Глава тринадцатая

Mark 13:1. And when He left the church, one of His disciples said to Him: Teacher! look at the stones and the buildings! Mark 13:2. Jesus answered and said to him, Do you see these great buildings? all this will be destroyed, so that not one stone will remain here upon another. Mark 13:3. And when He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the church, Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew asked Him privately: Mark 13:4. tell us when this will happen, and what is the sign when all this should happen? Since the Lord spoke a lot about the desolation of Jerusalem, for example: “your house is left to you desolate” (Matthew 23:38), the disciples were amazed that such majestic and beautiful buildings should perish, and therefore showed Him such an amazing splendor of the church. But He predicts that, nevertheless, of all this, not even one stone will be left upon another. Against this, some say that many remnants of the ancient city of Jerusalem have survived, and thus try to present Christ as false. But this is in vain, because even if some remnants have been preserved (which, however, is unfair), then until the general demise there will be no stone left unturned. However, history testifies that Elius Hadrian excavated the very foundations of the city and the church, so that through him the prophecy was fulfilled that not one stone would be left upon another. When the Lord was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples approached Him, asking: “When will this be?” that is, when will what was prophesied about Jerusalem be fulfilled? And He, before answering their question, strengthens their mind so that they will not be tempted. For at the beginning of the tribulations, people appeared in Judea who called themselves teachers; That’s why the Lord says: “Beware lest anyone deceive you.” Mark 13:5. Answering them, Jesus began to say: Take heed lest anyone deceive you. Mark 13:6. for many will come in my name and say that it is I; and they will deceive many. Mark 13:7. When you hear about wars and rumors of war, do not be horrified: for this must happen, but this is not the end. Mark 13:8. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there will be earthquakes in places, and there will be famines and turmoil. This is the beginning of illness. Mark 13:9. But take heed to yourselves, for you will be handed over to courts of justice and beaten in the synagogues, and you will be presented before rulers and kings for My sake as a witness before them. Mark 13:10. And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations. “Many will come,” such as, for example, Judas (the Galilean) and Theudas, who presented themselves as God’s anointed. “You will hear,” he says, “about wars”; These are the wars that Josephus Flavius ​​talks about and that took place before the destruction of Jerusalem. The Jews at that time were indignant and stopped paying tribute to the Romans, and the angry Romans went to war against them and made constant attacks. “But this is not the end” of Jerusalem, for the Romans still showed kindness to mankind. And there were not only wars, but also other plagues sent by God - famine and earthquakes, which clearly showed the Jews that God Himself was fighting with them. Yet this was only the “beginning of illnesses,” that is, the disasters that lay ahead of them. But you,” he says, “beware, for you will be handed over to the courts.” In good time he introduces a speech about them that they will be handed over to the courts, this is so that from common disasters they receive some consolation in their own troubles. But when the Lord said: “They will put you before rulers and kings for My sake,” then with these words He gave considerable consolation to the disciples, precisely in the fact that they would suffer for His sake. “For testimony before them,” that is, in order to be unrequited to them and to see their condemnation in the very fact that, torturing you, they cannot overcome the truth. And so that the disciples do not think that troubles and sorrows will hinder the preaching of the Gospel, the Lord says that “the Gospel must first be preached to all nations,” and then Jerusalem will be abandoned to desolation. And that the Gospel was actually preached everywhere even before the destruction of Jerusalem, listen to Paul: “their voice went out into all the earth,” he says, “and their words to the ends of the world” (Rom. 10:18). And this circumstance served to further condemn the Jews, that is, the preaching spread everywhere even before the destruction of Jerusalem. For, seeing that this preaching spread throughout the whole world in a short time, they had to recognize the power of God in this, repent and thus get rid of disasters. But they did not come to their senses; therefore they will be condemned the more. Mark 13:11. When they lead you to betray you, do not worry in advance what to say to you, and do not think about it; but whatever is given to you in that hour, then speak, for it is not you who will speak, but the Holy Spirit. Mark 13:12. Brother will betray brother to death, and father will betray his children; and the children will rise up against their parents and kill them. Mark 13:13. And you will be hated by everyone because of My name; he who endures to the end will be saved. Indeed, before the decisive battle between the Romans and the Jews began, what did the apostles not suffer from them, being handed over to the judgment seat and taken to the kings: Herod, Agrippa and Nero? But you,” he says, “do not worry in advance what you will answer: at that very hour the Holy Spirit