The section of Mark that precedes that of the previous post is usually called the "eschatological discourse" or some such. It has close parallels in the other two synoptics, and--as might be expected--the other two add elements. I contend that the true version resides chiefly in Mark, and that the unwarranted additions in Matthew and Luke detract from the account.
The account starts with the exchange between Jesus and his disciples about the temple buildings, and with the questions the disciples ask about the future after Jesus says the temple will be destroyed. Mark has the disciples ask, "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?" (13:4, KJV). Matthew has the disciples ask as well for "the sign of thy coming"--which as an addition to the account is but the starting-point of its manifest manipulation by the gospel writers.
Then Jesus tells the disciples to ignore both claims of the Christ's return, and also news of "wars and rumours of wars" and earthquakes and "famines and troubles." This is to be accompanied by the persecution of the faithful.
Then Jesus says, "And the gospel must first be published among all nations." This directive--which seems to fly in the face of the notion that "this generation shall not pass, till all these things be done," and that not even Jesus knows the day and hour of the end--leaves little to be gleaned other than the idea that the spreading of the gospel is a command important in that it be followed, not that it be accomplished. That the commands of God in general have been published in the essential nature of the world is a definite Biblical teaching, making the spread of Jesus' particular teachings (to say nothing of the larger Christian "gospel") an addition to the very basics of faith. Nonetheless, Matthew insists, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
So Matthew has the disciples ask specifically about the return of Jesus, and Matthew frames the propagation of the gospel as something to be accomplished before the end comes. Matthew is erecting the framework of the End Times scheme that has captured the attentions of the churches, while Mark is simply telling the disciples what experiences to expect. Moreover, in Mark those experiences are to be those of normal life buffeted and at last dissolved by the crush of events--the disciples are not expected to lead their lives endlessly rehearsing their testimonies as narrations of their lives and as recapitulations of their spiritual progresses. The disciples' lives unfolding before them as discoveries of truth upon truth is all they need bring to the fearsome moments of being expected to provide their defenses.
And then will come that fearsome moment that is the harbinger of the end. Luke has that moment as, "And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies," which betrays both the time of Luke/Acts writing, and its agenda of the role of the chosen being lost to the Jews. Mark and Matthew, on the other hand, tie the end to the "abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet." Mark has this horror "standing where it ought not," while Matthew has it "stand in the holy place"--a rather more definite location, though one might wonder whether Mark's generalized idea of location might better describe an "abomination" that ought not to exist anywhere.
At the appearance of the "abomination" Mark instructs the faithful, "And let him that is on the housetop not go down into the house, neither enter therein, to take any thing out of his house: And let him that is in the field not turn back again for to take up his garment. But woe to them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter." Matthew adds that the "flight" would be preferable "neither on the sabbath day," though Jesus' concern for sabbath necessities would seem to obviate that concern.
The important thing here is the undeniable realization that Jesus is not describing a concrete situation. The notion that a householder would suddenly "see the abomination of desolation . . . standing where it ought not" from his housetop or field is ridiculous if the "abomination" is held to be some statue raised up in a (presumably) reconstituted temple. Even the strained notion of a person on a roof or in a field being hailed into action by a fleeing co-religionist is untenable, given Jesus' disdain for "rumours"--undoubtedly some time--however brief--of sober investigation would be in order. Obviously Jesus is giving an evocative illustration.
The idea of the "abomination of desolation" is best understood as a warning of the deteriorating condition of the world, a condition that would require our constant attentions, not our stashed-away resolve to give up our ease and comfort "when the end comes." Yet the denominations have preferred to hold to the idea that the End Time is some plottable sequence (though they are haunted by Jesus' insistence that no one knows the day or the hour) and the denomination do this by holding without warrant to ostensibly concrete elements of Jesus' eschatology. The passage quoted above about the proper response to the appearance of the "abomination" is preceded in Mark by "let them that be in Judaea flee to the mountains"--though of course those on Pacific atolls or in the midst of the Eurasian steppes would have no such recourse. (Nor indeed today, with the advent of infra-red capable, missile-carrying drones, would there be much safety in the Judaean mountains.)
What is inescapable in Mark (more so plainly than in the other gospels) is the fact that Jesus is not presenting an eschatology, but rather a non-eschatology. We are not capable of plotting out the time of the end; we are not to know the time of the end; we are not to know that we can fulfill Jesus' directives before the time of the end; we are to expect nothing but persecution and tribulation--both ebbing and flowing, yet increasing overall--until the time of the end; we are not to rehearse our speeches against the crises that portend the end; and--as a final warning--we are told to continue in purposeful activity until swept away in the great spasm of Creation at the end.
"Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch." (Mark 13:35-37).
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