Christ Rules History’s Delivery Room

Christ Rules! Gospel of Mark Series (Part 27)

Watch For His Coming

A Sermon By Jim Hammond from Mark 13

Can you imagine the fears a young woman would have if she knew nothing about the stages she could expect throughout her pregnancy and labor? Or worse, can you imagine her fear if she began to feel the pains associated with labor and didn’t even know she was pregnant?

I read about such a case this week where a woman, Elly Akkermans, was pregnant and didn’t know it until she delivered a baby. This woman was 39, “strongly built”, and had been missing periods she thought due to her age, so she didn’t properly evaluate some of the appropriate clues. When she began to feel pain in her back she went to a doctor. The doctor told her she had a hernia in her back. As a result when she finally went into labor she thought it was her back problem. She laid on the floor trying to make her back pain more bearable. Then things began to get desperate. She didn’t know what was happening until after the baby was delivered. She said, she was glad she delivered on March 31. It was very difficult for her to convince her family that she really did have a baby. They had talked to her that morning, she couldn’t come for a family get together because of a back problem. Just think how difficult it would have been to convince them she had a baby if it had been the next day, on April 1^st. She was so glad it was March she named the baby girl Maartje, a Dutch word for March. [i]

How would you react to labor pains if you didn’t know they were labor pains? You’d be scared to death. Of course I would be scared to death if I found out my pains were labor pains. I guess it is a matter of perspective.

Focus: Jesus compared the travail of history between his first and second coming with the pain associated with the birth process. Though things get worse and worse just before delivery, Jesus assures us that things are not hopeless. The deliverance is certain, and the outcome good for those who watch for His Coming.

Christ was wise in his preparation. He picked a good metaphor when he compared the ordeal that was coming to birth pangs. Can you imagine what the disciples would have thought of their own persecution experiences had not Jesus prepared them for it? Had not Jesus warned them, what would they have thought of the loss of the temple, the place that assured them God was present with their nation? These and other horrible events soon followed Christ’s Resurrection and Ascension and Christ was wise in preparing them for the ordeal they would face.

Knowing the signs they would face helped the disciples tremendously, just as knowing the signs and recognizing those signs for an imminent birth are also extremely helpful.

I read another story that sounded a lot like an urban myth. It is supposed to be true, but I can’t verify it. Whether it is true or not it’s certainly worth a chuckle. It seems that this lady didn't quite make it to the hospital for the birth of her child, in fact, the baby was born on the lawn just outside the main entrance. The poor woman was dreadfully embarrassed and was being consoled by one of the Nurses, who said; "Don't worry about it. It could have been worse, why two years ago we had a woman who gave birth in the elevator." The woman cried, "That was me!" and burst into tears.

Recognizing the signs of the Lord’s imminent return will help us avoid more than just embarrassment.

I. The First Stages of Labor

Mark 13:1-5 (NIV) ¹As he was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

²“Do you see all these great buildings?” replied Jesus. “Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”

³As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

⁵Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Jesus picked a good comparison when he compared the signs of his coming in glory with the birth pains that are a precursor to delivery. Both events have painful warning signs. The pains of both events are of limited duration. Both events have the sure hope of a wonderful reward, or good outcome that sustain people through the pain. The birth pains end with deliverance!

Good Warning Signs:

I understand that pregnant women sometimes get tired of their pregnancy being public domain. It seems once you are obviously showing, every stranger talks about pregnancy. And mere acquaintances even dare patting your stomach. I would hate people patting my tummy! I heard about one Lady who was so tired of this she got creative with her answers. Someone asked her, when she was obviously near full term, how she was feeling these days. Do you know how she answered? She frowned and said, "I’m really not doing too well. I've missed seven or eight periods, and I'm beginning to worry about it." Life’s tough experiences would really be more strange, and more difficult, if you didn’t know Christ predicted it—in other words if you didn’t know of the birth pangs.

Limited Duration

The good thing about pregnancy and labor is that it has a limited duration. One very concerned husband was standing alongside his wife as she lay on a gurney, ready to be taken back into the delivery room. She was obviously in a great deal of pain. He had a concerned look on his face as he said, "Honey, are you really sure you want to go through with this ? There are parallels here for the Christian. Once he picks up the cross there aren’t many good options but to keep carrying it through to the good outcome.

A Wonderful Reward

You know, it really is a good thing that the pains of pregnancy are rewarded with such a joyful deliverance. The only reason a woman would want to get pregnant a second time after suffering the trauma of pregnancy and birthing pains is that the outcome was good. It is no wonder Jesus uses the child birthing process as an analogy of the deliverance the disciples could expect. Jesus prepared his disciples and us for the long and painful birthing pains before the good outcome at his return.

He told us all about what to expect in the early stages of labor.

