Who Will We Be When Everything Is Shaken? Luke 21:5–38
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
We are naturally drawn to things that look strong, impressive, and permanent—
powerful machines, grand buildings, long-standing institutions.
Over time, we begin to assume these things will always be there.
We trust them, depend on them, and quietly build our sense of safety around them.
That is exactly what the people around Jesus were doing as they stood with Him in the temple in Luke 21.
The temple that Jesus was in here had begun construction around 20 B.C.
So at this point they had been building the complex 50 years, and it was not yet complete.
Jewish historian Josephus reported that the main temple structure itself took only a year and a half to complete, the surrounding courts and porticoes required eight additional years.
Work on the broader temple precinct continued into the early 60s A.D.
The construction project was monumental in scope. Herod’s engineers essentially doubled the original temple mount area.
It was an impressive piece of engineering in Jesus day.
The people stood in the temple courts, surrounded by towering stones, gleaming surfaces, and centuries of religious history.
The people stood in the temple courts, surrounded by towering stones and centuries of religious history.
The temple was not just a building—it was proof to them that God was near, their nation was secure, and their future was stable.
And as they admired it, Jesus said something shocking:
“The days will come when not one stone will be left on another.” (Luke 21:6)
Jesus was not only predicting the destruction of the temple.
He was confronting a deeply held assumption—that what looks strong must be secure, and that what has lasted a long time must last forever.
And then He presses a question that reaches far beyond that moment.
What happens to our faith when the things we rely on begin to shake?
Who are we when the familiar structures that gave us confidence no longer hold?
Luke 21, while it speaks of times to come, is not simply a lesson in timelines or speculation about the end of the world.
It is Jesus preparing His people to endure—faithfully, watchfully, and hopefully—when the ground beneath their feet does not feel as steady as it once did.
Jesus speaks into that instinct and says: What you trust most may not last.
The question Luke 21 presses is not:
How do we avoid suffering?
but:
Who will we be when everything familiar is shaken?
Pray and jump into text for the sake of time.
I. ENDURANCE BEGINS WHEN FALSE SECURITY COLLAPSES
I. ENDURANCE BEGINS WHEN FALSE SECURITY COLLAPSES
Our passage begins this morning with Jesus still in the temple.
Our text says that Jesus notices people around him admiring the grandeur of the temple.
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Chapter 89: The Beginning of the End (Luke 21:5–19)
The second temple in Jerusalem was magnificent.
It was one of the most beautiful buildings in the history of the world.
Josephus wrote
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 Chapter 89: The Beginning of the End (Luke 21:5–19)
The whole of the outer works of the temple was in the highest degree worthy of admiration; for it was completely covered with gold plates, which, when the sun was shining on them, glittered so dazzlingly that they blinded the eyes of the beholders not less than when one gazed at the sun’s rays themselves.
And on the other sides, where there was no gold, the blocks of marble were of such a pure white that to strangers who had never previously seen them (from a distance) they looked like a mountain of snow.
Rather than joining in the admiration, Jesus prophesied that the whole structure would be torn down.
In all reality an unbelievable statement for anyone who was listening.
Some of the temple’s massive marble foundation stones were forty feet long.
They weighed more than one hundred tons!
But Jesus said they would be thrown down.
We know now that all the words of his prophecy came true.
Just 6 years after it was completed in 64 AD, the Romans sacked Jerusalem.
A great fire had been built in the temple and it burned so hot that the gold melted to the bricks.
The Romans then tore down the temple stone by stone to retrieve the gold that had melted between the cracks of the stone, but also to ensure their dominance in the region.
The people around Jesus could not imagine a future like this.
But Jesus already knew it was coming.
In Jesus making this statement, he is exposing another false sense of security that the people had.
He had already exposed the hollowness of religious ritual, and now is revealing revealing that the things which appear most unshakable to us are often far more temporary than we realize.
This grand building will be gone.
Today it is where the Dome or The Rock Sits.
Picture looking toward the mount of olives.
This really is a difficult passage for us to read and interpret because Jesus is actually referencing multiple events.
He is speaking of a near fulfillment - the Romans destroying the temple, but also a far fulfillment - His second coming.
The statements go back and forth as we continue on through this chapter.
Jesus makes some statements that refer only to the fall of Jerusalem.
And also some comments that refer to His second coming and a time of tribulation.
But He intertwines them as he goes along.
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 The Fall of the Temple
Studying
So as we read through these verses, we have to carefully observe the language that's used because Jesus is speaking of events that are very similar because one event foreshadows the other.
The destruction of the temple is a precursor, a shadow of what is to come.
And the times that Jesus is referencing will be difficult to say the least.
The disciples will need to endure, we as God’s followers and children will need to endure.
Jesus instruction in this section provides for us teaching on how to endure.
