These warnings also occur in other contexts of Jesus' ministry (cf. Matt. 10:17-22; Luke 12:11-12). Jesus evidently voiced them more than once.
Mark stressed the idea of persecution by recording the Greek word paradidomithree times in this pericope. The NASB translated this word "deliver up"in verses 9, 11, and 12. The NIV rendered it "handed over"in verse 9, "arrested"in verse 11, and "betray"in verse 12.
13:9 The disciples could anticipate persecution from the Jews and the Gentiles, from religious and secular courts. However such treatment would provide opportunity to bear witness for Jesus. This warning is appropriate for all disciples in the inter-advent era as are all the warnings in this discourse.
13:10 "Unto all the nations"is in the emphatic first position in the Greek text. All the nations must hear the gospel before the end of the age (cf. Matt. 24:14). This is the responsibility of every generation of disciples (Matt. 28:19). The generation of believers alive during the Great Tribulation immediately preceding Jesus' return will accomplish this task in their generation (Rev. 7). "Must"(Gr. dei) indicates divine necessity. God wants this to happen, and it will happen.
"It is part of God's eschatological purpose that before the End [of this age] all nations shall have an opportunity to accept the gospel."311
This verse is not a promise that if disciples will preach the gospel to all nations in a particular generation God will then begin the kingdom, as postmillennialists teach. Man cannot bring in the kingdom by the universal preaching of the gospel. God will bring it in at His appointed time. This is not a promise that everyone will become a believer in Jesus either.
13:11 Jesus promised that God will give special grace (help) to disciples who want to bear a good testimony when arrested and tried for their faith (v. 9). The Holy Spirit will give such disciples the appropriate words to speak then. Jesus did not forbid thought but anxious care (cf. Luke 21:15).312This promise should give disciples in these situations freedom from unnecessary anxiety. However, Jesus did not promise release from suffering.
"History bears ample witness to the fact that Christians on trial for their faith have been amazed themselves at the aptness of the answers that flashed into their minds at the opportune moment."313
13:12-13 Betrayal even by family members will be another trial disciples may have to bear (cf. Mic. 7:2-6; Luke 12:51-53). Persecution would come through official channels but also from blood relatives. All kinds of people would hate them for their testimony.
"As there is nothing that excites such love as the gospel, when intelligently received, so there is nothing that occasions such hate as this same gospel, when passionately rejected."314
The last part of verse 13 states a general principle. Faithful endurance of persecution to its end results in deliverance. Disciples who endure their persecution faithfully to the end of that persecution will experience deliverance from it while they are alive. Disciples who endure their persecution faithfully to the end of their lives will experience deliverance from it by death. Disciples living just before Jesus returns who endure their persecution faithfully to the end of the present age will experience deliverance at Jesus' second coming.
Faithful endurance of persecution also results in the privilege of reigning with Jesus in His kingdom (cf. 2 Tim. 2:12). Note that Jesus did not teach that all will endure to the end faithfully. Unfortunately some disciples do not (2 Tim. 2). Notwithstanding, our ultimate salvation does not depend on enduring persecution faithfully but on God's faithfulness to His promise to keep us secure (2 Tim. 2:13; cf. John 10:27-28; Rom. 8:31-39; et al.).
This pericope should be a special encouragement for disciples undergoing persecution for their faith, including Mark's original readers. It is easier to endure suffering for our faith when we view it in the context of God's plan for the future. This perspective gives us hope.
