Jesus - His Return Calls for Our Vigilance - Mark 13:28-37

Sermon Series: Spare Me the Details - Just Give Me Jesus

When you were a teenager did you ever have a parent who, prior to leaving the house, would tell you that you better have something done before they got back?  Perhaps your mom was going out to run some errands and said to you before she left, “Young man, I’m going out for a few hours.  When I get back, this room better be clean.”  Or maybe you had been spending too much time in the afternoons watching TV and as a result you weren’t getting your homework done.  Maybe your dad would say right before he left for work, “Young lady, I want you to come home this afternoon and get started on your homework right away – no TV.  When I get home from work I expect you to be completely finished with tonight’s homework.”  In those situations what were the most important things for you to remember?  The last instructions you received, right?  If your mom left and you jumped on the Nintendo to play a little Mario Brothers and grew complacent about what she said, then you were going to be in big trouble.  And if you came home from school and started watching MTV, growing complacent rather than doing your homework, then you were going to get punished by your father when he got home.  Complacency towards our parent and their instructions is a bad thing.  But I would argue that our complacency doesn’t just extend towards our earthly parents.  Sometimes we grow complacent in our jobs and towards our employers.  Sometimes we grow complacent at the gym and in our workouts.  And even though it may surprise you, we also grow complacent towards God the Father and Jesus, His Son.  Far too often we grow complacent in regards to our discipleship and carrying out the final commands of Jesus.  And in this week’s post, we will see that Jesus makes it clear that we need to be vigilant in listening to and carrying out His commands while He is gone.  You might be wondering why the use of such strong language?  Why do we, as followers of Jesus, need to be “vigilant?”  That’s a great question and that’s just what Mark is going to address in this portion of his gospel.

Last week we talked about Jesus’ exhortations to his followers for both the near and present future.  The major emphasis of the text was that the signs that will occur in both the near and distant future aren’t given so that we as followers of Jesus will speculate about the end.  Those signs are given to us as a reminder that while the end is certainly coming, we need to be grounded in both watchfulness and faithfulness.  We’ll continue to see in this week’s passage and in the weeks to come just how important faithfulness and watchfulness are.  Last week Jesus admonished His disciples to watchfulness and faithfulness in the present and near future in verses 1 through 13.  Following those admonitions for watchfulness and faithfulness in the present and near future we saw Jesus admonishing His disciples to watchfulness and faithfulness in the distant future in verses 14 through 27.  As we pick up the text in verse 28 Jesus shifts His focus back to the near and present future – the ‘these things’ era.  Let’s consider what He has to say.

In verse 28 Jesus calls to mind the fig tree when He says, “From the fig tree learn its lesson.”  For most of Mark’s readers, our first reaction is to call to mind the cursing of the fig tree that Mark recorded in 11:12-14¸20-25.  But as Jesus continues to speak, He seems to have a different lesson in mind.  He continues saying, “as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.”  The fig tree, as opposed to some of the other trees in the Palestine region (such as the almond and olive trees and various evergreens) loses its leaves in winter and then only sprouts new ones in late spring.  The sprouting of the leaves on the fig tree was a sign that summer was approaching.  It didn’t mean that summer had arrived – only that it was coming.  Jesus’ disciples needed to understand that when they saw “these things” taking place, the things He spoke on in verses 3 through 13 (the destruction of Jerusalem, the wars, the natural disasters, and the coming of false messiahs), that they were certain signs that the end was indeed near and that Jesus’ return would be coming.  In fact, Jesus said that His disciples and others from their generation would even begin to experience some of these signs before they passed away.  Jesus wanted to make sure that His disciples understood the certainty of what was to come in the present and near future.  And Jesus stakes that certainty in a remarkable claim of His authority.  Jesus claims that all that we know – everything in both heaven and earth – will pass away.  Those things that seem most permanent and sure won’t last.  But what will last and what will not pass away are Jesus’ words.  Jesus grounds His proclamation of future events in who He is.  And because He is God, the One who has always and will always exist, we can be certain that His proclamation of what will come is going to take place.  So because Jesus’ return is certain, we His followers need to be vigilant in our discipleship.  Jesus’ return isn’t a question.  It is absolutely certain.  We don’t know when it will be, but we have evidence that it is approaching.  That certainty calls for our vigilance.

In verse 32 Jesus tells His disciples that God the Father is the only one who knows when the end will come and when Jesus will return for His followers.  No one else knows the day or even the time of day that it will occur – not even Jesus, Himself, knows.  The fact that there is plenty of evidence that the sequence of events leading up to the end has begun (i.e. rumors of wars, wars, false messiahs, political unrest, and natural disasters) Jesus begins to repeatedly express what it is that is crucial for the disciples to do during this time – they are not to grow complacent!  How do we know this?  Listen to Jesus’ admonitions in verses 33 through 37. 

