Mark 13 · a question people ask
"Tell us, when will these things be?" (13:4). In 13:5-37, is Jesus speaking of the temple's stones, of his coming, or of both?
First, what the chapter says. Jesus says of the temple's buildings, "There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down" (13:2), and the four ask, "Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?" (13:4). His answer speaks of what they will face (13:9-13), of "the abomination of desolation" and fleeing to the mountains (13:14), of "those days, after that oppression" when "the sun will be darkened" (13:24), and of the Son of Man "coming in clouds with great power and glory" (13:26). He says, "this generation will not pass away until all these things happen" (13:30), and then, "But of that day or that hour no one knows" (13:32). Christians read how these fit together in three main ways, each resting on its verses, and these notes don't choose between them. All of them agree that no one knows the day or the hour (13:32), and on what he says to everyone: "What I tell you, I tell all: Watch!" (13:37). Favor names no date, event, nation or year for any of them.
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Chiefly the temple, within that generation
Those who read it this way start from what the four asked: "when will these things be?" (13:4), straight after his words about the stones (13:2). They read the answer as chiefly about those things, and hear "this generation will not pass away until all these things happen" (13:30) as setting them within the lifetime of those he was speaking to. They note that he speaks to the four as you again and again: "when you see the abomination of desolation" (13:14), "But you watch" (13:23), "when you see these things coming to pass" (13:29). They read 13:24-26 as part of the same answer.
Mark 13:2 · Mark 13:4 · Mark 13:30 · Mark 13:14 · Mark 13:23 · Mark 13:29 · Mark 13:24-26
Chiefly the time before his coming
Those who read it this way start from where the answer goes: "in those days, after that oppression" (13:24) the sky is darkened and shaken (13:24-25), "Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory" (13:26), and "he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky" (13:27). They read "this generation" (13:30) of those who see "these things coming to pass" (13:29), and hear in "that day or that hour" that "no one knows" (13:32) the day of his coming, for which everyone is to watch, "for you don’t know when the lord of the house is coming" (13:35).
Mark 13:24-27 · Mark 13:29-30 · Mark 13:32-35
Both, the one pointing to the other
Those who read it this way hold that Jesus answers what the four asked, about the stones (13:2, 13:4), and sets "all these things" within "this generation" (13:30), and that he also speaks of the Son of Man coming (13:26) and of "that day" (13:32). They note the turn at "But of that day or that hour no one knows" (13:32), soon after the time he has just set (13:30). They read the nearer things as pointing to the later one, so that the warnings of 13:5-23 serve for both.
Mark 13:2 · Mark 13:4 · Mark 13:26 · Mark 13:30 · Mark 13:32 · Mark 13:5-23
The verses
“Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down.””
““Tell us, when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are all about to be fulfilled?””
“But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light,”
“Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”