THE SON OF MAN IS COMING Mark 13:26-37 Key Verses: 13:26-27 "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens." We are going to study who the Son of Man is and what the Son of Man does. Ultimately, we want to know when the Son of Man is coming to save us from the hand of the devil and bring us into the glorious kingdom of God. In the last passage we studied about signs of the end of the age. But we revised the title fitting to the passage, "Preach the Gospel in this World." In this world, it looks deadly impossible to think about the gospel or to preach the gospel to others because of relativism which was begun by Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason," and later Jean Jacques Rousseau's work, "The Origin of Human Inequality." Relativism has been rampant. Relativism is stomping the floor of the world. We lost the fear of God. Everybody wants to be God. Everybody wants to be nobody. In this world the most tragic phenomenon is that no one recognizes himself as St. Paul did who gave his testimony, "...by the grace of God I am what I am" (1Co 15:10). All are empty in their souls because of living a relativistic way of life. A relativistic way of life leads man to flesh. Flesh succeeds as much as it can succeed. 1 Peter 1:24,25a say, "For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.'" Amen. Jesus saw that his disciples were harassed by the emptying of pockets by witch doctors. They also could not bear with those who were deceiving and being deceived. They really abhorred the Pharisees' outward decoration and inward corruption. What is more, brother would betray brother; children would rebel against their parents and have them put to death (12). Wow! How can children betray their parents and put them to death by reporting something to the Jewish authority? I thought Stalin's self-evaluation meeting was the worst event in world history. But it was already being done in Jesus' time, this self-evaluation which leads man to death. When we think about the world and our children's futures, we feel that we are too young to die, and to live in this world is too much torment. We cannot think otherwise. But Jesus said in verse 10, "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." Wow! Wow! What a wonderful hope of God. It means the word of God is stronger than the power of darkness. Jesus also said the world situation is nothing but birth pains of a mother who is groaning and expecting a baby (8). After delivering the baby, if it is a boy, she makes a quiet smile, and in three minutes, forgetting all the birth pains, falls into a deep sleep in great joy and hope. In case it is a daughter, still she is happy. But she needs a little more time to get sleep. Still she is joyful. It is marvelous that the troubled world is nothing but birth pain. In other words, it is the indication of the coming of the Messiah. Jesus' faith is the faith of Almighty God. Our faith can be described as an "ephemeral insect" which lives just one day. Baudelaire (1821-1867) saw man as the movement of wiggling worms in a pond. When we think about the world, we don't know whether the world is crazy or I am going crazy. Sometimes we want to do something good. But this idea vanishes in the afternoon when we see the world in which worms are wiggling in a pond. We become dizzy. We cannot but think that we are one of them. We lose all our strength and forget about preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. But we must follow the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus had to talk about the signs of the end of the age, his key verse was Mark 13:10: "And the gospel must first be preached to all nations." He did not say, "a nation." He said, "nations." What a fantastic vision! What a fantastic world salvation plan of Jesus in accordance with God's plan of world salvation. We marvel and praise Jesus who is the one and only Son of God. We must stand, listening to the words of Jesus. We must first preach the gospel to all nations. Not only must the USA be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation, but the people of Tibet–who find meaning in Buddha–must accept the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They rejected China which wanted to change Tibet into a social democratic nation like China, according to Mao Tse-tung's doctrine. But we pray that even Tibet may accept the gospel of Jesus Christ and repent and believe in Jesus so that they may not perish but have eternal life. Jesus also saw the troubled world as a sign of birth pains. Jesus did not despair at the worldly situation. Rather, he had a joy like that of a woman delivering a one and only son. Praise Jesus who had hope and joy at any time because he was with God! We want to have this kind of faith. But as soon as we want to accept the faith of birth pains, in the next five minutes we feel dizzy, thinking, "How can we accept Jesus' faith by which this troubled world is compared to a birth pain that is full of hope and joy." But we must kneel down, asking God's mercy to have this kind of faith. Otherwise, our labor in the Lord will be tiring. First, the Son of Man (26a). What does "the Son of Man" mean in this case? Mark, who had lived in abundance and as a city man, was converted by watching Jesus' life of service. He failed to keep up on St. Paul's first missionary journey and slipped away. Later, he came back to St. Paul and followed Jesus' footsteps, together with St. Paul, to the end. When we see weak people, we want to punch them in the head. But we don't have to punch them in the head. We must wait until they become very strong. Mark saw Jesus as a servant. But