Destruction and Persecutions to Come (13:1-23)

13:1–2 Chapter 13 of Mark is one of the two large sections of teaching material uninterrupted by other things, the other block of material being the parables discourse in chapter 4. The present discourse begins with a prediction by Jesus that the temple of Jerusalem will be destroyed (13:1–2). This leads to a typical Markan scene in which the disciples ask Jesus privately for the meaning of his statement (13:3–4) and Jesus gives an extensive answer to their question (13:5–37). The appearance elsewhere of some of the material in chapter 13 and the parallels (Matt 24:1–51 and Luke 21:5–36; cf. Matt. 10:17–22; Luke 12:11–12; 17:20–21, 31) suggests that the present form of the discourse is a composite of sayings of Jesus strung together by Mark and…