Jesus Continues His Farewell Discourse Before His Death and Resurrection

As Jesus and his disciples sat on the Mount of Olives, directly across the Kidron Valley from the Jerusalem Temple, Jesus began to answer those questions put to him by his disciples regarding a statement he made a short time earlier. As they were leaving the temple complex on Tuesday afternoon of Easter Week–the disciples remarked about the grandeur of the temple and the huge stones which were used in its construction. Upon hearing their comments, Jesus told them, “`Do you see all these great buildings?’ . . . `Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’” This shocking comment from Jesus prompted the disciples to ask Jesus privately, “`Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?’” Jesus answered their questions, taking their second question first. This section of the gospel has come to be known as the Olivet Discourse. These words constitute our Lord’s most significant teaching about the future course of history. In this passage, Jesus sets out those things his people should expect until he returns at the end of the age.

Having completed the first part of the Olivet Discourse (verses 1-23 of Mark 13), when Jesus set forth those signs which would precede the destruction of the temple, we now move into the second portion of the discourse, which deals with Jesus’s return at the end of the age to raise the dead, judge the world, and make all things new. The Olivet Discourse is a significant discourse (taking up all of chapter 13 of Mark’s gospel) given by Jesus to explain to the disciples what is soon to come to pass with the events of A.D. 70. Jesus predicts that the Roman army, led by Titus, will destroy the temple and the city of Jerusalem, thereby scattering the Jews into the ends of the earth as a tragic consequence. While explaining the signs that precede these momentous events–in effect, answering the second question put to him by the disciples first–Jesus goes on in the last half of the discourse to speak of a new event, his own second coming at the end of the age.

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