Luke
21:12-15 “But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and
persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into
prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. And it shall turn to you for a testimony. Settle
it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which
all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.”
Jesus now warns His disciples that they will be
persecuted by their own people and imprisoned and prosecuted because of their
allegiance to Him. Not only will they
face persecution and prosecution from their own people, they will also face the
same before the kings and rulers of other nations. God will allow these things to happen for a
reason—as an opportunity to testify of Him and the gospel.
Jesus then gives them a remarkable word of comfort
and encouragement. He tells them not to
worry about how they will answer their prosecutors because “I will give you a mouth and wisdom” to
answer them in a way they cannot refute.
Jesus is declaring that He
will put the words in their mouth as needed.
Though they did not seem to process everything He was saying to them at
the time, the Holy Spirit will remind them of this truth after the resurrection
when God removes the blinders to their spiritual understanding. The only way Jesus could be with each one of
them is in the person of the Holy Spirit, and they would come to understand
that more fully at Pentecost (see Acts 2).
Luke
21:16-17 “And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and
kinsfolks, and friends; and some of
you shall they cause to be put to death. And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.”
These verses are some of the saddest verses
describing the times that will lead to the return of Jesus as King. Followers of Jesus can expect to be betrayed
by parents, siblings, kinfolk, and friends—some even to the point to
death. In fact, true followers of Jesus
will generally be hated by all other people—even many in the professing church.
One would like to think that you could always
count on the support of family, but the reality is that you can’t. The family as established by God is becoming
a relic of the past and the bonds that bind becoming weaker and weaker. Divorce is widespread, respect for life is
continuing a downward spiral, abortion is rampant, cultural morals are rapidly
being replaced by wicked practices, etc.
Tolerance is the word that is preached by all toward others except
towards those of us who hold fast to the truth of the word of God. I truly never thought the day would come that
I would see immorality embraced as acceptable, nor could I imagine that
Christians could be persecuted in America.
I no longer doubt that it could happen; I am expecting it to
happen. I pray that the Lord takes us
home before that time. If, however, He
chooses to allow it to happen before then, I pray that He will strengthen me
and those I love that love Him to glorify Him through our testimony.
These verses also bring to mind the fifth seal in
Revelation 6: “And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls
of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they
held…”
Luke
21:18-19 “But there shall not an hair of your head perish. In your patience possess ye your souls.”
Jesus goes on to declare that in spite of the fact
that some will be killed as martyrs for their faith in Him, not one hair of
their heads will perish. In other words,
you will be resurrected to new life with every hair intact. In light of the truth of the resurrection to
eternal life, Jesus encourages His disciples to be patient and not let the
circumstances defeat them. Patience and
endurance will actually give evidence that one is saved and is part of God’s
family. John declares this truth in his
first letter.
1 John 2:19 “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for
if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they
went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”
Luke
21:20-21 “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that
the desolation thereof is nigh. Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the
mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not
them that are in the countries enter thereinto.”
At this point I believe the prophecy of Jesus
focuses in on the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the legions of Titus that
also foreshadows the future destruction that will come through the armies of
Antichrist right before the Lord returns to set up His earthly kingdom.
Jesus warns that when they see Jerusalem
surrounded by enemy forces, they should understand that destruction is soon to
follow. Those who are in Judea should
flee to the mountains and those in the city proper should flee the city. He also warns those considering coming to
Jerusalem from other countries to stay away.
Evidently, many Christians heeded this warning when they saw the Roman
legions surrounding Jerusalem. The Roman
historian Eusebius is on record as saying, “The
Christians fled to Pella, a town in Trans-Jordan to the south of the Sea of
Galilee. Pella was one of the Greek towns of the Decapolis, and there the
Christians remained free from the Roman warfare and Jewish persecution.”
Luke
21:22-24 “For these be the days of
vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe unto them that are with child, and to
them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the
land, and wrath upon this people. And
they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into
all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
I am reminded that scripture is clear that
vengeance is God’s prerogative and is reserved for God’s enemies.
Deuteronomy 32:35 “To me belongeth vengeance, and recompence;”
Romans 12:19 “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather
give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay,
saith the Lord.”
I
believe the vengeance spoken of by Luke is a reference to the declaration of
Jesus in Matthew 23:34-36: “Wherefore,
behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them
ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your
synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the
righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the
blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the
altar. Verily I say unto you, All these
things shall come upon this generation.”
The Lord notes that it will be really hard times
for expectant and nursing mothers at that time.
Many will be killed and many will be led captive into all the
nations. This is the reason I believe
this section is specific to the events of 70 AD. It was after the victory of the Roman legions
that the Jews were dispersed throughout the Gentile nations. Jesus then declares that Jerusalem will
continue to be “under foot” of the Gentiles until Jesus establishes His
kingdom.
(to be continued…)
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