Ryle on Mark 13:1-8

Imported boundary: J. C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark from the Internet Archive DjVu OCR for the 1858 Robert Carter St. Mark volume. Title pages, preface, contents, running heads, page numbers, OCR boilerplate, and indexes are not mirrored. The source includes Ryle's printed Scripture text and exposition; this scan-derived text remains needs-verification.

Primary passage: Mark 13:1-8.

Source Text

1 And as lie went out of the tem- })le, one of bis disciples saith unto lim, Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here ! 2 And Jesus answering said unto him, Seest thou these great build- ings ? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives over against the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately ; 4 Tell us, when shall these things be ? and what shall le the sign when these things shall be fulfilled? 5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man de- ceive you : 6 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ ; and shall deceive many. 7 And when ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars, be ye not troub- led : for such things must needs be ; but the end shall not be yet. 8 For nation shall rise against na- tion, and kingdom against kingdom : and there shall be earthquakes in di- vers places, and there shall be famines and troubles : these are the beginnings of sorrows. The chapter we have now begun is full of prophecy - prophecy of which part has been fulfilled, and part re- mains to be accomplished. Two great events form the subject of this prophecy. One is the destruction of Jerusalem, and the consequent end of the Jewish dis- pensation. The other is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the winding up of the state of things under which we now live. The destruction of Jerusalem was an event which happened only forty years after our Lord was crucified. The second coming of Christ is an event which is yet to come, and we may yet live to see it with our own eyes.*

* I think it right to repeat here what I said in commenting on the report of our Lord's prophecy given by St. Matthew, respecting the destruction of Jerusalem. I believe that in the prophecy now under consideration, our Lord had in view a second siege of Jerusalem, and a second tribulation accompanying that siege, as well as the first siege and tribulation when the city was taken by Titus. That such a siege is to be expected, the fourteenth chapter of Zechariah appears to me to be unanswerable proof. I see no other way of explaining the close connection which ap- pears in the prophecy, between the " affliction" here foretold, and the " coming of the Son of Man in the clouds with power and great Chapters like this ought to be deeply interesting to every true Christian. No history ought to receive so much of oar attention as the past and future history of the Church of Christ. The rise and fall of worldly em- pires are events of comparatively small importance in the sight of God. Babylon, and Greece, and Kome, and France, and England, are as nothing in His eyes by the side of the mystical body of Christ. The march of ar- mies and the victories of conquerors are mere trifles in comparison with the progress of the Gospel, and the final triumph of the Prince of Peace. May we remember this in reading prophetical Scripture ! " Blessed is he that readeth." (Rev. i. 3.)

The first thing that demands our attention in the verses before us, is the prediction of our Lord concerning the temple at Jerusalem. The disciples, with the natural pride of Jews, had called their Master's attention to the architectural splen- dor of the temple. " See/' they said, " what manner of stones and what buildings are here 1"* They re- glory." To interpret that " coming of the Son of Man/'- as the com- ing of the Roman army in judgment on the Jews, apr ' to me positive trifling with Scripture. The view that our Lord is prophesying of two sieges of Jerusalem, and two tremendous tribulations which would fall especially on the Jews, and of His own second coming as an event which Avould im- mediately follow the second siege, makes the whole chapter plain and intelligible. All these events ought to be deeply interesting to believers ; and would be especially so to Jewish believers, like the apostles, in whose time the temple was yet standing, the Jewish dispensation not yet put aside, and Jerusalem not yet destroyed.

* It may be well to remark that the temple here spoken of, was, in a certain sense, the third temple in order which had been built at Jerusalem. The first was built by Solomon, and destroyed by 273 ceived an answer from the Lord very different from what they expected, a heart-saddening answer, and one well calculated to stir up inquisitive thoughts in their minds. No word of admiration falls from His lips. He expresses no commendation of the design or workman- ship of the gorgeous structure before Him. He appears to lose sight of the form and comeliness of the material building, in His concern for the wickedness of the nation to which it belonged. " Seest thou," He replies, " these great buildings ? There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be cast down."

