But he who endures to the end shall be saved

 Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows. 

"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved." 

- Mark 13:1-13

Yesterday we read that Jesus answered and said, while He taught in the temple, "How is it that the scribes say that the Christ is the Son of David?  For David himself said by the Holy Spirit:  'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool." '  Therefore David himself calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  And the common people heard Him gladly.  Then He said to them in His teaching, "Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  Now Jesus sat opposite the treasury and saw how the people put money into the treasury.  And many who were rich put in much.  Then one poor widow came and threw in two mites, which make a quadrans.  So He called His disciples to Himself and said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all those who have given to the treasury; for they all put in out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all that she had, her whole livelihood."

  Then as He went out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, "Teacher, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!"  And Jesus answered and said to him, "Do you see these great buildings?  Not one stone shall be left upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  My study bible tells us that Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.   In the frenzy of battle, rumors that there was gold between the stones of the temple quite literally resulted in the manifestation of Christ's prophecy.  The temple in Christ's time was known as one of the seven wonders of the world, for its architectural beauty and magnificence.  We can hear in the remarks of the disciple the awe at its glory.  After the Siege of Jerusalem, only one retaining wall remained of the vast and extraordinary building complex of the temple completed by Herod the Great, father of Antipas, who was also known as Herod the Builder.  (It is that Herod who slew the innocents of Bethlehem; see Matthew 2:16-18.)  That wall today is called the Western Wall, or formerly the Wailing Wall.

Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Him privately, "Tell us, when will these things be?  And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"  And Jesus, answering them, began to say:  "Take heed that no one deceives you.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and will deceive many.  But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled; for such things must happen, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be earthquakes in various places, and there will be famines and troubles.  These are the beginnings of sorrows.   My study bible notes here that Mark's account of the end times is given in a reverse parallel form (called chiastic).  This means that the topics which are mentioned in the first half of the passage are repeated and magnified in reverse order in the second half (which will be in Monday's lectionary reading).  So, the full passage in Mark begins and ends with a warning to take heed about false christs (verses 5, 23).  The second warning regards wars (verse 7), and the second-to-last warning is about tribulation (verse 19). 

"But watch out for yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils, and you will be beaten in the synagogues.  You will be brought before rulers and kings for My sake, for a testimony to them.  And the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  But when they arrest you and deliver you up, do not worry beforehand, or premeditate what you will speak.  But whatever is given you in that hour, speak that; for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.  Now brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."    The third warning in the overall passage is given in these verses about being delivered up to councils (verse 9), and also the third-to-last -- this time a warning about being betrayed by family members (verse 12).   The center of Jesus' discourse and prophecy on end times is here, that the gospel must first be preached to all the nations.  This is what my study bible calls the heart of the apostolic ministry and mission of the Church. 

Jesus ends today's passage with these stark words:  "And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But he who endures to the end shall be saved."  This is not exactly a cheering and heart-lifting message, delivered just prior to the events of the Passion that are coming.  He is preparing the disciples for what is to come, giving them a true picture of what is what, what to expect.  Are they prepared for the rest of their discipleship, their mission as apostles?    But it is an overall message for the Church, and believers in each generation -- even in nominally Christian countries -- have still experienced its truth.  To be a true believer is still to experience something that does not sit well with all the ways of the world, and the material-mindedness that comes to us so easily and makes life seem as if our choices are quite simple, that there is nothing more to life but its surface appearance.  Sometimes, as Jesus says, those challenges stretch straight into the personal, even into the heart of the family.  The struggles that we face as Christians or believers in Christ is a struggle of the heart, to reconcile our need for Christ and our lives in the world, as we meet the challenges of an imperfect, fallen, and selfish world.  That makes for a life of challenges and questions and struggles.   But Jesus teaches us that in all things, the Holy Spirit is present with us, and will give us what we need.  Note that Mark discloses in detail to whom Jesus speaks here, and where He speaks.  He's on the Mount of Olives with the rest of the pilgrims to Jerusalem at the Passover, the place where His Passion will start (in the garden called Gethsemane).  He speaks privately here to Peter, James, John and Andrew -- the brothers, Peter and Andrew, James and John, who form His first-called disciples.  As Jesus sets out what will be the path forward for the Church, and into the age to come, one may wonder in our time of advertising sophistication, couched as we are in public relations and marketing for virtually everything, how it was that such deep faith took root and spread so quickly through these men.  It will take only one generation for Christianity to go throughout what was their known world, to plant the seeds that would bear fruit.  We can but wonder, and then bear our own crosses and struggles, in such contrast to the popular idea of life as meant to be comfortable and perhaps easy.  But let us note these words.  Jesus' words to us speak most of all about endurance -- and endurance to the end, through all things, through the struggles we'll be a part of in our lives.  It's real, not fake.  He gives us the truth, and He gives it to us straight, for the gospel must go everywhere -- and surpass and transcend the struggles.