THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE SECOND COMING OF
JESUS IN GLORY
5And while some
were speaking of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and
offerings, He said,
6“As for
these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here
one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”
7And they asked
him,
“Teacher, when
will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to
take place?”
8And He said,
“See that
you are not led astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and,
‘The time is at hand!’ Do not go after them. 9And when you hear of wars and
tumults, do not be terrified, for these things must first take place, but the
end will not be at once.”
10Then He said
to them,
“Nation
will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11There will be great
earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be
terrors and great signs from heaven.
12But
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.
13This will
be your opportunity to bear witness. 14Settle it therefore in your minds not to
meditate beforehand how to answer, 15for I will give you a mouth and wisdom,
which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.
16You will
be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and
some of you they will put to death. 17You will be hated by all for my name’s
sake. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will
gain your lives.
20“But when
you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come
near.
21Then let
those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the
city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it, 22for these
are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
23Alas for
women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For
there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.
24They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations,
and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of
the Gentiles are fulfilled.
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, 26people
fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the
powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27And then
they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28Now when
these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because
your redemption is drawing near.”
LUKE 21:5-28
COMMENTARY
This beautiful
prophecy cannot be fully understood, unless the three versions of the same
event, described in the synoptics are read (Matthew 24; Mark 13).
But from the
three of them, as from this narrative of Luke, the prophecy of the coming persecution
of believers, the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and the imminent return of
Christ, is openly and clearly prophesied by Lord Jesus.
Before those who
held the Temple of Jerusalem and the Holy City as the incomparable sign of the
presence of God in Judea; Lord Jesus burst their bubble by foretelling of their
coming destruction at the hands of the gentiles, whom they considered less
before God.
1 – Jesus foretold
that many will come pretending to be the Messiah, confusing some of the unrighteous;
and also foretells of many wars and widespread aggression all over the world,
but that still, that will not be the end (v.8-9).
2 – Later, Lord
JESUS prophecies of world wars (First-Second- a Third one?) (v.10); many
natural disasters at great scale, so much from Earth as from heaven. And also
hunger and pests all over the world (v.11).
3 – BUT BEFORE
all these things come to this condition; Lord Jesus warns his apostles, and
through them, to all of us believers in Him, that we will attract rejection
from the unbelievers, who may come from even within our own families, and will
deliver us to the authorities, putting us in prison and even condemning us to
death (v.12, 16-17)
4 – Regarding those
martyrs, openly Jesus promised not only to the immediate disciples that were
with Him that day, but also to all the believers through the ages, that a special
grace will be granted to us by the will of GOD, through the Holy Spirit, guiding
us in how to answer by word and action to our prosecutors, giving thus testimony
of the reality of JESUS CHRIST as LORD and SAVIOUR, not through human effort,
but by the power of God (v.13-15). But even in the case of those executed for
God’s glory, they will not fall, unless God allows it, proving God that He will
receive them in his Kingdom (v.18-19).
5 – After this historical
bracket, Jesus retakes the narrative of the end of times, and jumps to the
destruction of Jerusalem which took place in the year 70CE, and the later diaspora, until the times
of the gentiles is fulfilled (v.20-24).
6 – Finally Lord
JESUS describes the times of the very end, before his return.
He describes
what we are told again and again in Scripture, the darkening of the Sun and
Moon and stars, as a universal testimony of the end of nature as we know it, announcing
a ‘New Heaven and a New Earth’ (2Peter 3:13); and also a special maritime
reaction, aggressive and fearsome to humanity (Sunamies?) (v.25-26).
7 – Finally,
JESUS will appear in glory before the whole world, coming down with his millions
of angels (v.27).
Lord JESUS encourages
us to persevere to the end, and to be cheerful, because when we see this
starting to happen, as we see it now, we should know that our redemption is
near (v.19-28).
Omar Flores.
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