9 But *ye*, take heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to sanhedrims and to synagogues: ye shall be beaten and brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them;
But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to sanhedrims, and scourge you in their synagogues; and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them and to the nations.
And as they were seeking to kill him, a representation came to the chiliarch of the band that the whole of Jerusalem was in a tumult; who, taking with him immediately soldiers and centurions, ran down upon them. But they, seeing the chiliarch and the soldiers, ceased beating Paul. Then the chiliarch came up and laid hold upon him, and commanded [him] to be bound with two chains, and inquired who he might be, and what he had done. And different persons cried some different thing in the crowd. But he, not being able to know the certainty on account of the uproar, commanded him to be brought into the fortress. But when he got upon the stairs it was so that he was borne by the soldiers on account of the violence of the crowd. For the multitude of the people followed, crying, Away with him. But as he was about to be led into the fortress, Paul says to the chiliarch, Is it allowed me to say something to thee? And he said, Dost thou know Greek? Thou art not then that Egyptian who before these days raised a sedition and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the assassins? But Paul said, *I* am a Jew of Tarsus, citizen of no insignificant city of Cilicia, and I beseech of thee, allow me to speak to the people. And when he had allowed him, Paul, standing on the stairs, beckoned with his hand to the people; and a great silence having been made, he addressed them in the Hebrew tongue, saying,
And *I* said, Lord, they themselves know that *I* was imprisoning and beating in every synagogue those that believe on thee; and when the blood of thy witness Stephen was shed, I also myself was standing by and consenting, and kept the clothes of them who killed him.
And Paul, fixing his eyes on the council, said, Brethren, I have walked in all good conscience with God unto this day. But the high priest Ananias ordered those standing by him to smite his mouth.
And after five days came down the high priest Ananias, with the elders, and a certain orator called Tertullus, and laid their informations against Paul before the governor. And he having been called, Tertullus began to accuse, saying, Seeing we enjoy great peace through thee, and that excellent measures are executed for this nation by thy forethought, we receive [it] always and everywhere, most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. But that I may not too much intrude on thy time, I beseech thee to hear us briefly in thy kindness. For finding this man a pest, and moving sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a leader of the sect of the Nazaraeans; who also attempted to profane the temple; whom we also had seized, [and would have judged according to our law; but Lysias, the chiliarch, coming up, took [him] away with great force out of our hands, having commanded his accusers to come to thee;] of whom thou canst thyself, in examining [him], know the certainty of all these things of which we accuse him. And the Jews also joined in pressing the matter against [Paul], saying that these things were so.
Festus therefore, being come into the eparchy, after three days went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. And the chief priests and the chief of the Jews laid informations before him against Paul, and besought him, asking as a grace against him that he would send for him to Jerusalem, laying people in wait to kill him on the way. Festus therefore answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was about to set out shortly. Let therefore the persons of authority among you, says he, going down too, if there be anything in this man, accuse him. And having remained among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; and on the next day, having sat down on the judgment-seat, commanded Paul to be brought. And when he was come, the Jews who were come down from Jerusalem stood round, bringing many and grievous charges which they were not able to prove: Paul answering for himself, Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar, have I offended [in] anything. But Festus, desirous of obliging the Jews, to acquire their favour, answering Paul, said, Art thou willing to go up to Jerusalem, there to be judged before me concerning these things? But Paul said, I am standing before the judgment-seat of Caesar, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews have I done no wrong, as *thou* also very well knowest. If then I have done any wrong and committed anything worthy of death, I do not deprecate dying; but if there is nothing of those things of which they accuse me, no man can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar. Then Festus, having conferred with the council, answered, Thou hast appealed to Caesar. To Caesar shalt thou go. And when certain days had elapsed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to salute Festus. And when they had spent many days there, Festus laid before the king the matters relating to Paul, saying, There is a certain man left prisoner by Felix, concerning whom, when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid informations, requiring judgment against him: to whom I answered, It is not [the] custom of the Romans to give up any man before that the accused have the accusers face to face, and he have got opportunity of defence touching the charge. When therefore they had