9 But take care: for they will give you up to the Sanhedrins; and in Synagogues you will be whipped; and you will be taken before rulers and kings because of me, for a sign to them.
But be on the watch against men: for they will give you up to the Sanhedrins, and in their Synagogues they will give you blows; And you will come before rulers and kings because of me, for a witness to them and to the Gentiles.
They will put you out of the Synagogues: yes, the time is coming when whoever puts you to death will have the belief that he is doing God's pleasure.
And while they were attempting to put him to death, news came to the chief captain of the band that all Jerusalem was out of control. And straight away he took some armed men and went quickly down to them: and the Jews, seeing them, gave no more blows to Paul. Then the chief captain came near and took him, and gave orders for him to be put in chains, questioning them as to who he was and what he had done. And some said one thing and some another, among the people: and as he was not able to get a knowledge of the facts because of the noise, he gave orders for Paul to be taken into the army building. And when he came on to the steps, he was lifted up by the armed men, because of the force of the people; For a great mass of people came after them, crying out, Away with him! And when Paul was about to be taken into the building, he said to the chief captain, May I say something to you? And he said, Have you a knowledge of Greek? Are you by chance the Egyptian who, before this, got the people worked up against the government and took four thousand men of the Assassins out into the waste land? But Paul said, I am a Jew of Tarsus in Cilicia, which is not an unimportant town: I make a request to you to let me say a word to the people. And when he let him do so, Paul, from the steps, made a sign with his hand to the people, and when they were all quiet, he said to them in the Hebrew language,
And he came to us, and took the band of Paul's clothing, and putting it round his feet and hands, said, The Holy Spirit says these words, So will the Jews do to the man who is the owner of this band, and they will give him up into the hands of the Gentiles.
And I said, Lord, they themselves have knowledge that I went through the Synagogues putting in prison and whipping all those who had faith in you: And when Stephen your witness was put to death, I was there, giving approval, and looking after the clothing of those who put him to death.
And Paul, looking fixedly at the Sanhedrin, said, My brothers, my life has been upright before God till this day. And the high priest, Ananias, gave orders to those who were near him to give him a blow on the mouth.
And after five days, the high priest, Ananias, came with certain of the rulers, and an expert talker, one Tertullus; and they made a statement to Felix against Paul. And when he had been sent for, Tertullus, starting his statement, said, Because by you we are living in peace, and through your wisdom wrongs are put right for this nation, In all things and in all places we are conscious of our great debt to you, most noble Felix. But, so that I may not make you tired, I make a request to you of your mercy, to give hearing to a short statement. For this man, in our opinion, is a cause of trouble, a maker of attacks on the government among Jews through all the empire, and a chief mover in the society of the Nazarenes: Who, in addition, was attempting to make the Temple unclean: whom we took, [] And from whom you will be able, by questioning him yourself, to get knowledge of all the things which we say against him. And the Jews were in agreement with his statement, saying that these things were so.
So Festus, having come into that part of the country which was under his rule, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. And the chief priests and the chief men of the Jews made statements against Paul, Requesting Festus to give effect to their design against him, and send him to Jerusalem, when they would be waiting to put him to death on the way. But Festus, in answer, said that Paul was being kept in prison at Caesarea, and that in a short time he himself was going there. So, he said, let those who have authority among you go with me, and if there is any wrong in the man, let them make a statement against him. And when he had been with them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and on the day after, he took his place on the judge's seat, and sent for Paul. And when he came, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem came round him, and made all sorts of serious statements against him, which were not supported by the facts. Then Paul, in his answer to them, said, I have done no wrong against the law of the Jews, or against the Temple, or against Caesar. But Festus, desiring to get the approval of the Jews, said to Paul, Will you go up to Jerusalem, and be judged before me there in connection with these things? And Paul said, I am before the seat of Caesar's authority where it is right for me to be judged: I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you are well able to see. If, then, I am a wrongdoer and there is a cause of death in me, I am ready for death: if it is not as they say against me, no man may give me up to them. Let my cause come before Caesar. Then Festus, having had a discussion with the Jews, made answer, You have said, Let my cause come before Caesar; to Caesar you will go. Now when some days had gone by, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea and went to see Festus. And as they were there for some days, Festus gave them Paul's story, saying, There is a certain man here who was put in prison by Felix: Against whom the chief priests and the rulers of the Jews made a statement when I was at Jerusalem, requesting me to give a decision against him. To whom I gave answer that it is not the Roman way to give a man up, till he has been face to face with those who are attacking him, and has had a chance to give an answer to the statements made against him. So, when they had come together here, straight away, on the day after, I took my place on the judge's seat and sent for the man. But when they got up they said nothing about such crimes as I had in mind: But had certain questions against him in connection with their religion, and about one Jesus, now dead, who, Paul said, was living. And as I had not enough knowledge for the discussion of these things, I made the suggestion to him to go to Jerusalem and be judged there. But when Paul made a request that he might be judged by Caesar, I gave orders for him to be kept till I might send him to Caesar. And Agrippa said to Festus, I have a desire to give the man a hearing myself. Tomorrow, he said, you may give him a hearing. So on the day after, when Agrippa and Bernice in great glory had come into the public place of hearing, with the chief of the army and the chief men of the town, at the order of Festus, Paul was sent for. And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all those who are present here with us, you see this man, about whom all the Jews have made protests to me, at Jerusalem and in this place, saying that it is not right for him to be living any longer. But, in my opinion, there is no cause of death in him, and as he himself has made a request to be judged by Caesar, I have said that I would send him. But I have no certain account of him to send to Caesar. So I have sent for him to come before you, and specially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the business has been gone into, I may have something to put in writing.
