Luke 21

     Cf. Mt. 24; Mark 13.  See notes at Mt. 24.

     21:1-4.  These verses should not be separated from 20:46-47.  The humble widow in desperate poverty, who was even more desperate to give a free will offering to the Lord, is set in sharp contrast to those who devour widow’s houses and give prayers for appearance’s sake.  The rich of v.1 were probably not the same men condemned in the preceding verses, but the contrast remains.  And all this is being done in the context of the coming judgment (20:47b & 21:5ff.).  

     21:5-38.  Vv.5-7 determine how to understand this chapter and its parallels in Mt. 24 and Mark 13.  The end of the age has come.  The temple was going to be destroyed, and judgment was at hand.  When would these things be?  What signs would precede this calamity (7)? 

     It is a mistake at this point to try to separate the end of the OT age and temple worship prophecy from prophecy about the second coming and the final judgment.  Stay on point.  Jesus is answering their questions (7).  Many of them would see it all come to pass (32).  Through the entire section 5-36, he gave them instructions as to how they were to live in these last days.  And yes, we also live in the last days.  The fall of Jerusalem and the events that surrounded it are characteristic of the last days.  False Messiahs, wars, natural disasters, etc., are preludes.  The fall of Jerusalem was, for these last days in which we live, the beginning of birth pangs.  When judgment day comes, we won’t ask for signs.  We have already had the signs. 

     The Judge and the judgment are very near (27), and even now Christ is actively judging in the world.  Some treat Jesus’ coming in a Deistic fashion.  That is, he ascended into heaven and has nothing more to do with the world until the second coming.  But he reigns at God’s right hand (Mt. 28:18; Luke 22:69; Eph. 2:22; Rev. 19:11-16).  The Judge is at the door (James 5:3, 8-9).  Judgment is always at hand and always in his hand.  He draws near to judge Jerusalem, and mighty empires, and nations, and churches, and every man.  He has judged, is judging, and will judge.

     Our lives, whether for or against Christ, are a witness at our judgment.  We are witnessing now.  It does not matter whether we live or die, but whether we live and die for Christ.  A faithful testimony and endurance to the end are what he calls us to (12-19 and 34-36).

      21:20 is Luke’s interpretation for Gentile readers of the parallel statement in Mt. 24:15, and helps greatly to explain it.

     The word translated “earth” in v.35 is translated “land” in v.23.  Clearly, in v.23 it applies to the land of Judea.  It has the same meaning also in v.35, but one can hardly object to applying it to the whole earth, as judgment surely comes to all.  The destruction of Jerusalem is a type.