Mark Lesson 10

MARK LESSON 10

As you observed while doing Lesson 9, Tuesday, the day of Questions and controversy, in Jesus final week was a very full day. Many events occurred on that Tuesday including the cursing of the fig tree, the questioning of Jesus authority, and the telling of the parable of the tenants in a vineyard. Jesus also answered questions about paying taxes, marriage at the resurrection and concerning the greatest commandment. He even posed and answered a question of His own, specifically, How can David call Jesus Lord and yet Jesus be David´s son. Then Jesus observed people putting their offerings into the temple treasury. All that and still His day was not completed. In fact, we are going to pick up our study as Jesus, still on this very busy Tuesday, finally leaves the temple to return to Bethany for the night. Shortly after He and His disciples leave the temple another series of questions is posed to Him, this time by His own disciples.

Section 1

Let´s find out what these questions were and Jesus response. Read Mark Chapter 13. When you have finished, we will think about what you have read. For now just simply read.

-----Pause while you read Mark Chapter 13-----

This same discourse, commonly referred to as the OLIVET DISCOURSE, because it was a discourse / talk given on the Mt. of Olives, is also recorded for us in Matthew and Luke. We will look at those other accounts before this week is over. But, today, let´s consider only at the Mark 13 passage which you have just read.

Of course, you have the advantage of the retrospectoscope and know (or could know if you had studied your history) that much has happened to Jerusalem and the Jewish people since Jesus spoke those prophetic words in approximately 33 AD.

For example, you know that in less than a week, Jesus Himself, will have been killed (crucified) and laid in a tomb from which He arose three days later ! ALIVE! You know that after His resurrection He was seen by many, including all of His Apostles (except Judas, of course) and over 500 others before ascending to heaven.(Read I Cor. 15:6). You also know that at Pentecost, He sent His Holy Spirit to indwell and empower those (Christians/ believers) who believed that He was God and had accepted His gift of salvation.

You also know that life was not easy for Jews or for Christians in the years preceding and following His death and resurrection. In fact, Will Durant, in his magnum opus, The Story of Civilization, Vol III, Caesar and Christ, records in great detail many of the persecutions and events which occurred in that era, some of which sound remarkably similar to what you have just read in Mark 13 and will read in Matthew, Luke, and in other passages which we will read later this week in our study of the OLIVET Discourse of Jesus.

From Durant, we learn that conditions grew increasingly difficult for Jews and Christians as their Roman rulers plundered and taxed them severely. Let´s let Durant tell you in his own words:

Bands of Zealots and Dagger-men ...pledged to kill any disloyal (to Rome) Jew, mingled in street gatherings, stabbed their appointed victims from behind, and disappeared in the chaos of the crowd. When Florus took seventeen talents ($61,200) from the Temple treasure, an angry mob collected before the shrine and cried out for his dismissal; ... Florus´ legions dispersed the assemblage, plundered hundreds of homes, and slew the occupants; the leading rebels were scourged and crucified; on that day, says Josephus, 3600 Jews were slain. The old or well-to-do Hebrews counseled patience, arguing that revolt against so powerful an empire would be national suicide; the young or poor accused them of connivance and cowardice. The two factions divided the city and nearly every family; one seized the upper part of Jerusalem, the other the lower, and each attacked the other with every weapon at hand. In 68 (AD) a pitched battle was fought between the groups; the radicals won, and killed 12,000 Jews, including nearly all the rich; the revolt had become a revolution. A rebel force surrounded the Roman garrison at Masada, persuaded it to disarm, and then slaughtered every man of it. On that day the gentiles of Casearea, the Palestinian capital, rose in a pogrom that slew 20,000 Jews; other thousands were sold into slavery. In one day the gentiles of Damascus cut the throats of 10,000 Jews. The enraged revolutionists laid waste many Greek cities in Palestine and Syria, burned some of them to the ground, and killed and were killed in great number. It was then common, says Josephus, to see cities filled with dead bodies ... unburied, those of old men mixed with infants, and women lying among them without any cover. By September of 66 the revolution had won Jerusalem and nearly all of Palestine. The peace party was discredited, and most of its members now joined in the revolt.

