“Brother
will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end, the same will be saved.”
Mark 13:12-13
Mark 13 [7.] “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t be troubled. For those must happen, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines and troubles. These things are the beginning of birth pains. But watch yourselves, for they will deliver you up to councils. You will be beaten in synagogues. You will stand before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony to them. The Good News must first be preached to all the nations. When they lead you away and deliver you up, don’t be anxious beforehand, or premeditate what you will say, but say whatever will be given you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit.
Mark 13 [12.] “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child. Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end, the same will be saved. But when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let him who is on the housetop not go down, nor enter in, to take anything out of his house. Let him who is in the field not return back to take his cloak. But woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babies in those days! Pray that your flight won’t be in the winter. For in those days there will be oppression, such as there has not been the like from the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be. Unless the Lord had shortened the days, no flesh would have been saved; but for the sake of the chosen ones, whom he picked out, he shortened the days. Then if anyone tells you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or, ‘Look, there!’ don’t believe it. For there will arise false christs and false prophets, and will show signs and wonders, that they may lead astray, if possible, even the chosen ones. But you watch. “Behold, I have told you all things beforehand.
Mark 13 [24.] But in those days, after that oppression, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will be falling from the sky, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. Then he will send out his angels, and will gather together his chosen ones from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the sky.
Meaning:
Jesus had warned his disciples that they would be handed over to councils and rulers (Mark 13:9-10). Now he describes an even more painful kind of persecution: betrayal by their own families. Loyalty to Jesus would divide households and make his followers hated. But the warning ends with a promise for those who hold on.
- “Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child”
In the ancient world family loyalty was everything. To be handed over by a brother or a father was the deepest betrayal imaginable. Jesus’ words echo the prophet Micah’s picture of a time when trust breaks down even inside the home. When he first sent out the twelve, Jesus applied Micah’s words to the division he would bring: “For I came to set a man at odds against his father, and a daughter against her mother… A man’s foes will be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:35-36).
This came true in the early church. A Jew who confessed Jesus as Messiah, or a Gentile who abandoned the family gods, could be disowned by relatives. When the Roman authorities began to hunt Christians, informers, sometimes from within their own homes, gave names to the officials.
- “Children will rise up against parents, and cause them to be put to death”
Jesus knew the pain of family opposition himself. Early in his ministry his own relatives tried to seize him, saying he was out of his mind (Mark 3:21), and John notes that “even his brothers didn’t believe in him” (John 7:5). He does not ask his followers to walk a road he has not walked.
He also promises that those who lose family for his sake gain a new one: “Most certainly I tell you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother… for my sake, and for the sake of the Good News, but he will receive one hundred times more now in this time… with persecutions; and in the age to come eternal life” (Mark 10:29-30). The church becomes family to those who have lost their own.
- “You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake”
The reason for the hatred is not wrongdoing but the name of Jesus. To bear his name is to share in the world’s rejection of him. Peter later encouraged suffering believers: “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you” (1 Peter 4:14). Jesus told his disciples on the night before he died, “In the world you have oppression; but cheer up! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
- “But he who endures to the end, the same will be saved”
To endure means to remain under a heavy load without giving way. “To the end” may mean the end of a person’s life or the end of the age; either way, faith that is real keeps going. Jesus had described those who receive the word with joy but “have no root in themselves… When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble” (Mark 4:16-17). Lasting faith is the mark of those who truly belong to him.
This endurance is not earned salvation; it is the fruit of God’s grace holding his people. Paul could say that in oppression, persecution, famine and sword, “we are more than conquerors through him who loved us” (Romans 8:35-37). The salvation Jesus speaks of here is the final rescue, life in God’s kingdom forever.
The Significance of Mark 13:12-13
- Following Jesus may cost relationships
Some believers today face rejection or danger from their own families because of their faith. Jesus saw it coming and stands with them.
- Love those who oppose you
Hatred for his name is no reason to return hatred. Jesus’ followers keep loving and praying for relatives who reject them.
- Keep going
Endurance is shown day by day. James writes, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life” (James 1:12).
Cross-References:
Matthew 10:21-22: "You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved." Jesus gave the same warning when he first sent out the twelve.
Matthew 10:36: "A man’s foes will be those of his own household." Division in the family over Jesus.
Mark 4:17: "When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they stumble." Faith without root does not endure.
Romans 8:37: "No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Endurance through Christ’s love.
Conclusion: Jesus warned that loyalty to him would turn some families against their own members, even to death, and that his followers would be hated by all for his name’s sake. History has proved his words true, and they are still true in many places today. Yet he gave a firm promise: the one who endures to the end will be saved. Held by God’s love and given a new family in the church, believers can keep faithful to the last.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible