10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. 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. 13 This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 14 Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, 15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. 17 You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 19 By your endurance you will gain your lives. 20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near. 21 Then 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, 22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written. 23 Alas 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. 24 They 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.
Luke 21:10-24
What the Future Holds
Jesus launches into perhaps the worst PR strategy possible. If His goal was to win the crowd over to His side He is not doing Himself any favours in this passage. Jesus, however, is dedicated to the truth and He will tell the truth no matter how it affects His relationship with the crowd. By foretelling judgment on Jerusalem, He is subverting the expectations of the crowd and forcing them to reconsider their paradigm of the Messianic Kingdom.
The ancient world was a tumultuous place, and the crowds immediate future was no different. Wars would start soon, kingdom against kingdom, nation against nation, in other words things were going to get bloody. Not only this, but earthquakes and famines and pestilence that would make COVID-19 look like child’s play. Things are looking grim for the early Church. Jesus then goes on to say, before all this, these same Jewish leaders I’m having a showdown with will throw you in prison, kick you out of the synagogues, bring you before Kings. If you were hoping for a nice time with Jesus as He establishes His Kingdom, you are sorely mistaken. There will be great suffering for the cause of Christ. Is the crowd ready for this? Erm… not even slightly.
Those who remain faithful to Jesus won’t be alone. Jesus promises that they will have the opportunity to bear witness to Him. Jesus will make sure that the right words will be given to the disciples so that no one will be able to withstand or contradict them. But don’t be fooled. Some of the people that will put you to death may be your own family. The early Jewish community tried (and failed) to eradicate Christianity before it got off the ground. No matter how much they persecuted the early Christians, they only got stronger and more numerous. No matter how hated they were, people were willingly giving up their prestige, status, safety, comfort for the purpose of following Christ. What could make people do this? Jesus must have vindicated Himself in the eyes of the people – rising again from the dead (but I’m jumping the gun a bit here).
Not a hair will perish, says Jesus. This means that not a hair on our head will fade away and be lost by God. In the physical resurrection of the dead, we will have lost nothing, not even a single hair. This is Jesus’ assurance to His followers. By enduring in the Gospel message of Jesus, they will prove themselves to be His followers and save their lives – even though they may die a horrible, horrible death.
For those of us who are Christians, it’s a reminder to be faithful through the trial and through the storm. The whole world may hate us – indeed, if they hated Jesus they will hate us – yet we have many promises here. We might get taken in front of a Government committee, or brought before a tribunal or media panel, yet we should not worry what to say. The words will come to us.
In some countries in the Middle East, when a man or woman converts from the Muslim religion to Christianity, they take their very lives in their hands. The ones they must fear most is their own family, who may hand them over to be put to death. Following Jesus is a serious business even today. We should never lose sight of that in the comfort and ease of Australia. For one day, we may be called to sacrifice our own lives; how would we cope in that situation?
All of these signs that Jesus is talking about lead up to a certain situation. The destruction of Jerusalem. The city and temple that had been painstakingly rebuilt in the books of Nehemiah and Ezra would now be utterly destroyed. When Jerusalem is surrounded by enemies it is then that the disciples can know that the time has come. Before 70AD, Judea rebelled against Rome, who responded by sending in her armies under the command of General Titus. There was harsh and ferocious fighting all across the countryside until Titus lost all patience and mercy towards the Jews. He surrounded the city of Jerusalem and led a brutal assault. Almost no one in the city survived, hundreds of thousands of Jewish men, women and children were put to the sword. The rest were taken captive. A terrible and tragic event that almost wiped the Jewish people off the face of the map.
Jesus is warning His disciples. When you see this, you need to flee. You need to escape to the mountains and there you will be safe from the Roman armies. The Christians remembered this warning, and just before the Romans could lock the city down, thousands of Christians fled into the mountains and were saved from certain death. Jesus laments pregnant and nursing women having to flee during this time, for obvious reasons. Never a good time having to flee your home in those circumstances. Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until, Jesus says, the time of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
This is a horrific event in history that Jesus predicts with utmost accuracy. What can we take from it? While this is a one-off prediction, similar events have occurred throughout history and continue to this day. Wars and famine and pestilence and earthquakes cause great devastation to the world and bring misery and heartache to people. It’s a reminder that we are finite, temporal. We all have a rendezvous with death, sometimes earlier than we expect, sometimes later but inevitable. Jesus invites us to consider that this world is passing away, judgment is falling on various places, but His Kingdom will never pass away and His hopes are secure. When we find ourselves in anxiety over the future we must remind ourselves that in Christ our future is secure.
How do we go trusting in Jesus for our future? Are we panic-stricken, as if this world is all that there is? What would it look like to put our trust and hope in Jesus in the midst of panic and turmoil?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to put my trust in you for the future, whatever it holds. Help me rest in the promises of your Word, that you will give me the words to speak if I am called to give an account, and that not one hair on my head will perish. In Jesus Name, Amen.