What Are You Looking At? | Ashe Alliance Church

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Mark 13:1 – As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings!” ² Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another—all will be thrown down.” ³While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

⁵Jesus told them, “Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and they will deceive many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be alarmed; these things must take place, but it is not yet the end. ⁸For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.^[^a^] These are the beginning of birth pains.

⁹“But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to local courts,^[^b^] and you will be flogged in the synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a witness to them. ¹⁰And it is necessary that the gospel be preached to all nations. ¹¹So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say, but say whatever is given to you at that time, for it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.

¹²“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ¹³You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but the one who endures to the end will be saved.

What are you looking at?

Mark 12 – Jesus ends by watching people and now in Mark 13 Jesus tells his disciples to be watching out.

LOOK — What has your attention?
WATCH OUT — Don’t be deceived.
BE AWARE — Difficult days will come.
ENDURE and ACT — Remain faithful and proclaim the Gospel. What scripture verses come to your mind when you think about looking, seeing?

Hebrews 12:2 – keeping our eyes on Jesus,^[^a^] the pioneer and perfecter^[^b^] of our faith. For the joy that lay before him,^[^c^] he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Psalm 25:5 – My eyes are always on the Lord,
for he will pull my feet out of the net.

2 Corinthians 4:18 – “So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Let us take a minute to remember the context:

The chronology of Mark 11–13

Day	Events
Day 1	Jesus enters Jerusalem, goes into the temple, looks around, and returns to Bethany because it is late (Mark 11:1–11).
Day 2	Jesus curses the fig tree, cleanses the temple, teaches, and returns outside the city that evening (Mark 11:12–19).
Day 3	The disciples see the withered fig tree. Jesus returns to the temple and is questioned by the religious leaders (Mark 11:20–12:40). He observes the widow’s offering (Mark 12:41–44), leaves the temple, and gives the teaching of Mark 13

Jesus and the Disciples left the temple and were moving to the Mount of Olives

Read – Mark 13:1 – As he was going out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings!”

One of the disciples – who was it?

Look – “Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!”

The temple was incredible. Originally rebuilt by Zerubbabel – Ezra 6:15, 6:19 the children of Israel celebrated Passover
Herod greatly expanded and improved the temple; Herod spent 80 years upgrading the temple– it was so great that it was customary to swear by the temple – Matthew 23:16 – Jesus gave a warning about swearing by the temple.
- Matthew 25 Jesus is speaking the religious leaders.
- 8 woe, warnings to the religious leaders.
- The religious leaders had developed this elaborate system of making oaths and the law prevented them from swearing an oath by God so thay created a system to swear an oath by the temple.
- Jesus tells them that their with the infatuation with temple instead of the one whose presence fills the temple was misleading, he called them “blind guides”.
It was said of the temple its gold plating on the outside was blinding when the sun shone on it.
The stones – 37 feet long, 12 feet high, and 18 feet thick – in between the gold plating were such a pure marble they were white – that could be seen from a long distance away.
It was considered blasphemous to speak badly about the temple. It was one of the accusations the religious leaders brought against Steven Act 6:17 – “For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
It’s not hard to see why the disciple was in awe of the temple or should I say distracted by the temple.
“The disciples were captivated by the grandeur of the temple while walking beside the greater Temple—Jesus Himself.”
What has captured your attention – what is stopping you from seeing Jesus.
What “big stones” have impressed you but at the same time distracting you?

Jesus in reply to the observation said a stunning thing leaving the disciple or the disciples confused.

Mark 13:2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another—all will be thrown down.”

Some 40 years after – AD 70 – Rome crushed the Jews of that day. Jerusalem was leveled, including the temple — just as Jesus said.
It is told that the Roman soldiers burned the temple melting the gold and a commander wanted the gold and had the soldiers dismantle the temple stone by stone to get the gold.
Jesus predicted this exact outcome.
The fact that Jesus’ reply was fulfilled gives us assurance that the rest of the things Jesus is about to tell his disciples will also happen.
Jesus saw the opportunity to warn them of things to come.
I also think Jesus was again revealing the good news that there is soon going to be a time when and where we would relate to Him would no longer confined to a single geographic building but accessible through the risen Christ, who is Himself the ultimate temple and the perfect High Priest

Hebrews 9:11-12

¹¹But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come.^[^a^] In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), ¹²he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

Jesus and the disciples walked from the temple down to Kidron valley to the Mount of Olives. This was about a mile walk. Long enough for the disciple to try to figure out what Jesus had just said – the temple will be destroyed and that not one stone will be on top of another.

