The Son of Man

Luke 21

Main Idea: The end is certain and coming, so we must get ready for it.

1. The Events Leading to the End of the World Are Certain.
   1. Jesus’s disciples and the personal signs (21:8-12,16-17)
   2. Jerusalem’s desolation and the local signs (21:20-24)
   3. Universal distress and the cosmic signs (21:25-26)
2. The Sequence of Events Is Certain.
3. How Can We Be Certain to Be Ready for the End?
   1. Give it all (21:1-4)!
   2. Don’t be fooled or afraid (21:8-9)!
   3. Keep on witnessing (21:13-15, 18-19)!
   4. Trust God’s Word (21:22)!
   5. Look for Jesus’s coming (21:27-28)!
   6. Recognize the signs (21:29-33)!
   7. Watch and pray (21:34-36)!
   8. Keep listening to Jesus (21:37-38)!

Our aim in this series through Luke’s Gospel has been to get better acquainted with the Lord Jesus Christ. We have hoped that getting to know Jesus would lead to a deeper love for him as our Lord and a more tender, frequent fellowship with him.

History has seen many end-of-the-world cults. Even in recent history we saw the rise of a number of prominent cults that emphasized the end of the world. Some of us can recall David Koresh and the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas. Mr. Koresh claimed to be the messiah and wooed a number of people into his cultic control. They came to a tragic end when Koresh led his followers to resist the authorities, and during a siege their compound caught on fire and a great many were killed or took their lives.

If you are a little older, you might remember the charismatic cult leader Jim Jones and the tragedy at Jonestown. That group of people in Guyana were led to drink poison-laced Kool Aid. The sayings “Don’t drink the Kool-Aid” and “That person has drunk the Kool-Aid” allude to this terrible tragedy.

Such cults thrive because there remains an instinctive fascination with the idea of the end of the world. We think not only of cult groups but the guy downtown with wild eyes and hair wearing a sandwich-board sign warning that “the end is near.”

These movements can make a person think that only crazy people and cult groups think about the end of the world, but, actually, wondering about the end is perfectly natural. We know that our lives end. We know that the lives of our loved ones will end. We see aspects of the world and society—wars and nuclear weapons—that really do have potential for ending life as we know it. So it’s natural to wonder.

If we are spiritually minded, it’s also natural to wonder what God thinks about these things. If God had a sandwich board, what would it read? If such an end is to come, how do we prepare for the end of everything as we know it?

In many respects Luke 21 focuses on the end of the world, what we should expect, and how we should prepare. The Lord Jesus has arrived in Jerusalem, where he has been teaching every day in the temple. His main message has been one of salvation through faith in him. He spends these final days teaching in anticipation of his crucifixion and resurrection. Along the way he has had confrontations with religious leaders but has now finally silenced them. Now the Lord gives his remaining energy and life to teaching the truth to his disciples so they might be strengthened by the truth and endure until the end comes.

The Events Leading to the End of the World Are Certain

The most-repeated word in this chapter is the simple word will. Luke uses the word will nearly thirty times in the chapter. The word will refers to the future, but used with stress it also carries with it the idea of certainty. What the Lord describes in this chapter is his confident certainty about the future end of the world.

If you’re trying to get to know Jesus, then one of the things you need to know is that Jesus thinks the end of the world is coming. According to Jesus, we may be sure that the world as we know it has an appointed day for its conclusion.

The disciples prompt the discussion in verse 5 as they admire the temple in Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus responds to them in verse 6 by saying the temple will be utterly destroyed. No doubt that was a stunning prophecy. Jewish persons thought of the temple as God’s dwelling place. King David and his son, Solomon, constructed the first temple, and those present at its dedication witnessed the glory of the Lord dwelling in it. Ezekiel prophesied that the glory of the Lord would leave that temple in response to Israel’s idolatry and corruption. Indeed, the temple would be destroyed and later rebuilt. In Jesus’s day the temple once again was the center of Israel’s worship. Religious Jews thought the temple was God’s dwelling place. How could it be destroyed again? The thought of such destruction was horrific in the minds of faithful Jewish people.