come together here, without putting it off, I sat the next day on the judgment-seat and commanded the man to be brought: concerning whom the accusers, standing up, brought no such accusation of guilt as *I* supposed; but had against him certain questions of their own system of worship, and concerning a certain Jesus who is dead, whom Paul affirmed to be living. And as I myself was at a loss as to an inquiry into these things, I said, Was he willing to go to Jerusalem and there to be judged concerning these things? But Paul having appealed to be kept for the cognisance of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I shall send him to Caesar. And Agrippa [said] to Festus, I myself also would desire to hear the man. To-morrow, said he, thou shalt hear him. On the morrow therefore, Agrippa being come, and Bernice, with great pomp, and having entered into the hall of audience, with the chiliarchs and the men of distinction of the city, and Festus having given command, Paul was brought. And Festus said, King Agrippa, and all men who are here present with us, ye see this person, concerning whom all the multitude of the Jews applied to me both in Jerusalem and here, crying out against [him] that he ought not to live any longer. But I, having found that he had done nothing worthy of death, and this [man] himself having appealed to Augustus, I have decided to send him; concerning whom I have nothing certain to write to my lord. Wherefore I have brought him before you, and specially before thee, king Agrippa, so that an examination having been gone into I may have something to write:
For I think that God has set us the apostles for the last, as appointed to death. For we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and men. *We* [are] fools for Christ's sake, but *ye* prudent in Christ: *we* weak, but *ye* strong: *ye* glorious, but *we* in dishonour. To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and are in nakedness, and buffeted, and wander without a home, and labour, working with our own hands. Railed at, we bless; persecuted, we suffer [it]; insulted, we entreat: we are become as [the] offscouring of the world, [the] refuse of all, until now.
Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as being beside myself) *I* above measure [so]; in labours exceedingly abundant, in stripes to excess, in prisons exceedingly abundant, in deaths oft. From the Jews five times have I received forty [stripes], save one. Thrice have I been scourged, once I have been stoned, three times I have suffered shipwreck, a night and day I passed in the deep: in journeyings often, in perils of rivers, in perils of robbers, in perils from [my own] race, in perils from [the] nations, in perils in [the] city, in perils in [the] desert, in perils on [the] sea, in perils among false brethren; in labour and toil, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness.
And when it opened the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar the souls of them that had been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held; and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O sovereign Ruler, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell upon the earth? And there was given to them, to each one a white robe; and it was said to them that they should rest yet a little while, until both their fellow-bondmen and their brethren, who were about to be killed as they, should be fulfilled.
Therefore, behold, *I* send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and [some] of them ye will kill and crucify, and [some] of them ye will scourge in your synagogues, and will persecute from city to city; so that all righteous blood shed upon the earth should come upon *you*, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, [the city] that kills the prophets and stones those that are sent unto her, how often would I have gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
and having brought them up to the praetors, said, These men utterly trouble our city, being Jews, and announce customs which it is not lawful for us to receive nor practise, being Romans. And the crowd rose up too against them; and the praetors, having torn off their clothes, commanded to scourge [them]. And having laid many stripes upon them they cast [them] into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely; who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and secured their feet to the stocks.
At that time Herod the king laid his hands on some of those of the assembly to do them hurt, and slew James, the brother of John, with the sword. And seeing that it was pleasing to the Jews, he went on to take Peter also: (and they were the days of unleavened bread:)
And Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many concerning this man how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name.
But Saul, still breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, came to the high priest and asked of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues, so that if he found any who were of the way, both men and women, he might bring [them] bound to Jerusalem.
Then they suborned men, saying, We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they roused the people, and the elders, and the scribes. And coming upon [him] they seized him and brought [him] to the council. And they set false witnesses, saying, This man does not cease speaking words against the holy place and the law; for we have heard him saying, This Jesus the Nazaraean shall destroy this place, and change the customs which Moses taught us. And all who sat in the council, looking fixedly on him, saw his face as [the] face of an angel.
