Monday Devotional: A Call for Endurance (Mark 13:9-13)

"You will be hated by all because of my name."

“As for yourselves, beware; for they will hand you over to councils; and you will be beaten in synagogues; and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations. When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say; but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Mark 13:9-13).

To follow Jesus is no easy matter. In some contexts it is easier than in others, but it is never easy. Jesus requires our total devotion. He wants everything from us, our whole lives. We see this again and again throughout the gospels.

In this passage Jesus continues his “apocalyptic” discourse. This teaching began after some of his disciples asked him about his prophecy of the temple’s destruction. He warned them of wars, rumors of war, and false messiahs. Now he teaches them that they will undergo persecution for his sake.

After the Revolt, Judaism largely came under the leadership of the rabbis, who began to develop a clearer orthodoxy for their tradition. In some ways, they were the intellectual and spiritual descendants of the Pharisees. They were deeply concerned with the law and developed an “oral Torah,” along the lines of the Pharisees’ “tradition of the elders.” As communities of Jews began to define their boundaries more clearly, followers of Jesus were excluded. The break between the synagogue and the church was painful. In its early days it was a family dispute between siblings who believed strongly in the righteousness of their different positions. As we know, family disputes can be the most bitter.