when we read the whole Bible, "the Son of Man" means the spectaculous and awesome One and we cannot but worship him, bowing down on our knees. When we read the Bible, we find that the Son of Man is the Creator God. John 1:3-4 says, "Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men." This verse clearly tells us that our Lord Jesus Christ was originally God himself in the kingdom of God. But he saw people perishing day by day. And at the same time, the kingdom of God was not filled up. He was sorry. He regretted that he punished people at the time of Noah when they only were drinking and eating and drinking and eating and abusing the holy human relationship between man and woman. He saved only Noah's family and his animals and purged the rest by the water of the flood. God was very sorry when he saw that Noah's family was contaminated by sin. He was terribly sorry to see this. So God sent so many prophets to turn them from the world to God. But they killed the prophets, God's servants, at random and decorated their tombs with beautiful flowers. What sarcastic behavior! Once upon a time there was the prophet Elijah. At that time, the chosen people Israel all became Baal worshipers. Only he and Elisha lived as servants of God. One day God gave him the power of God in his heart. Elijah challenged the 450 Baal prophets. When they lost, the prophet Elijah cut them all down in the Kidron Valley. When he had the power of God, he was a five-star general in doing God's work. But he ran away in fear of Jezebel, King Ahab's wife and the leader of Baal worshipers. He ran and ran and came to the slope of a mountain. He said, "I have had enough, Lord. Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors" (1Ki 19:4). What did God say to him? "Elijah, no." "Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him" (1Ki 19:18). This is not only the prophet Elijah's problem, it is the problem of all of us. When we look around and around, nobody seems to be committed to Jesus personally. Their gymn pants are torn out in the back to look for worldly security. But God said, "Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel–all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and all whose mouths have not kissed him" (1Ki 19:18). In my town, people do not know that I am a remnant of God. But I am a remnant of God as you know well. The world seems to be full of ungodly people. But it is not true. There are men of prayer, men of Bible study, men of faith. Their numbers are more than any group of people. Their numbers are bigger than all the soldiers of the world. Do you believe that? Yes! We must believe that, because God says so. The existence of the Son of God is not casual. When the world fell because of Adam's disobedience, God's heart was broken. God first of all gave them the primitive gospel in Genesis 3:15. It says, "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head and you will strike his heel." We call it the primitive gospel. In this primitive gospel, God gave us a covenant that through his Son, God will crush the power of Satan and save all people from their sins. This prophecy is repeatedly written in the Bible. Isaiah 11:1 says, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." Here "from his roots" indicates that from the descendants of David a Savior of the world will come. What is the Savior of the world like? He is the Son of God who is wonderful. Isaiah 9:6 says, "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." In short, the Messiah who is going to come is like our Everlasting Father. Those who have no father, accept him as your Everlasting Father. Those who complain that they did not have a decent father, repent and accept the Everlasting Father, Jesus Christ our Messiah. Second, waiting people for the Messiah. Let's think about the waiting people for the Messiah. Starting from the time Jesus was ascending into heaven, they thought Jesus would come very soon, today or tomorrow. It was urgent for them because they were helpless criminals before Jewish community authorities and the Roman Emperor--who claimed himself to be the Jupiter god. On the other hand, there were people who were waiting for the coming of the Messiah from the beginning. When the Israelites could not bear God's blessing in the promised land, they were dragged into Babylonia as captives. One of the Psalmists wrote as follows, "By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion.' How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land?" (Ps 137:1-4) In this poem we learn that they were captives living in a foreign land. They were also waiting people for the Messiah to come. They liked music, but lost their hobby and were only crying and waiting for the coming of the Messiah to deliver them from their misery. How can I tell all the stories of the waiting people for the Messiah? There was a pious man who was waiting for the Messiah. Finally, he realized that God incarnated and came into this world and was born and laid in a manger. On the eighth day, at the time of circumcision, he saw Jesus, and this snow-white old man knelt down and praised God, "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel" (Lk 2:29-32). What a beautiful poem in the promise of the coming Messiah! He saw the Messiah with his eyes; even though he had short eyesight, it didn't matter. Simeon felt that even if he passed away, he was more than happy because he saw the promised Messiah had come to this world. Third, what did the promised Messiah come for? As we have thought about, he is the Creator God of the heavens and the earth. But he came to this world to render glory