Luke 21 - Are You Ready for Jesus to Return At Anytime?

 Click Here to Read or Listen to Luke 21

Holy Saturday - The day the women (the two Mary's) and Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate to take Jesus' body and lay him in a tomb which had never been used.

The Widow’s Offering

As Jesus has been teaching in the temple the past few days between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, he sees a poor widow put a couple of copper coins in the offering box. Jesus immediately praised her gift, because she gave "all she had". Though those who were wealthy put in their offerings out of their wealth, but this woman gave all she had to live on. 

This shows that though Jesus did not necessarily overturn the Old Testament law of tithing, but he introduce a new standard for giving, generosity. This woman was "radically generous", whereas for the rich it might have been it might have been a drop in the bucket. The widow's gift was sacrificial, the rich person's probably not. Generous and thoughtful giving in response to what Jesus has done for us, is the model for giving back to God for the work in the local church in the New Testament. See also Paul's teaching in 2 Corinthians 9:7-8. 

Click Here to Read 2 Corinthians 9:6-8 

The Destruction of the Temple and Signs of the End Times

The rest of chapter 21 is devoted to destruction of the temple, signs of the end times, and details of Jesus' triumphant return. 

The disciples were gazing at the temple and remarking on its beauty. Then, Jesus drops a bombshell. The temple in all its glory would soon come toppling down, as part of judgment against the hypocrisy of the Jewish leaders, their rejection of him, and their desecration of the temple. I.e. Money-Changers 

The disciples naturally want to know when this will happen. Jesus tells them not to be deceived because many will come in his name, and there will be wars, rumors of wars, and nation will be divided against nation. These would only be signs of the end. Also, some will come claiming they are Jesus. 

We have certainly seen all of these things in our lifetime. We are in the middle of a war right now and over the past 80 years have seen many of them. WWII, the Cold War, Korean War, Pearl Harbor and currently the war in Gaza. We have also had people who said they were Jesus, only to be shown as frauds and mentally ill. 

We know the temple was destroyed in A.D. 70, but Jesus has not come back yet. So what gives?

Both Matthew and Luke make it clear that Jesus spoke both of the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and of the ultimate end of the age and His glorious return. Prophetically, the two are connected, though separated by many centuries. - Guzik

Jesus also warns them that they will be persecuted on an account of being his disciple. They will be imprisoned and brought before those in power to give their testimony with their lives on the line. But Jesus gives them the promise that He will give them the words to say to confound the persecutors, just as he confounded the religious leaders and Pontius Pilate. 

“These things must happen because they are part of the prophetic programme of the End-time in general, and so are divinely decreed; but they do not usher in the immediate end. The fall of Jerusalem and the events leading up to it were morally, though not chronologically, of an eschatological character.” (Geldenhuys)

Then Jesus makes a dire prediction. The disciples will be betrayed by their family and friends. Some of them will also put them to death. Ominously he says, 

"Everyone will hate you because of me." What does this mean? 

It is a troubling statement for sure. We know, as Christians, we will be persecuted even perhaps by family and friends, but in what sense will everybody hate us? So let's unpack this. 

Remember Jesus often taught in "hyperbole", overstating a point to make a point. He would make an extreme statement to get everybody's attention. But there was also usually truth in the statement. Obviously not everyone would literally hate them, because they had brothers and sisters in Christ who loved them. So we need to be careful how we interpret this passage. 

In the end, Jesus promises them they will get through it. Not a hair on their head will be lost. Jesus will give us the strength to stand firm until the end. 

Jesus gives a few more details about the fall of Jerusalem. Some people will mistake this for the end times, but you can see the tense is in the present. He has just talked the impending fall of the temple. The destruction will be swift and Jesus warns women, especially women who are pregnant and nursing, to find shelter quickly. 

The Roman conquest of Jerusalem A.D. 70 was complete. History records that 1.1 million Jews were killed and another 97,000 were taken captive in one of the worst calamities ever to strike the Jewish people. Jesus warned them to avoid it.

All of Israel will be taken as prisoners by the Gentiles, until the "times of the Gentiles" are fulfilled.

We know that God's plan, even from the time of Abraham, was for the Gentiles to be reached with the blessing God gave to the Jews. After Pentecost, both Peter and Paul were missionaries to the Gentiles, after the Jewish people rejected Jesus. Paul was especially known as the missionary to the Gentiles, though he was a faithful Jew. 

“It is highly likely that Jesus intended by this phrase to suggest that the moment will come when Gentiles will no longer possess Jerusalem and that when such a time is fulfilled, the nation of Israel will repossess her land.” (Pate)

After thousands of years of exile, a Jewish state was miraculously established in Israel again in 1948. It was not until 1968 that Israel controlled Jerusalem, but still today they yield the rule and the administration of the most central piece of Jerusalem – the Temple Mount – to Gentile rule (the Palestinian Authority). It can be argued that prophetically speaking, Jerusalem is still trampled by Gentiles.

Now Jesus seems to switch gears to describe the events of the end times. All of creation will show Jesus' coming. The sun, the moon, and the stars will show magnificent signs. The seas will be tossed to and fro which will bring fright and terror upon the people. Jesus then said, 

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.”

Though things were going to look bleak for a long time, for those who hoped in him, he would return to take his people home to heaven. 

This kind of total chaos and calamity is described in horrific detail in Revelation 6, 8-9, and 15-18. All this will culminate in the dramatic, spectacular return of Jesus, coming with His church to this earth. - Guzik

Jesus then says, 

 “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.

This is another challenging passage, because it seems to imply that Jesus; second coming will happen in their life time. How do we explain this?

The only real logical answer is that Jesus is referring to the generation that will see these signs, since he has just referred to the signs that will precede his second coming. 

Jesus did not refer to His own generation and that of the disciples, but of the generation that sees those signs; they will also see the very end. This is God’s promise that He will not prolong what Jesus called the Great Tribulation (Matthew 24:21) forever.

Jesus closes with an admonition for them not to get caught up in the things of the world, like carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life. It's interesting that Jesus puts "the anxieties of life" with the first two. Being overly worried about the things of this world can keep us from being ready for Jesus' return. 

This is similar to the warnings God gave to the generations of Noah, and Lot and his family before he brought catastrophic judgment about the gross evil of the time. Note that the majority people were not ready for this judgment and were killed. 

Jesus closes by telling them to be "on watch and be ready to stand" before the Son of Man, when he comes. This implies that we will see Jesus face to face when he returns.  

This is a very stern chapter and reminds us not to get lazy or complacent in our faith. We need to be ready for Jesus' to return at anytime. Note too, Jesus calls on us to pray. Prayer is one of the most important ways to be ready for Jesus to return. 

Are you ready for Jesus to return at any time? What would you need to do to get ready? Why wait?

Tomorrow is Easter where we celebrate that Jesus conquered sin, death, the power of the devil by be raised from the dead. The literal and bodily resurrection of Jesus from the grave confirms that everything he said about himself is true. As we trust in Jesus as our Savior and live for him, WE ARE READY AT ANY TIME!