Jesus had a lot to say about the end of the world. He spoke of judgment as often as the prophets of old. That makes sense given that He was a prophet. He was far more than that, of course, but He wasn’t less than that. As we move forward with Luke in his story of sacrifice, we find Jesus having a conversation with the disciples about the future and judgment that was coming to Jerusalem itself and the world as a whole. It’s a wild picture. Let’s take a look at what He has to say and what it might mean for us with Easter in view.

Doomsday Prepping

Everybody knows the world is going to end at some point in the future. It’s not a matter of if; only of when. And I don’t say that simply as a Bible-believing follower of Jesus. Secular scientists tell us that at some point in the hopefully distant future the sun is going to go supernova, explode, and that’ll be the end of our solar system. Fun fact: that was not always the “common knowledge” that it is today. Used to be, all of the smartest people in the world “knew” the universe was eternal. It has always been here and would always be here. Christians with their beliefs about the end of the world with the return of Christ were so quaint and primitive. Albert Einstein famously introduced a made up fudge factor into some complicated equations he discovered that let physicists describe the universe in very mathematical terms that resulted in their showing the universe was eternal because if you solved them without that, they pointed to a finite beginning point of the universe, and he “knew” that wasn’t correct. Then science caught up with theology at about the same time that we invented weapons capable of utterly destroying the world several times over, and since then, everybody has known the world is going to end at some point in the future. 

At the same time, though, everybody knows there’s going to be something after the end. The whole genre of dystopian future stories is rooted in the idea that once whatever happens to destroy the world finishes its terrible work, everybody who remains is going to have to figure out how to rebuild life out of what’s left. Most of these visualizations of the future are pretty grim to say the least—thus the whole “dystopian” thing. Well, as followers of Jesus, we agree with everyone else that the world as we know it is going to come to an end one day. But that’s where the similarities between us and the rest of the world come to an end. We think about the end in very different terms; terms Jesus helps define for us in the next part of our journey through Luke’s Passion Narrative. 

This morning finds us in the second week of our Easter-focused teaching series, A Story of Suffering. Over the course of these weeks leading up to Easter, we are walking through the ending of Luke’s Gospel, tracing with him Jesus’ journey into Jerusalem and from there to the cross and the empty tomb. Unlike many of our teaching series, there’s no special theme or topic that’s connecting each stop in our journey this time. We are simply looking at the Scriptures and seeing what God has to say to us through them. 

Last week, we started our journey with Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem. After a long and winding journey from Capernaum, His home base of operations, Jesus rode into town with great fanfare, but evidently not so great as to attract Rome’s attention and opposition. He wasn’t trying to get Rome’s attention at all, in fact. He was trying to get the attention of the Jewish ruling religious authorities by positioning Himself publicly for the first time in His ministry as the Messiah. He was God coming to visit the people with a word of judgment; a judgment that was almost immediately validated by the strong rejection by those same religious authorities. The news wasn’t all bad, though. For all His talk of judgment and the demonstration of its necessity, Jesus saw faithfulness still present among the people in the form of a widow who gave an enormously sacrificial gift to God through the temple. His high praise of her faithfulness reminded us that even though Jesus is coming, He will honor genuine faithfulness. 

Well, if you thought Jesus was pretty focused on judgment last time, that’s nothing compared with what we are going to see today. As we journey forward with Jesus in Luke’s Gospel, we find Him in this next part of the story pausing to give the disciples a sneak peak at what God’s plans for future judgment were…and are. This teaching monologue from Jesus is known as the Olivette Discourse because, as we learn from Matthew’s Gospel, it was delivered to the disciples on the Mount of Olives, which is where Luke seems to indicate was the main gathering and regrouping point Jesus used with His followers throughout this eventful week. Over the course of these verses Jesus speaks about judgment both near and far as far as the disciples’ frame of reference went. Luke’s organization of the material here is a little different from Matthew’s, but the basic thrust is the same: God is not going to be patient with sin and sinners forever. There is a day coming when He is going to deliver the judgment the world is due. And as that day nears, things are going to get tough for His people for a season. Let’s dig into this and see what Jesus has to say. 

If you have your copy of the Scriptures handy, join me in Luke 21:5, and let’s see how this whole episode got started. Luke writes that “as some were talking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God,” Jesus spoke up. 

