Mark 13 Study Notes

13:17 Woe is not a condemnation as in Mt 23:13-32 but a cry of pity for pregnant women and nursing mothers unable to move quickly.

13:18 Winter weather along with swollen streams that could not be crossed would add to the difficulty of their flight (cp. Mt 24:20).

13:19 This verse is drawn from Dn 12:1. The intensity of these days of tribulation (cp. Rv 7:14) will exceed what was experienced in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.

13:20 The Lord will curtail the tribulation for the sake of the elect, emphasizing God’s sovereign choice.

13:21-22 False prophets were a problem in both the OT (Dt 13:1-5; 18:20-22) and the NT (Mt 7:15; 24:11; Lk 6:26; Ac 13:6; 2Pt 2:1; 1Jn 4:1). Signs and wonders is a standard expression for miracles in the OT and NT. The false messiahs and false prophets will have no trouble performing signs—but their purpose will be to lead astray. These words foreshadow Paul’s in 2Th 2:9-12.

13:23 Jesus had also told them to watch in v. 5.

The Greek verb sozo literally means “to preserve” or “to keep safe” with an underlying idea of “making whole.” The term can refer to saving someone from physical harm (Mt 8:25) or death (Mt 14:30; 15:30-31; Ac 27:20,31), healing (Mk 5:23,28,34; 6:56; Jms 5:15), exorcism (Lk 8:36), or deliverance from a severe ordeal (Jn 12:27; Heb 5:7; Jd 5). The most common use of sozo in the NT, especially in Acts and the Epistles, is to describe the various aspects of salvation. Two important nouns are derived from sozo: (1) sotÄ“ria, which means salvation (in the redemptive sense) or deliverance from physical death or danger (see Ac 7:25; 27:34); and (2) sotÄ“r, which means “Savior” and is always a reference to either the Father or Jesus Christ in the work of redemption.

13:24-25 Just as Jesus warned of earthly signs occurring before the tribulation, he also spoke of cosmic signs occurring after that tribulation. He declared that the powers in the heavens will be shaken as if with a heavenly earthquake (cp. Heb 12:26-29). His language is drawn from Is 13:9-10; Jl 2:10-11,30-31; 3:14-16.

13:26 Jesus drew the wording for this verse from Dn 7:13. They will see refers to those living when these events occur. The clouds are a reference to God’s presence (9:7; 14:62; Ex 19:9; 1Kg 8:10-11; Ps 97:2; Dn 7:13). The phrase with great power and glory contrasts with the Son of Man’s first coming in weakness and humility.

13:27 The angels are regularly pictured as accompanying Christ on his return (8:38; Mt 13:39-41; 16:27; 25:31). The two phrases from the four winds and from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven stand in apposition to each other. The language is based on Dt 13:7; 30:4; and Zch 2:6. The former refers to the cardinal points—north, south, east, and west. The latter refers to the extremities of earth and heaven. There is no place in all creation where the elect are that will be overlooked (cp. Ps 107:1-3; Is 45:5-7; 49:12; Mt 8:11; Lk 13:29).

13:28 For Jesus’s previous use of a fig tree, see notes at 11:13 and 11:19-20. When the fig tree sprouts, usually in March or April around Passover, summer is near.

13:29 Just as Jesus’s followers knew how to read the signs of the coming summer, so also when they saw these things happening they were to know that a cataclysmic event was near. It is unclear whether Jesus was referring to Jerusalem’s fall or his return in the end time.

13:30 Truly I tell you was Jesus’s standard indication of a solemn pronouncement. The generation that will not pass away until all these things take place is either Jesus’s contemporary generation that would live to see the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple (cp. 8:12,38; 9:19) or the eschatological generation that will be alive when the end begins.

13:31 Heaven and earth will pass away because they are temporal by nature. Jesus’s words, however, will never pass away. Only God can make this claim (Is 40:8; 51:6). Jesus’s words are as sure and permanent as God’s Word (Mt 5:18; Lk 16:17).

13:32 That day or hour indicates Jesus was speaking of the eschatological future. When the end will come is unknown to angels or even the Son. Only the Father knows (Ac 1:7).

13:33 Be alert expresses the idea of staying awake and watchful. Even though Jesus’s disciples don’t know when the time is coming, they are to be ready and faithful.

13:34-37 Jesus’s followers are to be like the doorkeeper, always on the alert for the master’s coming. Evening, midnight, the crowing of the rooster, and early in the morning are the four watches of the night based on the Roman identification of them. Suddenly indicates not the speed but the unexpectedness of the master’s return.