II. ENDURANCE REQUIRES DISCERNMENT
II. ENDURANCE REQUIRES DISCERNMENT
(vv. 7–11)
Those who heard Jesus immediately start asking questions.
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?”
They want the same thing we would want hearing this news.
They want a timeline, they want to know how it will happen, what will be the triggers for this event.
It is natural, our first instinct when we hear news like this is to ask when, not how.
If we heard news that there was going to be an attack on our country, we would first ask when.
We would want clarity about the event, we want a date, and warning signs.
Ultimately, we want control.
Look at how Jesus responds to their need for control.
He doesn’t give them a date.
Rather Jesus instructs their thinking.
Through Jesus teaching, He tells them you can’t control outside circumstances, but you can control yourself.
This as well is so true for us today.
We have not control over the things around us.
We need to take this thought even into our families, our marriages, our relationships with one another.
We can’t control what another person does, but what we can control is ourselves and how we respond.
Jesus is referencing here though a major event.
He begins by reminding them that they need to know truth.
See that you are not led astray.
be deceived, be misled
Don’t to proceed without a sense of proper direction.
And Jesus tells them why they might be tempted to do so.
There are going to be people to who claim to be the Christ, claim that the time is at hand.
Jesus warns his followers to know truth and not follow after these false prophets.
This is something we must be careful of for ourselves as well.
That still happens, there are still people today attempting to claim they know when Christ will return or are even somehow in the lineage.
There was a booklet, 88 reasons Jesus could return in 1988.
That day came and went, and Jesus didn’t come back the author released a follow-up book called 89 Reasons Why Jesus Is Coming Back in 1989.
I remember talk about Jesus returning at the end of the Mayan calendar in 2012.
There was a prediction that was trying to be made that Christ would return in September of 2025.
I have heard others that try to claim that it will happen in 2033.
All I can say is as Jesus said here.
English Standard Version Chapter 21
See that you are not led astray.
It is Matthew’s telling of this story that he records Jesus words
36 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only.
That is why we must first have a personal relationship with Jesus and get to know Him through His word, the Bible.
Jesus says there are going to be wars and tumults.
The word tumult here is referring to opposition to established authority, disorder, unruliness.
To his Jesus says do not be terrified.
The time Jesus was here teaching in the temple was a time of relative stability.
But Jesus knew there was instability coming.
The same is true for us at least here in the US.
We live in a time of relative stability.
But we can see signs of that crumbling.
There is a relative level of uncertainty, but in reality it has always been there.
Wikipedia is not the most reliable source but there are estimates on there or approximately 8,700 distinct wars from 3200 BC to 2000 AD.
One source indicates over 260 major wars in just the last 100 years
The key is that Shaking Times Create Opportunity for Deception
Times of fear create fertile ground for voices that promise certainty without faithfulness.
Jesus also told us not to be afraid.
This is important, because when people start thinking about the end times, they often get frightened.
It is terrifying to think what will happen at the end of the world, when Jesus comes again and we all appear before God for judgment in one way or another.
Jesus prophesied that many terrible things would happen before the end of the world.
That it would not all happen all at once.
And that even the destruction of the temple was not the end of the world.
Endurance in faith requires the discipline to resist voices that stir urgency without producing faithfulness.
Not Every Crisis Is the End
Wars, upheavals, disasters, and global unrest—things that genuinely terrify people are going to happen.
And Jesus says they must first take place.
But the end will not be at once.”
The kinds of disasters that Jesus prophesied have happened many times over in the history of the world, and they will happen again.
Every time they happen, they are signs of the coming judgment that remind us to get ready for the end of the world.
So every time they happen, we should remember the words of Jesus: “Do not be afraid.”
We can remember that God is not reacting. God is ruling.
And discernment is what protects faith from being consumed by fear.
We might think of it this way.
Most of us carry a device in our pocket that constantly tells us something is urgent.
A notification buzzes.
A headline flashes.
An alert pops up.
And almost every one of them feels important in the moment.
But if everything is urgent, we stop knowing what actually matters.
If every alert feels like an emergency, we live in a constant state of anxiety.
And eventually, we either panic… or we tune everything out.
Jesus doesn’t want us living on spiritual notifications—constantly reacting, constantly anxious, constantly chasing the next alarming voice.
He calls us to anchor ourselves to His unchanging words because they endure.
Jesus in the next section on verses fleshes out for his followers and for us what this endurance really looks like.
III. ENDURANCE IS FORGED THROUGH SUFFERING, NOT ESCAPE FROM IT
III. ENDURANCE IS FORGED THROUGH SUFFERING, NOT ESCAPE FROM IT
10-19
Before the nations rage.
Before great earthquakes, famine, and pestilences.
Before the final judgment unfolds and the end comes.
Jesus says in verse 12
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.
Jesus brings his statements close and makes them personal.
