Luke 21:5-38 What Are You Waiting For?
Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles once again to Luke 21:5-38, page 880 in the pew Bibles.
This morning we are going to examine a passage of Scripture known as “The Olivet Discourse.” It’s called this because it was a discourse between Jesus and His disciples on the Mount of Olives or on the way to the Mount of Olives outside the city of Jerusalem.
I know that the passages of Scripture that we examine are generally shorter than this one this morning but as you’ll see it really ought not be broken up into little bits because they all work together to form a whole.
This passage has had scholars discussing and debating its meaning for centuries, so I’m going to tell you up front that I haven’t got this all figured out either so we are going to have to trust the Holy Spirit once again to be our interpreter.
This passage also has a great deal to do with end times which is not my strong point, so don’t get your hopes up that I’m somehow going to cast new light on your own studies if you have made eschatology and the Book of Revelation the focus of your whole life.
Let’s pray.
You’re going to notice that there are a lot of section headings in the passage that we are about to read. Don’t be distracted! In fact, that’s a pretty good example of what we are about to face together, don’t be distracted by the little pieces, pay attention to the whole.
5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” 8 And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”
10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
37 And every day he was teaching in the temple, but at night he went out and lodged on the mount called Olivet. 38 And early in the morning all the people came to him in the temple to hear him.
This coming Wednesday is 9/11. 23 years ago America was attacked by terrorists in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. Those of you who were alive I’m sure can remember where you were and what you were doing. Those of you who weren’t alive, or are too young to remember have been spared the experience of the horror of watching what were essentially national monuments be destroyed, to say nothing of the lives that were lost. Our nation was forever changed.
But these feelings and that experience pales in comparison to the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. When the Roman Emperor Titus marched his forces against Jerusalem, not only was the Temple destroyed but over one million people were killed and nearly one hundred thousand people were carried off as prisoners to other lands.
I don’t think we can even conceive of the greatness of the Temple as it stood in that day. The stones used to build it were over 37 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 12 feet thick. It was paneled in gold so much that to look at it as the sun rose and shined on it blinded the eyes. It was truly a wonder of the ancient world.
Jewish scholars used to say, “He that has not seen the Temple of Herod has never beheld anything glorious.”
Not only was the Temple itself something incredible to behold, it was also the absolute center of the Jewish religious world. There really isn’t anything that we can possibly compare it to in our experience. What we lost on 9/11 was just a taste of what was lost when the Temple was destroyed.
5 And while some were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said, 6 “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
Those of you who, like me, have had the privilege of going to Jerusalem can attest, there is not one stone of the Temple that still stands on another, in fact, it is now a Muslim holy site.
Most of this passage concerns the destruction of the Temple and Jesus’ prediction of that event, but there are also prophecies concerning the Return of Christ, and it is easy to confuse the two.
So what do we know about this passage?
First of all, these are the words of Jesus, so we know that they are trustworthy and true even if we don’t fully understand them. We also know that some of these predictions have already happened and some haven’t. But easily missed are some very important instructions from Jesus on how we ought to live in light of His coming.
7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?” 8 And he said, “See that you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them.
Beware of false messiahs.
When Peter and the other Apostles were on trial before the Sanhedrin in Acts chapter five the author described two different men who had risen up as false messiahs and got people to follow them but were ultimately defeated and killed and their movements squashed. Many more have made that claim in the two thousand years since but all have proved to be false. But those false messiahs mentioned in Acts rose up before the destruction of the Temple.
Jesus’ warning to His disciples and to us is to not be deceived. Like I said a few weeks ago, know the authentic so that you can recognize the counterfeit. By knowing the truth of God’s Word we will be able to recognize false teaching and false teachers.
9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end will not be at once.” 10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
Do not be terrified in the face of terror.
Wars are a sad fact of our reality. Our world have been ripped apart by wars all over, but this doesn’t mean it’s the end. In fact, Jesus isn’t even talking about THE END. He is talking about the destruction of the Temple.
Between the time of this discourse and the destruction of Jerusalem there was a war in Caesarea where over 20,000 people were killed, there was a civil war in Syria, not to mention five emperors of Rome in quick succession. There was a famine in Jerusalem and Judea described in Acts chapter 11 during the reign of one of those five emperors, Claudius. That was what the collections taken that we talked about last week from 1 Corinthians were for, for relief of the saints in Jerusalem.
Don’t be afraid!
12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.
Every time the church has been persecuted over the course of history, do you know what has happened? The church has grown, the kingdom of God has expanded because every trial is an opportunity to be a witness to what Christ has done, an opportunity for the Lord Himself to speak through the mouths of His people.
In Acts 5:41, after being beaten by the Jewish Council for preaching the gospel of Jesus, the Apostles left rejoicing that they were counted worthy of suffering for the Name of Jesus.
Ten of the Eleven Apostles were all martyred, killed for the Name of Jesus, the eleventh, John, died in exile. The hairs of their physical heads may have perished, but by their endurance they gained their lives eternally.
Rejoice and bear witness according to the Word of the Lord even in the face of opposition and rejection, and persecution.
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Don’t be mistaken, this is not for modern application. Don’t be fooled into thinking that because Jerusalem is surrounded by armies today that the end in near. This was a warning from Jesus to flee the city when Rome closed in on it and many did. They fled to a place called Pella and were some of the first to resettle and begin to rebuild the city after it was destroyed.
Verse 24 is the only verse there with modern application.
24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
The people of Jerusalem in 70 AD, over one million of them were killed, nearly one hundred thousand taken captive, and Jerusalem was trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, by the non-Jews, and is still being trampled underfoot by the Gentiles. Though the city of Jerusalem is divided into quarters, only one of those quarters is Jewish and the Muslims still control the Temple Mount.
The time is coming when the times of the Gentiles will be completed though, and this is where Jesus turns the page from the destruction of the Temple to the coming of His kingdom.
25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
This may start to sound faintly familiar especially the fear and foreboding part, but at the end of it, what is our instruction?
Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.
Straighten up, have courage because your redemption is drawing near! The end of days should not fill us with terror but with hope. Seeing the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory, that’s what we are waiting for! Lift up your head, open the doors that the King of Glory can come in!
29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. 30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. [That’s destruction of the Temple again.] 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
34 “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. 35 For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Don’t be deceived, don’t be afraid, be a faithful witness, be encouraged, watch yourselves, and pray for strength as you look forward to the return of Jesus.
When will that day be, and what are the signs that the day is coming are far less important questions than: how will you prepare for that day?
If you knew that day was tomorrow, what would you change today?
Why wait?
Amen.
