Frightening Events

Christ, Your Captain, Has It All Under Control

11.16.25 [Luke 21:5-19] River of Life (23rd Sunday after Pentecost)

Grace and peace are yours in abundance. Amen. 

Ladies and gentlemen, your captain has turned on the fasten seatbelt sign. We are anticipating some turbulence. The flight attendants will discontinue service. Secure all personal belongings and stow any loose items. Please return to your seats and keep your seat belt fastened. Thank you. 

If you’ve flown more than a few times, you’ve likely encountered some turbulence and heard an announcement something like this. 

Generally speaking, pilots can’t really avoid turbulence. They can’t make it stop. They can’t always fly around it. But as they encounter turbulent weather, they make a calculated and informed decision. Can this plane, this crew, and my skills navigate this turbulence safely? The goal is always to keep all the souls on board safe. If they can do that, they make an announcement and maintain their speed.  

The speed is most important for safety, but the announcement is still valuable. Flight crews know that turbulence is unsettling for passengers. Some people are naturally nervous Nellies. But even people who love roller coasters don’t like to be surprised by rough air currents. Making an announcement helps keep passengers informed and calm during all the choppiness. 

Luke 21 is a faith flight announcement. Jesus warns his disciples: There’s turbulence ahead. The Temple will be reduced to rubble. There will be Lk. 21:10-11 wars & earthquakes, famines & pestilences. Spiritual fraudsters and blood betraying blood. God’s people will be handed over to synagogues and sent to prisons. They’ll be brought before kings and governors because of their faith in Jesus. Jesus says: Lk 21:16 Some of you will even be put to death. Truly, truly Jesus tells them: turbulent times are ahead. 

In short order, these disciples would encounter unprecedented turbulence. As Jesus spoke these words near the great Temple in Jerusalem, he knew how rapidly things were going to change. Jesus spoke these words on Tuesday of Holy Week. In three days, he would be arrested, crucified, and buried. But the turbulence that Jesus was about to encounter personally as our Substitute and Savior would touch the lives of his disciples, too. They would face incredible challenges and cruel persecution. 

Before the wars and the earthquakes, the famines and pestilences, the disciples would be seized and persecuted. In Acts 4, Peter and John were seized by the rulers and elders of Jerusalem and thrown in jail for Acts 4:2 proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. In Acts 5, all the apostles were arrested, imprisoned, and beaten by the same group that coaxed Pontius Pilate into crucifying Jesus. Stephen, a fellow believer, was stoned to death outside Jerusalem. In Acts 12, James, the son of Zebedee and the brother of John, was put to death with the sword by King Herod. 

All of this took place by 44 A.D. By 70 A.D., the Temple was reduced to rubble. Not one stone was left on another. All that remains today is the Western Wall, better known as the Wailing Wall, but even that wasn’t the Temple building. It was an ancient retaining wall that supported the hilltop that Herod expanded to build his Temple upon. Turbulent times, indeed. 

It’s not hard to see why Jesus would warn his disciples about what was about to happen. When you’re about to enter turbulence, you appreciate your captain giving you a heads-up. 

But why is it recorded in the Bible? What purpose does it serve for believers and Bible readers today? 

This text serves us well in times of unsettling uncertainty and outright turbulence, too. In our day, nations rise against nations. There are great earthquakes, famines, pestilences, and many other fearful events. Having some historical perspective is really helpful. There have always been wars. Sometimes, war strikes close to home. But Will Durant, a historian, remarked: War is one of the constants of history and has not diminished with civilization and democracy. In the last 3,421 years of recorded history, only 268 have seen no war.  And there are always natural disasters and diseases that wreak havoc on places and ravage peoples. 

Not only that, but throughout the history of the Church God’s people have faced intense persecution and had to combat various heresies and false teachers. Calamities, catastrophes, & Christians being persecuted continue to happen throughout history.

And when those things happen, there’s an inclination to think—and maybe even shout: The end of the world is here! 

And maybe that timeline is accurate. But we’ll never know. What is very wrong is to approach these things with panic. To be disturbed or agitated. It is very wrong to let frightening events shake us to our core.

