The prophecy Jesus presents in Mark 13:30 is one of many that present teachings on the end times. In Jesus’ fig-tree lesson he states, “Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.” This statement is one that has been analyzed and debated amongst biblical scholars for centuries. My aim is to analyze Jesus’ purpose behind this prophecy, while presenting varying interpretations and the weakness’ within each solution. My conclusion is by no means a definitive answer to Jesus’ meaning, but an analysis of a few commentaries and my own conclusion based on the research presented. In order to further understand the meaning behind this verse the larger and immediate context of the passage must be taken into account. Preterist View The first interpretation of Mk. 13:30 is know as the preterist view. According to the Revelation: Bible Commentary in the Wesleyan Tradition, “the word “preterist” is Latin and means “pre (before) in fulfillment.” It is expressing time fulfilled. Preterits believe that most or all of Bible prophecy has already been fulfilled in Christ and the ongoing expansion of His kingdom. They hang this belief of past-fulfillment on different verses, including the witness that Jesus and His apostles said that His coming (or presence) and the end of all things would occur soon (in that generation).” This view-point believes that, “all of Jesus’ predictions in the Olivet Discourse were fulfilled at the time of Jerusalem’s desolation and the temple’s destruction in A.D. 70.” The events Jesus predicted, according to a preterist viewpoint, took place during the lifetime of Jesus’ contemporaries or “this generation” as referred to in Mk. 13:30. “The central thesis...of all preterists... ... middle of paper ... ...iew. Jesus clearly states that the fall of Jerusalem will take place within His generation, but this is just the beginning. “All these things” includes the destruction of Jerusalem as a sign of the nearness of parousia. Yet, Jesus sees beyond this day of judgement and wants to instill confidence in believers for the labor pains to come. Because no one knows the day or the hour this is a warning to be ready from both Mark and Jesus. Mark and the first century church had no greater insight and thus would have been possibly expecting Jesus’ return during the destruction of Jerusalem. The event passed, but this just gave the early church greater faith in Christ’s reign as his prophecy was fulfilled and marked the a step towards His return. The nearness of parousia is evident in the language as Jesus calls for both fear and joy in the events of eschatological fulfillment.
become a Christian, a disciple of Christ. In this we have to be a good
In The Meaning of Jesus N.T. Wright and Marcus Borg present different views on issues relating to how Jesus is viewed. While Borg and Wright do agree on central ideals of Christianity, Borg tends to have more liberal views, whereas Wright holds more conservative views.
had great faith in Jesus and teaches us that we should do the same. In
Mark's Gospel and Nature of Discipleship In Mark's Gospel, there are many accounts of Jesus' disciples and Apostles which are helpful to Christians as examples of the nature of discipleship. In this part of my coursework essay I hope to address questions involving what Mark's Gospel tells us about Jesus' disciples and Apostles, as well as defining the principle of what being a disciple entails, and defining also who the apostles were. This is because by learning about past disciples and the Apostles, a modern disciple of the Church can learn about the nature of discipleship. A disciple is somebody who is inspired enough by somebody to learn about them, listen to their ideas and follow them and their way of life.
There are four Gospels in the new testament; Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Each one writing his perspective story about Jesus, his teachings, his works, his sacrifice, and his resurrection. At the same time, they each seem to elaborate on specific elements of Jesus. The gospel of Matthew writes about the bloodline, the ancestors of Jesus. The gospel of Mark, writes about Jesus as a servant to God. The gospel of Luke, writes about Jesus being the son of a human. The gospel of John, writes about Jesus being the son of God. Having an understanding on the focus of each gospel will help the reader know Jesus and his works better. However, this essay will concentrate on “The Gospel According to Mark,” written in Bruce Manning Metzger, translator of, The New Oxford Annotated Bible, Revised Standard Version with The Apocrypha (p. 1791). The gospel of Mark is documentation of
What a Study of Mark's Gospel can Tell Christians About the Nature of Discipleship In Mark's Gospel, the true nature of Discipleship to Christians was giving all that they have in the service of God and of other people. Also giving time and money to help others and requires total commitment. It was important in Mark's Gospel because Christians were being persecuted for their beliefs in Jesus. True Christian Discipleship means being prepared to accept this suffering even if it leads to death. Christian discipleship was reached out to anyone.
Luke Timothy Johnson uses Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church in order to make a strong point that when studying both Luke and Acts as a unit, rather than reading the canonical order in the Bible, gives us one of our best prophetic looks at the Church for all ages. By presenting this point Johnson hopes to light a fire in our churches of today by using the prophetic works of Luke, so that we as Christians will attend to the ways that Christ intended the church to be. In Johnson’s introduction he states that it is not wrong to study Luke and Acts separately as there are many ways to study the scripture, nevertheless it is wrong to look at Luke and see the prophetic ways of Jesus, and then looking at Acts as non-prophetic. Through seeing Luke’s
Everyone has his own sentiment of when he thinks the world will end some said it would happen at the turn of the millennium but it didn’t, others have hypothesized random dates throughout history But none have come true as to date. Jesus teaches that many calamities will mark the Second Coming and the Apocalypse. Kevin Knight writes in an article for New Advent and in it he says, “They are meant to foreshadow not to tell the day or the time, and will include. 1) The General Preaching of the Christian Religion. 2) The Conversion of the Jews. 3) The Return of Enoch and Elijah. 4) A Great Apostasy or revolt against the Catholic Faith. 5) The Reign of Antichrist who will be a powerful adversary of Christ. He will seduce the nations by his wonders, and persecute the Church. 6) Extraordinary Perturbations of Nature. 7) The Universal Conflagration. 8) The Trumpets of Resurrection will awaken the dead to resurrection. 9) The sign of the Son of Man Appearing in Heaven or in a wonderful cross of light.”
Madigan and Levenson quote Dale Allison that Jesus was seen and saw himself as the “last prophet in the cosmic drama whose mission it was to prepare his people for the eschatological finale.” This shook my foundation because prior to reading this book, my understanding was another cosmic drama to occur at the end of the age. The end of the age however, is not something to come but something has occurred at the cross and we are living in the world that has come. While this is correct and makes sense to me through reading this book and in the light of the Second temple Jewish restoration eschatology, it will not be an easy sell to my congregation. There is a running line that pulsates through seminary grads when we are pastoring and
In the gospels of Mark and John, both showed a vivid portrait of Jesus in their writing. Mark’s gospel describes much more of Jesus' life, miracles, and parables as suffering servant. However, John’s gospel was written to convince people to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. Nonetheless, both John and Mark present many of the crucial events of Jesus' life, including his trial, crucifixion, and resurrection.
Brooks and A.J Gordon (Balmer 34). Dispensationalism has been gaining followers for many years and its popularity can be seen in many places, such as in the Left Behind series which has captured the minds of many people around the world (Pagels 1). Now with historical context in mind, it is time to see what Dispensationalism teaches. Dispensationalism has three distinct characteristics: Rapture of Christians, Millennium Rule of Christ, and the Unfulfilled Prophecies of the Bible. For the purpose of this paper they will all be examined separately. The Rapture is the belief that Christians will be brought up and not have to endure the Tribulation (Robinson). The term “rapture” does not occur in the Bible but instead comes from a Latinized version of the word arpadzo which comes from “caught up” (Witherington 94). The belief in the Rapture for Dispensationalists is based on 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17 which they claim describes an event where living Christians return to heaven with Christ (Robinson). Secondly, the Millennium Rule is the belief that Jesus Christ will literally rule over earth for 1,000 years after the Tribulation (Robinson). The key here is that (as opposed to the Post-Millennial views) the believers have no part in setting up his reign
Jewish people expected that He would bring deliverance through the conquest but Jesus explained that deliverance can be achieved only through the cross. Jesus will achieve victory through suffering. It is the cross, not crown He will take up. Explaining His mission to the listeners he requires them to adjust and raise their expectations of Messiah . Jesus is much more than they had anticipated and God's mean of deliverance is through death. Jesus knew that He was misunderstood as Messiah and corrected their view in the gospel of Mark.
Revelation identifies itself as “both an “apocalypse”…and as prophecy”, making it distinctly different from the rest of the New Testament. “Jewish apocalyptic literature flourished in the centuries following the completion of the OT canon”, and it is scattered throughout the Old Testaments in books such as Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. Apocalyptic literature is full of “visions that dramatize the prophet’s admission to God’s heavenly council”, and convey their meaning primarily through symbolism. John brings a “balanced message of comfort, warning, and rebuke” in Revelation, testifying to the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ. Apart from the OT literature, Revelation shows a distinct optimism toward the end of days, for “Christ’s death has already won the decisive victory over evil”, with the Kingdom of God already among believers. This book was written in “approximately A.D. 95 on the island of Patmos”, which is still standing to this day. It was written under the emperor Domitian, with Roman authorities exiling John “to the island of Patmos (off the coast of Asia)”. The events in Revelation are also “ordered
The Gospel of Mark is an extremely influential and important chapter for the Christian religion. Mark chapter 14 begins two days before the Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread. This is when the Chief Priests and scribes are making their plans to trap Jesus and kill him. They will do this before the festival because they do not want to provoke the large crowds and cause a riot. There was a dinner in the suburbs, and a woman anoints Jesus with a very expensive ointment which angers some people, because they believe it to be a waste. Jesus then defends the women for what she did, because he believed it to be kind. Meanwhile, Judas sneaks away and agrees to betray Jesus to the chief of priests, who promise him money in return for his
Many important themes arose while I was reading the Gospel of Mark. In my week 2 group discussion posts, the themes I listed were faith, power of prayer, forgiveness, repentance, optimism, gratitude and mercy. However there are more that I found in the chapter and I read through it again such as the healing power of God and standing for righteousness.