So the disciples ask two questions in verse 7: When will these things be? What will be the sign when these things take place?

Observe first the signs the Lord gives the disciples. We can group these signs into three categories: personal, local, and cosmic. The personal signs affect the disciples. The local signs affect Jerusalem. The cosmic signs affect all of creation and all nations.

Jesus’s Disciples and the Personal Signs (21:8-12,16-17)

False Teachers and Anti-Christs (v. 8). First, the disciples must be on guard against false Christs who attempt to lead people astray. They say what David Koresh said. Of all the signs given, this is the one given with a warning. Stay away from them. Our Lord expected false teachers to enter the church right from the beginning, and they have plagued the church since the days of Christ.

The Bible never commends a liberal attitude toward false teachers. The Bible never encourages us to listen to those who present themselves as messiahs or who distort the truth about Jesus. The Lord commends discernment, carefulness, and an attitude of discrimination because he alone is Christ. He’s concerned that we are not dumb sheep led astray, but listening saints paying close attention to him.

Wars and Rumors of War (v. 9-10). Second, the sign of the coming end includes speculation about wars and tumults everywhere. All of human society will whisper about conflict and whip itself up into violence.

Natural disasters (v. 11). Third, the world will suffer natural disasters. Great earthquakes, famines, plagues, and signs from heaven will forecast the end. As the apostle Paul puts it, the entire creation groans as it awaits the adoption of the sons of God (Rom 8:22-23). The Lord Jesus seems to be thinking of a very similar end.

Christian persecution (v. 12). Fourth, there will be persecution. The persecution arises because of Jesus’s name. There will be oppression, suppression, and fierce state-sanctioned backlash for identifying with Christ.

Betrayal and martyrdom (v. 16). The coming of the end will be marked by the breaking of natural affection, of familial bonds, and of friendship. It all happens because of his name. Those who love his name will be given over to those who do not. Those who do not love his name will jail, beat, and kill those who do. Isn’t it true that all of Jesus’s disciples who heard him on this day died in one of these ways? All but one was martyred. The one who survived martyrdom was imprisoned on Patmos for the testimony of Christ. In the opening chapter of Acts the church immediately faced persecution. Nero burned Christians in his garden for entertainment. The arenas saw Christians fed to the lions. These were the very things prophesied by the Lord as the beginning of the end.

General hatred toward Christians (v. 17). Finally, Christian disciples must face a general hatred. It may feel weird to know a name so beautiful, loving, and generous while at the same time be hated for that very name. Here the Lord entertains no notion that Christians will ever be popular—not at the end, not in the meantime. So, beloved, if we are Christians faithful to Christ, then the Lord wishes to disabuse us of idolatrous notions of worldly approval. Precisely because of his name the world hates us. In some ways the hatred has nothing to do with us but everything to do with the one we love and the world rejects. That name by which we are saved and which speaks of love to us is rejected, reviled, and marginalized by the bulk of the world. So we cannot expect them to hate Jesus and love us. If they hated him, they will hate us. So we must not let our hearts be troubled by this or act as if something surprising has happened. Instead, let us rejoice to be counted worthy to suffer for the name (Acts 5:41).

Jerusalem’s Desolation and the Local Signs (21:20-24)

The Lord also gives us markers of the coming end that address Jerusalem locally. The original question of the disciples was about the temple in Jerusalem. So Jesus gives answers pertinent to the holy city.

First, Jerusalem will be surrounded by her enemies (v. 20). Second, they will also be defeated (v. 24). Death and captivity will befall them. They will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles and exiled into all nations. Hence the terrible “woe” of verse 23. All will happen “to fulfill all the things that are written” (v. 22). These calamities are not the result of a world out of control but rather of a holy God firmly in control and ready to end sin in judgment.

Our Lord does not discuss prophecy without focusing on the plight of the vulnerable—pregnant women and children (v. 23). If the Lord moderated our modern political debates, he would not likely ask candidates about their “doctrines of war.” He would most likely ask them about the pictures of women and children fleeing and babies starving. The end brings a terrible woe on the world.