Because frightening events, whether global, national, local, or even personal, do not change a single part of God’s will, his way, or his plan. Frightening events simply reveal how little control we have. How little faith we should put in princes and presidents and principalities and powerful nations. Kingdoms rise and fall. Nations are often in uproar. People grow perplexed and anxious and get worked up and stressed out. But not our God. Neither should his people. 

God knows exactly what is going to happen before it happens. In detail. He knows the what and the when, the how and the why. He knows big headlines before the big players hatch their schemes. He knows the butterfly effects that no one else notices. He knows exactly what the Enemy is plotting and planning. He’s got more than a scouting report on Satan. He has his whole playbook. And he has that 1 Pt. 5:8 roaring lion on a leash. The Devil and his unholy angels are 2 Pt. 2:4 held in chains of darkness awaiting their own eternal judgment. They cannot make a move that God is not ready for.

And at first, this is confusing for us. If God knows…why doesn’t he step in and change things? Why doesn’t he stop the earth from shaking? Why doesn’t he prevent the nations from warring? Why doesn’t he supply food for those enduring a famine? Why doesn’t he provide a cure for those experiencing pestilence?

At first, God’s foreknowledge troubles us because he does not do things the way that we would do them. He does not act according to a timeline we’ve developed and approved. He does not prevent all people from experiencing all kinds of bad and sad things. He does not give his own people immunity. In fact, he knows they will be persecuted and even put to death for the sake of his name. 

And that is confusing and frustrating and distressing to us at first. But if we step back and look at history and God’s activity from a 30,000 foot view, we’ll find 1 Cor. 14:3 strength, encouragement, and even comfort.

In all of these events, God is exposing our badness & weakness. Our foolishness. Our powerlessness. Our selfishness. He warns us, 2 Tim. 3:2-5 in the last days there will be terrible times. People will be lovers of themselves and money. Boastful. Proud. Abusive. Disobedient. Ungrateful. Unholy. Without love. Unforgiving. Slanderous. Brutal. Treacherous. Rash. Conceited. Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness but denying its power. Doesn’t that sound like our world today? 

Why does God allow any of this? He is mercifully allowing all this for our sake. Because, by nature, we all think we’re fine. That we’re strong. Wise. Powerful and selfless. We are not any of those things on our own. But God is all of those things. 

God is good. Strong. Wise. Powerful to save. Loving and selfless. Even when things are messy. God is all of these things, even when his enemies are snarling and thrashing. God is all of these things, even when his people are struggling and anxious. Christ is our  powerful, wise, and selfless captain for turbulent times. 

Look at how he navigated turbulence in his life. He was not scared off when Satan tried to tempt him in the wilderness. He was not dissuaded when his hometown tried to throw him off a cliff. He was not sidetracked when the Israelites tried to make him into a political leader. He was not deterred when his disciples abandoned him. He stayed the course, even when Peter swore he didn’t know him. He obeyed the will of God, even when it was lonely, grievous, and painful. He endured the shame of death on a cross. They tore down his Temple, they crucified him, and there were great signs from heaven. Darkness fell over the earth. When he died, Mt. 27:51-52 the curtain of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook. Rocks split. Holy people who died were raised to life and appeared to many people in Jerusalem. 

Why did all this happen? Only God knows the why. But our God prophesied it. He knew exactly how turbulent those times would be. But he promised to see his people through it. That’s what a flight captain does, right? He or she is in command. They make final calls. And they do so with the ultimate safety of the souls on board in mind.  

Christ, your Captain, has it all under control. He promised to provide the words for his disciples to speak when they were seized and cross-examined. He did that. And the rulers didn’t know how to respond. He promised not one hair from their heads would be harmed, and he did that. When the apostles were arrested, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. They continued to boldly tell the people of Jerusalem Acts 5:20 about this new life. The Word of God spread and the number of believers increased rapidly. The Apostles could not avoid turbulence, but their Captain guided them through it safely. 

And even when they were martyred, as ten of these men were, God kept his promise. They stood firm. And they won life. Amen.