For it seems to me that God has put us the Apostles last of all, as men whose fate is death: for we are put on view to the world, and to angels, and to men. We are made to seem foolish for Christ, but you are wise in Christ; we are feeble, but you are strong; you have glory, but we have shame. Even to this hour we are without food, drink, and clothing, we are given blows and have no certain resting-place; And with our hands we do the hardest work: when they give us curses we give blessings, when we undergo punishment we take it quietly; When evil things are said about us we give gentle answers: we are made as the unclean things of the world, as that for which no one has any use, even till now.
Are they servants of Christ? (I am talking foolishly) I am more so; I have had more experience of hard work, of prisons, of blows more than measure, of death. Five times the Jews gave me forty blows but one. Three times I was whipped with rods, once I was stoned, three times the ship I was in came to destruction at sea, a night and a day I have been in the water; In frequent travels, in dangers on rivers, in dangers from outlaws, in dangers from my countrymen, in dangers from the Gentiles, in dangers in the town, in dangers in the waste land, in dangers at sea, in dangers among false brothers; In hard work and weariness, in frequent watchings, going without food and drink, cold and in need of clothing.
Which is a clear sign of the decision which God in his righteousness has made; to give you a part in his kingdom, for which you have undergone this pain;
I, John, your brother, who have a part with you in the trouble and the kingdom and the quiet strength of Jesus, was in the island which is named Patmos, for the word of God and the witness of Jesus.
Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life.
I have knowledge that your living-place is where Satan has his seat: and you are true to my name, and were not turned away from your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who was put to death among you, where Satan has his place.
And when the fifth stamp was undone, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been put to death for the word of God, and for the witness which they kept. And they gave a great cry, saying, How long will it be, O Ruler, holy and true, before you take your place as judge and give punishment for our blood to those on the earth? And there was given to every one a white robe, and they were ordered to take their rest for a little time, till the number was complete of the other servants, their brothers, who would be put to death, even as they had been.
For this reason, I send you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: some of them you will put to death and put on the cross, and to some of them you will give blows in your Synagogues, driving them from town to town; So that on you may come all the blood of the upright on the earth, from the blood of upright Abel to the blood of Zachariah, son of Barachiah, whom you put to death between the Temple and the altar. Truly I say to you, All these things will come on this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, putting to death the prophets, and stoning those who are sent to her! Again and again would I have taken your children to myself as a bird takes her young ones under her wings, and you would not!
And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town; Teaching rules of living which it is not right for us to have or to keep, being Romans. And the people made an attack on them all together: and the authorities took their clothing off them, and gave orders for them to be whipped. And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely: And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
Now, about that time, Herod the king made cruel attacks on the Christians. And he put James, the brother of John, to death with the sword. And when he saw that this was pleasing to the Jews he went on to take Peter in addition. This was at the time of the feast of unleavened bread.
But Ananias said, Lord, I have had accounts of this man from a number of people, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem: And here he has authority from the chief priests to make prisoners all who give worship to your name.
But Saul, still burning with desire to put to death the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, And made a request for letters from him to the Synagogues of Damascus, so that if there were any of the Way there, men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
Then they got men to say, He has said evil against Moses and against God, in our hearing. And the people, with the rulers and the scribes, were moved against him, and they came and took him before the Sanhedrin, And they got false witnesses who said, This man is for ever saying things against this holy place and against the law: For he has said in our hearing that this Jesus of Nazareth will put this place to destruction and make changes in the rules which were handed down to us by Moses. And all those who were in the Sanhedrin, looking at him, saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
But the high priest and those who were with him (the Sadducees) were full of envy, And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison. But in the night an angel of the Lord, opening the doors of the prison, took them out and said, Go, take your place in the Temple and give the people all the teaching about this Life. And hearing this, they went into the Temple at dawn, and were teaching. But the high priest and those who were with him got together the Sanhedrin and the representatives of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to get them. But the men who were sent saw that they were not in the prison, and came back with the news, Saying, The doors of the prison were safely shut, and the keepers were at the doors, but when they were open, there was nobody inside. Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business. And someone came and said to them, The men, whom you put in prison, are in the Temple teaching the people. Then the captain and some of the police went and took them, but not violently, for fear that they might be stoned by the people. And they took them into the Sanhedrin, and the high priest said to them, We gave you very clear orders not to give teaching in this name: and now Jerusalem is full of your teaching, and you are attempting to make us responsible for this man's death. But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not of man. The God of our fathers gave Jesus back to life, whom you had put to death, hanging him on a tree. Him God has put on high at his right hand, as a Ruler and a Saviour, to give to Israel a change of heart and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who keep his laws. But when these words came to their ears, they were cut to the heart, and had a mind to put them to death. But one of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a man of learning in the law, of whom all the people had a high opinion, got up and made a suggestion for the men to be put outside for a little time. And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you do about these men. For before this there was Theudas, who said he was someone important, to whom about four hundred men gave their support: he was put to death, and his band was broken up and came to nothing. After this man, there was Judas of Galilee, at the time of the numbering, and some of the people went after him: he was put to death, and all his supporters were put to flight. And now I say to you, Do nothing to these men, but let them be: for if this teaching or this work is of men, it will come to nothing: But if it is of God, you will not be able to overcome them, and you are in danger of fighting against God. And he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of Jesus, they let them go.