When you think about the end of the world, does your heart break for those who will be caught up in it? He does not parse fine theological points but weeps over Jerusalem.

Universal Distress and the Cosmic Signs (21:25-26)

The Lord also gives signs that affect the universe. These are cosmic signs in the sun, moon, stars, seas, and waves (v. 25). Our Lord uses the imagery of apocalyptic scenes to signify this devastating end. It’s as though the heavens are shaken.

The nations are bewildered because of our roaring seas. We might see global warming debates as a kind of bewilderment about the seas and the creation. Moreover, we see people fainting with fear and with expectation of what is coming on the world (v. 26). This is how people with no hope must inevitably respond to the destruction of the world—fear and foreboding.

The Lord says these things will happen.

The Sequence of Events Is Certain

Throughout the chapter the Lord gives us a sequence of these events. This is not a prediction of when the world will end. The Lord himself says that no man knows the day or the hour when these things will come (Matt 24:36). In fact, prophesying the specific timing of the end is one of the signs of the false teachers and false christs. By contrast, the Lord focuses on the sequence of events rather than the specific time.

First will be the false teachers and the rumors of wars (v. 9). “It is necessary that these things take place first.” Yet these things are not the end. “The end won’t come right away.” The events are spread out over time. Indeed, some of what’s said in this chapter refers directly to Jerusalem and the people in Jesus’s audience that day. For example, the Lord says in verse 32: “Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all things take place.” He referred especially to the persecution of the disciples and the destruction of the temple. All of that did happen in that generation. The temple was destroyed in AD 70 when Romans surrounded and destroyed Jerusalem.

But other parts of this refer to the very end of the world. So in verse 27, “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” The second coming has not yet happened. We still await the Lord’s return. These things do not happen all at once. They are spread out from the day the Lord spoke these words through our very day until the end itself. But first are the false teachers and the rumors of war.

Second will be the persecution, natural disasters, and so on (vv. 10-12,16-17).

Third comes the destruction of Jerusalem (vv. 20-24).

Fourth, begins “the times of the Gentiles” (v. 24). Gentiles will occupy Jerusalem, as they do until this day. God will use the Gentiles as a judgment against Israel, as it was prophesied (v. 22). All will happen according to God’s divine plan. Moreover, the times of the Gentiles will feature Gentiles being brought into the kingdom of God. When Israel is broken off, then the non-Jewish people will be grafted in (Rom 11:11,17-19).

In verses 25-26 we see the cosmic distress that is to come. Then, finally, the Lord describes the second coming and the eternal kingdom (vv. 27-28).

This is the sequence the Lord gives us. We don’t need more than this. It is enough to occupy our imagination and stir our spiritual devotion. The main point is not the apocalyptic language or the sequence of events. Our Lord puts this teaching to pastoral use. So we need to ask ourselves, “So what? Why does this matter? How does this help us or ready us for the day of the coming of the Lord?”

How Can We Be Certain to Be Ready for the End?

The Lord gives us eight ways to prepare ourselves for the end.

Give It All! (21:1-4)

First, give it all! This all started with Jesus observing the rich people and one poor widow giving in the temple. The widow placed two small coins out of her poverty into the offering. Jesus commends the woman for her generosity toward God. Here’s another scene where Luke uses a marginalized woman to illustrate the greater virtue of the kingdom. It’s no sacrifice to give to God out of your generosity, but our Lord watches this widow with intentionality. He focuses others’ attention on her. She emerges as the hero who gives God her all.

Randy Alcorn in Money, Possessions, and Eternity meditates on this scene in a convicting way (pp. 6–9). He asks us to consider what our counsel to this woman might have been if she had asked us what she should do with these last two coins. Would we say something like, “The Lord knows these are your last two coins and would understand if you purchased bread instead”? Many of us would. Yet the Lord commends this woman for giving her last in worship to God. Giving all that she had demonstrated her surrender to God. It was an act of great faith. If the Lord had provided those two copper coins then he could provide two thousand or twenty thousand copper coins. The coins were not her salvation; God was. What is always most vital is that we should be given over fully to trusting God himself.