A connection within the passage

There is an interesting movement around the idea of seeing:

The disciple says, “Look, Teacher!” (13:1)
Jesus responds, “Do you see all these great buildings?” (13:2)
Jesus then warns, “Watch out that no one deceives you” (13:5)
He continues, “You must be on your guard” (13:9)

The issue is not whether the disciples could physically see. The issue is whether they could see things from Jesus’ perspective.

Signs of the End of the Age

Mark 13: 3 – 8

³While he was sitting on the Mount of Olives across from the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴“Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?”

Peter, James, John and Andrew asked Jesus when will the temple be destroyed.
Jesus tells them – “Watch out” – discern, take heed, there will be false messiah
Jesus’ warning tells us there will those that will try to deceive us.
Wars and rumors of wars – these point towards Christ’s return, but they are not the end. There will be earthquakes and famines – these are the beginning of the birth pains.
It is estimated that there have been over 32,000 earthquakes and 3200 wars
“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” — Mark 13:32
This supports an important emphasis in Mark 13: Jesus did not give His followers a timetable to calculate, but a command to remain faithful and watchful. The repeated message is not “figure out the date,” but “be on guard,” “keep watch,” and “stand firm.”
Jesus is preparing His disciples to remain faithful amid upheaval.

We should be alert but not alarmed about what is happening in the world.

Persecutions Predicted

Mark 13: 9-13

Jesus told His disciples to be prepared for the persecution that would come against them before the end. This persecution was not the sign of the end, but simply what should be expected.
Jesus also promised that before the end the gospel must go out to the whole world. The presence of persecution does not relieve the Church of this responsibility.
Jesus told His followers to not worry about what to say when they had to give an answer for being a follower of Jesus. At that moment, the Holy Spirit would give them words to say.
I wonder if Peter and John remember this when he stood before the rulers, elders, and scribes in Acts 4:1-22. They were arrested for proclaiming Christ and Christs resurrection. In verse 8 is say “then Peter filled with the Holy Spirit” courageously gave the Gospel. One of the4 most encouraging verse to me is verse 13 –“When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized they were uneducated and untrained, they were amazed and recognized they had been with Jesus. “
- The key is Being with Jesus not education and training. Our being with Jesus is what is going to make us courageous and effective when we face persecution.
Brothers will betray brothers even to the point of death. Children will rise up against parents even unto death.
Jesus then gives the disciples a strong warn – “you will be hated by everyone because of my name. “
- I think of the persecution happening in Nigeria today. Christians are hated to the point of death. In 2026 to date 3083 Christians have been killed.

But the one that endures to the end will be saved.

Endures – to remain, to tarry behind, to remain i.e. abide, not recede or flee, to persevere: under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Christ, to endure, bear bravely and calmly: ill treatments
How:
- Keep your eyes on Jesus
- Depend fully on the Holy Spirit
- Stay connected to the body of Christ
- Keep eternity in view – 2 Corinthians 4 – our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all”
Endurance is not pretending the suffering doesn’t hurt.
Endurance is continuing to trust and obey Jesus when following Him costs you something.

Conclusion:

The storms, the earthquakes, the disease Jesus knows about them all the same way he predicted the stones not being on top of each other. He can predict all of these challenges that we’re going to face. But remember not to be distracted by the storms of persecution, but to remain steadfast, persevere towards the objective, which is the gospel empowered by the Holy Spirit.
Don’t get distracted get focused

Illustrative Stories:

Ebola people come to Christ
Venezuela – Hospital is a church and baptisms
Southern Lebanon – Bible to the beneficiaries
276 – New believers in Texas, Ohio, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Colorado, Mississippi – NADR

Application:

LOOK — What has your attention?
WATCH OUT — Don’t be deceived.
BE AWARE — Difficult days will come.
ENDURE and ACT — Remain faithful and proclaim the Gospel.