Luke 21:5 - Meaning and Application

Some of Christ’s own disciples admired the temple’s outward splendor, and they pointed it out to him. It was decorated with fine stones and with gifts that had been offered and hung there (Luke 21:5). They expected their Master to feel as impressed as they were, and to grieve over its coming destruction as they would. But when we speak of the temple, we should think first of God’s presence there, his worship, and the fellowship his people had with him.

It is a sad thing when talk about the church stays on its beauty, wealth, or the power of its leaders. The true glory of God’s people is inward, not outward. Christ spoke of these admired things with contempt, and he said they would soon be made desolate. The temple, as beautiful and strong as it looked, would be torn down so completely that not one stone would be left on another (Luke 21:6). This would happen just as the gospel church, the spiritual temple that fulfills the shadow, began to flourish in the world.

If we truly believed that all outward glory will fade, we would not set our hearts on it so strongly. We would not cling to what cannot last. Some of us value visible greatness because we do not look far enough ahead. Faith teaches us to see the end of earthly splendor.

The disciples then asked when this great ruin would happen, and what sign would show it was near: “Master, when will these things be?” (Luke 21:7). People naturally want to know future things and the time of them, even when God has not said they may know. We are usually more concerned with what our duty is in view of these things, and how to prepare for them, which is what we truly need to know. The disciples were not asking for a sign to prove Christ’s word, because his word was enough. They wanted signs that would warn them when the time was drawing near.

Christ answered them clearly and fully, as far as it was needed to guide their duty. All knowledge is useful when it helps us obey. He told them first to expect false Christs and false prophets, along with false predictions (Luke 21:8). Many would come in his name, not meaning simply that they used Jesus’ name, though some deceivers did claim his authority, but that they claimed to be the Messiah. Many pretended to be the deliverers of the Jewish nation from the Romans, and they set times for that deliverance, which trapped many people and ruined them.

They would say, “I am he,” taking to themselves the special name by which God revealed himself when he delivered Israel from Egypt. They used this claim to gather followers, promising that the kingdom was about to be restored to Israel and that all who joined them would share in it. Christ gave a needed warning: “Do not be deceived.” He did not want them to imagine that he would return in outward glory to take over earthly kingdoms. His kingdom was not of this world. Since they were eager to know when these things would happen, his first warning was about deception. Even sincere inquirers are in danger of being misled, so they must stay alert. He also said, “Do not go after them.” If Jesus is the Christ and his teaching is the gospel of God, then we must reject any claim of another Christ or another gospel.

Christ also told them to expect great turmoil among the nations, with many terrible judgments coming on the Jews and their neighbors. There would be bloody wars, with nation rising against nation (Luke 21:10). This likely means one part of the Jewish nation against another, and then the whole nation against the Romans. Stirred up by false Christs, they would wrongly try to throw off Roman rule by force. They had rejected the freedom Christ offered, so they were left to seek civil freedom in sinful ways, and that could not succeed.

There would also be earthquakes in many places, shaking towns and houses and burying people in the ruins. Famines and pestilences would follow, which often come with war because war destroys crops and leaves people weak and exposed to disease. God has many ways to judge a stubborn people. The prophets of the Old Testament often spoke of four kinds of judgments, and the New Testament prophets warn of the same. Even though spiritual judgments are more common in gospel times, God still uses outward judgments too.

Christ also mentioned fearful sights and great signs from heaven, unusual things in the skies, like comets and blazing stars, that would alarm people and seem to foretell disaster. His warning was, “Do not be terrified.” Others would be frightened, but his followers should not be. They look above the visible heavens, to the throne where God rules. The heathen are shaken by signs in the sky, but God’s people should not be ruled by fear. As for famine and plague, they are in God’s hands, and he has promised to satisfy his people in famine and keep them from deadly pestilence. They should trust him and not be afraid.

No, when you hear of wars, when there are conflicts outside and fears inside, do not be terrified. You know the worst any of these judgments can do to you, so do not be afraid of them. It is in your own interest to accept what is happening, because your fears cannot change it. These things must happen first, and there is no way around it. It will be wise to make peace with them and adjust yourselves to them.

There is worse ahead. Do not fool yourselves into thinking the troubles will end quickly, or sooner than you expect. The end is not immediate. Do not be frightened, because if you are discouraged so quickly, how will you endure what is still to come?

They must also expect to become signs and warnings to Israel. Their persecution would be a sign that the city and temple were about to be destroyed, as he had just said. This would be the first sign of their ruin. Before all these other things, people will lay hands on you. Judgment begins with the house of God, so you must suffer first, as a warning to others, so they may think about this: if these things are done to the green tree, what will be done to the dry? See 1 Peter 4:17, 1 Peter 4:18. But this should be seen not only as the suffering of the persecuted, but also as the sin of the persecutors. Before God brings his judgments on them, they will fill up the full measure of their sin by laying hands on you.

A nation’s ruin always begins with its sin, and nothing leads to a surer or harsher ruin than persecution. This is a sign that God’s anger is coming on a people completely when their anger against God’s servants reaches its highest point. Christ tells them what hard things they will suffer for his name, much like what he had told them when he first called them to follow him (Matthew 10). They should know the cost before they go forward. Paul, the greatest worker and sufferer among them, was later told by Christ himself what great things he would suffer for his name’s sake (Acts 9:16). This was necessary, because all who want to live godly in Christ Jesus must expect persecution.

The Christians were originally Jews, and they still honored the Old Testament and the main parts of Jewish religion. They differed only in ceremonies, so they might have expected fair treatment from the Jews. But Christ says they should not expect that. No, they would be the first to persecute them. They would use their own religious authority against them: they would hand them over to the synagogues to be beaten and cursed. They would stir up the rulers against them: they would put them in prison, so they could be brought before kings and rulers for Christ’s name and punished by them. Their own family members would betray them, their parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. So they would not know whom to trust, or where to be safe.