This is what the gospel demands. The call of Christ requires us to turn away from the world, from sin, and from our own control to trust solely in him. The gospel calls us to give ourselves over to God, acknowledging that he has purchased our lives with the blood of his Son. Now our lives belong to him, and we live constantly giving ourselves over to him as a lifestyle of faith. If we would follow Jesus, we really must forget everything and everyone else as a source of security and provision. We must forget everything else as a “lord”; Christ alone is Lord. To be ready for his coming, we must belong to Christ. To belong to Christ, we must die to ourselves and submit to him in faith.

Don’t Be Fooled or Afraid! (21:8-9)

We must not be fooled or afraid because of false teachers. That prompts us to ask ourselves, To whom do we listen? Who has our attention? To whom do we give our ear? What are our podcasts and playlists? What are we downloading and streaming? Do we give ourselves over to clear teachers of God’s Word or to people who distract us or muddy the gospel?

Let me suggest that most religious programming fails to meet the tests of this chapter. This chapter presumes we are looking for and longing for the glorious appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ. So much of our day’s religious programming focuses us on things on earth rather than the coming of the Lord. Too many teachers would have us believe we should not be “so heavenly minded we are of no earthly good.” Yet this chapter suggests that to be of earthly good we must be even more heavenly minded. We are to be undistracted, undeterred, and unswayed by the falsehoods out there. This world and all that’s in it is passing away, but the world to come and the Christ who’s in it last forever. So we must “seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God” (Col 3:1). Our hope is that our lives are longer than this world because they stretch into eternity with Christ and the Father.

So don’t be fooled or afraid. Nod with certainty when you hear the rumors of wars and calamity. Our Lord predicted it centuries ago so we would not be afraid but fasten our hearts on him.

Keep on Witnessing! (21:13-15,18-19)

The list of calamities depresses us until we come to verse 13. Amidst all the turmoil the Lord says, “This will give you an opportunity to bear witness.” Huh! How often when you pray for opportunities to tell others about Jesus do you expect those opportunities to come in the form of persecution, mistreatment, war, and the like? If you are like me, I suspect you very seldom or never picture it that way. We tend to pray for the “easy button.” We imagine the tracks of our sharing are divinely oiled so that everything is smooth. There’s no friction or difficulty. We simply attend the family barbecue, someone asks us, “What must I do to be saved,” and then a revival breaks out!

That would be nice, but that’s not how it happens. This text suggests we will attend the barbecue and all the food is gone, the fireworks have gotten wet, everyone is grumpy and complaining, and then you have an urge to speak of Jesus! So people begin to mock you as a “preacher.” Before you arrived they were “sippin’ on gin and juice.” Now you, the Christian, have come and ruined their fun. That’s how God more often than not answers your prayers for an opportunity to witness.

Beloved, we are salmon swimming upstream. The current of this chapter and of the world is against us. We are fighting against the rapids to make it home to Zion, and along the way we must convince some other fish to turn against the current and swim upstream with us. We will have to witness in the face of rushing opposition.

The Lord calls us to this, but he does not leave us alone. He says to his disciples, “Don’t even think about what you will say. I will give you the words to speak at that time by the power of my Spirit.” The Lord promises the kind of wisdom their enemies cannot withstand.

He promises betrayal, death, and universal hatred. Then the Lord promises not a hair will be harmed on their heads (vv. 18-19). It’s a remarkable juxtaposition—persecution, famine, and death on the one hand, and not a single hair harmed on the other. How do we hold those two things together? Because our lives are eternal, the losing of this earthly life means the passing into eternal life and glory. The promises of God are not bound by this world; they are not even primarily fulfilled in this world. So the promises of God in Christ cannot be taken by this world. That includes our lives. We may very well be taken in persecution or worse, but it will be gain for us (Phil 1:21)! We may be persecuted or put to death, but we will not be truly harmed. If we witness to the end, we gain our lives (Luke 21:19).

