The… pt2 Warning

For a long time, Jesus had warned His disciples that He as going to be crucified. He told them over and over again. They never really got it til the end.

Sometimes we really don’t want to believe bad news or bad tidings. That’s human.

The good news for us is God is not afraid to tell us the truth- even when it is something we do not want to hear. So Jesus never shied away from trying to prepare the disciples for what was to come- both for them and for us.

This is very much the case for the passage we are looking at today- which often gets missed in the Passion Week narrative (or maybe just missed by me…who knows)

Jesus starts to warn the disciples what is going to happen in the near and far future, after His crucifixion.

Before we dig into it, I want to take a second to consider why He would say all of this.

Consider first who He is talking to in His present- these are the guys who are going to start and sustain the church after His ascension. He is entrusting them with the Gospel. The future hope for the salvation of humanity.

And it is going to be hard. They are going to be scattered. Threatened. Killed. The old ways are going to go away.

He wants them to stay true to the main thing.

But He is God- He knows the future and how these words will be preserved. So He is also speaking to us. Because we (the Church) are the continuation of the line of the disciples. Tasked with the same mission. Gifted with the same Spirit.

And we also are going to find the going very hard.

So as we walk through these verses this morning, please don’t get hung up on the eschatological details. Or trying to match these words with current events. That is not the purpose of Jesus’ words- to create a guessing game for us.

He is sending us a message of encouragement. To focus on the main thing.

Go with me to Luke 21:5-28.

Jesus starts off by telling them the Temple is going to fall.

That happens in AD 70 when the Romans sack Jerusalem.

Luke Comments

The saying is an example of Jesus’ use of exaggeration, for some stones adorning the temple complex can still be seen. This, however, does not in any way refute Jesus’ prophecy or minimize the massive destruction the temple experienced in A.D. 70. Such use of exaggeration only reveals the intensity Jesus felt when he spoke these words.

Imagine how tough that was for the early church. They still met often in the Temple. For many of them- Jewish Christians- that was where they first heard of the Messiah or maybe first encountered Jesus.

We do the same things. Lots of old church buildings hanging on because someone cannot bear to say it is time to close. Or tear down the building.

But in this case, it is a sign to the disciples that what Jesus is telling them is true. Just one more statement that they see come to fruition in real time.

And then He warns them, that is going to pop off a bunch of imitators and false prophets.

Luke Comments

Literally I am. This can mean (a) I am the Messiah or (b) I am Jesus, risen from the dead. Since the Jewish false prophets associated with Jerusalem’s fall made no claim to be associated with or to be Jesus, for Luke the meaning of these phrases probably is (3) they claim to be the messiah, [falsely] saying (a) I am the Messiah

Anyone ever heard of the book 88 Reasons Jesus is returning in 1988. Or its sequel for 1989?

LOL

For you younger folks, remember the year of the Blood Moons?

Or last week on the news when someone said that some of our troops are being told that attacking Iran will bring about the return of Jesus?

Yeah. Foolishness.

Jesus tells the disciples “Do not go with them.”

Luke Comments

Perhaps Luke made this into a command because he expected his readers to understand that just as there was a rash of such false prophets before A.D. 70, so false prophets would be a continual problem for the church (cf.

That is sound advice.

First, because they are wrong.

Second, because it makes us look stupid.

Third, it is a distraction from the main thing.

(What would you do is you saw a giant wave coming to wipe out an entire town?)

Now go with me to verses 20-24. (We will come back to 10-19 shortly)

This is the rest of the sacking of Jerusalem. Jesus is further warning the disciples that the base of operations of the church is not going to be in Jerusalem.

Luke Comments

The following advice clearly involves behavior at Jerusalem’s destruction and not at the consummation of all things, for such flight would be useless when the Son of Man returns

It’s time is going to be at an end.

And it is going to be ugly.

Once again church, God is not going to be contained or constrained. With the tearing of the Temple veil, the old covenant with a single nation ends. And the New Covenant, which Jesus speaks about at the Last Supper begins.