And the high priest rising up, and all they that were with him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, were filled with wrath, and laid hands on the apostles and put them in the public prison. But an angel of [the] Lord during the night opened the doors of the prison, and leading them out, said, Go ye and stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard it, they entered very early into the temple and taught. And when the high priest was come, and they that were with him, they called together the council and all the elderhood of the sons of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. And when the officers were come, they did not find them in the prison; and returned and reported saying, We found the prison shut with all security, and the keepers standing at the doors; but when we had opened [them], within we found no one. And when they heard these words, both the priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests were in perplexity as to them, what this would come to. And some one coming reported to them, Lo, the men whom ye put in the prison are in the temple, standing and teaching the people. Then the captain, having gone with the officers, brought them, not with violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And they bring them and set them in the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, We strictly enjoined you not to teach in this name: and lo, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and purpose to bring upon us the blood of this man. But Peter answering, and the apostles, said, God must be obeyed rather than men. The God of our fathers has raised up Jesus, whom *ye* have slain, having hanged on a cross. Him has God exalted by his right hand as leader and saviour, to give repentance to Israel and remission of sins. And *we* are [his] witnesses of these things, and the Holy Spirit also, which God has given to those that obey him. But they, when they heard [these things], were cut to the heart, and took counsel to kill them. But a certain [man], a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, held in honour of all the people, rose up in the council, and commanded to put the men out for a short while, and said to them, Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves as regards these men what ye are going to do; for before these days Theudas rose up, alleging himself to be somebody, to whom a number of men, about four hundred, were joined; who was slain, and all, as many as obeyed him, were dispersed and came to nothing. After him rose Judas the Galilean in the days of the census, and drew away [a number of] people after him; and *he* perished, and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered abroad. And now I say to you, Withdraw from these men and let them alone, for if this counsel or this work have its origin from men, it will be destroyed; but if it be from God, ye will not be able to put them down, lest ye be found also fighters against God. And they listened to his advice; and having called the apostles, they beat them, and enjoined them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them.
And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, being distressed on account of their teaching the people and preaching by Jesus the resurrection from among [the] dead; and they laid hands on them, and put them in ward till the morrow; for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed; and the number of the men had become [about] five thousand. And it came to pass on the morrow that their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together at Jerusalem, and Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of [the] high priestly family; and having placed them in the midst they inquired, In what power or in what name have *ye* done this? Then Peter, filled with [the] Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders [of Israel], if *we* this day are called upon to answer as to the good deed [done] to the infirm man, how *he* has been healed, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazaraean, whom *ye* have crucified, whom God has raised from among [the] dead, by *him* this [man] stands here before you sound [in body]. *He* is the stone which has been set at nought by you the builders, which is become the corner stone. And salvation is in none other, for neither is there another name under heaven which is given among men by which we must be saved. But seeing the boldness of Peter and John, and perceiving that they were unlettered and uninstructed men, they wondered; and they recognised them that they were with Jesus. And beholding the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to reply; but having commanded them to go out of the council they conferred with one another, saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed an evident sign has come to pass through their means is manifest to all that inhabit Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But that it be not further spread among the people, let us threaten them severely no longer to speak to any man in this name. And having called them, they charged [them] not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answering said to them, If it be righteous before God to listen to you rather than to God, judge ye; for as for us *we* cannot refrain from speaking of the things which we have seen and heard. But they, having further threatened them, let them go, finding no way how they might punish them, on account of the people, because all glorified God for what had taken place;
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Mark 13
Commentary on Mark 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
Mr 13:1-37. Christ's Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem, and Warnings Suggested by It to Prepare for His Second Coming. ( = Mt 24:1-51; Lu 21:5-36).
Jesus had uttered all His mind against the Jewish ecclesiastics, exposing their character with withering plainness, and denouncing, in language of awful severity, the judgments of God against them for that unfaithfulness to their trust which was bringing ruin upon the nation. He had closed this His last public discourse (Mt 23:1-39) by a passionate lamentation over Jerusalem, and a solemn farewell to the temple. "And," says Matthew (Mt 24:1), "Jesus went out and departed from the temple"—never more to re-enter its precincts, or open His mouth in public teaching. With this act ended His public ministry. As He withdrew, says Olshausen, the gracious presence of God left the sanctuary; and the temple, with all its service, and the whole theocratic constitution, was given over to destruction. What immediately followed is, as usual, most minutely and graphically described by our Evangelist.
