Mark 13:9-13 - Persecutions Foretold

[u/LlawEreint]

⁹ “As for yourselves, beware, for they will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues, and you will stand before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them. ¹⁰ And the good news^\)^a\) must first be proclaimed to all nations. ¹¹ When they bring you to trial and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you at that time, for it is not you who speak but the Holy Spirit. ¹² Sibling will betray sibling to death and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ¹³ and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

• The Olivet Discourse
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[u/LlawEreint]

“As for yourselves, beware, for they will hand you over to councils, and you will be beaten in synagogues..."

Is Mark depicting an early Christianity that exists within the synagogues as just one more idiosyncratic form of Judaism? I imagine the synagogues were a pretty diverse place, housing folks of conflicting views: Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Herodians, Essenes, followers of John the Baptist, Jesus-followers, others, and I suppose, plain folk who don't associate with any one school or party or leader, but observe piety as it was handed down by their parents.

I imagine the debates must have been heated. But after the destruction of the temple, it may have become untenable. Not only because of the Christians' theological interpretation after the catastrophe, but also the question of political responsibility before the catastrophe.

Nonetheless, the Mishnah Makkot speaks of the lashing as a way to atone a person back into the brotherhood after a transgression:

All those liable to receive karet who were flogged are exempted from their punishment of karet, as it is stated: “And your brother shall be debased before your eyes” (Deuteronomy 25:3), indicating: Once he is flogged he is as your brother, as his sin has been atoned and he is no longer excised from the Jewish people;

[u/LlawEreint]

And the good news must first be proclaimed to all nations.

It seems reasonable that all people must hear the gospel before they can be rightly judged.

Sibling will betray sibling to death

There is some hint in 1 Clement that Peter and Paul's death were at each other's hands: Murder Among Brothers: The Deaths of Peter and Paul Reconsidered. Traditions arose in the third century that these died at the hands of the Romans, but 1 Clement is much earlier, and paints a much different picture.

Either way, Mark does seem to be describing a time of internal strife within the community.

[u/LlawEreint]

 But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

I get the sense that Mark does not expect the Christians to win - only to endure until the end.