In verse 33 Jesus gives two commands.  The first one He says is, “Be on guard.”  It’s a plea to His disciples for discernment.  During the present time we have to be discerning in our discipleship, so that when ‘those days’ come, we will not have been pursuing the wrong things.  Immediately after saying “Be on guard,” Jesus commands His disciples, “keep awake.”  This is a command for the disciples to be alert.  Not only can complacency set in in regards to our discernment, but it can also set in in regards to our alertness.  When we recognize that there is evidence that the end is certain and that it is approaching we can fix our mind on the signs themselves and focus our thinking on things to come.  As disciples though we need to be alert and aware of the work that God is doing around us so that we can partner with Him in the work of ministry that still needs to be done in the present.  Then in verse 34 Jesus gives an illustration.  Jesus says this is what it is like presently here in this world, “it is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake.”  Jesus is like the man who has gone on a journey.  Jesus is presently sitting at the right hand of God the Father in heaven, but is going to return to earth to gather His true followers and take them to heaven with Him for all eternity.  But for now He is no longer present in bodily form, just like the man in this illustration who has gone on a journey.  Jesus’ disciples and followers are the servants that Jesus has left behind, each having been given responsibility for the oversight of His possessions, and each with work that he/she ought to be carrying out, including the task of being watchful for His coming.  The command to the door keeper in verse 34 is “to stay awake.”  This is a different word in the Greek than the word that is translated in verse 33 to “keep awake.”  The word here implies vigilance in being watchful and staying awake.  And here is the command of Jesus that He really emphasizes in our text this week.  Jesus uses this word three times, in verse 34, verse 35, and verse 37.  It is the doorkeeper’s job in verse 34 to stay awake and since this is part of our task as His followers while we are waiting on His return, Jesus commands us in verse 35, “therefore, stay awake.”  Jesus then returns to His illustration and says, “for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning.”  What Jesus mentions in His illustration are the four watches of the Roman night.  There was a watch that took place during the evening, a watch that took place at midnight, a watch that took place at the rooster’s crow, and a watch that took place at dawn.  Jesus says if you don’t know when the master is returning you better stay vigilant in our responsibilities, so that He doesn’t return and find you asleep (vs. 36).  Then Jesus ends His illustration with a command in verse 37, “And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”  Jesus says this to His disciples gathered around Him as well as to all of His disciples who would follow in the generations to come – “Stay awake!”  As the end approaches we aren’t to grow complacent.  We are to “be on guard” in regards to our discernment; we are to “keep awake” in regards to our alertness; but most importantly we are to “stay awake” in regards to our vigilance as disciples, because Jesus has commanded it.   Jesus mentions this last command three times, and just so you can catch a glimpse of its significance let’s briefly venture into chapter 14. 

You’ll recall in Jesus’ illustration He said that the servants ought to stay awake and remain vigilant during all four of the Roman watches, right?  At evening, at midnight, at the rooster’s crow, and at dawn the disciples ought to be staying awake.  Look at chapter 14, verse 17 and notice what time of day it is.  Mark said that it was evening – the first of the Roman watches.  Now go down to verse 32 and read through verse 42.  At evening, Jesus asked His disciples to sit and pray, but He said specifically to Peter, James, and John in verse 34 to remain here and “watch.”  “Watch” in the Greek is the same word that Jesus uses in 13:34, 35, and 37 to “stay awake.”  Jesus is saying to His three closest followers and friends, “remain here and stay awake – stay vigilant.”  But in verse 37 Jesus returns to Peter, James, and John, finds them sleeping and then asks why they couldn’t “watch” (stay awake, remain vigilant) for one hour.  He then gives them the command in verse 38 to “watch” again.  Again He tells them to “stay awake,” to “remain vigilant.”  But again we see the disciples fail.  In Jesus illustration He said that the servants ought to stay awake during the evening, but a few verses later we find the disciples failing to do that.  Now look over at 14:66-72.  In those verses we find Peter not remaining vigilant in His discipleship, but rather denying Jesus.  And in verse 72 it says, “and immediately the rooster crowed.”  Another reference to one of the Roman watches that Jesus had mentioned previously in His illustration at the end of chapter 13 during which the servants were to remain awake, and another time we see Jesus’ disciples falling short.  Jesus is serious in His command for us to stay awake.  And while we may not think that is a difficult task – we need to humbly recognize that it is and plead with God to help us remain vigilant.