Now, that’s not a lot to go on in terms of imagining the scene here. Matthew gives us a bit more to go on. The group was gathered out on the Mount of Olives where they evidently had an incredible view of the temple complex. A few years ago we were up in D.C. for an event and we stayed in a hotel out on the National Harbor just over the border into Maryland. While the view from our room wasn’t great, we went down to the harbor to walk around after dinner and the sun was setting in the background with the Washington Monument, the Capital, and various other buildings on the National Mall all visible in the foreground. It really was a spectacular view. 

The disciples were equally impressed with the view they had of the temple. They were feeling a bit of understandable national pride and started commenting aloud about their feelings. For Jesus, their reaction represented a teaching opportunity. Never being one to waste a moment like that, He took it. “These things that you see—the day will come when not one stone will be left on another that will not be thrown down.” 

Now, we read that and think, “Well, that was a little extreme as far as observations go.” Don’t let yourself look past the real impact this would have had on the disciples. This would have been like someone walking up when I was marveling at the view I had of the National Mall and saying, “You know, there’s a day coming when all those buildings are going to be little more than a smoking hole in the ground.” Or perhaps to help us get our minds around the emotional impact this would have had on the disciples—let alone the residents of Jerusalem when the day actually arrived—it would have hit like someone saying to a New Yorker thirty years ago that one day the Twin Towers would be nothing but rubble. Except this time instead of it being just some random jerk off the street who decided to spoil your moment enjoying this modern marvel, it was Jesus whose word you had come to believe was always right and true. This would have been shocking for them on a level that is a little hard to comprehend. 

It’s no wonder they responded like they did in v. 7: “‘Teacher,’ they asked him, ‘so when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?’” Now, in what follows, Jesus answers their question. But He does it in a way that can be a little tricky to get our heads around. He gives the disciples a view into the fairly short term future, but also into a future that is still future to us because it has to do with the end of this world, and we’re obviously not there yet. Matthew’s presentation of Jesus’ response makes it challenging to know when Jesus is talking about which future. Luke makes it a little clearer, but let’s tinker with his ordering just a bit to see if we can make it even more obvious the immediate focus of Jesus’ attention. 

Jump down with me to v. 10: “Then he told them: ‘Nation will be raised up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be violent earthquakes, and famines and plagues in various places, and there will be terrifying sights and great signs from heaven.” In other words, chaos is coming. Specifically here, Jesus was talking about the chaos of Jerusalem’s coming rebellion against Roman authority, a rebellion that would end with the utter destruction of the city in A.D. 70. 

We know from the Jewish historian Josephus’s writings just how bad a time this was for the Jews. Jesus wanted them prepared for what was to come. His prophecies about the destruction were remarkably specific and graphic. Jump down just a bit more with me to v. 20: “When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that its desolation has come near. Then those in Judea must leave it, and those who are in the country must not enter it, because these are days of vengeance to fulfill all the things that are written. Woe to pregnant women and nursing mothers in those days, for there will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. They will be killed by the sword and be led captive into all the nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” 

Now, given that Jesus was delivering this prophecy in about A.D. 33, and given that all of the people standing before Him listening minus one or two would be dead by then, why bother saying this? Because it wasn’t for them. It was for them to pass along to those who would be impacted by it in hopes they would take heed and be spared from the worst of what was coming. 

Yet while that day would surely feel like the Day of the Lord to those experiencing its horrors, we also know from history and the fact that we are still here in a world broken by sin that the end would not be yet. It still is not yet. Jesus in these verses was giving the disciples a direct answer to their question about His observation that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed. Jesus, being Jesus, though, was going to give them more than just an answer to their immediate question. He was going to give them a bigger picture of what was coming for them to share with future followers including us. 

Looking beyond A.D. 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem by Rome, Jesus went on to assure them that the coming destruction of Jerusalem was nothing compared with what was coming further down the road than that. Stay in the text with me in v. 25 now. “Then there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars; and there will be anguish on the earth among nations bewildered by the roaring of the sea and the waves. People will faint from fear and expectation of the things that are coming on the world, because the powers of the heavens will be shaken.” 

What is the end of the world going to look like? We don’t know, at least not with the kind of detail we’d prefer. But from what Jesus says here along with all the rest of the descriptions we do have, it’s going to be wild beyond measure—and not in a good way. There will be chaos and destruction in spades. It will be disorienting and bewildering. 