Trust God’s Word! (21:22)

That’s what our Lord does when he refers to the Scriptures. All that God has said will come to pass. Not one word will fall to the ground unfulfilled. Heaven and earth may pass away, but not God’s words (v. 33). We hold in our hands the sure, standing, enduring, never-failing, never-erring Word of God. If we would be ready for the end then we should stake our lives on the Word of God. Hide it in your heart that you might not sin against God. Stand on it as the one sure foundation. Hold it above your head as the exercise of Christ’s lordship in your life. Hold it out front as your guide; it will be a lamp for your feet and a light on your path. If you would live well until Christ comes, then live by this book.

Go to the Lord’s Word every morning. The last verse of the chapter features Christ going in the morning to the temple to teach and the crowds that come to hear him. We do not have a temple to visit and Christ there preaching, but we have a Bible to open, and he teaches us through it. We can go every morning in the temple of our own bodies to learn from him. Do that until he comes.

Look for Jesus’s Coming! (21:27-28)

For the lost world, the coming of the Lord will be fearsome, but verse 28 encourages the saints with the promise that these signs indicate that our redemption is near! We have been bent by the calamity and the turmoil too. Perhaps that’s why we are told to “stand up” (v. 28). The Lord calls us to lift our heads. Like David, we must look to the hill from where our help comes. We look up because our redemption is close. All the signs point to this reality—Christ is near! All that we hope for draws quickly near. We get to live through tragedy like people who know there’s something better on the other side. We get to live through suffering like people who know they will be robed in the perfect righteousness of Christ. We are people who know that, even if we don’t manage to stand up and lift our heads, then in the kingdom God with his own hands will wipe away every tear from our eyes (Rev 21:4) and lift our heads (Ps 3:3)!

Recognize the Signs! (21:29-33)

Signs only help us if we heed them. As a boy, I used to love the cartoon Mr. Magoo. I rolled on the floor laughing as this functionally blind wealthy old man drove his car through all kinds of calamity with barely a hint of concern. Mr. Magoo went through life blind. So do a good number of Christians. But the wise saints, like the “sons of Issachar” (see 1 Chr 12:32), know the times and the seasons, and they heed them. We must be a people who know the end is surely coming, and we must rightly interpret our Lord’s signs so that we are ready when he comes.

Watch and Pray! (21:34-36)

Readiness requires prayerfulness. We must be on guard against hearts weighed down by the cares of this life and of that coming day. The things we learn here are not intended to overthrow our hearts but to establish them. We must remain awake. We must pray for strength so we escape the calamities to come and stand assured before Christ. The best preparation for the life to come is a present life of prayer.

Keep Listening to Jesus! (21:37-38)

The Lord continues teaching, and the people keep coming. He keeps teaching today by his Word and his Spirit. We are meant to keep listening. Give attention to God’s Word, and you will be ready when he comes.

Conclusion

If you are not yet a Christian, this chapter applies to you. Right now, you are not ready for the end of the world because you are still in your sins. So you must give it all to Christ. Surrender to him. Confess your sins. Acknowledge the righteousness of God’s judgment against you. Then consider that your sins were atoned for on the cross and your righteousness secured in the resurrection. Put your trust in Christ and follow him in the obedience that comes from faith. Then, no matter what happens in your life and in the world, you may be certain that you are Christ’s and he is yours. Believe in Christ and the end will simply be the beginning of eternity for you.

Reflect and Discuss

1. What comes to mind when you think about the end of the world?
2. Is the end of the world and the second coming of Christ an encouraging idea to you? Why or why not?
3. The Lord gives his disciples several things to focus on or do as they wait for the end and his return. Which of those things seem most necessary to your life right now? Why?
4. Why do you suppose people follow doomsday cult leaders when Jesus warns so clearly against such leaders?
5. How might Christians help protect people from the mistake of following cult leaders?