Among them was a priest named Josephus, then a young man of thirty, energetic, brilliant, and endowed with an intellect capable of transforming every desire into a virtue. Commissioned by the rebels to fortify Galilee, he defended its stronghold, Jotopata, against Vespasian´s siege, until only forty Jewish soldiers remained alive, hiding with him in a cave. Josephus wished to surrender, but his men threatened to kill him if he tried it. Since they preferred death to capture, he persuaded them to draw lots to fix the order in which each should die by the hand of the next; when all were dead but himself and one other, he induced him to join him in surrender. They were about to be sent to Rome in Chains when Josephus prophesied that Vespasian would be emperor. Vespasian released him, and gradually accepted him as a useful adviser in the war against the Jews. When Vespasian left for Alexandria, Josephus accompanied Titus to the siege of Jerusalem.

The approach of the legions brought the defenders to a belated and fanatical unity. Tacitus reckons that 600,000 rebels had gathered in the city. ... Josephus, from the Roman lines, called upon the besieged to surrender; they branded him as a traitor, and fought to the last. Starving Jews made desperate sorties to forage for food; thousands of them were captured by the Romans, and were crucified; the multitude of these was so great, Josephus reports, that room was wanting for the crosses, and the crosses were wanting for the bodies. In the later stages of the five-month siege the streets of the city were clogged with corpses; ghouls wandered about despoiling and stabbing the dead; we are told that 116,000 bodies were thrown over the walls. Some Jews swallowed gold pieces and slipped out from Jerusalem; Romans or Syrians, capturing them, slit open their bellies, or searched their offal, to find the coins. Having taken half the city, Titus offered what he thought were lenient terms to the rebels; they rejected them. The flaming brands of the Romans set fire to the Temple, and the great edifice, much of it of wood, was rapidly consumed. The surviving defenders fought bravely, proud, says Dio, to die on Temple grounds. Some killed one another, some fell upon their own swords, some leaped into the flames. The victors gave no quarter, but slew all Jews upon whom they could lay their hands; 97,000 fugitives were caught and sold as slaves; many of them died as unwilling gladiators in the triumphal games that were celebrated at Berytus, Caesarea Philippi, and Rome. Josephus numbered at 1,197,000 the Jews killed in this siege and its aftermath; Tacitus calculated them at 600,000 (A.D. 70).

Resistance continued here and there till 73, but essentially the destruction of the Temple marked the end of the rebellion and of the Jewish state. The property of those who had shared in the revolt was confiscated and sold. Judea was almost shorn of Jews, and those that remained lived on the edge of starvation. Even the poorest Jew now had to pay to a pagan temple at Rome the half shekel that pious Hebrews had formerly paid each year for the upkeep of the Temple at Jerusalem. The high-priesthood and the Sanhedrin were abolished. Judaism took the form that it has kept till our own time; a religion without a central shrine, without a dominant priesthood, without a sacrificial service. The Sadducees disappeared, while the Pharisees and the rabbis became the leaders of a homeless people that had nothing left but its synagogues and its hope.

The flight or enslavement of a million Jews so accelerated their spread throughout the Mediterranean that their scholars came to date the Diaspora from the destruction of Herod s Temple. ...

After the fall of Jerusalem Josephus sailed to Rome with Titus, and accompanied the conqueror of his people in a triumphal procession that exhibited captive Jews and Jewish spoils. Vespasian gave him Roman citizenship, a pension, an apartment in his palace, and profitable lands in Judea. In return Josephus took Vespasian´s family name Flavius, and wrote The Wars of the Jews (ca. 75) to defend the actions of Titus in Palestine, to exonerate his own defection, and to discourage further revolt by showing forth the might of Rome. In his later years (ca. 93), feeling more keenly his isolation, he wrote The Antiquities of the Jews to regain the good will of his people by giving gentiles a more favorable view of Jewish achievements, customs, and character. His narratives are clear and forceful, and his account of Herod the Great is as engaging as Plutarch, but his bias and his aims impair his objectivity. The Antiquities required many years and exhausted the author´s strength; the last four of the twenty books were written by his secretaries from his notes. ...

Since the Law was now the indispensable cement of scattered and stateless Jewry, the teaching of the Law became the chief occupation of the synagogue throughout the Diaspora ; the synagogue replaced the temple, prayer replaced sacrifice, the rabbi replaced the priest. Tannaim - expositors - interpreted one or another of the orally transmitted laws (Halacha) of the Jews, usually supported it with scriptural quotation, sometimes added to it, and illustrated it with stories, homilies, or other material (Haggada). ...