1. And as he went out of the temple, one of his disciples saith unto him—The other Evangelists are less definite. "As some spake," says Luke (Lu 21:5); "His disciples came to Him," says Matthew (Mt 24:2). Doubtless it was the speech of one, the mouthpiece, likely, of others.
Master—Teacher.
see what manner of stones and what buildings are here—wondering probably, how so massive a pile could be overthrown, as seemed implied in our Lord's last words regarding it. Josephus, who gives a minute account of the wonderful structure, speaks of stones forty cubits long [Wars of the Jews, 5.5.1.] and says the pillars supporting the porches were twenty-five cubits high, all of one stone, and that of the whitest marble [Wars of the Jews, 5.5.2]. Six days' battering at the walls, during the siege, made no impression upon them [Wars of the Jews, 6.4.1]. Some of the under-building, yet remaining, and other works, are probably as old as the first temple.
2. And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings?—"Ye call My attention to these things? I have seen them. Ye point to their massive and durable appearance: now listen to their fate."
there shall not be left—"left here" (Mt 24:2).
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down—Titus ordered the whole city and temple to be demolished [Josephus, Wars of the Jews, 7.1.1]; Eleazar wished they had all died before seeing that holy city destroyed by enemies' hands, and before the temple was so profanely dug up [Wars of the Jews, 7.8.7].
3. And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, over against the temple—On their way from Jerusalem to Bethany they would cross Mount Olivet; on its summit He seats Himself, over against the temple, having the city all spread out under His eye. How graphically is this set before us by our Evangelist!
Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately—The other Evangelists tell us merely that "the disciples" did so. But Mark not only says that it was four of them, but names them; and they were the first quarternion of the Twelve.
4. Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?—"and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" They no doubt looked upon the date of all these things as one and the same, and their notions of the things themselves were as confused as of the times of them. Our Lord takes His own way of meeting their questions.
Prophecies of the Destruction of Jerusalem (Mr 13:5-31).
5. And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you:
6. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ—(see Mt 24:5)—"and the time draweth nigh" (Lu 21:8); that is, the time of the kingdom in its full splendor.
and shall deceive many—"Go ye not therefore after them" (Lu 21:8). The reference here seems not to be to pretended Messiahs, deceiving those who rejected the claims of Jesus, of whom indeed there were plenty—for our Lord is addressing His own genuine disciples—but to persons pretending to be Jesus Himself, returned in glory to take possession of His kingdom. This gives peculiar force to the words, "Go ye not therefore after them."
7. And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled—(See on Mr 13:13, and compare Isa 8:11-14).
for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet—In Luke (Lu 21:9), "the end is not by and by," or "immediately." Worse must come before all is over.
8. These are the beginnings of sorrows—"of travail-pangs," to which heavy calamities are compared. (See Jer 4:31, &c.). The annals of Tacitus tell us how the Roman world was convulsed, before the destruction of Jerusalem, by rival claimants of the imperial purple.
9. But take heed to yourselves: for—"before all these things" (Lu 21:12); that is, before these public calamities come.
they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten—These refer to ecclesiastical proceedings against them.
and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings—before civil tribunals next.
for my sake, for a testimony against them—rather "unto them"—to give you an opportunity of bearing testimony to Me before them. In the Acts of the Apostles we have the best commentary on this announcement. (Compare Mt 10:17, 18).
10. And the gospel must first be published among all nations—"for a witness, and then shall the end come" (Mt 24:14). God never sends judgment without previous warning; and there can be no doubt that the Jews, already dispersed over most known countries, had nearly all heard the Gospel "as a witness," before the end of the Jewish state. The same principle was repeated and will repeat itself to "the end."
11. But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand—"Be not anxious beforehand."
what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate—"Be not filled with apprehension, in the prospect of such public appearances for Me, lest ye should bring discredit upon My name, nor think it necessary to prepare beforehand what ye are to say."
but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost—(See on Mt 10:19, 20.)
13. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake—Matthew (Mt 24:12) adds this important intimation: "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many"—"of the many," or "of the most," that is, of the generality of professed disciples—"shall wax cold." Sad illustrations of the effect of abounding iniquity in cooling the love even of faithful disciples we have in the Epistle of James, written about the period here referred to, and too frequently ever since.
but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved—See on Mt 10:21, 22; and compare Heb 10:38, 39, which is a manifest allusion to these words of Christ; also Re 2:10. Luke (Lu 21:18) adds these reassuring words: "But there shall not an hair of your heads perish." Our Lord had just said (Lu 21:16) that they should be put to death; showing that this precious promise is far above immunity from mere bodily harm, and furnishing a key to the right interpretation of Ps 91:1-18 and such like.
14. But when ye shall see—"Jerusalem compassed by armies"—by encamped armies; in other words, when ye shall see it besieged, and
the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not—that is, as explained in Matthew (Mt 24:15), "standing in the holy place."
(let him that readeth understand)—readeth that prophecy. That "the abomination of desolation" here alluded to was intended to point to the Roman ensigns, as the symbols of an idolatrous, and so unclean pagan power, may be gathered by comparing what Luke says in the corresponding verse (Lu 21:20); and commentators are agreed on it. It is worthy of notice, as confirming this interpretation, that in 1 Maccabees 1:54—which, though aprocryphal Scripture, is authentic history—the expression of Daniel (Da 11:31; 12:11) is applied to the idolatrous profanation of the Jewish altar by Antiochus Epiphanes.
then let them that be in Judea flee to the mountains—The ecclesiastical historian, Eusebius, early in the fourth century, tells us that the Christians fled to Pella, at the northern extremity of Perea, being "prophetically directed"—perhaps by some prophetic intimation more explicit than this, which would be their chart—and that thus they escaped the predicted calamities by which the nation was overwhelmed.
15. And let him that is on the housetop not get down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house—that is, let him take the outside flight of steps from the roof to the ground; a graphic way of denoting the extreme urgency of the case, and the danger of being tempted, by the desire to save his property, to delay till escape should become impossible.
16. And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment.
17. But woe to them—or, "alas for them."
that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days—in consequence of the aggravated suffering which those conditions would involve.
18. And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter—making escape perilous, or tempting you to delay your flight. Matthew (Mt 24:20) adds, "neither on the sabbath day," when, from fear of a breach of its sacred rest, they might be induced to remain.
19. For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be—Such language is not unusual in the Old Testament with reference to tremendous calamities. But it is matter of literal fact that there was crowded into the period of the Jewish war an amount and complication of suffering perhaps unparalleled; as the narrative of Josephus, examined closely and arranged under different heads, would show.
20. And except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh—that is, no human life.
should be saved: but for the elect's sake, whom he hath chosen, he hath shortened the days—But for this merciful "shortening," brought about by a remarkable concurrence of causes, the whole nation would have perished, in which there yet remained a remnant to be afterwards gathered out. This portion of the prophecy closes, in Luke, with the following vivid and important glance at the subsequent fortunes of the chosen people: "And they shall fall by the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled" (Lu 21:24). The language as well as the idea of this remarkable statement is taken from Da 8:10, 13. What, then, is its import here? It implies, first, that a time is coming when Jerusalem shall cease to be "trodden down of the Gentiles"; which it was then by pagan, and since and till now is by Mohammedan unbelievers: and next, it implies that the period when this treading down of Jerusalem by the Gentiles is to cease will be when "the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled" or "completed." But what does this mean? We may gather the meaning of it from Ro 11:1-36 in which the divine purposes and procedure towards the chosen people from first to last are treated in detail. In Ro 11:25 these words of our Lord are thus reproduced: "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." See the exposition of that verse, from which it will appear that "till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in"—or, in our Lord's phraseology, "till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled"—does not mean "till the general conversion of the world to Christ," but "till the Gentiles have had their full time of that place in the Church which the Jews had before them." After that period of Gentilism, as before of Judaism, "Jerusalem" and Israel, no longer "trodden down by the Gentiles," but "grafted into their own olive tree," shall constitute, with the believing Gentiles, one Church of God, and fill the whole earth. What a bright vista does this open up!