And we know from reading the book of acts and from other church history that all of this happened.
The disciples were persecuted, brought before the religious leaders, imprisoned, brought before governors and even killed.
Suffering was something that they would not escape from, but have to endure.
Yet that does not mean that God has lost control.
But the suffering is for a purpose.
13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness.
The privilege and yes I use that word intentionally because the Bible uses it as such.
The privilege of suffering for Jesus sake was not and is not limited to the apostles.
Many ordinary Christians have been persecuted for their faith.
Persecution serves a purpose no matter how it looks. Suffering does not derail the mission.
Suffering becomes the setting for it.
Suffering provides a greater opportunity for witness.
Not after the suffering.
Not once things calm down.
But right in the middle of it.
The call for Christians is to be aware of it, but not worry about it.
Faithfulness under pressure speaks loudly.
That endurance, lived out in real time, becomes a testimony to the truth of the gospel.
And to help his followers to not worry, Jesus gives a promise.
You don’t need to anxiously rehearse your defense.
Not because words do not matter, but because you will not be alone.
15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.
This does not mean to not prepare at all.
Peter also wrote later
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
But it means you don’t need to dwell on it, be anxious about it.
It also does not mean people will agree with what you say.
Rather it means the truth will stand, even when it is rejected.
Who may do the persecuting is probably one of the most difficult parts of this.
Even parents, brothers, relatives, and friends.
Some to the point of death.
Have you ever lost a friendship because of your faith?
Have you had to distance you had to distance yourselves from some parts of your family because of your faith?
Jesus said to expect it.
17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake.
But another promise comes.
18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.
At first, that sounds confusing.
How can both be true?
But Jesus is making a distinction we need to understand.
Some will lose their lives—but none will lose what truly matters.
Some will suffer physically—but none will suffer eternal loss.
The world may destroy their bodies, but it cannot take their lives from God.
“By your endurance you will gain your lives.”
Jesus is not saying endurance earns salvation.
He is saying endurance reveals it.
That word endurance in Greek
the capacity to hold out or bear up in the face of difficulty, patience, endurance, fortitude, steadfastness, perseverance
Faith that holds on—even when it hurts—shows a hope in life is rooted somewhere beyond this world.
Endurance is not passive.
It is not just hanging on by your fingertips
Endurance is active trust.
It is choosing faithfulness when obedience costs you something.
It is continuing to follow Christ when walking away would be easier.
It is standing firm when compromise would be safer.
It is stepping up to say something that needs to be said in the time it needs to be said.
And that kind of endurance does not happen by accident.
It is forged.
It is forged in suffering.
It is forged in pressure.
It is forged in moments when disciples choose trust over fear and faithfulness over self-preservation.
We can endure because His redemption is drawing near, either by our death, or His return.
And it is more of his return that Jesus begins to speak about in the verses that follow.
IV. ENDURANCE TRUSTS GOD’S SOVEREIGN WORK IN HISTORY
IV. ENDURANCE TRUSTS GOD’S SOVEREIGN WORK IN HISTORY
(vv. 20–24)
In verse 20 Jesus emphasizes again to the near fulfillment of His prophecy.
He speaks directly of the coming destruction of Jerusalem.
Josephus, who has an eyewitness to the destruction wrote of the events
Jerusalem was conquered by Titus, the son of the emperor Vespasian.
The temple was burned and every last man, woman, and child in Jerusalem was either killed or taken captive.
The unspeakable horrors of those dreadful days are recorded by Josephus in The Wars of the Jews.
The stories he tells in vivid detail can scarcely be repeated: human sacrifice, cannibalism, crucifixion.
By the end, the living envied the dead who were lying unburied in the streets.
Jerusalem fell to the Romans because it was under the judgment of almighty God just as Jesus stated here.
Luke, Volumes 1 & 2 The Fall of Jerusalem
When Charles Spurgeon preached on this passage, he said that the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple served as “a kind of rehearsal of what is yet to be,” as “the uprolling of the curtain on the great drama of the world’s doom.” To drive this point home, he used a memorable analogy: “That beautiful city was the very crown of the entire earth, because God had dwelt there. It may be compared to the diamond in a ring, the jewel whose setting was the whole world; and when that jewel was destroyed, and God did as it were grind it to powder, it was a warning that the ring itself would, by-and-by, be crushed and consumed.”
God acted decisively in His timing.
But there is mercy interwoven in this judgment.
Jesus said when Jerusalem was surrounded by armies to let those who are in Judea flee.
This warning saved the early church.
When Roman armies first advanced on Jerusalem around A.D. 66–67, the Christians remembered Jesus’ words.
Recognizing the sign He had foretold, they gathered their belongings and fled across the Jordan to the city of Pella.
As a result, nearly all the believers in Jerusalem escaped before the city fell.
