Let God Speak! Mark's Gospel

Day 39: Mark 13:1-23
Signs of the End of the Age

Read through from verse 1 to 23. This is only part of the account that Jesus gave to his disciples to prepare them for the future. Looking back on history we now know that Jerusalem was ransacked by the Romans in AD70 and this was the ‘end of the age’ in which the Jews were able to live as a complete nation in the land of Judea which they had occupied for about 1400 years. The Temple was destroyed as Jesus foretold and the Jewish leadership was finally judged at its root as pictured by the fig tree that you read about a few days ago. 

When the disciples went out to preach and build Christian communities throughout Judea and Samaria they experienced many of the things spoken here by Jesus. Some things such as the floggings and a famine were written down in the records of the early church (Acts 5:40 and Acts 11:28). Many of the other things were not specifically recorded but we know Christians were severely persecuted during the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero (AD 54 onwards). Nero was a weak and ineffective leader who blamed the burning of Rome in AD64 on the Christians. Horrific stories are told of Christians being burned alive at Nero’s parties and in that atmosphere it is likely that families would disown the Christians and brothers would betray each other. Nero committed suicide in AD68 and this began the slow squeeze by the Romans on the Jewish people in Judea which ended up with the fall of Jerusalem in AD70 under the Emperor Titus.

The “abomination that causes desolation” is first prophesied by Daniel (Daniel 9:27) and is most likely to refer to the deliberate destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem and all the things that Titus may have done there as a brutal leader.  Jesus knows everything that is happening but for the disciples of the early church they could only see parts of it as it unfolded.

Let God speak to you about things in this account that may distress or make you fearful of what following Jesus could involve.

How would you prepare yourself for being persecuted at any level for being a Christian? (Think and pray about Mark 13:11)

If you want more information about whether persecution happens today look at www.opendoorsuk.org