The Olivet Discourse: the temple's fall, the Son of Man and the call to watch

Mark 13 is the longest discourse of Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, and it is the one most closely tied to the book's date and setting. The Gospel is anonymous, though early tradition from Papias, reported by Eusebius, names John Mark, Peter's interpreter, as author (compare Acts 12:12; 1 Peter 5:13). Some critical scholars question the Petrine link. Most date the book to the late 60s, during or just before the Jewish war with Rome that began in AD 66 and led to the burning of the temple in AD 70. A minority argue for the 50s, and others place the book just after 70. Where a reader places the date affects how the discourse is heard. Those who hold that Jesus truly foretold the temple's fall can accept a pre-70 date. Those who doubt that prophecy can be so specific often date the book, or the discourse, after the event. The note 'let the reader understand' (13:14) addresses Mark's readers directly.

The setting is Tuesday of the last week, according to Mark's sequence. Jesus has left the temple for the last time. The talk is given privately to Peter, James, John and Andrew on the Mount of Olives, facing the temple. It is the last of Jesus' long teachings in Mark, and it sets up the passion by preparing the disciples for what they will face.

The same discourse appears in Matthew 24-25 and Luke 21:5-36, and Luke 17:20-37 has related sayings. Luke gives a more concrete form of the warning, saying that when they see Jerusalem surrounded by armies they should know its desolation is near (Luke 21:20). Matthew adds the parables of the ten virgins, the talents and the sheep and goats. Mark's version is the shortest and ends with the plain command to watch. On the synoptic problem, most scholars hold that Matthew and Luke used Mark, though a minority hold that Mark abbreviated Matthew.

Mark 13 is apocalyptic teaching set within a Gospel. Apocalyptic literature, such as parts of Daniel and Revelation, uses vivid images, cosmic signs and coded language to speak of God's action in history and his coming judgment. The images are symbols, and the discourse draws many of them from the Old Testament. The darkened sun and moon and falling stars (13:24-25) come from prophetic oracles of judgment on nations, such as Isaiah 13:10 and 34:4, and Joel 2:10, which used the language of the unmaking of creation for the fall of Babylon, Edom and Jerusalem. The reader should ask what a first hearer would have understood by the words.

The main difficulty is that the disciples ask two connected questions in 13:4, when the temple will fall and what the sign will be that all these things are about to be fulfilled, and the discourse seems to mingle events near and far. Interpreters have answered in three main ways. Some hold that the discourse up to verse 31 concerns the first-century crisis and the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, with the 'coming of the Son of Man' as his vindication and judgment on the temple, an approach argued in detail by R. T. France. Others, called futurists, apply most of it to a time of tribulation before Christ's return. A third view, common among evangelical commentators and in much older interpretation, holds that the prophecy has a near fulfilment in AD 70 that foreshadows and prepares for a final fulfilment at the end. This class follows the third reading, while recognising that the first and second have strong arguments.

Two rules help in any case. The discourse is mainly a call to faithfulness, not a timetable: the repeated imperatives, 'see to it', 'do not be alarmed', 'be on your guard', 'keep watch', set its purpose. And the final saying that no one knows the day or hour (13:32) warns against reading any set of events as a calendar.

Verses 1–4

As Jesus leaves the temple, a disciple admires the huge stones and buildings. Herod's temple was among the largest building projects of the ancient world and was still being worked on in Jesus' day. Jesus says, 'Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.' It echoes the warnings of Jeremiah 7 and 26, and of Micah 3:12. On the Mount of Olives, facing the temple, four disciples ask privately when these things will happen and what sign will show that they are about to be fulfilled.

Verses 5–8

Jesus first warns against being deceived. Many will come in his name saying, 'I am He', and will mislead many. Wars, rumours of wars, nation rising against nation, earthquakes and famines are not the end; 'these are the beginning of birth pains'. The image of labour is a common one for the troubles before God's action (Isaiah 26:17-18; Micah 4:9-10). Pain is the beginning, not the arrival.

Verses 9–13

The disciples will be handed over to councils, beaten in synagogues and stand before governors and kings 'on My account', as witnesses. The gospel must first be proclaimed to all nations. When they are arrested they should not worry about what to say, for the Holy Spirit will speak. Families will be divided, 'you will be hated by everyone because of My name', and the one who perseveres to the end will be saved. Acts shows many of these things coming true.

Verses 14–23

'The abomination of desolation standing where it should not be' comes from Daniel (9:27; 11:31; 12:11). In 167 BC Antiochus IV Epiphanes set up a pagan altar in the temple. Jesus uses the phrase for something to come, and Mark's note 'let the reader understand' invites the reader to see the pattern repeating. The participle for 'standing' is masculine while 'abomination' is neuter, which suggests a person. Luke's version speaks of Jerusalem surrounded by armies (Luke 21:20), and many take the Roman destruction of the temple, in which, Josephus reports, Roman soldiers set up their standards in the temple area, as the fulfilment. Others see a future individual. Those in Judea are to flee to the mountains without going back for anything. The days will be of tribulation unmatched from the beginning of creation, and God has cut them short for the elect's sake. False Christs and false prophets will perform signs. 'I have told you everything in advance.' Eusebius reports that the Christians of Jerusalem withdrew to Pella before the siege, which fits the warning, though the tradition is debated.

Verses 24–27

'But in those days, after that tribulation', the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars fall and the powers of the heavens be shaken. Then they will 'see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory', from Daniel 7:13-14. He will send the angels to gather the elect from the four winds, an echo of Deuteronomy 30:4 and Zechariah 2:6.

Verses 28–31

The fig tree teaches that when its branches are tender and sprouting leaves, summer is near. When these things happen, 'He is near, right at the door'. 'This generation will not pass away until all these things have happened.' Readers take 'generation' as the people living then, which fits the first-century reading; as the Jewish people or the human race; or as an evil age. 'Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.'

Verse 32

'No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.' The saying has troubled readers because the Son is said not to know. Some church fathers, such as Athanasius, referred it to the Son's human nature. Augustine understood it to mean that the Son does not make it known. Others see an honest limit that the Son accepted in his humiliation.

Verses 33–37

A man going on a journey puts his servants in charge of their tasks and tells the doorkeeper to watch. The master may return in the evening, at midnight, at cockcrow or in the morning, the four night watches of the Roman reckoning. 'And what I say to you, I say to everyone: Keep watch!'

Mark 13 teaches several things about God's purposes.

• The first is divine judgment on a temple that had become a sign of false security. The Old Testament prophets had warned of this (Jeremiah 7; Micah 3:12), and Jesus' word shows that the same God who gave the temple would bring it down.
• The second is the sovereignty of God over history. Wars, deceit and persecution are part of a time God knows and has limited ('He has cut them short').
• The third is the church's mission: the gospel must be proclaimed to all nations before the end (13:10), and the Spirit gives the disciples words when they are put on trial.

The discourse also states the Bible's hope of the return of Christ. The visible, glorious coming of the Son of Man, with the gathering of his people, is taken up in Paul (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12) and in Revelation. The warnings against deception reappear in Paul and John (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 John 2:18). Finally, the discourse sets a pattern for how Christians should wait: not with a timetable, but watchfully and faithfully, like servants given tasks. The same teaching appears in the parables of Matthew 24-25 and in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11.

On the precise shape of the end, Christians differ, and the class does not claim to settle questions such as the timing of the tribulation or the millennium, which depend on other texts too. The agreed centre is that Christ will come again, in glory, to judge and to save.

In 13:26 Jesus takes Daniel's vision of one like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven and says it is about himself (Daniel 7:13-14). In Daniel the figure receives from the Ancient of Days an everlasting dominion over all peoples. Jesus uses the same text at his trial (14:62), and it is the answer that brings the charge of blasphemy. This is fulfilment. Jesus also speaks as the one who sends the angels and gathers the elect, which the Old Testament assigns to God, and he claims that his words will outlast heaven and earth (13:31), a claim Isaiah 40:8 makes for the word of God. The saying that the Son does not know the day shows the other side of the picture: he is the Son in humility, dependent on the Father, and yet the one who will come.

An echo inside Mark gives the chapter a further meaning. The four watches of the night (evening, midnight, cockcrow, morning) appear in the passion as the story unfolds. At the evening supper Jesus is betrayed (14:17-18). At midnight, in Gethsemane, the disciples are told to keep watch and sleep instead (14:37-41). At cockcrow Peter denies him (14:72). In the morning he is handed over to Pilate (15:1). The reader is invited to see that the master who has come back at a time they did not expect is found with servants who are asleep. The discourse, which looks to the end, is also a commentary on the cross.

The discourse presents Jesus as the one who will judge Jerusalem and the nations and as the one for whom his people wait. He is the prophet who sees the coming ruin of the temple, and he is the Son of Man whom Daniel saw receiving all authority.