But over and above all the sound and fury, one thing will stand out as the most true of all: it will all resolve with Jesus’ returning to claim His kingdom. The King of kings will arrive, and that is something in which we can hope. In fact, Jesus specifically calls us to hope in it. Look at what He says next: “Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.” 

Notice carefully what He says there. He doesn’t tell us to stand up and lift our heads in courageous hopefulness merely on His return when things finally get better. He says we should do it “when these things begin to take place.” In other words, when all the chaos starts to really ramp up, that is when we should lift our heads. We shouldn’t let it get to us or drag us down because we already know how it is going to turn out. Jesus is going to return and everything is going to be set right once again, but this time for good. 

But if that sounds like radical advice, I assure you that it doesn’t sound nearly radical enough yet—or personally relevant. You see, when Jesus first said the thing about nations rising up against nations a little earlier pointing to the coming conflict over Jerusalem, He followed that up with some further counsel for the disciples themselves that they would get the chance to put into practice way before anything happened to their beloved capital city. Jump back to v. 12 with me: “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you. They will hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.” The world may eventually devolve into its own chaos as God’s judgment finally descends, but before then—perhaps in order to offer justification of the need for judgment—the world is going to turn against Jesus’ followers. The disciples all experienced this personally. But they’re not the only ones. Over the last 2,000 years, being known as a true follower of Jesus has always been an effective target for the world to aim its aggression. This is what Jesus had in mind as well when He told us to lift our heads when these things begin to take place. 

When persecution and pushback, when trials and tribulations come, we are not to cower in fear. We are not to give up on our faith because God has somehow given up on us. We are not to complain and conform to the world so it will leave us alone. We are to lift our heads in active defiance of the world’s power because our redemption is near. More than that, we are to rejoice at the opportunity we have been given to make a defense of our faith. This is a defense Jesus Himself will help us offer. 

Keep reading in the text here: “This will give you an opportunity to bear witness.” What a striking reframing of the perspective we normally bring to times of persecution from the world! Don’t look at it as God’s having abandoned you; look at it as God’s thinking so much of your faith and faithfulness that He is willing to give you the chance to defend the Gospel. And again, this is an opportunity He will help us capitalize on. We just have to trust in Him. “Therefore make up your minds not to prepare your defense ahead of time, for I will give you such words and a wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.” Now, this doesn’t mean that we don’t still do the work to learn the arguments for the faith and against the world. We do. But we don’t worry about not knowing something if we suddenly find ourselves in the hot seat, being forced to make a defense of the Gospel. Jesus will make sure we can do it. 

But it is worth knowing that this persecution won’t just be nameless or faceless or impersonal. It may very well be very personal. It may be that the people closest to us are the ones who wind up working the hardest to push us away from the faith. “You will even be betrayed by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will kill some of you. You will be hated by everyone because of my name, but not a hair of your head will be lost. By your endurance, gain your lives.” Wait, how will some of them be killed, but not a hair of their head will be lost? That seems like a pretty blatant contradiction. It’s not. Jesus is talking about not being lost to God there at the end, not the potential of physical death He mentioned moments before. With that potential confusion easily resolved, the bigger point is that this is also what Jesus had in mind when He told us to lift our heads as these kinds of things begin to take place. Why? Because He’s coming back, and our redemption is near. 

Okay, but saying we are going to lift our heads, that we are going to have courage, faith, and faithfulness in that moment and actually doing it when the moment arrives are two very different things. Great performances don’t happen in a moment. When Conner Hellebuyck, the goalie for the U.S. Men’s Olympic Hockey team blocked 41 out of 42 shots on the goal a couple of weeks ago, helping to secure the gold medal for the nation, sure he had a superlatively great game. But he was able to have that incredible of a game because he had spent his life preparing for that very moment. The same goes here. If we are going to be able to lift our heads when all of these things preceding Jesus’ return start happening, it will be because we have spent our lives preparing for it. The real question we need to answer here, then, is how we can prepare. 

