Commentary - Mark 13:24-27

Bird's-eye view

In this section of the Olivet Discourse, the Lord Jesus describes the triumphant conclusion of the judgment He has been prophesying against first-century Jerusalem. This is not, as is commonly supposed, a description of the end of the world, but rather the end of the Jewish world, the end of the Temple-centric age. The key to understanding this passage is to let the Old Testament interpret the New. The dramatic language of cosmic collapse is standard prophetic speech for the fall of a nation. The coming of the Son of Man is not a reference to the Second Coming, but rather to His vindication and enthronement over His enemies, an event demonstrated by the destruction of the holy city in A.D. 70. With that old world removed, the gospel is then unleashed to gather God's elect from every corner of the globe.

Jesus is answering the disciples' questions about the destruction of the Temple (Mark 13:2-4). He has told them that all these things would happen within their generation (Mark 13:30). Therefore, the events described here must be understood as the climactic events of that same judgment. Christ's prophecy was a stunning success, not an embarrassing failure. He told His disciples what was going to happen, it happened just as He said, and the result was the full establishment of the New Covenant order and the explosion of the Christian faith across the Roman Empire and beyond.

Outline

Context In Mark

This passage is the apex of the Olivet Discourse in Mark's gospel. The entire discourse is a direct answer to the disciples' questions in verse 4: "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?" The "things" in question are the utter destruction of the Jerusalem Temple that Jesus predicted in verse 2. Jesus has just described the great tribulation that would engulf Judea (vv. 14-23), and now He describes the meaning of that event in the grand scheme of salvation history. The verses that follow this section, particularly the parable of the fig tree and the declaration that "this generation will not pass away until all these things take place" (v. 30), lock this entire prophecy into the events surrounding the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.

Verse by Verse Commentary

24 “But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT,

The Lord pins the timing down for us. This is not some far-flung future event thousands of years after the fact. It is "in those days," immediately following "that tribulation" He just described, which was the horrific siege of Jerusalem by the Romans. This is the A.D. 70 context.

Now, what about the sun and moon going dark? We must read our Bibles with our Bibles. This is what the Old Testament prophets did when they wanted to describe the fall of a great nation or empire. This is the language of covenantal de-creation. When God brings a kingdom to ruin, He speaks of it as unmaking their world, of turning out their lights. For example, when Isaiah prophesied the destruction of Babylon, he said, "For the stars of the heavens and their constellations will not give their light; the sun will be dark at its rising, and the moon will not shed its light" (Is. 13:10). When Ezekiel prophesied against Egypt, God said, "When I blot you out, I will cover the heavens and make their stars dark; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon shall not give its light" (Ezek. 32:7). Jesus is not giving a lesson in astrophysics. He is speaking as a prophet in the tradition of the prophets, and He is declaring that the entire world of old covenant Judaism, with its Temple, its priesthood, and its sacrificial system, is about to collapse. Their sun was the Law, their moon was the Temple, and the lights were going out.

25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, AND THE POWERS THAT ARE IN THE HEAVENS will be shaken.

The imagery continues. The "stars falling from heaven" refers to the downfall of the ruling authorities of the Jewish people. The priests, the scribes, the elders of the Sanhedrin, these were the "stars" in the political and religious firmament of that nation. Their authority was about to be utterly broken. The "powers that are in the heavens" are the same thing, the entire ruling structure, both earthly and the spiritual powers that stood behind them. Their whole system was being violently shaken and overthrown, just as Jesus predicted. This was a political and religious earthquake of the first magnitude. The old covenant world was coming to an end, and its leadership was being cast down from their places of authority.

26 And then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory.

Here is another place where we must let Scripture interpret Scripture, and not let our traditions or science fiction novels do the work. The popular idea is that this is Jesus descending to earth for the final judgment. But that is not what the text says, nor is it what the Old Testament background for this verse says. Jesus is quoting directly from Daniel 7. "I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him" (Dan. 7:13). Notice the direction of travel. The Son of Man is not coming down from heaven to earth. He is coming on the clouds up to the Ancient of Days in heaven to receive His kingdom, power, and glory. This is a scene of ascension, enthronement, and vindication.

When did this happen? It began at the Ascension. And when did the tribes of the land "see" it? They saw the effects of it. They saw the proof of His enthronement when His powerful judgment fell upon the very generation that had crucified Him. The destruction of Jerusalem was the public vindication of Jesus Christ. It was the undeniable sign that He, the Son of Man, was now ruling from the right hand of God with all power and glory. His enemies were being made His footstool, just as Psalm 110 promised.

27 And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

With the old system judged and dismantled, what comes next? The great commission kicks into high gear. This is not a "rapture" of believers out of the world. This is the worldwide gathering of God's people into the church. The word for "angels" here is angelos, which simply means "messengers." In the context of the new covenant, who are the Lord's messengers? They are the preachers of the gospel. After the destruction of Jerusalem, the last vestiges of the old covenant were removed, and Christianity was untethered from its Jewish swaddling clothes. The messengers of the gospel went forth into all the world, to the four winds, to gather the elect of God from every tribe, tongue, and nation. This is the building of Christ's kingdom, the great ingathering that continues to this day. The judgment on the old world made way for the maturation of the new.

Application

The Olivet Discourse is not a confusing roadmap to a future apocalypse designed to make us anxious about newspaper headlines. It is a stunning prophecy that was precisely fulfilled, designed to give us confidence in the absolute sovereignty and authority of Jesus Christ. He is not a failed prophet; He is the Lord of history.

Because Christ was vindicated in A.D. 70, and because His kingdom was established, we are not living in the last days of a failing world. We are living in the early days of a victorious kingdom. The old world of animal sacrifices and ethnic boundaries has passed away. The new world of the Spirit is here. Our task is the same as that of the early church: to act as faithful messengers, proclaiming the lordship of Jesus Christ and gathering His elect from the four corners of the earth. We do this work not in fear, but in the confidence that our enthroned King has all power and glory, and that His kingdom is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away.