1 And as he is going forth out of the temple, one of his disciples saith to him, `Teacher, see! what stones! and what buildings!'
2 and Jesus answering said to him, `Seest thou these great buildings? there may not be left a stone upon a stone, that may not be thrown down.'
3 And as he is sitting at the mount of the Olives, over-against the temple, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, were questioning him by himself,
4 `Tell us when these things shall be? and what `is' the sign when all these may be about to be fulfilled?'
5 And Jesus answering them, began to say, `Take heed lest any one may lead you astray,
6 for many shall come in my name, saying -- I am `he', and many they shall lead astray;
7 and when ye may hear of wars and reports of wars, be not troubled, for these behove to be, but the end `is' not yet;
8 for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles; beginnings of sorrows `are' these.
9 `And take ye heed to yourselves, for they shall deliver you up to sanhedrims, and to synagogues, ye shall be beaten, and before governors and kings ye shall be set for my sake, for a testimony to them;
10 and to all the nations it behoveth first that the good news be proclaimed.
11 `And when they may lead you, delivering up, be not anxious beforehand what ye may speak, nor premeditate, but whatever may be given to you in that hour, that speak ye, for it is not ye who are speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 `And brother shall deliver up brother to death, and father child, and children shall rise up against parents, and shall put them to death,
13 and ye shall be hated by all because of my name, but he who hath endured to the end -- he shall be saved.
14 `And when ye may see the abomination of the desolation, that was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not, (whoever is reading let him understand), then those in Judea, let them flee to the mountains;
15 and he upon the house-top, let him not come down to the house, nor come in to take anything out of his house;
16 and he who is in the field, let him not turn to the things behind, to take up his garment.
17 `And wo to those with child, and to those giving suck, in those days;
18 and pray ye that your flight may not be in winter,
19 for those days shall be tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the creation that God created, till now, and may not be;
20 and if the Lord did not shorten the days, no flesh had been saved; but because of the chosen, whom He did choose to Himself, He did shorten the days.
21 `And then, if any may say to you, Lo, here `is' the Christ, or, Lo, there, ye may not believe;
22 for there shall rise false Christs and false prophets, and they shall give signs and wonders, to seduce, if possible, also the chosen;
23 and ye, take heed; lo, I have foretold you all things.
24 `But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
25 and the stars of the heaven shall be falling, and the powers that are in the heavens shall be shaken.
26 `And then they shall see the Son of Man coming in clouds with much power and glory,
27 and then he shall send his messengers, and gather together his chosen from the four winds, from the end of the earth unto the end of heaven.
28 `And from the fig-tree learn ye the simile: when the branch may already become tender, and may put forth the leaves, ye know that nigh is the summer;
29 so ye, also, when these ye may see coming to pass, ye know that it is nigh, at the doors.
30 Verily I say to you, that this generation may not pass away till all these things may come to pass;
31 the heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
32 `And concerning that day and the hour no one hath known -- not even the messengers who are in the heaven, not even the Son -- except the Father.
33 Take heed, watch and pray, for ye have not known when the time is;
34 as a man who is gone abroad, having left his house, and given to his servants the authority, and to each one his work, did command also the porter that he may watch;
35 watch ye, therefore, for ye have not known when the lord of the house doth come, at even, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or at the morning;
36 lest, having come suddenly, he may find you sleeping;
37 and what I say to you, I say to all, Watch.'
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.