Their religion would be treated as a capital offense, and they would be called to stand firm even to death. Some of them would be put to death. So far from expecting honor and wealth, they must expect only death in its most frightening forms, in all its terrible display. And more than that, they would be hated by all people for Christ’s name. This is worse than death itself. It was fulfilled when the apostles were not only sentenced to die, but also put on display before the world and treated as the rubbish of the world, the refuse of all things, despised by everyone (1 Corinthians 4:9, 1 Corinthians 4:13).

They were hated by all people, that is, by all evil people who could not stand the light of the gospel, because it exposed their evil deeds. So they hated the messengers who brought that light. They attacked them and wanted to tear them apart. The wicked world, which hated being corrected, hated Christ, the great Reformer, and all who belonged to him, because they belonged to him. The rulers of the Jewish church knew that if the gospel spread among the Jews, their stolen and abused power would end. So they used all their strength against it, gave it a bad name, filled people’s minds with prejudice against it, and made its preachers and followers hated by the crowd.

Christ also encourages them to endure their trials and keep doing their work, even with the opposition they would face. God would bring glory to himself and to them through their sufferings. It would turn to them as a witness (Luke 21:13). Being publicly marked out and persecuted would make people pay closer attention to them and inquire more about their teaching and miracles. Being brought before kings and rulers would give them a chance to preach the gospel to people who otherwise would never have heard it. Their suffering such severe things, and being hated by the worst people, people with the most corrupt lives, would prove that they were good, since such bad people would not hate them otherwise. Their courage, cheerfulness, and steadiness under suffering would also witness that they truly believed what they preached, that divine power supported them, and that the Spirit of God and glory rested on them.

God would stand by them, claim them as his own, and help them in their trials. They were his advocates, and he would fully equip them with what they needed, as in Luke 21:14, Luke 21:15. Instead of worrying about how to answer the charges against them in religious and civil courts, they were to settle it in their hearts and not prepare their defense ahead of time. They were not to rely on their own cleverness, skill, prudence, or strategy, and they were not to distrust or despair of God’s immediate and special help. They were not to think they would escape the case of Christ as they would escape a private lawsuit, by their own abilities and effort, with only God’s ordinary providence. Christ promised them special help from divine grace: “I will give you words and wisdom.” This shows that Christ is God, because giving wisdom is God’s right, and God is the one who made the human mouth.

A mouth and wisdom together fit a person completely for both service and suffering. Wisdom tells a person what to say, and a mouth gives the words to say it rightly. It is a great blessing to have both the substance and the speech needed to honor God and help others, to have a mind filled with useful truth, and a ready way to bring it out.

Those who plead Christ’s cause can depend on him to give them the right words and the wisdom to use them, no matter how they are called to defend him, especially when they are brought before rulers for his sake. He does not promise to send an angel from heaven to answer for them, though he could do that. Instead, he promises to give them a mouth and wisdom, so they can answer for themselves. That gives them greater honor, because they must use the gifts and grace Christ supplies, and it gives even more glory to God, who quiets the enemy and the avenger through the mouths of little ones.

When Christ gives his witnesses a mouth and wisdom, they are able to say for him and for themselves what their opponents cannot refute or resist. Their enemies are silenced and put to shame. This was clearly fulfilled soon after the Spirit was poured out, when Christ gave his disciples this mouth and wisdom. When the apostles were brought before the priests and rulers, they answered in a way that made them ashamed (Acts 4, 5, and Acts 6:1-15).

You will suffer no real loss from all the hardships they put on you. “Not a hair of your head will perish” (Luke 21:18). Shall some of them lose their heads, and yet not lose a hair? It is a proverb that means the greatest safety and protection. It is used often in both the Old Testament and New Testament in that sense. Some think this refers to God preserving the lives of all the Christians among the Jews when the Romans destroyed the nation, and history says not one Christian died in that disaster. Others explain it in relation to the deaths of many believers for Christ’s sake, taking it in a spiritual sense, much like Christ said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

“Not a hair of your head will perish” means, first, that Christ takes notice of every loss. He had already said, “The hairs of your head are all numbered” (Matthew 10:30). God keeps account of them, so none are forgotten. Second, what is given up for a good purpose is not truly lost. We do not call something lost or perishing if it is laid out for a worthy end and will bring a good return. If we give up even our body for Christ’s name, it does not really perish. It is well spent. Third, it will be richly repaid. When you weigh profit and loss, you will see that nothing has truly perished. Instead, you will find great gain in present comforts, and especially in the joys of eternal life. So, though we may seem to lose for Christ, we cannot finally lose by him.

So it is your duty and your good, in the middle of your own sufferings and the sufferings of the nation, to keep a holy honesty and peace of mind. That will keep you steady at all times (Luke 21:19). “In your patience possess your souls,” or, “By your patience, you will possess your souls.” It amounts to the same thing. It is our duty and our good, especially in dangerous and hard times, to keep control of our own souls. We should not only make sure they are not destroyed forever, but also that they are not thrown into confusion now, or that our hold on them is not disturbed.

Possess your souls. Be your own masters. Keep reason in charge, and keep passion under control, so grief or fear does not rule over you or drive you out of peace. In hard times, when we can keep hold of little else, let us make sure of what can be made sure: the possession of our souls. And it is by patience, Christian patience, that we keep that possession. In times of suffering, set patience on guard for your soul. Let it keep your heart calm and well ordered, and shut out the things that would upset you and throw you off balance.