The Grim Reality of the Last Days (Mark 13:1-13) | John MacArthur

In this portion that is recorded for us by Matthew in Matthew 24 and 25, and also by Luke, as we have recently seen in Luke 21, He gives a picture of history to come. This is prophetic, it is predictive; and it will be very familiar to you because this is exactly the way history has gone. Now, this will be a shock to the disciples – it will be the shock of all shocks to them, what our Lord says – because they are anticipating the kingdom; after all, the King has arrived.

They are convinced Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the messiah, and that He is the One who will establish His kingdom; they believe that they are about to experience the establishment of that glorious kingdom. They are familiar, for example, with Isaiah 9, that the government shall be on His shoulders – that He will literally take over the rule, not only of Israel, but of the world. They are familiar with Zechariah 14, which lays out in detail how the coming messiah establishes His rule in the world.