Charles R. Erdman- On Mark 13

(from The Gospel of Mark: An Exposition, 1926)

“Jesus takes occasion to predict not only the destruction of Jerusalem but also His personal, future return, of which the fomer event is to be a “sign” and symbol.  Many of the difficulties in this discourse disappear when we remember that our Lord is here describing not one event but two.  He is prophesying the literal overthrow of the holy city by the armies of Rome, but He is using the colors of this tragic scene to paint the picture of His own coming in glory.  So interwoven are these two series of predictions that great care must be exercised in determining which details should be assigned to each one, and generous allowance made for honest differences of opinion in interpeting passages involving analogy, and clothed in language which is frequently figurative.  It seems quite evident that while the destruction of Jerusalem was the starting point of the address, both events are in mind during the first twenty-three verses, and that the closing section deals more particularlly with the return of our Lord.”

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