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Jesus Speaks of the
   Destruction of the Temple

   Luke 21:5-19

   Good News Translation (GNT)

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  5  Some of the disciples were talking about the
   Temple, how beautiful it looked with its fine
   stones and the gifts offered to God.
   Jesus said,
  6  "All this you see - the time will come when not
   a single stone here will be left in its place;
   every one will be thrown down."

   Troubles and Persecutions
  7  "Teacher," they asked, "when will this be?
   And what will happen in order to show that
   the time has come for it to take place?"
  8  Jesus said, "Watch out; don't be fooled.
   Many men, claiming to speak for me, will come
   and say, 'I am he!' and, 'The time has come!
   But don't follow them.
  9  Don't be afraid when you hear of wars and
   revolutions; such things must happen first, but
   they do not mean that the end is near."
10  He went on to say, "Countries will fight each
   other; kingdoms will attack one another.
11  There will be terrible earthquakes, famines,
   and plagues everywhere; there will be strange
   and terrifying things coming from the sky.
12  Before all these things take place, however,
   you will be arrested and persecuted; you will
   be handed over to be tried in synagogues and
   be put in prison; you will be brought before
   kings and rulers for my sake.
13  This will be your chance to tell
   the Good News.
14  Make up your minds ahead of time not to
   worry about how you will defend yourselves,
15  because I will give you such words and
   wisdom that none of your enemies will be able
   to refute or contradict what you say.
16  You will be handed over by your parents,
   your brothers, your relatives, and your friends;
   and some of you will be put to death.
17  Everyone will hate you because of me.
18  But not a single hair from your heads will be
   lost.
19  Stand firm, and you will save yourselves.

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   Commentary taken from
   'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
   (Kingsway)

Jesus Speaks of the
   Destruction of the Temple

      Luke 21:5-19

The Jewish temple - in Jerusalem was one of the biggest and most magnificent buildings in the ancient world.

Around it, were many colonnades and courtyards and smaller buildings.
The temple area filled one sixth of the city of Jerusalem. Its front was covered with gold.

Some of its stones were thirty feet long and twelve feet wide.
Therefore, it was not surprising that one of Jesus' disciples exclaimed: "What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!"

It surely seemed as if the temple could never be destroyed. Yet Jesus told His disciples that every one of those stones would be thrown down.

And forty years later, when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem in 70 A.D., they destroyed the temple, too. And since that time, the temple has never been rebuilt.

Peter, James, John, and Andrew were amazed at Jesus' statement that the temple would be destroyed. "Tell us, when will these things happen?" they asked.

According to Matthew 24:3, the disciples also asked, "... and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"

The disciples asked both of these questions together, because they supposed that the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world would come at the same time.

But Jesus answered their question in two parts.
To understand this chapter, we must not confuse the two parts of Jesus' answer. Jesus answers their question about the end of the world and His second coming.

We must also keep in mind that although Jesus knew when the destruction of Jerusalem would come, He did not know when the end of the world would come. Only God Himself knows that.

But we can understand from this chapter that the signs that preceded the destruction of Jerusalem are similar to the signs that will precede the end of the world.

In other words, the destruction of Jerusalem is a foretaste of the events that will occur at the end of the world.

Therefore, even those parts of this chapter that refer to the destruction of Jerusalem can also serve as a warning to us about what will happen at the end of the world.

The disciples wanted to know when these things would happen. But Jesus tells them something more important: "Watch". "Be on guard".

If the disciples remained always ready and on guard, then it would not be so necessary for them to know the exact time at which these events would take place.

This is Jesus' word for us today also.
Let us not always be asking, "When?" "Where?" Rather, let us remain always ready and watchful.

"Watch out that no one deceives you," Jesus said.
Deceivers are much more dangerous to the church than persecutors. Satan's main weapon against Christians is not persecution but deception. "Many will come in my name ... and will deceive many"

Many have been seduced into following new Christs and new Gospels, and have thereby lost their faith in the true Christ.

