Tonight we will begin a discussion of Mark 13, the longest discourse of Jesus recorded in Mark’s gospel. This chapter will lead us directly into the passion of Jesus: the last supper, His betrayal, Gethsemane, His arrest, trials, torture and crucifixion but this chapter can’t be walked through quickly or taken lightly. It is filled with prophetic promises and signs that carry great importance. I don’t want to say that Mark 13 is a confusing chapter because God is not ever the author of confusion, but it is a passage of Scripture that our enemy has used to bring confusion. It is a passage of Scripture that, because it is completely prophetic, it requires a willingness to understand the context from which it was originally spoken so that we can then understand how it applies to us today. I believe it is a passage of Scripture that we have to be willing to study as it is rather than trying to make it fit into our current tradition, belief or theology. Here is how important contextual interpretation of this passage is: R.C. Sproul and other theologians like him have declared that Mark 13, more than any other Scripture proves the divinity of Jesus while famous 20th century atheist Bertrand Russell wrote that Mark 13 proved more than any other Scripture that Jesus was in fact not divine. How can the same passage of Scripture be perceived in completely opposite and opposing ways? The answer to that is interpretation, so what I hope to do in the few weeks we study Mark 13 is not to answer all of our questions but to set us on the path to rightly interpret this passage of Scripture and to ask the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth and reveal to us God’s heart and God’s character through God’s Word. Mark 13 is honestly not meant to show us the day and the hour of Christ’s return nearly as much as it is meant to show us the omniscience of Jesus and the compassionate heart of God as our Father.