Tuesday, April 28 and in our reading thru the New Testament, we have come to the last days of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel. Read Luke 21:5-38. After reading it...slowly to catch the words, the images and metaphors...come back and we’ll look at it together.
In our previous readings of this discourse from Jesus, we know that he told this to the disciples on the Mount of Olives...a hilltop overlooking Jerusalem, less than 2 miles away. In the background, Jesus and his disciples get a magnificent view of the Temple, and the city of Jerusalem also. They crest the mountain top and the scene in front of them is majestic...the Holy City...and the Temple God directed his people to build for worship, prayer, and the glory of God. The disciples had been with Jesus in the Temple proper just before all this takes place. The last image they had was of the Sadducees walking away, rich people putting their gifts into the offering boxes, and a poor widow dropping her 2 cents in, which Jesus took note of and singled out as a lesson to his disciples. The disciples must have made a comment about the Temple when Jesus suddenly makes it clear... what is ahead for the Jewish temple is destruction.
Luke’s description of Jesus’ answer is similar to Matthew and Mark’s. Luke was writing this for a Gentile group of believers and omitted some of the very Jewish specific things Matthew and Mark included. As Jesus leaves the temple he takes them to the Mount of Olives, and there Peter, James, and John asked Him three questions:
(1) When would the temple be destroyed?
(2) What would be the sign of His coming?
(3) What would be the sign of the end of the age? (see Mark 13:3-4; Matt. 24:3)
The disciples thought that these three events would occur at the same time, but Jesus explained things differently. Actually, the temple would be destroyed first, and then there would be a long period of time before He would return and establish His kingdom on earth (see Luke 19:11-27). It is this “Now” and “Not Yet” aspect of what Jesus describes that keeps us on our toes as we read through what he says. Some of what he describes will happen within the disciples’ lifetime, and some of it will not occur - indeed hasn’t occurred yet!
To encapsulate all Jesus says, we can understand his revelation to them with five words:
Destruction
Deception
Disasters
Despising
Days of Reckoning
First, the Temple and Jerusalem will be destroyed. This took place in 70 a.d. when Rome’s army under Titus entered the city - after a two-year assault in building ramparts up to the top of Jerusalem’s walls - and he destroyed everything, killing almost a million Jews. The disciples must have been startled to hear Jesus prophesy this to happen. All they have known is Jerusalem, the Temple, and Roman rule. Now Jesus tells them it will all be destroyed.
In a succession of “Do Nots” he tells them - “do not be deceived”, “do not follow them”, and “do not be frightened”. All of these “do not's” remind them - and us - that the events around them, and eventually us, at any time...wars, pandemics (pestilence), famine, earthquakes, etc...are never a surprise to our sovereign God. He not only knows what is happening, but he is also both directing and allowing all that is occurring. Now, time is passing. In every generation, the kinds of things Jesus described seem to be part of the generational landscape. Will Durant, the famous historian, once remarked that out of the last 4000 years of human history, approximately only 250 years have not had any of these man-made and natural disasters.
Jesus in vss 12-19, reminds the disciples they will not escape the suffering that comes from all of this. He warns them that they will be arrested, betrayed, persecuted. Why? Because “they hated me, they will hate you also” (vs 17). But in the face of personally being despised, he reminds them “not a hair from your head will perish, stand firm and you will win life”. This is the testimony of the early church as the Roman Empire eventually turned on the church and martyred tens of thousands of Christians. But it is not limited to the first centuries. Did you know that since 1900, more Christians have been martyred for their faith in Christ than all nineteen centuries before it? We who live in a land that protects religious freedom no little of this kind of persecution. Yet, if you have ever taken a stand for biblical values you know the despising that can come from others outside and inside of the church.
In vss 20-25 Jesus returns to Jerusalem’s destruction to both warn of the immediate destruction, but also of what is to come afterward as “the times of the Gentiles” begin to occur. The immediate days of destruction are followed by centuries of it. Human beings in their fallen sinfulness have no ability to see what they are doing to themselves. People, Communities, States, Nations all complicit in fostering the evil that keeps on being sustained generation after generation.
How will it change? Vs 27-28, Jesus will return - in the clouds with his angels and in great glory. “Even so come, Lord Jesus!” “Let your Kingdom come, let your will be done on the earth!” We pray.
Jesus shifts to tell his disciples a parable that is meant to both encourage them and remind them that He knows how this will all turn out. He pointed to a fig tree, an extremely common sight around Jerusalem. Fig trees—and all trees—behave in predictable ways that can give insight into other natural phenomena, if one knows how to read the signals. The fig tree, like our own deciduous trees, lose all their leaves in the Fall and are barren during the winter. The first buds of green remind us that spring has arrived and summer is not far away. The events described by Jesus are like the leaves of the fig tree coming to life after winter; the kingdom of God should not come as a shock to anyone with eyes to see.
When Jesus says (vs 32-33) “this generation will not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away”, he reminds us again of the NOW and the NOT YET of all that he has said. While some quibble over the “this generation” we remind ourselves that what he foretold is true in every generation. Instead of arguing about dates and times, hang on to what he proclaimed: “my words will never pass away”. He reminds us of the certainty of the fulfillment of all of this and warns, therefore (vss 34-36) to be ready - to avoid the world’s evil behaviors, and instead, seek to live aware and awake.
We might want to pause, reflect and realize that central to this teaching is this: Jesus Christ is fully aware of our world, and fully aware of life for us in this world we live in. Be aware, be awake, be faithful - no matter what is going on around you...that might be the central message of this entire teaching from our Lord. Perhaps we can add one more thing: Keep Looking Up!
Peace
Comments