Thoughts on Mark 13 and 14

Peter was confident. He was a leader. He usually stepped boldly into the fray, no matter what it was about, slinging a fisherman’s net, a sword, or words. So as a follower of Jesus he was true to his nature, boldly declaring his heartfelt intentions and loyalty. When Jesus told the group of 11 they would all abandon Him when He was arrested and crucified, Peter declared he would never do that, even if others did. The others all said the same kinds of things. Peter declared he would even go to death with Him, but never deny Him. He was truly sincere.

But he was sincerely wrong. He wouldn’t believe it until after it happened just the way Jesus predicted it would: this very night you yourself will deny me three times before the rooster
crows. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks.

I always find it difficult to start reading passages like Mark chapter 14, the record of the arrest and trial of Jesus. The events are so painful, and not only because of the obvious suffering of Jesus, but painful because I see my own failures and fears reflected in the disciples’ behavior. They were all confident in themselves that they would never abandon the Lord; they refused to believe they would ever run away and leave him in the lurch. Even after He told them they would.

And they all did.

Jesus had repeatedly warned them of what was coming for Him, His arrest and death. But they hadn’t accepted it and so were unprepared for it. They had refused to believe what Jesus had told them several times. Peter’s insistence that he would never deny the Lord only served to blind his eyes and mind to the awful reality coming upon them.

Then in the garden of Gethsemane, when Jesus took Peter, James and John further into the garden with him, He said to them, ‘Watch with me while I pray. Watch and pray that you do not enter into temptation.’

We know they gave in to sleep rather than stay awake and pray. Three times Jesus gave them a chance to “watch and pray” while He went and agonized in prayer alone. They failed each time.

Most of us will sympathize with the disciples and feel guilt for the times we have slept rather than stay awake and wrestle in prayer; I know I do. We have an especially hard time when we are not quite sure what is going on yet have sensed God prompting us to pray for something.
We know, don’t we, the truth of Jesus’ words “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”?

Oh how weak in ourselves we truly are! We want to do what is right but struggle so often. And not just in the area of prayer but in the way we live out our lives day after day.

So what of Jesus’ “end of the age” warnings to his followers (Mark 13)? He instructed them, and in so doing, us, about what was going to come in the future before His return. Jesus has told us to not be misled about who He is and His return to earth; to be on our guard, for both persecution and opportunity to testify about Jesus will come; our lives will be threatened and some will be put to death, even by loved ones. We are warned to take heed to (pay attention to and obey) Jesus’ teachings; and keep on the alert to read the signs of His coming and live in readiness for it. At least 6 times in this chapter Jesus gave strict warnings to be alert and on our guard when He was describing things to come!

We are living in those very times Jesus was talking about. We are the ones who are called upon to be alert and awake, guard against being misled, live in radical obedience to Christ and watch for his appearing. We are the ones called on to stand for Jesus even when it means losing our lives for Him.

As I read the account of Peter’s confident denial that he would ever deny the Lord, when Jesus announced that all His followers would desert Him in the end (Mark 14), it struck me that these “end of the age” warnings of Jesus (Mark 13) are very much like His commands to Peter, James and John in the garden of Gethsemane. He told them to watch and pray. They were confident in themselves that all was well with their spiritual lives. They would never do anything to hurt Jesus. But they did, to their amazement and shame.

Scripture states that in the end there will be a great falling away from the faith, that “the love” of many will grow cold. I am sure everyone who professes faith in Christ today would deny they’d ever do anything like Peter did, who denied the Lord to save his own skin. But are we so far superior to Peter?

Am I confident in my loyalty to Jesus, but ‘asleep’? Are we, the church of Jesus Christ, asleep? Are we thinking of only our own plans and goals, our stomachs full and our heads drowsy with sleep, heedless of Jesus’ warnings and instructions to us? Are we trusting in our own good intentions? And, oh, we are truly sincere in our intentions and loyalty to Jesus.

When we were on staff at the U.S. Center for World Mission, I remember founder Ralph Winter calling believers to a “wartime” lifestyle, recalling the government-imposed disciplines on lifestyle during World War II, appealing to us to self-impose such disciplines for the sake of advancing the Kingdom of God. In the same vein, Randy has been teaching for years the truths from the Bible about the Kingdom of God, and calling us to align our lives with God’s purposes, the subject of the book Mission as Life: Making the Kingdom of God Your Family’s Passion. We are not to pursue the “American Dream” lifestyle but the Kingdom of God lifestyle.

Do we know what God’s Kingdom and purposes are? Are we changing our lifestyles to reflect them? We are confident that we believe and know God’s truths; are we doing them? Are we truly “taking heed” to Jesus’ warnings and instructions?

I ask myself these questions (you just get to listen in). I do not want to deceive myself. He has given us His Word, and His spirit to help us understand it. I do not want to ignore the unpleasant things Jesus told us and grab hold of the “promises” that feel good and safe, that make me feel special.

And one day wake up to realize I have abandoned the Lord.

Just as He warned His disciples of His imminent death, Jesus has given us warnings of things that will happen before His imminent return. I do not want to have deaf ears to the hard things He has to say, trusting in a manufactured spirituality which will culminate in my failure to stand for Jesus. I want to be among those who “take heed” to, and obey, Jesus’ instructions and commands. I want to evaluate my life by the Word of God and make changes consistent with obeying Jesus’ words, being alert and ready for His imminent return.

Imminent means “about to happen”….

“Take heed, keep on the alert; for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert.”

“Therefore, be on the alert—for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning—in case he should come suddenly and find you asleep.”

“What I say to you I say to all, ‘Be on the alert!’” (Mark 13: 33-37)

Ya’ll, we are the “all”.