One question you may be asking is “What does it look like to be vigilant in our discipleship?”  What are we to do to assure ourselves that we are “staying awake” and remaining “watchful?”  Those are great questions.  I think we find a large part of that answer in the context.  Two things I think that we as disciples of Christ ought to be vigilant in striving after are the two greatest commandments that Jesus mentions in chapter 12.  As Mark is working through His gospel account we see the focus in chapters 1-13 on Jesus’ life, ministry, and teaching.  In chapters 14, 15, and 16 Mark focuses on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.  We noted that as Mark was concluding the portion of His gospel on Jesus’ life, ministry, and teaching that Jesus seemed to summarize His call to discipleship by saying the most important thing for His followers to do was to love the Lord their God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength (1:29-30).  The second most important thing for them to do was to love their neighbor as themselves (12:31).  We’ve spent a significant amount of time working through these verses and for a greater explanation you can look back at the blog post that expounded on these verses.  But for now suffice it to say that if these are the two most important things for followers of Christ to do then we need to remain vigilant in striving after those things.  But there’s one other significant part of the context of Mark’s gospel that I think we ought to pay attention to in regards to guarding against complacency and remaining vigilant in our discipleship.  When we looked briefly at chapter 14 and the account of Jesus and His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus asked His disciples to “watch and pray” before He left them for a while.  In that context, Jesus’ final instructions just before He left were what He wanted them to remain vigilant in.  Jesus wanted them to be vigilant in prayer as He prepared for the cross.  So if the instructions that Jesus gives just before He leaves are of foremost importance then we need to be asking the question, what were Jesus’ final instructions before He left earth and ascended into Heaven.  We can find that answer at the end of Mark’s gospel as well as at the end of Matthew (Matthew 28:18-20), the end of Luke (Luke 24:47-48), and the beginning of Acts (Acts 1:8).  Mark records Jesus saying at the end of His gospel account, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15).  If the final commands that Jesus gives before He leaves are of foremost importance, then one thing we as His disciples need to remain vigilant in is proclaiming the good news of the gospel.  We can’t grow complacent in this area and believe that our discipleship is where Jesus desires it to be.  

I can’t stress enough how important it is that we not grow complacent in our discipleship.  Jesus gave some pretty clear instructions of what was of foremost importance as His followers.  Jesus told the scribe we are to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.  The other thing that we see recorded at the end of each gospel account and at the beginning of Acts is a command to make the gospel message known to everyone.  Are we striving hard to do those things or have we begun to grow complacent?  Many believers and churches have made the thing of foremost importance in their discipleship knowledge and separation from the culture.  I would argue that while those believers are striving to honor God in their discipleship, they have actually grown complacent.  They aren’t allowing God’s word to transform their lives.  Their discipleship is made up of comfortable living that isn’t really impacting anyone’s lives but their own.  They aren’t really loving God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength.  Neither are they loving their neighbor as themselves (especially their lost neighbors).  And very few are venturing into their culture to take the message of the gospel and the love of Christ to those who need to hear it.  I believe if Jesus were to come back His question would be to us, “What are you doing?  Could you not watch and love as I instructed you?”  If we took seriously the final instructions of our parents before they left home for a little while, shouldn’t we be even more serious about the instructions of Jesus for His disciples while He is gone.  Jesus return is certain.  He is coming again.  And He has commanded us to be vigilant in our discipleship.  So if He were to return today, what would be His response to you? 

Small Group Questions for Discussion

1. Read Mark 13:28-31.  As we examined these verses we emphasized the truth that Jesus' return is a certain and sure thing.  We also said that if Jesus' return is certain and sure than we need to make sure that we are vigilant in our discipleship.  Why is being certain of Jesus' return significant for our discipleship?

2. Read Mark 13:32-37.  As we examined these verses we emphasized the truth that Jesus commands His followers to be vigilant in their discipleship.  Three times in the course of His illustration He commanded vigilance and in chapter 14 we saw evidence of how seriously Jesus took this command.  Do you think that many individuals and churches wrestle with complacency in their discipleship and if so how?  If you think they do wrestle with vigilance in their disicipleship do you think that they recognize it?  And if not, what do you think keeps them from seeing it? 

3. Think about Jesus returning to the disciples while they were in the Garden of Gethsemane and what He said to them.  Now imagine that Jesus came back to earth right now and walked into this room, what would He say to us?    

4. What step of faith does this passage of Scripture require us to take as individuals and as a small group?  How do we work this out on mission?