And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them, Being greatly troubled because they were teaching the people and preaching Jesus as an example of the coming back from the dead. And they took them and put them in prison till the morning, for it was now evening. But a number of those who gave hearing to the word had faith; and they were now about five thousand. And on the day after, the rulers and those in authority and the scribes came together in Jerusalem; And Annas, the high priest, was there, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all the relations of the high priest. Then sending for Peter and John, they said, By what power and in whose name have you done this? Then Peter, being full of the Holy Spirit, said to them, O you rulers of the people and men of authority, If we are questioned today about a good work done to a man who was ill, as to how he has been made well, Take note, all of you, and all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you put to death on the cross, whom God gave back from the dead, even through him is this man now before you completely well. He is the stone which you builders had no use for, but which has been made the chief stone of the building. And in no other is there salvation: for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, through which we may have salvation. Now when they saw that Peter and John were without fear, though they were men of no education or learning, they were greatly surprised; and they took note of them that they had been with Jesus. And, seeing that the man who had been made well was there with them, they were not able to say anything against it. But when they had given them orders to go out of the Sanhedrin, they had a discussion among themselves, Saying, What are we to do with these men? for certainly it is clear to all who are living in Jerusalem that a most important sign has been done by them, and it is not possible to say that it is not so. But so that it may not go farther among the people, let us put them in fear of punishment if they say anything in future in this name. And they sent for them, and gave them orders not to make statements or give teaching in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John in answer said to them, It is for you to say if it is right in the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God: For it is not possible for us to keep from saying what we have seen and have knowledge of. And when they had said more sharp words to them, they let them go, not seeing what punishment they might give them, because of the people; for all men were giving praise to God for what had taken place.
But you will be given up even by your fathers and mothers, your brothers and relations and friends; and some of you will be put to death. And you will be hated by all men, because of me. But not a hair of your head will come to destruction.
And if any people will not take you in, when you go away from that town, put off its dust from your feet for a witness against them.
See that you say nothing to any man: but go and let the priest see you, and make yourself clean by an offering of the things ordered by Moses, for a witness to them.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Mark 13
Commentary on Mark 13 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 13
We have here the substance of that prophetical sermon which our Lord Jesus preached, pointing at the destruction of Jerusalem, and the consummation of all things; it was one of the last of his sermons, and not ad populum-to the people, but ad clerum-to the clergy; it was private, preached only to four of his disciples, with whom his secret was. Here is,
Mar 13:1-4
We may here see,
Mar 13:5-13
Our Lord Jesus, in reply to their question, sets himself, not so much to satisfy their curiosity as to direct their consciences; leaves them still in the dark concerning the times and seasons, which the father has kept in his own power, and which it was not for them to know; but gives them the cautions which were needful, with reference to the events that should now shortly come to pass.
Mar 13:14-23
The Jews, in rebelling against the Romans, and in persecuting the Christians, were hastening to their own ruin apace, both efficiently and meritoriously, were setting both God and man against them; see 1 Th. 2:15. Now here we have a prediction of that ruin which came upon them within less than forty years after this: we had it before, Mt. 24:15, etc. Observe,
Mar 13:24-27
These verses seem to point at Christ's second coming, to judge the world; the disciples, in their question, had confounded the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world (Mt. 24:3), which was built upon a mistake, as if the temple must needs stand as long as the world stands; this mistake Christ rectifies, and shows that the end of the world in those days, those other days you enquire about, the day of Christ's coming, and the day of judgment, shall be after that tribulation, and not coincident with it. Let those who live to see the Jewish nation destroyed, take heed of thinking that, because the Son of man doth not visibly come in the clouds then, he will never so come; no, he will come after that. And here he foretels,
Mar 13:28-37
We have here the application of this prophetical sermon; now learn to look forward in a right manner.