21st December – Luke 21

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Luke 21

Alan Ward

Alan is Rector of St. Hilary’s Wallasey
 When looking at a range of mountains from a distance, have you ever noticed that the peaks look so very close together? Of course we know that once we get closer and travel through the range we’ll discover that there may be many miles between each peak.
Passages of prophecy in the Bible are quite like that. Several future events can be predicted in one chapter, but there may be many years, or even centuries, between their fulfilment. Luke 21 is one of those parts of the Bible.
This chapter is often read on the first Sunday of Advent, because it looks beyond the first coming of Jesus to his second coming, taking in references to events in between as well.
Notice that the chapter begins with teaching about the danger of being too attached to the things of this age: a story about a woman who gave away all she had (v1-4) and a warning about allowing worldly concerns and pleasures to dull our spiritual alertness (v34-36).
In between these, the main thrust of Jesus’ teaching is that we should not be shaken by events that may happen in the world around us.
What should we not be shaken by? Within a generation, the most earth-shattering event in Bible lands would be the destruction of Jerusalem in AD70 (v5-6 & 20-24). This would have been the equivalent of the 9/11 attacks in our day. Don’t be shaken.
False Messiahs, international conflict, plagues and “natural” disasters will characterise the world down the centuries (v8-11). Don’t be shaken.
Jesus foretells the severe persecution of the disciple community which occurred fairly consistently during the first century at the hands of the Jewish and Roman establishments (v12-19). This obviously continues today under oppressive regimes. Don’t be shaken.
In the face of all these potential disturbances, we are not to be deceived (v8), we are to stand firm (v19), we are to be on watch (v36). Although there are different interpretations as to what Jesus meant in verses 32-33, not until we see the clear signs of Jesus’ return are we to lift up our heads and greet him as the coming King of the new age (v25-28).
Don’t be shaken; stand firm.
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