Ross Tenneson
Luke 21:20-28
Summary
Text: Luke 21:20-28
MP: Jesus is coming back soon to rule heaven and earth so we should have a sense of assurance rather than distress.
Sticky: We remain courageous disciple-makers as the world falls apart.
Heading 1
Introduction
I remember in the early days of COVID thinking that it was a big exaggeration. Then, I remember reading news stories about people losing their sense of smell and some cognitive function. I wasn’t scared of death because of my age group, but began to have a fear of getting physical complications, possibly life long, if I caught this virus.
Around this time, I was in a Target parking lot (when COVID was everywhere in 2020). And a man approached me to ask for some money. He was large and his face was right up in mine and I remember feeling his hot breath against my face and thinking, “I definitely have COVID.”
I would wake up several mornings and smell something with a strong smell just to make sure I still had my sense of smell and thinking “oh, good, I don’t have it yet.”
At this time in my life, there was a sense of fear that was influencing me. It was influencing me so much that I didn’t want to converse with the man in the parking lot who needed my help, and I felt tempted to walk away from him (by God’s grace, I didn’t).
Fear has the potential to influence and even control how we live.
I want us to ask this morning, how does Jesus want us to respond to the things that make us fearful?
In particular, how do we respond to the inevitable chaos in the world as the return of Jesus approaches?
Let’s hop into our text. Jesus is continuing to talk about his return and the end of this age.
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Revelation
Luke 21:20
ESV
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.
Our text this morning begins with Jesus describing the worst case scenario: armies surround Jerusalem and are about to bring devastation to it. The word “desolation” means , “devastation, destruction, depopulation.”[1]
Why is this the worst case scenario?
Because this is the opposite of the Old Testament’s hope for how God would rescue the world from sin and suffering. The Davidic king was supposed to rule from Jerusalem over the nations in the power of God and bring peace. Through his righteous rule, more and more people would become worshipers of the God of Israel.
So, for Jesus to predict that armies would surround and devastate Jerusalem would have been devastating for his disciples to hear. It’s the opposite of what they were hoping for: instead of the king ruling over the nations, the nations would surround the city of God and inflict destruction upon it. It’s a complete unraveling of what the people hoped for.
We have here in this text exhibit A that sin ruins everything it touches. The reason the Romans would surround and destroy Jerusalem is the people’s sin against their God, specifically in their rejection of Jesus. Their sins had piled up over the centuries and come to a head in what will happen in the next few days: the people will reject Jesus as king and put him to death instead. Whatever sin we may give into, it all has the same core: a rejection of Jesus and serving someone or something else. Next Jesus says,
Luke 21:21
ESV
21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it,
Jerusalem was supposed to be the fortress where God’s people could flee for refuge in times of danger. Now, it would be the place of danger and the people of Judea and Jerusalem would need to flee from Jerusalem and into the mountains.
When we reject Jesus, we position ourselves against God, like the Jewish people did. Positioning oneself against God brings about the wrath and punishment of God. There is nothing more frightening than facing the judgement and wrath of God.
Verse 22 now gives us the reason God brings such devastation on Jerusalem, Luke 21:22
Luke 21:22 (ESV)
22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.
The word “vengeance” means “full justice or satisfaction.”[2] The desolation of Jerusalem is God’s righteous judgment for the people’s rejection of Jesus, it’s his “vengeance.”
We should not think of his vengeance as uncontrolled rage (as we tend to see depicted in popular media), but rather a steady commitment to righteousness and uprightness. After generations of idolatry, exploiting the poor, and sexual immorality, and now their final rejection of God in rejecting Jesus, God’s judgement is the right and true response.
Yet, in this same verse we findthe first ray of hope piercing through. Jesus does not say that these “days of vengeance” were an accident, or an unforeseen event, but rather that they, “fulfill all that is written.”
Even the devastation of Jerusalem was according to the plan of God. Our God has a plan to do good and to bring life to his dying world, and not even our sins or the sins of others can ultimately thwart his plan. The consequences of our sins are great, yet the goodness and wisdom of our God’s plan is greater. No matter how scared, sorrowful, or hurting you are this morning, you can hope in the God whose plan both encompasses the sorrow we experience and provides a way out.
Though the coming destruction of Jerusalem would have been horrific to think about, the Scriptures clearly predicted it would happen. Jesus is reminding his listeners of this truth so that the disciples could have confidence that the plan of God had not failed. People had failed, but the plan of God had not.