Well, the first and most important preparation is to make sure your faith is in Jesus. If your faith isn’t in Jesus, then His return isn’t going to mean anything for you. On the upside, you probably won’t encounter the kind of persecution His followers can look forward to and like He mentioned here, but on the downside, when God’s judgment is finally unleashed, you’re going to be on the wrong side of it. If you haven’t put your faith in Jesus as the one who alone makes a right relationship with God possible, you’ve got to start there. It’s a simple matter of confessing His lordship and committing yourself heart, mind, and soul to the belief that God really did raise Him from the dead on the third day after His death on a Roman cross. If God did indeed raise Him to new life, then everything He said is true, and you need to be following Him instead of whatever else it is you might be following instead. 

Now, if you’re someone who has already taken care of that first important step, Jesus has a couple of pieces of counsel for you. The first is to pay attention to the times. This is counsel that comes with a caveat. We can understand what Jesus means by this in two ways, both of which Jesus actually includes in the passage here. Let’s start in v. 29: “Then he told them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. As soon as they put out leaves you can see for yourselves and recognize that summer is already near.’” We can understand that, right? Just look outside. This warm weather has everything starting to bloom in anticipation of the arrival of summer. Yes, we have to go through the yellow season first, but we know it’s coming. “In the same way, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near. Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” 

There’s just one thing: The kinds of things that fall under the “these things happening” heading have been happening pretty much since Jesus left the scene and His followers started proclaiming and advancing the Gospel in earnest. In other words, we’ve been in the season when lifting our head was going to be necessary for a very long time. According to Jesus, this means God’s kingdom is near. 

Yet while we need to pay attention to the times, we don’t need to obsess over them or give them so much attention that we fail to give our attention to the things that really matter. Jesus gave us this counsel back in v. 8: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Don’t follow them. When you hear of wars and rebellions, don’t be alarmed. Indeed, it is necessary that these things take place first, but the end won’t come right away.” It is possible to get so fixated on the things happening now that may point toward the future that we forget to look to the future entirely. When walking a rocky path on your way to a distant destination you have to look down to make sure you don’t trip on something rising up in your path, but if you aren’t looking further down the road to make sure you are still heading in the right direction, you may wind up wandering off the path without realizing it. It’s a both-and approach. 

It’s a both-and approach that Jesus’ final bit of counsel helps us understand how to maintain. Jump all the way to the end of the chapter with me in v. 34: “Be on your guard.” There’s that “pay attention to the times” counsel again, but look at what He adds to it now. “Be on your guard, so that your minds are not dulled from carousing, drunkenness, and worries of life, or that day will come on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come on all who live on the face of the whole earth. But be alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place and to stand before the Son of Man.” 

If we are going to lift our heads as “these things begin to take place,” we are going to have to make sure we are living in a state of readiness. On a military base, there’s not always conflict happening, but the brave men and women who have pledged their lives to that sacred service are ready for it should it break out. They are so ready because they live ready. They don’t let themselves get distracted by civilian concerns to the extent of their ability. They train constantly, so that when the moment does arrive they act on instinct rather than having to worry or wonder how they will respond. They maintain themselves physically and—ideally—emotionally for the things that may be coming their way. 

The same has to be true of us. We must keep ourselves free from the concerns of the world. That doesn’t mean we disengage or turn away from the world. We can’t do that because we are to be in the world. Rather, it means we don’t put ourselves in situations in which the world’s concerns are going to prevent us from doing our kingdom duties. Following the path of the righteousness of Christ will do that in a way no other path will. We constantly strive to learn more about our God, to deepen our faith, to grow in our knowledge of the Scriptures so that we really can be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks us for a reason for the hope that we have with gentleness and respect. We live knowing that the day of Christ’s return will come, but also knowing that we don’t have to worry about when it comes or how it comes because we’ll be set whenever it arrives. And we know that if the pressure from the world gets too costly, our life isn’t secure primarily in this world anyway. And so we lift our heads, knowing our redemption is near. Jesus is coming, so lift your head and live ready. 

Live ready by loving others. Live ready by walking in righteousness. Live ready by staying the Scriptures, investing in prayer, committing all the more fully to the church. Live ready proclaiming the Gospel with boldness every chance you get. Live ready by trusting in God and obeying His commands. Jesus is coming, so lift your head and live ready. Your efforts will not be in vain. You will not stand alone. The world cannot overcome the Lord you serve. And that Lord is coming. Jesus is coming, so lift your head and live ready.