21. And then, if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo he is there; believe him not—So Lu 17:23.
22. For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall show signs and wonders. No one can read Josephus' account of what took place before the destruction of Jerusalem without seeing how strikingly this was fulfilled.
to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect—implying that this, though all but done, will prove impossible. What a precious assurance! (Compare 2Th 2:9-12).
23. But take ye heed; behold, I have foretold you all things—He had just told them that the seduction of the elect would prove impossible; but since this would be all but accomplished, He bids them be on their guard, as the proper means of averting that catastrophe. In Matthew (Mt 24:26-28) we have some additional particulars: "Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth: behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." See on Lu 17:23, 24. "For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together." See on Lu 17:37.
24. But in those days, after that tribulation—"Immediately after the tribulation of those days" (Mt 24:29).
the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.
25. And the stars of heaven shall fall—"and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth" (Lu 21:25, 26).
and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken—Though the grandeur of this language carries the mind over the head of all periods but that of Christ's Second Coming, nearly every expression will be found used of the Lord's coming in terrible national judgments: as of Babylon (Isa 13:9-13); of Idumea (Isa 34:1, 2, 4, 8-10); of Egypt (Eze 32:7, 8); compare also Ps 18:7-15; Isa 24:1, 17-19; Joe 2:10, 11, &c. We cannot therefore consider the mere strength of this language a proof that it refers exclusively or primarily to the precursors of the final day, though of course in "that day" it will have its most awful fulfilment.
26. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory—In Mt 24:30, this is given most fully: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man," &c. That this language finds its highest interpretation in the Second Personal Coming of Christ, is most certain. But the question is, whether that be the primary sense of it as it stands here? Now if the reader will turn to Da 7:13, 14, and connect with it the preceding verses, he will find, we think, the true key to our Lord's meaning here. There the powers that oppressed the Church—symbolized by rapacious wild beasts—are summoned to the bar of the Great God, who as the Ancient of days seats Himself, with His assessors, on a burning Throne: thousand thousands ministering to Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before Him. "The judgment is set, and the books are opened." Who that is guided by the mere words would doubt that this is a description of the Final Judgment? And yet nothing is clearer than that it is not, but a description of a vast temporal judgment, upon organized bodies of men, for their incurable hostility to the kingdom of God upon earth. Well, after the doom of these has been pronounced and executed, and room thus prepared for the unobstructed development of the kingdom of God over the earth, what follows? "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like THE Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they [the angelic attendants] brought Him near before Him." For what purpose? To receive investiture in the kingdom, which, as Messiah, of right belonged to Him. Accordingly, it is added, "And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Comparing this with our Lord's words, He seems to us, by "the Son of man [on which phrase, see on Joh 1:51] coming in the clouds with great power and glory," to mean, that when judicial vengeance shall once have been executed upon Jerusalem, and the ground thus cleared for the unobstructed establishment of His own kingdom, His true regal claims and rights would be visibly and gloriously asserted and manifested. See on Lu 9:28 (with its parallels in Mt 17:1; Mr 9:2), in which nearly the same language is employed, and where it can hardly be understood of anything else than the full and free establishment of the kingdom of Christ on the destruction of Jerusalem. But what is that "sign of the Son of man in heaven?" Interpreters are not agreed. But as before Christ came to destroy Jerusalem some appalling portents were seen in the air, so before His Personal appearing it is likely that something analogous will be witnessed, though of what nature it would be vain to conjecture.
