“Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign when all these things shall be fulfilled?”
Mark 13:4 — Greek Interlinear
Church Fathers on Mark 13:4
Because the Lord, when some were praising the buildings of the temple, had plainly answered that all these were to be destroyed, the disciples privately enquired about the time and the signs of the destruction which was foretold.
In answer to the disciples, the Lord tells them of things which were from that time forth to have their course; whether He meant the destruction of Jerusalem which occasioned their question, or His own coming through the Church, (in which He ever comes even unto the end, for we know that He comes in His own, when His members are born day by day,) or the end itself, in which He will appear to judge the quick and the dead.
But before answering their question, He strengthens their minds that they may not be deceived.