In 115-16 the Jews of Cyerene, Egypt, Cyprus, and Mesopotamia rose once more against Rome; the massacre of gentiles by Jews, and of Jews by Gentiles, became the order of the day; 220,000 men, says Dio, were killed in Cyrene, 240,000 in Cyprus; the figures are incredible, but we know that Cyrene never recovered from the devastation, and that for centuries thereafter no Hebrew was allowed in Cyprus. The uprisings were suppressed, but the surviving Jews kept fiercely alive their hope of a Messiah who would rebuild the Temple and restore them in triumph to Jerusalem. Roman stupidity reanimated the revolt. In 130 Hadrian declared his intention to raise a shrine to Jupiter on the site of the Temple; in 131 he issued a decree forbidding circumcision and public instruction in the Jewish Law. Under the leadership of Simeon Bar Cocheba, who claimed to be the Messiah, the Jews made their last effort in antiquity to recover their homeland and their freedom (132 AD). Akiba, who all his life had preached peace, gave his blessing to the revolution by accepting Bar Cocheba as the promised Redeemer. For three years the rebels fought valiantly against the legions; finally they were beaten by lack of food and supplies. The Romans destroyed 985 towns in Palestine, and slew 580,000 men; a still larger number, we are told, perished through starvation, disease, and fire; nearly all Judea was laid waste. Bar Cocheba himself fell in defending Bethar. So many Jews were sold as slaves that their price fell to that of a horse. Thousands hid in underground channels rather than be captured; surrounded by the Romans, they died one by one of hunger, while the living ate the bodies of the dead.

Resolved to destroy the recuperative virility of Judaism, Hadrian forbade not merely circumcision, but the observance of the Sabbath or any Jewish holyday, and the public performance of any Hebrew ritual. A new and heavier poll tax was placed upon all Jews. They were allowed in Jerusalem only on one fixed day each year, when they might come and weep before the ruins of their Temple. The pagan city of Aelia Capitolina rose on the site of Jerusalem, with shrines to Jupiter and Venus, and with palaestras, theaters, and baths. The council at Jamnia was dissolved and outlawed; a minor and powerless Council was permitted at Lydda, but public instruction in the Law was prohibited on pain of death. Several rabbis were executed for disobeying this injunction. ...

Though Hadrian´s decrees were softened by Antonius Piius, the Jews did not for centuries recover from the disaster of Bar Cocheba s revolt. From this moment they entered their Middle Ages, abandoning all secular learning except medicine, renouncing every form of Hellenism, and taking comfort and unity only from their rabbis, their mystic poets, and their Law. No other people has ever known so long an exile, or so hard a fate. Shut out from their Holy City, the Jews were compelled to surrender it first to paganism, then to Christianity. Scattered into every province and beyond, condemned to poverty and humiliation, unbefriended even by philosophers and saints, they retired from public affairs into private study and worship, passionately preserving the words of their scholars, and preparing to write them down at last in the Talmuds of Babylonia and Palestine. Judaism hid in fear and obscurity while its offspring, Christianity, went out to conquer the world."

Whew! As you can readily see, history did not stop for the Jews in 70 AD with the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. During the years intervening from then until now, the lives of the Jews and of Christians have mirrored many of the events prophesied by Jesus during His Olivet Discourse. But, the final end about which Jesus also prophesied has obviously not yet come. There is still more to expect and endure. So, with all that in mind, re-read now Mark 13, and as you read, answer the following questions:

What time period in history do you believe Jesus is referring to in Mark 13:1-2?

Circle your answer:............70 AD...........A time which has not yet occurred..........Not Sure

Of course, you had the retrospectoscope to help you with your answer to that question, but Jesus´ disciples did not. So shortly later, after walking the distance from the Temple to the Mt. of Olives and while sitting on the mountain side and probably even looking at the Temple, four of Jesus disciples were still thinking about His amazing statement.

Who were the 4 disciples who asked Jesus about this? (13:3)

And what did they ask? (13:4) Write it here:

About what were they specifically inquiring? Circle your answer from the choices below:

1. The time when the temple will be destroyed in the manner which Jesus had just described in Mark 13:1-2

2. Everything that is going to happen from the moment they were sitting there on the mountainside until the end of time as they / we know it

3. Not sure.

Explain your answer:

But how did Jesus answer them (Mark 13:5-37) Circle your answer from the choices below:

1. He told them only about the future destruction of the Temple which would occur about 37 years later in AD 70.

2. He told them not about the destruction of the temple in 70 AD but about many other events, some of which have not yet occurred even in our lifetime.

3. He told them very little about the future destruction of the temple (in 70 AD), but mainly talked about events beyond 70AD, some of which we can identify with our retrospectoscope and some of which have still not occurred.

