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"He is risen!" Now what? (Mark 13)
The risen Christ charged his disciples with no
less a task than to:
"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you" (Matthew 28:19-20)
Luke's gospel sheds more light on that word 'therefore' for us, explaining:
He said to them, "This is what I told you
while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written
about me in the Law of Moses, the prophets and the Psalms." Then he opened
their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them, "This
is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the
third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in
his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of
these things. I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but
stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high"
(Luke 24:44-49)
Therefore, i.e. in light of these things and in light of the fact that,
"All authority in heaven and on earth has
been given me" Jesus commissioned his followers
to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins, make disciples and teach
obedience - then the end. To enable them to do this Jesus was going to
send the promised Holy Spirit and promised that, in this way, he would
be with them always (Matthew (28:20)
Mark 13 is an account of "what I told you when I was still with you".
Future history (Apocalyptic writings etc.) has always fascinated people
and the danger is that an exhortation to the church - which this is -
can become a road map to future events -which it isn't. This Jesus made
plain when he declared:
"No one knows about that day or hour, not
even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. You do not
know when that time will come…Therefore keep watch…" (Mark 13:32-35)
What, then, did he intend?
"Watch out that no one deceives you" (v.5)
"Do not be alarmed" (v.7)
"You must be on your guard" (v.9)
"What I say to you, I say to everyone: 'Watch!'" (v.37)
Four Spiritual Dangers
As Jesus predicts events his concern is for his disciples, that they should
understand the times and be watchful for four spiritual dangers.
1. As he predicts the destruction of the temple (v.2) there is a warning
to beware of relying on outward religious symbols. It is noteworthy that
when people wish to criticise the Christian Church it is usually the earthly
institutions and outward practices and traditions they criticise. Perhaps
some criticism is justified but they should remember that God now dwells
in his people and not in buildings made by human hands. God's work is
not the establishment of an institution but of a people and there could
be no more eloquent illustration of this than the temple's destruction.
2. Jesus warns against false Messiah's (vv 5&6). This deception has been
expressed in different ways down the centuries. Sometimes a claim is made
for a person that he is the Messiah and there have been many such claims.
More common has been false teaching about Christ, such as denying his
deity, his bodily resurrection, his completed work, etc. that leads people
to believe in a false Christ. False beliefs lead to worship of a false
Christ.
3. Jesus then predicts turmoil on a global scale (vv 7 & 8). Christians
can despair when they see the scale of sin's impact on this fallen world
and, distracted by such horrors as wars and conflicts, can fail in their
duty to persevere and preach the good news. Jesus warned us to be on our
guard against such things.
4. Finally, Jesus predicts persecution for the saints (v 9) and warns
us to be prepared to suffer for the faith, to take up our cross. We have
his promise that he will be with us to the end.
Now What?
As it has been for almost two thousand years so it is now our responsibility
to ignore the distractions of religious trappings, false Messiahs, unfolding
world events and even persecution and proclaim the good news that all
that has been written in the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms is fulfilled
in Christ and we await his coming, ever watchful, and confident that He
is with us, even to the end of the age, Amen.