#DailyDevotion Don’t Be Afraid. Jesus Said It Would Happen.
Mark 13:1–8
As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher, look at those wonderful stones and buildings!” 2“You see these large buildings?” Jesus asked him. “Not a stone will be left on another here but will be torn down.” When He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, facing the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately: 4“Tell us, when will this be, and how can we tell when all this is going to happen?” 5“Be careful not to let anyone deceive you,” Jesus told them. 6“Many will come using My name and saying, ‘I am He,’ and will deceive many. 7“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t get alarmed. It must happen, but that’s not the end yet. 8Nation will fight against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in different places, and famines. These are only the first pains.”
For a prophet, and Jesus is “The Prophet” of Deuteronomy 18, he doesn’t do a whole lot of foretelling the future in the gospels. Jesus foretells his death and resurrection a number of times and that he is returning to judge to living and the dead. But here in chapter 13 Jesus does do some foretelling.
This foretelling is initiated by his disciples marveling over the Temple which Herod had restored.. Jesus shoots them down with, “Not a stone will be left on another here but will be torn down.” Well that’s kind of crazy. The last time the Temple was torn down was because the Jews rejected YHWH, the Living God as their king. Certainly they were not going to return to idolatry. Yet, as we see in the court of Pilate that is exactly what they do as they reject Jesus, who is the LORD as their king and instead claim Caesar. It will be at the orders of Caesar the Temple is torn down.
While they ask when this will happen, Jesus really looks beyond that to the Last Days, in which his Church will live, after his death and resurrection. One of the things Jesus warns them and us about is false messiahs coming up, some even claiming to be him. When Jesus tells them they will claim “I am He,” I am He is a reference to the LORD of the Old Testament. Jesus of course is the “I am He” and he refers to himself by this name and title. (Isaiah 41, 43, 48, 51) Many people will be deceived by it. In my lifetime there have a number of people either claiming to have the Spirit of Christ and are the second coming of Jesus. There have been people claiming to be Jesus reincarnated and the second coming. The one true Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the LORD, the King of Israel returns with the clouds and all his angels and on that day all the dead are raised to judgment. So don’t fall for these guys.
There will be wars and rumors of wars. Nations will rise against nations. There will be famines, plagues and great suffering. Still, the nations will not repent and turn to Jesus. These things all have happened in your life time and in mine. These are just the first pains. We should not fear them. We should when we see these things examine ourselves and repent of our sins. Turning from our sins, we should turn to Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith. We need to continually look to him as our only hope and salvation. Then when he comes in judgment and he judges us, he will declare us not guilty, innocent, holy and will present us to the Father without any stain, wrinkle, spot or blotch, holy and blameless.
Dear Jesus, keep us steadfast in the faith so at your second advent we may enter into your eternal kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.