to God and to give peace to men. Luke 2:14 says, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." He also came to mingle with all kinds of needy people and shepherd them and finally die for them on the cross and rise again. Thus he opened the way to the kingdom of God for all human beings who believe. John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." This is St. John's description of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is short, but the most exquisite and excelling of all poems. He talked about Jesus renouncing the glory and power and honor of the kingdom of God and becoming the most poor person, one who was born and laid in a manger. To him, this scene is full of grace and truth. I said, "This scene is full of grace and truth." It is so graceful I cannot deliver my message any further. The Son of God became like an ordinary person. And he healed the sick day and night. One day, five thousand people gathered around him. He first preached the gospel. Afterward, he fed them with Andrew's five loaves and two fish. It is remarkable! The truly remarkable thing is Jesus' shepherd heart. How could he stay over there and take care of five thousand people one by one and also plant in them the living hope in the kingdom of God? Once he met on the road a blind man shouting, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Mk 10:47) His disciples and the entourage members stopped the blind man, saying, "Be quiet, you blind man!" But Jesus heard his voice crying out, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Jesus ordered his disciples to bring him. Surely Jesus might have hugged him and kissed his blind eyes and opened his eyes. Now he could see his mom's face. Now he had hope of marriage. It is because his normal eyes were like those of a heavenly prince. Once there was a scratching woman. She was a loner. Even the Samaritan village women did not like her because she misused her body and married five times and had another boyfriend. Her bad reputation spread all over the town. Jesus was sitting at the well in between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim while he was waiting for his disciples to come back with some food. Jesus embraced her by saying, "Would you please give me a drink?" She never met such a humble young man who looked so noble and holy. In this way she could drink living water welling up to eternal life and was changed from a scratching woman to a heavenly princess. His healing ministry is the expression of God's love toward mankind. His healing ministry is a revelation of God's love. Finally after his earthly messianic ministry was over, he was crucified on the cross by the plot of the Pharisees. The Pharisees were known as the chosen people of God. But Jesus came and was laid in a manger and he was going around with the beggar-like twelve disciples. They despised him and rejected him. Still, his popularity was high and they felt threatened. It is irony that those who had to welcome him finally dragged him to Golgotha to crucify him. What petty human desires. The Pharisees were traditional Jews who were chosen by God. Exodus 19:5 says, "Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession." God chose the people of Israel as his chosen people out of many nations to fulfill God's world salvation plan. They also had a great pride of being a chosen people. Sometimes they played the role of being a chosen people. But later they used being a chosen people as an honorable title. John 8:33 says, "They answered him, ‘We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?'" In this verse we learn that they were fed up with the honorable title, "a chosen people." They despised all other people of the nations as living animals. They made God very sorry. Jesus, out of his broken heart, said to them, "You belong to your father the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him" (Jn 8:44). John 1:11says, "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him." The chosen people Israel did not accept the promised Messiah from the beginning. It is indeed a tragic event. They waited for the promised Messiah, crying and yelling such a long time. When Jesus came as the promised Messiah, they rejected and despised him. Finally, through political intrigue they crucified him on the cross. They thought they won the victory. But they were the worst losers of all the losers of the world. On the third day, he was raised by the power of God. Acts 2:23,24 says, "This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him." The Risen Christ first met Mary Magdalene who was the most impure woman in the world. It was because Jesus thought Mary was very pathetic. Next the Risen Jesus met Peter, and after that he met five hundred brothers at the same time. Finally he met James and then he also met Paul, the least of the apostles, who did not deserve to be called an apostle because he persecuted the church of God. He said, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1Co 15:10). Paul was unworthy to be called an apostle. But God chose him to use the dynamicy in his spirit and forgave all his sins and made him an apostle for the Gentiles. Actually, at that time, Gentile people were an absolute majority. Fourth, what the promised Messiah will be (26-31). Let's read verse 26. "At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory." When our Lord Jesus came to this world first, he came as a baby in a manger even though he had the life of God in him. But at his second coming we will see the Son of Man coming in clouds in great power and glory. This means Jesus is not coming as a good shepherd; he is coming