Luke 21:5-28
5 Some of his disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God. But Jesus said, 6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.”
7 “Teacher,” they asked, “when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?”
8 He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. 9 When you hear of wars and uprisings, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. 14 But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 Everyone will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 Stand firm, and you will win life.
20 “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. 22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” [1]
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The disciples’ comments about the beauty of the temple prompted Jesus to respond with a disturbing picture of persecution, death and destruction. (I have to wonder if they were wondering if He was having a bad day or thinking, “Um, Jesus, thanks. But we were just saying the stones look nice.”) And yet in these words of Jesus about coming trouble, there is an important call to faith and hope.
Jesus warns them of the complete destruction of the temple, the coming of deceivers, the coming of wars involving multiple nations, earthquakes, famines and plagues, as well as mysterious signs in the heavens (whatever that means). And is if that’s not a frightening enough picture, He goes on to warn them about persecution, betrayal, death, and the hatred of all because of Jesus. Ultimately, he points to terror gripping the world.
But through it all Jesus gives cause for hope. He is not telling His disciples these things to frighten them, but rather to invite them to trust in Him. He tells them that in the face of persecution, He will give them the words to say. He assures them that in the face of hatred and death, they will never perish (and in the context, that refers to eternal life and resurrection.) And at the point of terror gripping the world, He calls on them to lift up their heads, because their redemption is drawing near.
Behind these assurances and calls to hope is this simple truth: Even when the world appears to be coming completely unhinged, and all seems stacked against us, Jesus is still Lord. He is Lord of this fallen, broken world, and nothing that happens can even begin to loosen His hold on us. We live in the confidence that the worst of circumstances will be redeemed and used by our all-powerful and loving Lord to carry out His work of redemption for all creation.
Now if this is true for the apocalyptic picture He paints here, it is certainly true in the relatively lesser difficulties that are part of my life now, and will be part of my life today. He is Lord. He is my redeemer. He will give me words when words are needed. I can lift up my head despite all going on around me, because my Lord is with me.
Lord Jesus, give me such faith in You and confidence in your power that no matter what difficulty comes my way, I will be able to stand firm with my head lifted, and trust in Your redemption.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Lk 21:5–28). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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