Mark 13:28-31 NKJV – 28 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender, and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 “So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near–at the doors! 30 “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. 31 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
V28 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.”
A parable has one, just one, central principle. Jesus spoke to the people in parables because they rejected the plain, normal teaching He did previously. See Matthew 13:12-17 and Acts 26:28. The principle here is the obviousness of Messiah’s can’t be denied, but Israel did deny. They should have been expecting it.
V29 “So you also, when you see these things happening, know that it is near—at the doors!”
It is obvious. It is imminent. Now Jesus again points out that this will occur again at the end of the Tribulation. See Zechariah 14 and Acts 2:19-20.
Constable writes:
“The parable of the fig tree appears in all the synoptic versions of the Olivet Discourse. Jesus had previously used a fig tree to illustrate the generation of Israelites that failed to believe in Him at His first advent (Mark 11:14). Here He used it to illustrate the fact that perceptive people can anticipate coming events by the signs that precede those events. Persecution (Mark 13:9-13), culminating in the Tribulation (Mark 13:14-25), pointed to the commencement of Jesus’ kingdom (Mark 13:26-27; cf. Luke 21:31).”
V30 “Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.”
This generation is not referring to the people Jesus is teaching. It refers to the generation living at that time. The last week of Daniel’s prophecy has not happened yet (Daniel 9:26-27). The Tribulation has not yet occurred. The abomination that causes desolation has not occurred either, not in 70AD or since. It is a future event. In Matthew 24:32-31, it is clearer.
V31 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.”
Jesus states the obvious. Whatever He predicts will happen…period. He is sovereign, knows the future (prescience), and now proclaims it to the people and to the people at the time of fulfillment.
Bible Knowledge commentary: “Jesus’ assertion (Mark 13:31) guarantees the fulfillment of His prophecy (Mark 13:30). The present universe will come to a cataclysmic end (cf. 2Pe 3:7, 2Pe 3:10-13) but Jesus’ words – including these predictions – will never (ou mē; cf. Mark 13:2, Mark 13:30) pass away. They will have eternal validity. What is true of God’s words (cf. Isaiah 40:6-8; Isaiah 55:11) is equally true of Jesus’ words, for He is God.”
We learn:
- Jesus tells the future for two reasons: 1) before it happens, so all will say, “Yes, He told us” and 2) its definite fulfillment.
- We should heed the obvious teachings of the Bible.
Questions:
- Do we believe Jesus’s message?
- Do we believe in prophecy?