Explain your answer, or, if none of these possibilities expresses what you believe Jesus was teaching, write what you believe Jesus was telling them:

Yes, they asked about the destruction of the Temple, but Jesus actually told them of events which extended all the way to the end of time , ie to the time of His (Jesus ) Second Coming! So, let´s continue to look at Mark 13, now knowing that the information provided tells of events extending all the way to the time of the Second coming of Christ.

What verses, if any, seem to refer to the events leading up to and including the destruction of the temple in 70 AD?

What verses seem to tell of events which occurred between 70 AD and now (1996)?

What verses seem to tell of events which have not yet occurred as of 1996 AD and therefore are still in the future?

Do the events appear to be sequential and in precise chronological order or do they seem to be in a general chronological order but with some overlapping, duplication, expansion of description, or repetition of some of the events? Circle your answer from the choices below:

Precise chronological order ............There may be some duplication, expansion..................Not sure

Explain your answer

Hmmmm. This is not as easy to figure out as it looks on a causal reading, is it?!? But, don´t throw up your hands in despair yet. Take a break now and think upon this passage as reported by Mark (who had heard it from Peter). Tomorrow we will look at it through the ears and pen of a disciple who heard Jesus actually tell of these amazing events.

Section 2

Let´s hear the Olivet Discourse again, this time from one who was actually there and sat on the mountain with Jesus and heard all that Jesus said! Yes, let´s hear it from Matthew. You will recall that Matthew had been a publican (tax collector), before he was called to be an apostle. Perhaps his attention to details in that previous career is why his recollection is more detailed. Or maybe not. But he did record more details and information for us than did Mark. So, let s read what Matthew recorded for us in Matthew Chapters 24 and 25.

-----Pause while you read Matthew 24 & 25-----

Whew! Matthew surely was listening closely. And aren´t we glad !? He provided us with some additional information which may help us in our understanding of these prophecies of Jesus.

The scene and the opening statements are the same. Jesus and His disciples were leaving the Temple after a long Tuesday of Controversy and Questions. In response to His disciples´ comments about the temple buildings, Jesus gave the prophecy about the Temple (Matt. 24:2). Write the prophecy about the temple here:

Then, proceeding on to the Mt. of Olives, and sitting there, the disciples asked Jesus about this amazing statement. The questions they asked, as recorded by Matthew in 24:2 are more detailed and specific than what Mark recorded. What did the disciples ask, as heard by Matthew? Write the questions here:

Now write their question(s) as recorded by Mark in 13:4:

Hmmmm! Well now, if we look at the more detailed and specific questions as reported by Matthew (who was there) and by Mark (who heard about this years later from Peter), can you see now why Jesus answered as He did and with greater detail and with much more information than just about the destruction of the Temple? Certainly!

As before, but now looking at Matthew 24 and 25, answer the following questions:

What verses, if any, seem to refer to events leading up to and including the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD?

What verses in Matthew seem to tell of events which have not yet occurred as of 1996 AD, and are still in our future?

Do the events in Matthew seem to be sequential in precise chronological order or does there seem to be a general chronological order but with some overlapping, duplication, expansion or description, repetition, of some events. Or is there even an out of sequence chronology? Circle your answer from the choices below:

Precise sequential chronology with nothing out of place

There seems to be some duplication, expansion, repetition, etc.

The chronological order does not seem to be in sequence in every aspect

Not sure.

Explain your answer:

Looking at verses 24:4-31, what would seem to be the sequence if you could put the events in chronological order. Ie. What verses would tell of:

The destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD ___________________________________

The end of the age (just before Jesus 2nd coming) _________________________

Events concerning Christs 2nd coming ___________________________________

Is it possible that any of the events could occur more than once in the course of history? And if so what? Explain your answer:

To what is Matthew 24:31-35 referring? ( Warning! Think carefully before you answer. This is not as simple as it may look on the surface. Consider the context of all of Matthew 24 and 25 before you answer. Don´t give a knee jerk or canned answer. Think about this first!)

Circle your answer from the choices below:

The Rapture

Events at the end of the age at the time of Jesus 2nd coming

Not sure

Explain your answer:

You obviously noticed that the information given in Matthew 24:36 and 25:1-46 is much more detailed than in the Mark account. Why do you think Matthew included this additional information and the greater detail than Mark did?

Obviously much time could be spent in the study of Matthew 24:36-25:46, time which we unfortunately do not have in this course. So we can only briefly look at these verses. However, they do teach something very specific which applies to them and to us while we await Jesus 2nd coming. What is the bottom line practical message which Jesus was trying to tell His apostles and us about HOW to live while we await His return, His 2nd coming?

