According to what I read in Mk 13, that was very soon after the event of 70 in Judea & Jerusalem, even if "Mark" had Jesus saying he did not know the exact day & hour.Mark's Jesus predicted that something really bad would happen in or around Jerusalem sometime, and that sometime after that, he would make an appearance.
No, I do not know that. Anyway "Mark" had Jesus saying twice that the Great Day will happen before the last humans of his generation died (9:1 & 13:30).Two days could be soon, and we all know that a thousand years is like one day to God, so it's not even been two days yet.
It is not a forecast, like for a weather forecast, where the forecaster does an educated "guess" about the weather four days in advance.If Jesus' fielding his disciples' direct question were a "forecast," then we can't say definitely yes or no about whether it's still open. We can each, however, say whether or not it has communicated useful information to anybody about their future; some say yes, others say no. With a forecast, you don't even have to ask.
In Mark 13, "Mark" has Jesus telling what will happen in the future, not a guess about possibilities in the future.
Because "Mark" has Jesus using the future tense as in 13:19, 22, 24 (twice), 25 (twice), 26, 27 (twice), 31.
And, at 13:23, "But take heed; I have told you all things beforehand."
It certainly does not look that Jesus had been forecasting possibilities since 13:2.
Also in 13:37 "And what I say to you I say to all: Watch."" it does look that the great apocalyptic day will happen soon.
But it is clear that through Jesus as a character, it is the author who is speaking (13:14, 19 & 37). That device is often used by other authors. And I don't think that Mark 13 is story telling, but rather addressing some hot issues in a time of crisis.Yes. It is absurd to attribute to any storyteller agreement with something any of his characters say, based solely on a character saying it.
These are not stories from a story teller, but a propagandist religious text written when the local situation was getting tense (mostly in the case of Mk 13).It is equally absurd to call a storyteller honest or dishonest based solely on the story (s)he tells. We have no evidence that Mark led any congregation, for example, to answer one of Mr MacSon's (possibly rhetorical) questions.
"Mark", as a very educated and learned person (there were few of them among the many illiterate Christians then) had to be at least one of the leaders of the community.
Cordially, Bernard