Concerning That Day | Mark 13:32-37
When is Jesus going to return? Oceans of ink, reams of paper and horrible preaching has been spent trying to answer this question. Harold Camping, a Christian radio broadcaster, used over two years of radio shows, 5,000 billboards, countless books translated into 75 languages, and tens of millions of dollars to convince millions of people around the world that based on numerology and a secret code he found that Jesus was going to return, and judgment day was going to be May 21, 2011 at 6pm. He claimed, “it is absolutely going to happen without question at all.” Thousands rushed into marriages, emptied their bank accounts, ran up credit card bills, threw parties, quit their jobs, gave away their possessions and scrambled to repent. When it didn’t happen, he amended it to October 21 and called it a spiritual rapture for true believers. On October 22nd, when he was still here, he said his days of giving apocalyptic warnings were over. Sadly, the damage had been done and his thousands of followers became victims of his deception.
This is exactly what Jesus warned about on the Mount of Olives. Jesus is answering the disciples’ questions about the destruction of the Temple and the end the of the World. What does the destruction of the Temple have to do with the end of the world? The destruction of the Temple is a foreshadowing and a sneak preview of coming attractions. It is also a sign that says, “the end of the old world leads to the beginning of a new world.” There are 17 commands in chapter 13 and from them Jesus is teaching his followers how they are to live their lives in anticipation for this new world that is coming. On the Mount of Olives, Jesus teaches us about His Second Coming and calls us to be alert, urgent, and confident.