And the disciples, though they do not understand this in the moment, will see if happen in their days.

Luke The Lukan Message

What these things announced was not the world’s end but Jerusalem’s destruction. Yet even Jerusalem’s destruction would not come immediately but would be preceded by these events. Theophilus and Luke’s other readers should understand that Jesus clearly taught that there would be an interval of time not only between his ministry and the consummation of all things but between his ministry and the destruction of Jerusalem.

Now go with me to verses 10-19.

Sounding familiar?

Luke The Lukan Message

Luke may have been seeking to discourage an overly imminent expectation of the end on his readers’ part. Perhaps Jerusalem’s destruction had been interpreted by his readers as a sign that the end of all things was imminent. If so, the warnings in 21:8–9 would be relevant for them as well as for Jesus’ original hearers. Or perhaps the destruction of Jerusalem may have discouraged his readers because the Son of Man had not returned and they were now despairing of this hope (cf.

We have a tendency as people to head for the worst and to catastrophize.

Jesus does not want His followers doing that.

First, because it is distracting. Like we just talked about.

But secondly, because then every day becomes a new catastrophe to be horrified by.

Church, we live in a fallen world. Fallen people do fallen things. And that fallen world only has one hope.

Jesus.

Which brings me to the follow up to these statements, which seems oddly out of place.

Before the coming of Jesus, and before all these wars and rumors of wars, people are going to persecute you.

Luke Context

Of course, persecution must come before the end time, if it is to come at all. It is self-evident that an event in history such as the persecution of the church must take place before the end, i.e., before history comes to its conclusion. However, if as maintained

It is never going to be easy to follow Jesus.

The disciples experienced this. So did the early church fathers. So did people post-Constantine. So will we.

And yet, the Church will endure.

And the persecution has a purpose.

Let me tell you how you can identify real persecution. When a person is persecuted, Jesus is glorified.

And let me tell you how to identify fake persecution. Attention seekers call it persecution and glorify themselves.

We have a real focus on persecution in our country right now- for the sake of attention and fundraising, not for Kingdom building.

I would encourage you not to buy it or share it or encourage it. Because all it does is propogate a false Gospel that undermines the Kingdom.

And worse, it makes a mockery of our brothers and sisters around the world whose lives are endangered by real persecution. (Iranian church)

Specific understanding of v17-18-

This is a proverb more so than a statement of literal fact (since most of the disciples will be martyred) It harkens back to Jesus’ statement that the hairs on our heads are numbered (Luke 12:7) so we should not fear.

Luke Comments

Most probably this proverb is meant to contrast what humanity can do and what it cannot do to God’s people. In 12:4–5 the reader is told not to fear those who kill the body and after that can do no more. Rather they are to fear him who has power to cast into hell.

After this warning of future persecution, there follows in 12:7a, as here, a similar statement (“the very hairs of your head are numbered”). These words are therefore meant to encourage Jesus’ followers by reminding them that whatever may happen to them by way of persecution, nothing can ultimately harm them, not even death, for they possess eternal life

Now drop down to verses 25-28.

A moment is going to come where the obvious is going to be unmissable- but not everyone will have the same reaction.

Some will be confused

Some will be afraid

And some will rejoice

We will rejoice. Salvation is at hand.

Luke Comments

For this as a sign of hope and confidence, cf.

Church what Jesus is saying here is both a warning and a promise. We are not going to know days or hours. It will not be obvious until it is obvious.

But until then we do not have anything to be confused about or afraid of.

We do not need to be confused, because we know what the end result of our faith is. Jesus returns and restores.

We do not need to be afraid, because we know He has secured our future and though life may end for us here, we know where we are going.

So if we are here when Jesus returns, we will rejoice.

And if we go to Him before He returns we will rejoice.

Because He has redeemed us.

And there is nothing anyone can do to take us from His hand.