Let us learn from this solemn saying, that the true glory of a Church does not consist in its buildings for public wor- ship, but in the faith and godliness of its members. The eyes of ourLord Jesus Christ could find no pleasure in look- ing at the very temple which contained the holy of holies, and the golden candlestick, and the altar of burnt offering. Much less, may we suppose, can he find pleasure in the most splendid places of worship among professing Chris- tians, ff His Word and His Spirit are not honored in it. We shall all do well to remember this. We are nati ' 7 inclined to judge things by the outward ap- pearand, like children who value poppies more than corn. We are too apt to suppose that where there is a stately ecclesiastical building and a magnificent ceremonial - ■ carved stone and painted glass - fine music and gorge- ously-dressed ministers, there must be some real religion. Nebuchadnezzar. The second was built by Ezra and Nehemiah. The third, if it may be so called, was enlarged and almost re-built, about the time of our Lord Jesus Christ's birth, by Herod. The enormous size of the stones used in building it, and the general magnificence of the whole fabric are attested not only by Josephus, but by heathen writers. 12* 274 EXPOSITORY TTIOUGIITS. And yet there may be no religion at all. It may be all form, and show, and appeal to the senses. There may he nothing to satisfy the conscience - nothing to cure the heart. It may prove on inquiry that Christ is not preached in that stately building, and the Word of God not expounded. The ministers may perhaps be utterly ignorant of the Gospel, and the worshippers may be dead in trespasses and sins. We need not doubt that God sees no beauty in such a building as this. We need not doubt the Parthenon had no glory in God's sight com- pared to the dens and caves where the early Christians worshipped, or that the meanest room where Christ is preached at this day, is more honorable in his eyes than the cathedral of St. Peter's at Kome. Let us however not run into the absurd extreme of supposing that it matters not what kind of building we set apart for God's service. There is no Popery in making a el mrch handsome. There is no true religion in having a dirty, mean, shabby, and disorderly place of worship. " Let all things be done decently and in order." (1 Cor. xiv. 40.) But let it be a settled principle in our religion, however beautiful we make our churches, to regard pure doctrine and holy practice as their principal ornaments. Without these two things, the noblest ecclesiastical edi- fice is radically defective. It has no glory if God is not there. With these two things, the humblest brick cot- tage where the Gospel is preached, is lovely and beauti- ful. It is consecrated by Christ's own presence, and the Holy Spirit's own blessing.

The second thing that demands our attention in these verses, is the remarkable manner in which our Lord commences the great prophecy of thin chapter. We are told that four of His disciples, aroused no doubt by His warning prediction about the temple, ap- plied to Him for further information. " Tell us," they said, " when shall these things be ? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled " The answer which our Lord gives to these questions, begins at once with a prediction of coming false doctrine and coming wars. If His disciples thought He would promise them immediate success and temporal prosperity in this world, they were soon undeceived. So far from bidding them expect a speedy victory of truth, He tells them to look out for the rise of error. " Take heed lest any man deceive you. - Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ." So far from bidding them expect a general reign of peace and quietness, He tells them to prepare for wars and troubles. " Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. - There shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles : these are the beginnings of sorrows." There is something deeply instructive in this opening of our Lord's prophetical discourse. It seems like the key note of what His Church is to expect between His first and second advents. It looks as if it were specially intended to correct the mistaken views, not only of His apostles, but of the vast body of professing Christians in every age. It looks as if our Lord knew well that man is always catching at the idea of a" good time coming," and as if He would give us plain notice that there will be no " good time" till He roturns. It may not be pleasant to us to hear such tidings. But it is in strict accordance with what we read in the prophet Jeremiah 5 " The prophets that have been before, prophesied of war, and of evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophe- sieth of peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly sent him." (Jer. xxviii. 8, 9.)

Let us learn from our Lord's opening prediction to be moderate in our expectations. Nothing has created so much disappointment in the Church of Christ, as the extravagant expectations in which many of its members have indulged. Let us not be carried away by the common idea, that the world will be converted before the Lord Jesus returns, and the earth filled with the knowledge of the Lord. It will not be so. There is nothing in Scripture to justify such expectations. Let us cease to expect a reign of peace. Let us rather look for warn Let us cease to expect all men to be made holy by any existing instrumentality - schools, missions, preach- ing, or any thing of the kind. Let us rather look for the rise of Antichrist Himself. Let us understand that we live in a day of election, and not of universal conversion. There will be no universal peace till the Prince of Peace appears. There will be no universal holiness till Satan is bound. It may cost us much to hold such opinions as these. But there is not a church or congregation on earth, whose state does not show that these opinions are true, and that while " many are called, few are chosen." It may bring on us the unkind remarks and the un- favorable judgment of many. But the end will provo who is right and who is wrong. For that end let us wait patiently. Let us labor, and teach, and work, and pray, But let it not surprise us if we find our Lord's word strictly true : " Narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt, v. 14.)