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   Do you ever wonder when Jesus is going to come back?  Do you ever wish it was soon?  Do you ever hope it’s not “too soon”?  A few years ago, I was talking with someone from another church who shared with me that in her small group they were talking about the return of Christ and some of the people said they hoped to see their child graduate from high school before that, or to get married before his return or other significant moments.  I thought that was sad.  It means we’ve done something with our expectation of Christ’s return. We’ve lost sight of how splendid things will be when he returns and set things right!

            I think this is a greater problem for Christians who live in times of affluence and freedom. I doubt Christians suffering persecution hope Jesus holds off his return until a few life milestones are reached! The early Christians were eager for Jesus to return.  The disciples, even, were curious and eager to know when Jesus would come in power and fix the brokenness of the world. Before the resurrection, they were still thinking in terms of kicking out the Romans, I suspect, but they asked Jesus about his predictions of things to come and the return of the Son of Man.

            Our text today comes at the end of Mark 13.  The whole chapter is a long discourse by Jesus on numerous things that will come to pass.  Remember, Mark 12 describes Jesus in the temple and last week we talked about the poor widow in the temple who gave her last 2 coins.  Now Jesus has left the temple and when a disciple comments on the magnificent architecture, Jesus warns that the whole temple will be destroyed.  From the Mount of Olives, looking back at Jerusalem, Jesus’ inner circle, Peter, James, John and Andrew, ask about when Jerusalem will meet its end.

            Chapter 13 then unfolds as the longest passage of Jesus’ teaching in all of Mark.  In this passage, Jesus talks about the future for Jerusalem.  The city will be destroyed and his followers would be wise to flee when it is!  But Jesus also talks about the far future when he will return in power to judge the world.  This chapter contains a blend of predictive prophesies using a kind of imagery called “apocalyptic.”  We’ve talked about apocalyptic literature before.  An apocalypse is not “the end of the world” but rather a tear in the veil between heaven and earth.  Revelation, parts of Isiah, Daniel and Ezekiel are all “apocalyptic” literature because they are the record of a vision of one seeing things in the spiritual realm.

            Apocalyptic writing can be very confusing.  Some people just throw their hands up and ignore it. Other people dive into too deeply, trying to use it to calculate the time of the return of Christ.  The healthy approach, however, is to navigate our way between these two extremes.  This is best done by using helpful tools from Bible scholars that show us how to let the text speak for itself.  Let the text say what it wants to say and do not try to make it answer questions we may be interested in instead.