A. Jesus Accurately Predicted

1. Distress Not Peace

Jesus accurately predicted earthly distress not peace before his return so that we would have no false hopes and no false fears during the “birth pains.” It is a good thing that Jesus did teach his disciples this, because all Jewish expectations for the coming of the Messiah were for peace and prosperity. Jesus let his disciples know that distress, and a time delay would come first, then the return of the Messiah would be in power and glory, ushering in the reign of peace.

The disciples hear Jesus’ prediction of the temple’s destruction, and want to know the signs so they can prepare for it. Jesus doesn’t give them one sign but many. None of the signs are useful for predicting precisely when, but all are useful for discerning what is happening. Without Jesus’ careful preparation, the disciples would have abandoned the faith thinking all was lost. But instead they were well prepared for the suffering that would come before the final victory. Without Jesus’ teaching they would have been disheartened by persecution, panicked by wars, fooled by appearances, and led astray by false prophets.

2. A LONG Wait (Pregnancy)

Jesus accurately predicted a long wait before his return, a long pregnancy if you carry out the metaphor.

Such things must happen, but the end is still to come (v. 7)

These are the beginning of birth pains. (v. 8)

¹⁰And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.

Jesus accurately predicted

3. The indicators for the BEGINNING of birth pangs (v.9-23)

Jesus gave signs that marked the beginning of birth pangs, ushering in a new age. What were the these birth pangs marking? Wars, earthquakes, famines, persecution, the destruction of the temple, division, false prophets—all of these marked the beginning of the end, not the end. These things must happen before the end comes, but these things do not mean the end is immediately at hand.

Knowing this, they won’t easily be led astray by false hopes, or false fears and they will stay with their task. Let’s continue to read his predictions.

⁹“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. ¹⁰And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. ¹¹Whenever 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.

¹²“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. ¹³All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.

¹⁴“When you see ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ standing where it does not belong—let the reader understand—then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. ¹⁵Let no one on the roof of his house go down or enter the house to take anything out. ¹⁶Let no one in the field go back to get his cloak. ¹⁷How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! ¹⁸Pray that this will not take place in winter, ¹⁹because those will be days of distress unequaled from the beginning, when God created the world, until now—and never to be equaled again. ²⁰If the Lord had not cut short those days, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, whom he has chosen, he has shortened them.

²¹At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there he is!’ do not believe it. ²²For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect—if that were possible. ²³So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time.

There have been many attempts to identify the specifics about the “abomination that causes desolation”. Regardless of the specifics, it was a common practice then and for many centuries before Jesus, that when a nation came and conquered another nation, the gods of the conquered nation were dethroned, and some standard or idol of the conquering nation was set up in its place to assert sovereignty over that nation. Jesus picks a phrase from Daniel here to describe it. In effect, Jesus is saying to them, “In order that you may not be too strongly attached to the Temple, remember the prophesy of Daniel. Daniel had stated that the sacrifices would cease when the Redeemer should come. The temple will be made desolate. It will be demolished. Don’t Put False Hopes in the Temple. God no longer blesses this temple, no stone left on top of another. The temple belongs to the old order, whose builders will reject the stone that will become central to God’s new Temple. The destruction of the temple is not “the end of the world” as you think. It marks the end of an age and the beginning of a new age. It is but the birth pangs of that new age.”

These terrible events are signs that signal that they need to make a break with the temple. The destruction of the Temple should not therefore cause undue alarm, or hysteria, or distract them from their calling. When you are standing in the middle of the biggest disaster imaginable it is easy to jump to conclusions that the world is coming to an end. Jesus’ teaching and warnings prevented the disciples from jumping to these conclusions. They were able to stick to their tasks even through the terrible ordeals. They are given practical warning to flee the Temple at that time rather than die for it as many Jews chose to.

Jesus warns of the dreadful unequaled distress before the victory. This pattern helps steel us for anything.

II. The Last Stage & Deliverance

After that Great Distress Is the Deliverance

A. Christ Will Return with Great Power and Glory (v. 26)

²⁴“But in those days, following that distress,

“‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light;

the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’^£

²⁶“At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. ²⁷And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens.

²⁸“Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.

B. The signs do not help us Calculate

The First Stage signs provide no ability to calculate duration of the Labor Pains. What the disciples wanted were signs they could calculate, in order to be prepared before things happen. What Jesus gave was preparation so that they knew how to respond through the difficulties they would go through, not in order to calculate the time of the coming of the end.

⁴“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?”

The disciples question asks the question about the temple using the phrase “these things”.

Jesus gives them the answer about (“all of these things”) i.e., all of the preliminary Labor Stage Signs Jesus gave that must happen before the deliverance. “all of these things” refers to those preliminary labor signs, not to the deliverance itself with the signs associated with it.

