'Let the reader understand': Temple and eschatology in mark

Mark's eschatology is centred on Jesus and His death, which is linked to the temple. Opposition to God's kingdom lends to the passion narrative; the passion narrative leads to the destruction of the temple. Since God's judgment was inaugurated on the temple system in the death of Jesus, its fate was sealed. This, however, is not the culmination of things ('the End'). For Mark, the very destruction of the Temple is confirmation that God's purposes are now centred in Jesus and the new people of God. These purposes are being accomplished and vindication will follow. In the face of an attenuated End, Jesus' words to his disciples are still vital: 'What I say to you, I say to all: Keep awake' (13:37).