Luke 21:29 - Meaning and Application

At the close of this teaching, Christ tells his disciples to watch the signs of the times. If they paid attention to his earlier warnings, they could judge what was coming as clearly as people judge summer’s nearness by the budding trees (Luke 21:29-31). In the world of nature, one cause leads to another. In God’s ordering of events, one event also follows another. So when a nation fills up its guilt, we may know its ruin is near, and when persecuting powers begin to fall, we may infer that the kingdom of God is near and will grow once opposition is removed. As we may rightly predict the change of seasons when natural causes begin to work, so we may expect unusual things when God has already risen from his holy place (Zechariah 2:13). Then we should stand still and see his salvation.

Christ also tells them not to think of these things as doubtful or far away, because that would keep them from feeling their weight. The destruction of the Jewish nation was near, because some of those alive then would live to see it (Luke 21:32). It was also certain, because God’s sentence could not be reversed. It was a fixed judgment, already determined, and the decree had gone out (Luke 21:33). Heaven and earth would pass away sooner than any word of Christ. His words will stand whether people accept them or not, and not one of them will fail (1 Samuel 3:19).

He then warns them against carelessness and worldly pleasure, because those things would make them unready for hard times. They would turn what is coming into a sudden shock and terror for them (Luke 21:34-35). “Take heed to yourselves” is a command for all Christ’s followers. We must watch over ourselves so that temptations do not overpower us and our own sinful desires do not betray us. We are never safe if we become careless. This warning matters always, but especially in some seasons of life.

The danger is that the day of death and judgment may come on us without warning, when we are not ready for it. Then the very thing we should always keep near to our hearts would be the furthest thing from our thoughts. For most people who live only for earthly things, that day will come like a trap. It will bring terror and ruin, and hold them for a more awful judgment still (Ecclesiastes 9:12). This is the duty that follows from that danger: we must guard our hearts so they are not weighed down and made unfit for preparing for death and judgment.

Christ names two things to guard against. The first is giving in too much to bodily appetites, satisfying the senses beyond what is right. We must watch against surfeiting and drunkenness, meaning too much food and drink. These burden the heart, both with guilt and with the dull effect they have on the mind. Such excess makes people slow, careless, and deadened toward their duty. It hardens the conscience and leaves the mind untouched by things that should move it deeply.

The second danger is the anxious chase after the good things of this world. The heart can also be weighed down with the cares of this life. One danger belongs especially to pleasure lovers, and the other to those who are driven to get rich. We need to guard on both sides. We must be careful not only at the time of death, but at all times, so our hearts are never overcharged in this way. Our caution against sin and our care for our souls must be steady.

Christ then tells them how to prepare for that great day (Luke 21:36). Our goal should be to be counted worthy to escape all these things. That means that when God’s judgments are abroad, we may be kept from their worst harm. We should not only be spared the common trouble, but also be kept from the sting of death, which is God’s wrath and the condemnation of hell. Yet we must aim at more than escape. We must also seek to stand before the Son of Man, not only cleared before him as our Judge (Psalm 1:5), but standing before him as our Master and serving him always in his presence (Revelation 7:15), always beholding his face, as the angels do (Matthew 18:10).

The saints are called worthy here, as they were earlier (Luke 20:35). God, by his grace at work in them, makes them fit for this joy, and by his gracious will counts them worthy of it. As Grotius notes, much of our worthiness lies in admitting our own unworthiness. So our proper response is this: “Watch therefore, and pray always.” Watching and praying belong together (Nehemiah 4:9). Those who want to escape the coming wrath and be sure of the joys to come must watch and pray, and do so continually.

This means, first, keeping a guard over ourselves. We must watch against sin, watch to do every duty, and watch for every chance to do good. We should stay awake, and keep awake, looking for our Lord’s coming, so we are in the right frame to welcome him. It also means keeping up our fellowship with God. We should pray always, keeping a ready heart for prayer, setting regular times for it, and using every proper occasion for it. Those who live a life of prayer in this world will be counted worthy to live a life of praise in the next.

Early in the morning, he was again in the temple, where he gave a morning teaching to those willing to listen (Luke 21:38). The people were eager to hear the one they saw eager to speak, and they came early and in large numbers to the temple, like doves to their windows, to hear him. This was so even though the chief priests and scribes did everything they could to turn them against him.

At times, the deep interest that serious, honest, plain people have in good preaching is worth more than the judgment of the clever, the educated, or those in power.