Introduction: If you are reading this, very likely you
believe that God exists, Jesus came to earth, lived a
perfect life on our behalf, paid our debt for sin through
His death, and rose to eternal life so that we can follow
Him to heaven. What else is there to believe? What other
issues might strain our trust in God? One major issue is the
Second Coming of Jesus. Every generation believes that He
will come in their lifetime. But that belief is being
strained by the fact that all the prior generations were
wrong. Let’s dive into the Bible and see what Mark has to
teach us about trust and the Second Coming of Jesus!
I. Trust
A. Read Mark 12:41-44. Do you think this observation
is a teaching on how we should give to the church?
(If it is, it makes no sense. The widow’s penny
made absolutely no difference to the operation of
the temple. On the other hand, she would starve
unless someone gave her something to eat. As a
practical matter, she is simply giving to the
temple what someone else will give her for food.)
B. Read Leviticus 19:9-10. What is the obligation of
the farmer to the poor? (He leaves the edges of his
field, and whatever was dropped in the harvesting
process for the poor to come and gather.)
1. How much is the farmer entitled to keep? (The
overwhelming amount of the harvest. The edge
of a field generally is not that productive.)
C. Read Leviticus 27:30-32. What is the farmer’s
obligation to God for the amount he harvests? (God
claims 10% and the farmer keeps 90%. Those who are
experts in the Levitical law know that the issue is
more complicated, but the point remains that the
farmer keeps most of what he harvests.)
D. Look again at Mark 12:43-44. Are the offerings of
the “rich people” consistent with the teachings of
Leviticus? (Yes. God’s instructions in Leviticus
expect that His people “contribute out of their
abundance.”)
1. We previously studied Jesus’ statement to the
rich young ruler that he should “sell all that
you have and give to the poor” (Mark 10:21).
Is Jesus issuing a new rule on giving? Is He
changing the Levitical rules on money much
like He changed the Levitical rules on
marriage?
E. Read Acts 5:1-4. What did Peter identify as the sin
here?(Lying. It would not have been wrong for them
to keep their property or the money. I don’t think
Jesus changed the rules. Neither did Peter.)
1. If Jesus is not changing the law on giving,
what is Jesus’ point? (The point for both the
rich young ruler and the widow is trusting
God. Trust is the central issue for what Mark
addresses next.)
II. Life Upside Down
A. Read Mark 13:1-4. If you were these four disciples,
what would the complete destruction of the temple
area mean to you? (If would mean the end of their
nation and the heart of their religion.)
B. Read Acts 1:6. How is the temple connected to the
future plans of the disciples? (They thought they
would be running the temple and the nation!)
C. Look again at Mark 13:3. Why would the four come to
Jesus privately to discuss this? (There was nothing
more important than to get a proper understanding
of Jesus’ shocking prediction.)
D. Read Mark 13:5-9. What do you think the disciples
believe Jesus is describing? (Their future. Jesus
specifically tells them what will happen to them in
synagogues. This is all terrible news.)
E. Read Mark 13:10-13. What does the widow and her
penny have to teach the disciples? (Trust God in
the terrible times ahead.)
III. The Abomination
A. Read Mark 13:14-17 and Matthew 24:15-19. Are
Matthew and Mark recording the same prediction of
Jesus? (Yes.)
1. What does Matthew record that is different
than Mark? (Matthew makes a reference to a
prediction of Daniel.)
B. Read Daniel 9:26-27. What is Daniel describing?
(The same thing – the destruction of the temple.)
1. Notice that Mark 13, Matthew 24 and Daniel 9
all predict the destruction of the temple by
an abomination of desolation. What do you
think this is? (Jesus predicts the future of
the temple. Daniel 9 ties this to “an anointed
one” who is “cut off.” That reinforces the
only logical conclusion that Jesus is speaking
about the Roman destruction of Jerusalem and
the temple that occurred after Jesus’ death.)
2. Some commentators, such as John MacArthur, see
these verses in Matthew 24 as including both
the future destruction of the temple in 70
A.D., but also the invasion of Antiochus
Epiphanes, in 168 B.C. Does it seem reasonable
to believe that Jesus is talking about
something that happened 200 years before?
(That makes no sense. Jesus is answering the
disciples’ questions about His statement that
the temple will be destroyed.)
IV. The Second Coming
A. Read Mark 13:19-23, Revelation 7:14, and
Daniel 12:1-2. Notice that all three of these texts speak
of a tribulation or time of trouble, that is
unmatched. Do you think they are referring to the
same event? (I think so.)
1. Is this great tribulation the fall of
Jerusalem after Jesus’ death? (That seems
unlikely as a general matter, and Daniel 12
keys it to a time just before the Second
Coming of Jesus.)
B. Read Mark 13:24-27. What event is Jesus describing
now? (Very clearly He is speaking about His Second
Coming.)
1. When we consider Jesus’ plain statement that
“after the tribulation” (Mark 13:24) He will
come, and Daniel’s statement about God’s
people being delivered by the Second Coming,
it is reasonable to conclude that this great
tribulation time is in the future and it is
tied to Jesus’ Second Coming.)
C. Read Mark 13:28-31. Jesus gives a guarantee that
His statement about the future is more reliable
than the existence of heaven and earth. If Jesus’
prediction does not come to pass, should we believe
anything He says? (Jesus stakes His reputation on
it. It must be right or He cannot be trusted.)
1. Focus on Mark 13:30. How do you explain this?
Jesus did not return during the lifetime of
the disciples. (We know that Jesus is
discussing two events. The destruction of the
temple and His Second Coming. The destruction
of the temple took place during the disciples’
generation.)
D. Look again at Mark 13:30. Note that Jesus refers to
“all these things,” and not just half the things He
has been discussing. How do you explain that? Only
the destruction of the temple took place during
their generation. (Let’s read on.)
E. Read Mark 13:32-37. What “day or that hour” event
is Jesus discussing here? (His Second Coming.)
1. Look again at Mark 13:32. What does Jesus
state about His knowledge of the timing of His
Second Coming? (He says He does not know when
the time will come.)
2. Let’s put together Jesus’ timing statements.
He gives an absolute guarantee about the
timing of the destruction of the temple, but
He then says He does not know the timing of
His Second Coming. When you look at Jesus’
complete statement, is He trustworthy? (Yes!
He explains what He knows and what He does not
know.)
3. Do you know why Jesus started this discussion
with His observations about the widow who gave
one penny? (We come full-circle. Jesus wants
us to trust our future to Him just as the
widow trusted her future to God.)
F. Friend, will you trust God? Understanding what God
said about the future in Daniel, Revelation, Mark,
and Matthew is not an exact science. We might
misunderstand. Trusting God with our future is an
exact science. Will you, by the enabling power of
the Holy Spirit, determine to trust God with your
future?
V. Next week: Taken and Tried.
Copr. 2024, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail,
but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
