A Journey Through the Bible: Mark 13 and 14

Mark 13:31—“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” This is the New King James Version’s rendering of this passage and it catches the sense of the Greek better than the old KJV’s “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away” (the ASV has the same reading as the KJV). In the Greek, there is a double negative in the verse; bad English, but emphatic in the original. In effect, “My words shall not never pass away.” Again, this is one of the ways the Greek language emphasized a certain thought. So, even if (when) the heavens and the earth disappear from existence, the words of Christ shall definitely stand. Jesus makes this statement in the context of the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place in A.D. 70 (read especially my comments on Matthew 24 for a full discussion of Jesus’ teaching on that event.  Follow this link:  Matthew 24). That destruction will surely take place—“My words will by no means pass away.” The Jews thought that their system could never be upset and destroyed; after all, they were God’s chosen people. But “God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones,” John the Baptist told them in Matthew 3:9. The Jews never got it, and they still haven’t. In eternity, we will discover that every word the Lord Jesus, His apostles, and His prophets spoke was everlastingly true, for they were inspired by the Holy Spirit, Himself also God.

Mark 14:25—“Assuredly, I say to you, I will no longer drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God." This is an important passage to understand. Jesus is establishing what is called “the Lord’s Supper” (the Catholic Church calls it the “Eucharist”). Let’s break down a thought or two in Jesus’ statement. There will come some point in the future (from when He spoke) when He will drink the fruit of the vine again with His disciples. That day will be “in the kingdom of God.” Well, this cannot be heaven, because “flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God” (I Cor. 15:50). There will be no literal earthly kingdom of Jesus; in other words, He will never literally reign from Jerusalem for 1,000 years, as premillennialism teaches. He cannot do so (see the comments on Zechariah 6:12-13 in my “Minor Prophets” blog for why He cannot reign on earth.  Follow this link:  Zechariah 6). So we must find the kingdom of God somewhere else. That kingdom, the New Testament teaches, is the church. Three quick proofs. In Matthew 16:19, Jesus gave Peter the “keys of the kingdom of heaven,” thus the kingdom had to be established in the first century because that’s when Peter lived. In Mark 9:1, Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power." So if the kingdom hasn’t come yet, there are some awfully old people on earth right now. Again, the kingdom came in the first century. Further, Paul said we are in it now: the Father “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Notice the past tense—“hath translated.” He couldn’t have “translated” people into something that didn’t exist. “Kingdom” is simply one more designation for God’s people. We are a “body,” a “church,” “sheep,” “saved,” a “kingdom,” and so forth. Each idea conveys a certain relationship with God. In regards to “government,” we are a “kingdom”—Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords (I Tim. 6:15)—not a “democracy.” We don’t vote on a new “Lord” every four years. So back to Mark 14:25. When will Jesus drink the fruit of the vine with His people again? In His kingdom. We partake of the Lord’s Supper weekly, and part of that, of course, is fruit of the vine (see I Cor. 11:23-26). The Lord is there with us. While there is a physical dimension to our drinking “the fruit of the vine,” it is largely a spiritual act, and it is in that sense which Jesus “drinks” it with us. If we think only in physical terms, then we miss the major, major component of the Christian religion.