Section 3

In this section of our lesson, let´s look at the Olivet Discourse as recorded for us by Luke. Luke, as you know, did not hear this in person, but he compiled information from many sources and eyewitness accounts. Read Luke 1:1-4. And this is what he compiled for us. So read now Luke 21:5-36.

-----Pause while you read Luke 21:5-36-----

Same scene, same situation. Jesus has told them that the Temple is going to be destroyed. They ask Him about this. What specifically did they ask? (Luke 21:7) Write it here:

Hmmmm, sounds remarkably like the questions as recorded in Mark. But, remember, both Mark and Luke are recording what they were told by others. Only Matthew was there in person. So the questions as revealed by Matthew really best explain why Jesus answered as He did and in the great detail which went far beyond that required for the questions as recorded in Mark and Luke. But, is this a problem? No! For thanks to Matthew, we know all the questions that were asked and therefore understand why Jesus answered with the specific details which encompassed not just information about the destruction of the Temple but also events to and including the time of His return at His 2nd coming.

So, with that in mind, what verses if any, in the Luke account seem to refer to events leading up to and including the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD?

What verses in Luke seem to tell of events which have not yet occurred as of 1996 AD and are still in the future?

Do the events in Luke seem to be in sequential and precise chronological order or does there seem to be a general chronological order but with overlapping, duplication, expansion of description, or repetition of some events? Circle your answer from the choices below:

Precise sequential chronological order with nothing out of place

There seems to be some duplication, expansion, etc.

The chronological order does not seem to be in sequence in every aspect

Not sure

Explain your answer:

Is it possible that any of the events could occur more than once in the course of history? And if so, what? Explain your answer.

As in Matthew, Luke went into more detail in his retelling of Jesus prophecies.

Matthew 21:34-36 gives us information about how to live. Write those verses here:

Now, in practical everyday terms, write in your own words what Jesus is telling you and me to do while we await His return and why.

Finally, add the information your learned concerning the Olivet Discourse to your

PASSION WEEK..chart and then you will be finished for today.

Section 4

OK! You have a great foundation and framework. You have looked at the Olivet Discourse in some detail. Your assignment now is intended to help you view Jesus´ words through the frame of reference of what His apostles already knew about prophecy. So, are you sitting down? Great! Because, it is time now to read Daniel. Yes! The entire book of Daniel. Chapters 1 - 12. So, get your most readable version of the Bible. I would suggest NIV or the New King James, but you can use whatever version you prefer. Curl up in a comfortable chair and just read.

Do not take any notes. Do not mark anything . Just read and observe.

-----Pause while you read Daniel-----

Whew! Wow! Awesome!

If you have any thoughts or insights, you may record them in the space below. Then you will be finished with this Section of your Lesson.

Section 5

OK! You now have a better, though partial, perspective of what the Apostles knew before they heard Jesus´ prophecies. And, of course, there was much much more prophetic scripture available to them and with which they were familiar including passages in Ezekiel, Isaiah, the Psalms, Zechariah, and in MANY other places in the Old Testament. Unfortunately we don´t have time to read or study them. I wish we did.

So, now, in Section 5 of this Lesson, as a further attempt to try to understand when will these things happen and what will be the sign of your (Jesus ) coming and of the end of the age , let´s look at the definitive source which builds upon the Old Testament Prophecies and upon the Olivet Discourse. I am speaking, of course, of the book of Revelation. John, the apostle sat there on the Mt. of Olives in about 33 AD and heard the Olivet discourse. He was also familiar with the O.T. Prophecies. Then, approximately 60 years later, in about 95 AD, John had a vision from Jesus. In that vision, Jesus gave John details, many of which had not been previously known and others which expanded upon and further explained the O.T. prophecies and the Olivet Discourse.

So, your assignment now, should you choose to accept it, is to (gasp!) read the Book of Revelation! Yes, all 22 chapters! Use the NIV or the New King James or whatever version you prefer which is easy to read. Just read! Don´t take notes. Don´t try to look for details or make charts or outline things. Don´t go off on any rabbit chases. Don´t look up words. Don´t look up locations on maps. Just read! Read what Jesus told John to tell us, you and me and anyone who would listen, about the future! OK? OK!

-----Pause while you read the Book of Revelation-----

Wow! Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! Come!

References Cited in this Lesson:

Durant, Will, The Story of Civilization, Vol III, Caesar and Christ. Simon and Schuster. New York. 1944, 1972 pps 543-549.

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