Jesus prophesied that three kinds of events would occur before the fall of Jerusalem.
First, many would appear saying, "I am he; I am the Christ". The disciples must not believe these false Christs. Second, Jesus said that there would be wars and rumours of wars between nations.

Indeed, in 62-66 A.D., only a few years before Jerusalem was destroyed, there were many wars throughout the Roman Empire and many rumours of revolts against the emperor.

Third, Jesus said that there would be earthquakes in various places, and famines. Indeed, there were famines in various parts of the Roman Empire before the destruction of Jerusalem.

According to Roman historians, there were also several earthquakes in different parts of the Empire during that time.

Jesus also said that there would be great signs from heaven before the destruction of Jerusalem.
According to both Roman and Jewish historians, these signs did take place.

For example, according to the Jewish historian Josephus, a comet appeared over Jerusalem for many nights with a tail shaped like a sword.

Yet all these things were only the beginning of birth pains.
These events that occurred before the destruction of Jerusalem were only the beginning of the events that will ultimately lead to the end of the world.

We know that in the past 2000 years, even greater wars have occurred, and even greater earthquakes and famines. False Christs even today are rising up in different parts of the world.

Jesus' prophecy not only was fulfilled before the fall of Jerusalem, but it is also continuing to be fulfilled right up to this present time, as we await His coming again at the end of the world.

The prophecies mentioned were fulfilled in the lives of Jesus' twelve disciples and in the life of Paul. The persecution of Jesus' followers is described in detail in the book of Acts.

And the gospel must first be preached to all nations.
According to the corresponding verse in Matthew, the Gospel must be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come - that is, the end of the world.

Many Christians believe that as soon as all nations have heard the Gospel, Jesus will come again and the world will end.

According to Revelation 14:6-7, just before the end an angel will proclaim the Gospel one last time to every nation, tribe, language and people.

Regardless of how we understand this verse, the duty of every Christian is clear.
Jesus' last command to His disciples was this: "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely, I will be with you always, to the very end of the age"

Jesus' disciples suffered because they preached the gospel of the kingdom of God.
The preachers of this Gospel must always be prepared to suffer. As we preach and make disciples of all nations, Jesus is with us.

That is, His Holy Spirit is with us and in us.
When difficult situations arise, His Holy Spirit will give us the words we are to speak. The Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.

Many Christians who have been arrested because of their witness for Christ can testify that the Holy Spirit has indeed given them the words to speak In the last days, families will be split apart because of Christ.

Those in a family who do not believe in Christ will oppose those who do.
Fathers will disown their sons. Members of the same family will have each other put to death. Because of persecution, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other....

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.
All these things came to pass before the destruction of Jerusalem. And these same things will happen again before the end of the world.

Indeed, these things are happening even today in many parts of the world.

All men will hate you because of me.
We either belong to this world or we belong to the kingdom of God. If we belong to the kingdom of God, the world will hate us.

We cannot follow the world and Jesus at the same time.
But he who stands firm until the end will be saved. Here the words until the end do not mean "to the end of the world." They mean to "stand firm unto death," to stand firm completely, to stand firm no matter what persecution comes upon us.

To "stand firm" means to stand firm in faith.
Those who stand firm in the faith will be saved. Those who do not stand firm will not be saved.

Many Christians interpret this verse to mean that if we deliberately abandon our faith we will lose our salvation.
Others believe that if a person abandons his faith, he was never a true Christian to begin with.

But, whatever we think about the above question, the clear teaching of the Bible to every Christian is this: Stand firm.

Stand firm to the end. Let us not be like the seed planted on rocky soil that withered and died as soon as the sun came out. Those that endure for a while and then fall away have believed in vain

According to Luke 21:18, on this same occasion Jesus said to His disciples, "... not a hair of your head will perish."
Jesus did not mean that His followers would not die.

In fact, all of Jesus' disciples except John were violently put to death, and countless other Christians have been put to death since.
Jesus meant that in the next life in heaven, our resurrected bodies will be perfect, without even a hair missing.

Men may kill our bodies in this world, but God will preserve our spiritual bodies in the next
(see Matthew 10:28-31).

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