as the Almighty God. He is also coming as the Sovereign Ruler of the world. His coming in clouds with great power and glory implies that he does not need an airplane for his second coming. Because he is God, clouds can be his airplane and what he has is great power and glory. What will he do when he comes? He will send his angels to gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens (27). This epic type of expression is too grandiose to understand. However, the main point is he is going to see about his elect. Who are his elect? His elect are not the Pharisees, but those who dedicated themselves for the work of world salvation. Who are his elect? They are those who lived for his name's sake. Sometimes we feel that our Lord Jesus Christ would not remember what we did and suffered. But let's read verse 27. It says, "And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens." It is great encouragement for us that he remembers each of us, that we dedicated ourselves to him, and gave our time to him, and sacrificed for the sheep, and in his name were despised and rejected. Our Lord God never ignores his elect. I again tell you that his elect doesn't necessarily mean the Pharisees, but the committed Christians who suffered for his name's sake. We can understand his coming through nature. Let's read verses 28-31. "Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." The second coming of Jesus is very natural and very beautiful. Fifth, Jesus is worthy of being the Messiah. Mark mentioned the second coming of the Messiah concisely, to the point. But the coming of the Messiah is more vividly described by St. John. Revelation 1:1 says, "The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John...." Revelation 1:9 says again, "I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus." What is the testimony of Jesus? Our Lord Jesus Christ the Messiah revealed God's holiness. Revelation 2:27 says, "He will rule them with an iron scepter; he will dash them to pieces like pottery...." Jesus is the Son of God Almighty. He has power, glory and honor. But while on earth, he revealed himself a holy God. Revelation 4:8b says, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come." Our Lord Jesus Christ is Almighty Sovereign God who rules the world. Revelation 4:11 says, "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." Next, Revelation 5:12 continues to describe that Jesus is worthy of being the Messiah. There was a loud voice proclaiming to the whole world. Revelation 5:12 says, "In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!'" Our Lord Jesus Christ is the Almighty God. And if he had crushed and abandoned sinful human beings, he would remain as the Almighty, powerful God. But he did not crush sinful people. He crushed himself as the Lamb of God on the cross and was slain to save men from their sins. Thus he proved that he is worthy of being the Messiah. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah. Amen. Hallelujah. Our Jesus the Messiah deserves to receive power, wealth, wisdom and strength, honor and glory and praise and our worship from his elect who suffered and died following in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. Sixth, we don't know when he will come again (32-37). Throughout history, from the day of Jesus' ascension, they hoped Jesus would come again. That has continued for the last twenty centuries. There are many witch doctors who make use of the second coming of Jesus. One of the woman witch doctors ordained and praised her followers that they would all become great and she prophesied that Jesus would come again on October 30, 1992 and it would be the time of rapture. I saw a picture of one of the women I know shivering and standing there. On that day, they waited all night long. But Jesus did not come. Why did Jesus not tell them when he was coming again? It is because there is a danger that people will rest full time until the day Jesus comes again. Then on the day Jesus is coming again, they will repent and accept Jesus and want to be in the rapture. So Jesus made his second coming secret. Let's read 13:35-37. "Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back–whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!'" These verses teach us that we must live the life of pilgrims. In the hope of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ we do not waste time, but work hard day and night for the glory of God. Therefore, lazy people cannot see the second coming of Jesus Christ. There are many charismatic church members. Instead of shouting and dancing, they must engage in one-to-one Bible study. Not only that, we also must do the work of God through one-to-one Bible study and live a life of pilgrims. Then surely God will include us in the elect from heaven and earth when he comes in power and glory in the clouds. STUDY QUESTIONS 1. Read verse 26. To what does, "at that time" refer? Who is the Son of Man? How are his first and second comings different? (Lk 2:14) Why is he worthy to be worshiped? (Jn 1:14; Mk 10:47; Acts 2:23,24; Rev 4:8b,11; 5:12) 2. Read verse 27. What will the Son of Man do when he comes again? Who are the elect? (See also 1 Ki 19:18) Who are they not? Why will he gather them? 3. Read verses 28-31. What does nature teach us about the coming of the Son of Man? In this uncertain world, of what can we be sure? Why do people wait for him? (Isa 9:6; Ps 137:1-4; Lk 2:29-32) 4. Read verses 32-33. Who knows when Jesus will come again? Why does he keep it a secret? What must be our attitude in waiting? 5. Read verses 34-37. Why must we keep watch? What must we be doing until he comes?