The Gospel of Mark
The Mount of Olives: Mk 13,3-4
The Mount of Olives is the place where the Messiah is due to appear according to the prophet Zechariah (Zech 14,4). Hence it was the place from where Jesus entered Jerusalem (11,1).
The Mount of Olives is also the mountain to the east of Jerusalem from where the glory of the Lord departed in the prophecy of Ezekiel (Ezk 11,23).
That might be an appropriate background for this speech and would fit Mark's emphasis (not found in Matthew) that Jesus was now opposite the Temple. He had of course just predicted its destruction, 13,1-2.
Sitting is a classic position for teaching (4,1 and especially the opening of the Sermon on the Mount, Mt 5,1). It may also anticipate Jesus the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power (14,62).
Mark now names Peter, James, John and Andrew as the four disciples. Matthew just has the more general "disciples". The four who were first called (1,16-20) and have now witnessed Jesus' ministry from the beginning now make their reappearance. Three are certainly the inner group, as for example at the Transfiguration (9,2). Andrew seems to have been outside this group. Here he seems to be an addition, coming at the end even though he was Peter's brother. The point seems to be that these are the four men with whom Mark begins and ends the ministry of Jesus.
The two questions "what?" and "when?" are then followed by "about to come to an end" (NABRE as we have seen). Matthew says "end of the age" (Mt 24,3) which may be making a link to the last words of his gospel (Mt 28,20).
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What are the signs?: Overview of Mk 13,5-23
We have already seen in the overview how this part of the speech has "Look out" as a bracket, verses 5 and 23. We noted that this word is a call to discernment, a reading of the signs of the times in modern terms.
Central to this first part of the speech is the personal experience of the disciples, the "you" section I mentioned. It is the section which is introduced "as for yourselves" from verse 9 to verse 13. It begins with the middle occurence of "look out" in verse 9 and concludes with enduring to the end in verse 13.
On either side of these verses, we have general descriptions of the tribulation to come (13,24: "after that tribulation"). There are "wars and rumours of wars" and other cosmic events (13,7-8) which are then described in greater detail (13,14-20).
Then there are the verses which form the beginning and end of this first part of the speech. Both speak of false prophets and the dangers of being led astray (13,5 & 13,23). The first (13,5-6) and last parts (13,21-23) also have a similar theme.
The result is that we have a circular structure such as we saw in 2,1-3,6. Here there are five scenes altogether with the third one (13,9-13) as the centre and climax, the personal experience of the followers of Jesus. This middle section is introduced by the middle "look out" (13,9) which highlights its importance. The key word in this section as we will see is "hand you over" (it's one word in Greek).
In summary:
| A | 13,5-6: | going astray |
| B | 13,7-8: | tribulation |
| C | 13,9-13: | handed over |
| B | 13,14-20: | tribulation |
| A | 13,21-23: | going astray |
This circular arrangement is based on the text itself and it gives us a helpful way of reading these verses. It puts the emphasis where we would expect it to be, on the future fate of Jesus's disciples.
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