Who Is Jesus In Verses 4-14

When looking at verses 4-14, Jesus in essence is trying to both calm his disciples’ fears as well as temper any expectations they might have concerning their questions in verse 3. Jesus is basically saying, “Guys, don’t let your mind wander too far and come up with wrong conclusions.” Jesus tells the disciples that there will be birth pangs before the end. In saying this and describing the birth pangs, Jesus is not telling his disciples when He would come back. Also, although many want to automatically apply these birth pangs and subsequent signs and wonders to the very last days prior to Jesus’ second advent, it is clear from the text and from history that these pangs occurred during 66-70 AD. We will briefly look at these pangs within the context of history. For a more in-depth study of this time period in the 1st century, I would recommend you becoming familiar with the works of the Jewish Historian Josephus. You can borrow his complete works anytime as I have it in my office. Another historian who recorded the events surrounding the siege and destruction of Jerusalem is the Roman …show more content…
Verse 9 makes it clear that Jesus is speaking directly to His disciples about what they would expect before the temple would be destroyed. If we take this verse out and try to apply it to our day, it would sound silly to think that Christians will be brought before synagogues. This was specific to the days of the disciples and as we see in the book of Acts this is exactly what happened. As we also see in the book Acts, the Gospel, largely through the missionary efforts of Paul, went to the nations of the known world. Jesus is telling His disciples that although they might be killed, no one can stop the advancement of the Gospel. Paul even states in Colossians 1:5-6 that the gospel has gone out ‘in all the world’. Jesus encourages them that the Holy Spirit will testify through them when they face persecution. He encourages them to persevere to the end in verse