Jesus said to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you.” (Mark 13:5)
“What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ” (Mark 13:37)
The sermon on the fall of Jerusalem and the time of the end can appear confusing. Different interpretations are held by genuine believers.
It’s easy to dive into the details and miss the main point. The NIV translation starts and ends the sermon with the word, “Watch” (v5, v37).
The first “watch” has the sense of looking for danger: watch out to avoid being deceived. In this time between the first and second coming of Christ, there will be deception to entice us to follow error and persecution to drive us away from Christ (v9, translated “be on your guard”).
Living for Christ is a battle and we need to watch out for danger.
The second “watch” (v37) is about being alert, looking out, because Jesus is coming back. We can be focused so much on the here and now that we aren’t looking and longing for our Saviour’s appearing.
Our eyes see so many things. We are easily captivated and distracted. But we need to be looking away from these things. Rather, let’s look so that we see the dangers of this world and face them; and let’s look up in faith to Christ, who is on the throne now, and who will surely return.
The best is yet to come 