that to all faithful and obedient souls, thus waiting with patience on God amid many tribulations and disappointments, too occupied with duty and service to let their hearts grow sick with hope deferred, a Divine guidance and help will be vouchsafed, answering to every need. Loyalty to Christ under hard conditions, and when we fall on evil times, will expose us to many tribulations—to loss, contumely, and the alienation of friends. But these very tribulations are part of the discipline by which God is making us constant and making us perfect, by which He is preparing us for salvation and life. And meantime, even in our darkest hours and most dejected moods, He is with us to guide and sustain us, to teach us what to say and what to do.
III. The encouragement I take to be that the tribulations of this present time are designed to usher in, to prepare for us and to prepare us for, a better time, a golden age, which shall have no end. This regeneration is our great hope, our great encouragement, under the toils, often unrequited, of time, under all its changes and catastrophes, under the oppressive sense of its manifold evils, sorrows, wrongs. We look for a time, we believe it to be the purpose of God that a time shall come, in which evil will be overcome of good, and death be swallowed up of life, in which not we alone shall be blessed, but all men will be drawn into the service, love, and peace of God. And if we really believe this to be the end to which the love and providence of God are pressing forward through all the vicissitudes and tribulations of time, for the joy set before us, we may well rejoice in our tribulations and toils, even though we do not know when the end will be reached, or what will be the signs of its approach.—S. Cox, D.D.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Mark 13:1-2. The spiritual temple.—
1. The world admires a stately and magnificent temple; but the temple which attracts the eyes and the heart of Christ, as worthy of God and framed by His Spirit, is a heart which resembles that of this poor widow, a heart consecrated by charity, wherein God makes His abode, and in which this virtue worships Him, sacrifices itself to Him, mourns continually in His presence, and there feeds upon His Divine Word.
2. Christ bears with the simplicity of His disciples, who would have Him admire a temple of which He was Himself the model, and which was only a figure of His body; but He makes use of this simplicity to instruct them, to take off their minds from this visible temple, and to give them a foresight of that justice which He was to exercise upon this building, on account of the Jews. Nothing of that which is to be destroyed is worthy to be the true temple of God. It is in a poor and humble heart that Hedelights to dwell.—P. Quesnel.
Mark 13:5-13. This prophecy a proof of Christ’s Divinity.—This prophecy is one of the clearest and surest in the Bible, and has ever been regarded by Christians as a decisive proof of the Divine mission of their Lord. In a time of peace He predicted war. When there were only visible signs of prosperity, He foretold speedy destruction. When the disciples were few, He declared that the gospel would soon be proclaimed to distant nations. When the apostles were about to forsake Him, seeking safety by flight, He said that ere long many would be willing to die for His name. When there were no outward indications of success, He spoke with perfect confidence of the establishment of His kingdom. He taught the disciples that its nature was different from their hopes, being more excellent; and the means of its promotion different from their expectations, being more effective. Knowing that after two days He should be crucified, and declaring this to the disciples, He expressed to them the full assurance of the triumph of His kingdom, by means of which the history of the world afforded no example; and of their salvation, through sufferings which they feared to anticipate. He gave them that knowledge, and only that, which was useful to them; and referred to their coming trials with the firmest faith and the most tender sympathy. He announced the retribution which would come on His adversaries, without any personal resentment, stating it to be the righteous judgment of God, but manifesting compassion even for those whose sins brought upon themselves destruction. Such were the words of Jesus; and His words were fulfilled. Looking only to this one prophecy, we say with those who witnessed the Crucifixion, “Truly this is the Son of God.”—J. H. Godwin.
Mark 13:5-6. The danger of being led astray.—It is quite as important not to be led astray by false religious teachers as by any other class of deceivers or deceived; and there is quite as much danger in this line as in any other. Sincerity on our part is no guard against deception or wandering; nor is sincerity a safeguard to a religious teacher. Those who are themselves both honest and sincere would lead us astray if we followed them in their wrong path. There is danger of our being led astray by the sermons we hear, the papers or the books we read, the counsel or example of those whom we have supposed to be godly, or by the impulses or convictions of our own minds and hearts. There is such a thing as conscientious error-teaching and devil-serving. The warning of Jesus is, that ye take heed that no man lead you astray in doctrine or morals, through holding up a false standard of conduct, or a false interpretation of God’s Word.
Mark 13:6. “I am Christ.”—Imposture will always take its clue from antecedent reality; its work is that of distortion, not of invention (Acts 19:13; 2 Timothy 2:18; 2 Peter 3:16).—J. Miller.
Mark 13:11. Divine source of apostolic sufficiency.—Christ chose poor fishermen to shew that however insufficient soever He received them, yet He received them into such a school, such an university, as would deliver them back into His Church, made fit by Him for the service thereof. Christ needed not man’s sufficiency; He took insufficient men. Christ excuses no man’s insufficiency; He made them sufficient (Mark 16:20; Acts 4:13; Exodus 4:10-12; 2 Corinthians 4:7).—John Donne, D.D.