27. And then shall he send his angels—"with a great sound of a trumpet" (Mt 24:31).
and shall gather together his elect, &c.—As the tribes of Israel were anciently gathered together by sound of trumpet (Ex 19:13, 16, 19; Le 23:24; Ps 81:3-5), so any mighty gathering of God's people, by divine command, is represented as collected by sound of trumpet (Isa 27:13; compare Re 11:15); and the ministry of angels, employed in all the great operations of Providence, is here held forth as the agency by which the present assembling of the elect is to be accomplished. Lightfoot thus explains it: "When Jerusalem shall be reduced to ashes, and that wicked nation cut off and rejected, then shall the Son of man send His ministers with the trumpet of the Gospel, and they shall gather His elect of the several nations, from the four corners of heaven: so that God shall not want a Church, although that ancient people of His be rejected and cast off: but that ancient Jewish Church being destroyed, a new Church shall be called out of the Gentiles." But though something like this appears to be the primary sense of the verse, in relation to the destruction of Jerusalem, no one can fail to see that the language swells beyond any gathering of a human family into a Church upon earth, and forces the thoughts onward to that gathering of the Church "at the last trump," to meet the Lord in the air, which is to wind up the present scene. Still, this is not, in our judgment, the direct subject of the prediction; for Mr 13:28 limits the whole prediction to the generation then existing.
28. Now learn a parable of the fig tree—"Now from the fig tree learn the parable," or the high lesson which this teaches.
When her branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves—"its leaves."
29. So ye, in like manner, when ye shall see these things come to pass—rather, "coming to pass."
know that it—"the kingdom of God" (Lu 21:31).
is nigh, even at the doors—that is, the full manifestation of it; for till then it admitted of no full development. In Luke (Lu 21:28) the following words precede these: "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh"—their redemption, in the first instance certainly, from Jewish oppression (1Th 2:14-16; Lu 11:52): but in the highest sense of these words, redemption from all the oppressions and miseries of the present state at the second appearing of the Lord Jesus.
30. Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall not pass fill all these things be done—or "fulfilled" (Mt 24:34; Lu 21:32). Whether we take this to mean that the whole would be fulfilled within the limits of the generation then current, or, according to a usual way of speaking, that the generation then existing would not pass away without seeing a begun fulfilment of this prediction, the facts entirely correspond. For either the whole was fulfilled in the destruction accomplished by Titus, as many think; or, if we stretch it out, according to others, till the thorough dispersion of the Jews a little later, under Adrian, every requirement of our Lord's words seems to be met.
31. Heaven and earth shall pass away; but my words shall not pass away—the strongest possible expression of the divine authority by which He spake; not as Moses or Paul might have said of their own inspiration, for such language would be unsuitable in any merely human mouth.
Warnings to Prepare for the Coming of Christ Suggested by the Foregoing Prophecy (Mr 13:32-37).
It will be observed that, in the foregoing prophecy, as our Lord approaches the crisis of the day of vengeance on Jerusalem and redemption for the Church—at which stage the analogy between that and the day of final vengeance and redemption waxes more striking—His language rises and swells beyond all temporal and partial vengeance, beyond all earthly deliverances and enlargements, and ushers us resistlessly into the scenes of the final day. Accordingly, in these six concluding verses it is manifest that preparation for "THAT DAY" is what our Lord designs to inculcate.
32. But of that day and that hour—that is, the precise time.
knoweth no man—literally, no one.
no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father—This very remarkable statement regarding "the Son" is peculiar to Mark. Whether it means that the Son was not at that time in possession of the knowledge referred to, or simply that it was not among the things which He had received to communicate—has been matter of much controversy even among the firmest believers in the proper Divinity of Christ. In the latter sense it was taken by some of the most eminent of the ancient Fathers, and by Luther, Melancthon, and most of the older Lutherans; and it is so taken by Bengel, Lange, Webster and Wilkinson, Chrysostom and others understood it to mean that as man our Lord was ignorant of this. It is taken literally by Calvin, Grotius, De Wette, Meyer, Fritzsche, Stier, Alford, and Alexander.
33. Take ye heed, watch and pray; for ye know not when the time is.
34. For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, &c.—The idea thus far is similar to that in the opening part of the parable of the talents (Mt 25:14, 15).
and commanded the porter—the gatekeeper.
to watch—pointing to the official duty of the ministers of religion to give warning of approaching danger to the people.
35. Watch ye therefore; for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning—an allusion to the four Roman watches of the night.
36. Lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping—See on Lu 12:35-40; Lu 12:42-46.
37. And what I say unto you—this discourse, it will be remembered, was delivered in private.
I say unto all, Watch—anticipating and requiring the diffusion of His teaching by them among all His disciples, and its perpetuation through all time.