In God’s providence, their lives were spared so they could continue spreading the gospel—because they trusted and obeyed what Jesus had said.
But also as Spurgeon noted this event being a rehearsal of what is to come,
There must be an urgency to flee the coming judgment ahead for the world.
When the time of the gentiles is fulfilled as Jesus says at the end of verse 24.
That urgency to flee is the urgency we must help others to feel in regards to their sin and God’s coming judgment.
God has provided warning.
We proclaim the path He has laid out - believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
This kind of deliverance is for anyone who trusts in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
By this point in Jesus’ teaching, the answer to our question is beginning to come into focus.
Who will we be when everything familiar is shaken?
Jesus has been shaping that answer all along.
We will be a people who endure when false security collapses.
We will be a people who discern truth when fear and deception increase.
We will be a people who remain faithful when obedience is costly.
But Jesus does not stop there.
He does not want His disciples to think endurance is grim survival or joyless waiting.
He wants them to know what ultimately sustains this kind of faith.
So now He lifts their eyes beyond suffering, beyond collapse, beyond history itself—
and shows them the hope that makes endurance possible.
Because when everything familiar is shaken, we will be a people who endure with hope and live ready,
not because the future is predictable, but because our redemption is drawing near.
And that is what Jesus shows us next.
V. Endurance Is Sustained by Certain Hope and Lived with Watchful Readiness
V. Endurance Is Sustained by Certain Hope and Lived with Watchful Readiness
Luke 21:25–38
Jesus intentionally shifts his focus in verse 25.
Up to this point, He has spoken about collapsing structures, deception, persecution, and suffering.
But now He lifts His disciples’ eyes beyond all of that.
Look at verse 25.
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,
Jesus speaks of signs in the sun, moon, and stars, of distress among the nations, of people fainting with fear over what is coming on the world.
The ESV uses some ominous words.
Fear, foreboding, powers of the heavens.
Then in verse 28 the warning again
When these things begin -
28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Jesus had already told his disciples not to expect the end of the world to come right away
The desolation of Jerusalem was but the beginning.
The straightening up an lifting of their heads is a change of view and attitude.
What looks like chaos from the ground looks like completion from heaven.
Theologically, this is incredibly important.
Jesus is teaching that the end of history is not a crisis for God—it is the fulfillment of His purposes.
What signals judgment for the world signals redemption for God’s people.
Enduring in faith is sustained by confidence in what God is doing.
Jesus tells the lesson of the fig tree to drive this point home.
He points to a fig tree.
When it begins to leaf out, no one argues about what it means.
Spring has come - New life!
There is no panic, but the knowledge that summer is coming.
Jesus says, “So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near.”
Jesus did not give His followers a schedule to calculate.
He is teaching them that history is moving somewhere.
That events are not random.
That God’s kingdom is advancing—even through upheaval.
And He grounds it all in His word.
33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.
And then Jesus grounds that confidence in something unshakable. Verse 33:
Everything created—even the most permanent-seeming realities—are temporary.
But His word stands outside creation.
It governs history rather than being subject to it.
Jesus words outlasted the temple, the city, and the generation that heard Him speak.
But Jesus also knows about the human heart.
He knows that even people who believe His promises face another danger—not fear, but drift.
So in verse 34, He shifts again.
“But watch yourselves,” He says, “lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life.”
That phrase “weighed down” is important. Jesus is not describing rebellion.
He is describing spiritual heaviness.
A slow dulling.
A heart so absorbed with life in this world that it loses alertness to the world to come.
When the cares of this life overwhelm.
The pressure to provide.
The anxiety of responsibility.
The endless pull of daily concerns.
Jesus knows that enduring faith does not usually fail in moments of crisis.
It fails quietly, over time, when our attention drifts and our hope shrinks.
So he ends with the charge in verse 36 to
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.”
All of this is spoken in the final two days of Jesus life before the cross.
He ought to be, but is not in a panic Himself.
He continues to teach daily in the temple.
He is the ultimate example of us living a life of enduring faith.
Luke wants us to see that Jesus does not merely teach endurance—He embodies it.
And that is where this chapter leaves us.
Not staring at the sky.
Not charting timelines.
But living faithfully, watchfully, hopefully—because redemption is drawing near.
Conclusion
Conclusion
When we began this morning, I pointed out that Luke is helping us to answer the question
Who will we be when everything familiar is shaken?
When everything familiar is shaken, Jesus is not guessing about who His people will be—He is forming them.
We will be a people who endure, because our hope is not tied to what lasts on earth.
We will be a people who discern truth, because we trust His word over every other voice.
We will be a people who remain faithful under pressure, because suffering does not undo God’s purposes.
And we will be a people who live ready, because our redemption is drawing near.
That is who we can be—because that is who Jesus is shaping us to be.