So when Jesus says,

²⁹Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. ³⁰I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. ³¹Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. ³²“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

³⁵“Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. ³⁶If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. ³⁷What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”

Notice that it is at verse 23 that Jesus said I have told you everything, before he speaks of the actual deliverance itself. Jesus did not mean the deliverance itself would happen before “this generation passes away”, he himself said he didn’t know the time. He is simply saying the preliminary signs showing the labor pains have started must happen first. Knowing this, they are prepared for anything, and any length of time waiting.

What Jesus does predict is that the destruction of the temple would take place within the time frame of his generation. And it was destroyed. Jerusalem was sacked, and the temple destroyed in AD 70. Jesus adequately prepared his disciples for the turbulent 60’s of their century and ours and every other turbulent time we might face by saying what he did.

The only time element mentioned that could be helpful for calculation is Jesus statement about “this generation” but I believe this has to do with all the preliminary signs associated with questions about the temple.

No matter what the interpretation of Jesus words here, we must caution ourselves against the tendency toward calculating the end. The purpose of Jesus’ statements was not to answer our curiosity so that we could calculate the chronology, or timing of the end. Jesus makes it clear He doesn’t even know, only the Father does.

Only the Father Knows the Day or the Hour of Christ’s Return

³²“No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. ³⁴It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.

C. The signs help us to be faithful

The purpose for Jesus prophecy was to prepare us. I did an exercise while studying this chapter that proved to be helpful. I circled every command. This section is filled with practical commands to help us stand faithfully through it all. Let’s focus on a few, using again the analogy of going through labor.

III. What To Do During Labor

The emphasis of Jesus’ teaching and predictions was not for us to be able to calculate and figure out when things happen. Jesus’ emphasis is clearly in order to prepare us to be able to handle what was to come and to tell us what to do during these trying labor pains.

1. RELAX--Do not worry beforehand (v. 11)

However, If anyone says “It’s Easy” do not believe it (v. 21-22)

There's a reason it's called "labor" rather than "picnic". Labor is hard work, and it usually involves something that a lot of people want to avoid and which they even fear: pain. We don’t pretend that giving birth is easy, painless, or without effort. Jesus taught us that neither should we believe the time between his first and second coming will be easy! Don’t follow the false prophets who tell you otherwise.

How you understand the pain makes a big difference. Can you imagine what you would be thinking if you experienced the pains of pregnancy and childbirth without knowing you were pregnant? You would be scared to death. In fact you probably would believe you were dying! But Jesus prepared us with everything we need for the times we face. Relax.

2. Keep watch (v. 34, 35, 37)

Watch out that no one deceives you (v. 5) (with false hopes or false fears)

In Child birthing classes we were told to Pick a Focal Point: I watched the monitor, and coached Gina through the signs of the contractions. It was helpful for her to hear she was almost through another contraction. What is the focal point of your life?

3. Do not be alarmed (v. 7)

I hated the screamers in the room next door. They weren’t prepared so their experience was different.

4. Breathe!

The gospel must first be preached (v. 10, 13). In order to do this, the gospel good news is breathed in and then breathed out. Inhale, exhale. Receive, then give. We’ve got a job to do. Breathe!

5. Don’t Sleep (v. 36)

^{34. .
.}and puts his servants in charge, each with his assigned task,

³⁶If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping.

No Sleeping on the Job. For that matter, during labor I distressed Gina when I asked if I could go get something from the vending machine. I was starving. It didn’t matter. There was something more urgent at hand. She hadn’t had anything. I could wait.

6. Stay with the Task to the Very End!

Will Campbell tells the story of an Anabaptist woman who lived in Antwerp during the 1500s in the time of the inquisitions. She had been arrested a few days earlier for proclaiming the gospel of Christ as she understood it from her personal reading of the Scripture and from study and discussion with others of like faith. She underwent the inquisition of the clerics for heresy and the bodily torture of the civil authorities, but she would not buckle under to their pressure. After six months, she would not promise to stop preaching the word from her own reading of the Bible. So the authorities did what they thought they had to do: They sentenced her to death on October 5, 1573. Included in the sentence was the stipulation to the executioner that her tongue be screwed fast to the roof of her mouth so that she might not testify along the way as they took her to the stake where she was to be burned.

That day her teenage son, Adriaen, took his youngest brother, three year-old Hans Mattheus, and they stood near the stake so that they could be near her at her moment of death. Three other women and a man were to die that day for the same terrible offense—unauthorized preaching of the gospel. When the flames were lit, Adriaen fainted. He could not witness the horror. But when it was all over and the ashes had cooled, he sifted through them until he found the screw that had silenced his mother’s tongue. He determined right then and there that it would not silence his.[ii]

[i] http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/7269/maartje00.htm

[ii] From David E. Garland, The NIV Application Commentary on Mark (Zondervan 1996) p. 512