Jesus told his disciples they needed to prepare themselves for coming persecution, telling them they would be delivered to the councils and beaten in the synagogues (Mark 13:9). The councils were the local courts, called sanhedrins, and they were held in local synagogues throughout the land. A sanhedrin was composed of three or twenty-three members, populated by the Jewish leaders within each town.[1] The chief court of the Jews was THE Sanhedrin at Jerusalem, and it functioned as the Jews’ supreme court. It was made up of Sadducees, Pharisees and other Jewish leaders who were considered Jewish nobility. The court system in Jerusalem consisted of 3 twenty-three member courts,[2] and, when these three courts met together as one court, it functioned as the supreme court of the land. THE Sanhedrin was presided over by the officiating high priest, called its president or nasi (prince – see Numbers 11:16),[3] and it was this judicial body that condemned Jesus to die (Luke 22:66-71), and probably Stephen (Acts 7:1).
The Apostles were beaten in, or more likely, near the Temple where THE Sanhedrin met (Acts 4:25-41). Paul tells us that he was beaten five times by the Jews (2Corinthians 11:24), which most likely would have been done in synagogues throughout the Diaspora. He received the maximum punishment permitted by law (Deuteronomy 25:2-3). The actual number of lashes would have been determined by the judges who considered the gravity of the crime. An interesting point is that Paul, and, therefore, any one of Jesus’ disciples who would have been beaten in a local synagogue, could have refused his punishment, but if he did, he would have been excommunicated and no longer considered a Jew. So, the lashes were received by choice, not forced upon them. They would have endured their punishment to remain a Jew in good standing with other Jews. In other words, Jesus told his disciples they needed to prepare themselves for persecution (Mark 13:9) and to endure it willingly for the sake of the Gospel. By demanding their rights, they would have been excommunicated and their outreach to other Jews in Jesus’ name would have been greatly diminished.
Many believers see the Olivet Prophecy as a text containing many signs pointing to Jesus’ coming, but the fact is Jesus gave only one sign for the end (cp. Matthew 24:3). The end in question is not the destruction of creation and the end of time, as so many believe today. Rather, the disciples inquired about and Jesus replied to them concerning the end of the Jewish age (the Old Covenant; cp. Hebrews 8:13) and the establishment of the new age (the New Covenant) at his coming (Matthew 24:3). The sign immediately preceding the end of the age and the coming of Jesus was the Gospel would be spread throughout the Empire (Mark 13:10; Matthew 24:14).
Jesus told his disciples when they would be brought before the councils and before kings, they shouldn’t premeditate what they should say, because on such occasions they would be given words to say by the Spirit of God (Mark 13:11). Some manuscripts don’t have Jesus’ words take no thought beforehand. Nevertheless, whether or not the phrase is authentic here, Jesus does tell his disciples not to premeditate upon what they should say before government leaders in Matthew 10:19-20 (see also Luke 12:11-12; 21:14-15). Therefore, authentic or not at Mark 13:11, the command not to premeditate upon what to say was already given before this, and repeated in Luke 21:14-15, so the point is moot.
Jesus concludes this part of the prophecy by telling his disciples that normal family relationships will breakdown, when it comes to being one of his followers. Members of one’s family would betray them and cause them to be brought before the courts and even to be slain (Mark 13:12-13; cp. Micah 7:2-6). Yet, those who endure to the end, without giving in to persecution will be saved (Mark 13:13), but the salvation Jesus points to here isn’t eternal salvation, but being saved alive through all the troubles, but even this wasn’t promised Jesus’ Apostles (cp. Luke 21:16-19).
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[1] See Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin – Mishnah, 2a
[2] This is a view taken by scholars who wrote The Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, Volume 2, page 456, section 5.
[3] See Dr. Bob Utley’s study of The Sanhedrin.
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