Day 33 – What can we expect?
Mark 13:1-11
As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!” “Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?” Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.
“You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”
Liz Nixon writes:
This next section of Mark sees Jesus jump ahead to what will happen after His time on earth. Some of these things happen soon, some happen further into the future, and with the many layers of prophecy, some of it is still to be fulfilled. Jesus was certainly correct about the demolition of Jerusalem - it happened within the time of many of His disciples, and the Romans did pull down the Temple and the other buildings so that "not one stone here will be left on another". He warns them that false prophets claiming to be Jesus will come and try to lead them astray and that they need to be on their guard.
Once more, Jesus the Teacher is keen to teach His followers before He leaves them. But He gives them a more positive insight to His leaving them in verse 11, telling them that when they are at trial, His Spirit will give them the words to speak. I'm not sure how much that would have sunk in at that time - He's just warned them of wars and famines and earthquakes, and being arrested and put on trial! It probably sounded quite mysterious and unlikely to them! But they were probably glad that it was true for those of them who would be arrested and put on trial - His Spirit did give them the words to say at just the right moment.
Can you think of times when Jesus' Spirit has given you the words to speak? How did you feel when you suddenly knew what to say? Thank Him for those words and let Him build your confidence that He will do it again.