The future may be hard to comprehend, but Jesus' commands for you in this chapter are pretty straightforward.
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Mark 13 Summary
THE FIRST PART IS THE EASIEST: This passage is called the Olivet Discourse, because as v3 points out, Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives discoursing with His disciples.
BUT IT GETS HARDER FROM THERE: This is one of the most difficult chapters in the Bible to interpret, and good Christians are going to come to differing conclusions about it. There are some aspects of it that seem to have been fulfilled when Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70 (which was an absolutely awful and brutal siege and defeat), and other aspects that will not be fulfilled until Christ returns.
Dig Deeper
It may seem like these mysterious passages aren't very relevant for our daily lives, so we're going to focus in on the imperatives - the commands Jesus gives us to follow as each day the end comes closer.
Notice also how poetically symmetrical Jesus' teaching is here. See if you can see how the various colors below fit together topically. Also notice the two imperatives that are listed three times each.
v5 - See that no one leads you astray.
v7 - do not be alarmed.
v9 - But be on your guard.
v11 - do not be anxious beforehand what you are to say
v18 - Pray that it may not happen in winter
v21 - And then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘Look, there he is!' do not believe it.
v23 - But be on guard
v28 - From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that he is near, at the very gates.
v33 - Be on guard, keep awake.
v35 - Therefore stay awake—
v37 - Stay awake.
AAA Prayer:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Only our Father knows when the end will come (v32)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that you will be able to do the things Jesus has commanded here, especially that you be on guard and stay awake.
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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