Mark 13:12. Christianity the cause of division.—As Christianity gives birth to and cherishes the most perfect love, so it calls forth the most bitter hatred. It calls forth a love which is above nature, because it makes men love their enemies. Contrariwise it calls forth a hatred which is unnatural; for it made, and yet makes, men hate and betray, and, if they can, destroy their own flesh and blood. Thus we read that the Emperor Domitian, in his hatred of the Christian name, slew Flavius Clemens and his niece, or near relation Flavia Domitilla; the Emperor Maximin martyred Artemia, his own sister; and Diocletian slew his own wife and other relatives. St. Barbara also was killed by her own father; and if we had a full martyrology of obscure Christians, we should find multitudes of others similarly betrayed by their own flesh and blood. We are told by Indian missionaries that as soon as converts are baptised they become objects of hatred to their nearest relatives; even their wives often desert them. Now if this be so in a country where Christianity is the religion of the rulers, what would it be if heathenism were unchecked in its power of persecution?—M. F. Sadler.
Mark 13:13. Incentives to perseverance.—
1. Of all afflictions and troubles, those are the most comfortable to suffer and endure which are suffered for Christ.
2. By these kinds of sufferings we glorify God, and bring honour to the name of Christ, and credit to the gospel, more than by any other sufferings.
3. It is a most honourable thing unto us, yea, the greatest glory that may be in this world, to suffer anything for Christ.
4. Consider how much Christ has suffered for us, and for our salvation; how great reproach and shame; what bitter pain and torment of soul and body; and let this move us patiently and willingly to suffer any persecution and trouble for His sake.
5. Consider how much wicked men suffer in the practice of sin, and to satisfy their wicked lusts, and let this move us to suffer any persecution for Christ.
6. Consider the great and excellent reward promised to those who endure for Christ’s sake.—G. Petter.
Persecution a trial to perseverance.—There are persecutions and persecutions—great and bloody persecutions such as a Nero or a Decius could inaugurate on an imposing scale; and, as we know, petty persecutions, which are all that is permitted to the native ferocity of the persecuting temper by the milder manners of a more civilised age. But persecution, whatever its scale, is a trial to perseverance. Persecution is in any case friction; and, as we all know, friction, if only it be continued long enough, brings movement to a standstill, unless there be a new supply of the impelling force. Men who have done much for Christ have given up at the last under the stress of relentless persecution. And perhaps petty persecutions are more trying to perseverance, in some ways, than great ones. Men who have not flinched from the axe or from the stake will yield to the incessant worry of domestic or local tyranny—to the persecutions which make home wretched, or the office, or the shop, or the dormitory wellnigh intolerable. Why do we pray in the Church service that “the evils which the craft and subtlety of the devil or man worketh against us be brought to naught, and, by the providence of God’s goodness, may be dispersed?” It is that we, His servants, “being hurt by no persecutions, may evermore give thanks unto Him in His holy Church.” In other words, it is because persecution involves a serious risk to perseverance.—Canon Liddon.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 13
Mark 13:7-8. The sorrows of war.—The conqueror of Bonaparte at Waterloo wrote, on the day after June 19th, to the Duke of Beaufort: “The losses we have sustained have quite broken me down, and I have no feeling for the advantages we have acquired.” On the same day, too, he wrote to Lord Aberdeen: “I cannot express to you the regret and sorrow with which I look round me and contemplate the loss which I have sustained, particularly in your brother. The glory resulting from such actions, so dearly bought, is no consolation to me, and I cannot suggest it as any to you and his friends; but I hope that it may be expected that this last one has been so decisive as that no doubt remains that our exertions and our individual losses will be rewarded by the early attainment of our just object. It is then that the glory of the actions in which our friends and relations have fallen will be some consolation for their loss.” He who could write thus had already attained a greater victory than that of Waterloo; and the less naturally follows the greater.
Mark 13:13. Endurance.—There was a period during the battle of Königgrätz when the attack of the Prussians seemed hopeless. Across the stream and up the long slope the battalions poured, only to be again and again repulsed by the Austrian army, and yet again and again they returned to the attack. And what was the secret that encouraged their persistence? An observer of the battle from a tall tower, at this crisis, looked eastward along the range of elevated ground which was the stronghold of the Austrians, and in the distance, from the edge of a wood, his eye caught the gleaming of bayonets. A strong body of Prussians had outflanked the Austrians, and was advancing rapidly on the rear of their position, and it was the knowledge of this flank movement of the other division of their army that gave courage and endurance to those Prussians who attacked in front. Just thus the Christian, though often disappointed with his failures in the spiritual life, yet persists in his efforts, for he knows that the irresistible force of God’s power will come to the help of His tried and tempted servants.
Constancy.—Some dyes cannot bear the weather, but alter colour presently; but there are others that, having something that gives a deeper tincture, will hold. The graces of a true Christian hold out in all sorts of weather, in winter and summer, prosperity and adversity, when superficial counterfeit holiness will give out.—R. Sibbes.
Perseverance.—“I know the way to heaven,” said little Minnie to little Johnny, who stood by her side, looking at a picture-book. “You do?” said little John. “Well, won’t you tell me how to get there?” “Oh yes! I’ll tell you. Just commence going up, and keep on going all the time, and you’ll get there. But, Johnny, you must not turn back.”