will give you what you must say. At the same time, he also predicts for them what is worst of all, namely, that they will be persecuted by their own family. He says this so that they, having heard about this in advance, prepare for misfortunes and subsequently can easily endure them. Next comes the consolation: for my sake, he says, you will be hated. This is the greatest relief in misfortune. Great consolation also lies in the fact that he who endures to the end will be saved. Mark 13:14. When you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel (Dan.9:27), standing where it should not be - let the reader understand - then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; Mark 13:15. But if anyone is on the housetop, do not go into the house or enter to take anything from your house; Mark 13:16. and whoever is in the field, do not turn back to take your clothes. Mark 13:17. Woe to those who are pregnant and to those who suckle in those days. The “abomination of desolation” refers to the statue of the one who made the city of Jerusalem desolate. For every idol is called an “abomination”; It was called the “abomination of desolation” because it was placed inside the inaccessible sanctuary of the temple when Jerusalem was taken and as a result was subjected to desolation. However, Pilate also brought the image of Caesar into the church at night, and through this he was the cause of a great rebellion among the people. From that time on, wars and the desolation of Jerusalem began. “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” He said well: “those who are in Judea” (all in general, and not the apostles), for the apostles were not in Judea at that time, but, as it is said, they were expelled from Jerusalem even before the war, or, better, they themselves left it, being moved by the Holy Spirit. So let those who remain in Judea flee. And whoever is on the roof should not return to his house for anything: he should be glad if he is saved, even naked. But then woe will befall women who have children and pregnant women. Why? Because the former, having children and being held by love for them, cannot escape; and even those who are pregnant will find it inconvenient to run because of the burden of pregnancy. But I think that child-eating is also indicated here, for the besieged Jews during the famine even raised their hands against their children. Mark 13:18. Pray that your flight will not happen in winter. Mark 13:19. For in those days there will be such tribulation as there has not been since the beginning of creation, which God created, even to this day, nor will there ever be. Mark 13:20. And if the Lord had not shortened those days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect whom He chose He shortened those days. If the escape had happened in winter, then the difficulty of time would have prevented those wishing to escape. And in general, the sorrow will be the most severe of all that has ever been or will be. “And if the Lord had not shortened those days,” that is, if he had not soon ended the Roman wars, “no flesh would have been saved,” not a single Jew would have remained. But “for the sake of the elect,” that is, those Jews who believed and those who would believe later, the war ended soon. For God, foreseeing that after the captivity many of the Jews would believe, for this reason he did not allow the Jewish people to completely perish. But this can also be understood in moral terms. Thus, the “abomination of desolation” is every thought of Satan, standing “in a holy place” - in our mind. In this case, “let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,” that is, when confessing, let them ascend the mountains of virtues (Judea means “confession”, “sermon”). And whoever is already on top, let him not leave it. For when any passionate thought arises in us, then we must, through confession, hasten to the heights of virtue and not descend from this height. And let him who does good not return to take up his former conscience - the old garment with which he has put off. Woe to those who run in winter: for we must flee from sin with warmth, that is, with repentance, and not with coldness, motionless, which is what flight in winter means. Mark 13:21. Then, if someone tells you: behold, here is Christ, or, behold, there, do not believe it. Mark 13:22. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Mark 13:23. You must be careful. Behold, I told you everything in advance. Mark 13:24. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will darken, and the moon will not give its light, Mark 13:25. and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Mark 13:26. Then they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds with much power and glory. The Lord finished speaking about Jerusalem; then he begins to talk about the coming of the Antichrist. The word “then” should not be understood in such a way that when what has been said above about Jerusalem begins to come true, then do not believe if someone tells you: “Behold, here is Christ”; but know that this is a special property of Scripture. Thus, the Evangelist Matthew, speaking about the Nativity of Christ, says: “In those days John comes” (Matthew 3:1). On what days? Are they those that directly followed the birth of Christ? No, but uncertain. So here Christ says: then do not be deceived, that is, not while Jerusalem is devastated, but at the time of the coming of the Antichrist. “Do not be deceived,” he says, “for many will begin to be called by the name of Christ, in order to seduce even the elect.” Upon the coming of the Antichrist, all creation will change: the stars will darken from the excess of the light of Christ and the angelic forces will “shake,” that is, they will be horrified, looking at such a revolution in the world and seeing their fellow servants judged. And then they will see the Lord as the Son of Man, that is, in the flesh, for what is visible in Him is His body. But although He will come both in the body and as the Son of Man, nevertheless, “with much power and glory.” Mark 13:27. And then He will send His angels and gather His elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. Mark 13:28. Take a similar example from a fig tree: when its branches become soft and put out leaves, you know that summer is near. Mark 13:29. So when you see this coming true, know that it is near, at the door. Mark 13:30. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things happen. Mark 13:31. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. Do you see that the Son also sends Angels, just as the Father does? Where are those who say that He is not equal to God and the Father? Angels will then come to gather the elect, who, having been caught up in the clouds, will thus meet the Lord. And what I say,” the Lord continues, “you can understand from the example of the fig tree.” Just as a fig tree covered with leaves shows that the harvest is near, so after the sorrowful time of the Antichrist, the second coming of Christ will immediately follow, which for the righteous will be just like the harvest after winter, and for sinners - winter after the harvest. “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away,” that is, the generation of the faithful or Christians, “until all these things happen” - everything that was said about Jerusalem and the coming of the Antichrist. The Lord is not speaking here about the apostolic race, for the apostles will not continue to live until the end of the world: many of them did not live to see the destruction of Jerusalem. This means that this genus here refers to the Christian gens, thus comforting the apostles. So that they do not think that with such severe disasters, faith may become completely impoverished. The Lord says: take heart, the generation of the faithful will not pass away and will not become scarce. It is sooner that heaven and earth, these apparently unshakable elements, pass away than that My words fail to be fulfilled in any way, for everything that I have said will come to pass. Mark 13:32. No one knows about that day or hour, neither the heavenly angels, nor the Son, but only the Father. Mark 13:33. Watch, watch, pray, for you do not know when this time will come. Mark 13:34. It is as if someone, going on a journey and leaving his home, gave his servants authority and each his own business, and ordered the gatekeeper to watch. Mark 13:35. Watch therefore, for you do not know when the owner of the house will come: in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning; Mark 13:36. lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping. Mark 13:37. But what I say to you, I say to everyone: stay awake. Wanting to keep the disciples from being curious about the last day and hour, the Lord says that neither the Angels nor the Son know about this. If He had said: I know, but I do not want to tell you, then He would have grieved them. And now, when he says that neither the Angels nor I know, He acts very wisely and completely restrains them from the desire to know and bother Him. You can understand this from an example. Small children, seeing something in the hands of their fathers, often ask them, and if their fathers do not want to give, they, not receiving what they asked, begin to cry. In this case, fathers usually hide from them the thing they hold in their hands, and, by showing their children empty hands, they keep them from crying. So the Lord, treating the apostles as children, hid the last day from them. Otherwise, if he had said: I know, but I won’t tell them, they would have grieved that He did not want to tell them. And what the Lord knows about the last day and hour is obvious, for He Himself created the eyelids. How could He not know what He Himself created? Moreover, for our benefit, God hid the end of life, both in general and for each of us in particular, so that we, in the uncertainty of this death, would constantly struggle, expecting it and fearing that it would find us unprepared. But let's look at what was said from the other side. In the evening the end comes, when someone dies of old age; at midnight, when someone reaches the middle of the century; in the crowing of roosters - when reason begins to open up in us, for a rooster means reason, awakening us from the sleep of unconsciousness, and therefore, when a youth begins to act with reason and understand, then it is as if a rooster crows within him. Finally, morning means completely childish age. So, everyone needs to think about the end of life. Is there a baby, and we must take care of it so that it does not die unbaptized. The Lord commands this to everyone in general - both worldly people and hermits. So, we must watch and pray, do both, for many, although they are awake, spend their nights not in prayer, but in evil deeds. Notice also that Christ did not say now: I do not know when the time of death will come, but “you do not know,” for for our benefit he hid this time. If we are at enmity against each other even when our death is unknown, then what would we not do if we knew the time of death? Then we would spend the entire time of our life until death in extremely bad deeds, and on the last day, expressing repentance, we would fall into an even worse state.