Here is something important to keep in mind: Even though history is unfolding according to our God’s plan, the pain and suffering that human sin brings in the world is still worth grieving and weeping over. Here’s how Jesus puts it:
Luke 21:23
ESV
23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.
Next, Jesus says “Alas for women who are pregnant or nursing infants!” He means that they will suffer especially during this time. The thought of such people suffering likely contributed to Jesus’s tears over Jerusalem a few chapters ago. When a society rebels against God, often the worst of the resulting suffering lands upon the weak and the vulnerable. Then Jesus says,
Luke 21:24
ESV
24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.
Jesus reiterates again that the city of Jerusalem and her temple will fall. The nations God had raised up Israel to rule over will rule over them. Their sin and rebellion against their God had undermined God’s purposes for them and the exact opposite resulted.
Jerusalem was trampled “underfoot by the Gentiles.” The gentile king Titus brought this reign of destruction upon Jerusalem just a few decades later, just as Jesus had said. The destruction of the temple and Jerusalem marks the beginning of the era called, “the times of the Gentiles.”
“the times of the Gentiles” is a mysterious phrase. It likely means the era in which God’s kingdom is not present on the earth in the way it was when God established Israel and ruled through the king in Jerusalem. Instead, it’s a time in which rulers opposed to the kingdom of God and his purposes exercise their dominion.
The era in which we live is the “times of the Gentiles” when wicked rulers like Putin cause warfare and bloodshed. The full expression of God’s kingdom remains not yet present, and we await the return of the king Jesus to make it so.
This is where Jesus is going to go now: he’s going to talk more about these “times of the Gentiles” and what they will be like until the time Jesus comes back to make all things right:
Luke 21:25–26
ESV
25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,
26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
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The Symbols Jesus Uses
The Signs in the Heavens
Here is a very mysterious verse. What could Jesus mean by there being “signs in sun and moon and stars”? One option is that it could be referring to rare astrological patterns that point toward chaos on the Earth. However, I tend to think differently. I believe that Jesus is using creative imagery to refer to chaos in the natural and spiritual realms as they both continue to deteriorate.
From our Western perspective, we tend to look at the world in an analytical manner. For example, when we see stars in the sky, we tend to think of them as suns that are blazing millions of miles away.
That’s a true and correct perspective, but it is not the only perspective. The ancient, biblical perspective tends to have a more enchanted view of creation. Their view would not contradict any scientific facts about the sky, but it would have a different emphasis in what it focuses on. Rather than focusing on the distance or material makeup of stars, the ancient Biblical perspective focuses on what the stars represent.
In the Bible, stars and luminaries in the sky symbolize spiritual rulers and authorities in the spiritual realm. God made a human family and gave them authority and rule over the earth. God also made a spiritual family and gave them authority and rule over the spiritual realm that overlaps with and influences our realm.
Here is one example of stars representing spiritual rulers: When God questions Job in the book of Job about the creation of the world. He asks Job if he was there… Job 38:7
Job 38:7 (ESV)
7 when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
The “sons of God” is a biblical term for angels. Right alongside it, “morning stars” is another term for angels who were witnessing and rejoicing in God’s act of creation.
Here’s another example for those to whom this may be a strange concept. In Isaiah 14:12, God refers to a rebellious spiritual being as a “fallen star,”
12 “How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star, son of Dawn!
How you are cut down to the ground,
you who laid the nations low!
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Is 14:12.
When Jesus says, “the powers of the heavens will be shaken,” he is probably defining what these “signs” will be: namely, chaos and disorder in the spiritual realm. While we can’t perceive that chaos with our naked eye, we can feel its effects in our world. The evil, the chaos, the confusion that is increasingly present in our society and the world is partially owing to the continued deterioration of the spiritual world and its influence on rebellious leaders and nations.
The Flood on the Earth
That’s the first part of the puzzle of this verse. There is a second. Jesus says, “and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and waves.”
Is Jesus here referring to oceans and bodies of water that overflow and wipe away human cities? He could be. Yet, I take another perspective. In the Bible, chaotic bodies of water can symbolize chaotic armies and human civilizations destroying and wreaking havoc. In Daniel 9, when Daniel is speaking about the destruction of Jerusalem, he prophecies, Dan 9:26
Daniel 9:26 (ESV)
26 Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.
In this verse, the image of a flood depicts the chaos and destruction of war and other disasters in the natural world.
So, if we put these images together, the picture Jesus is painting for us is that there will be chaos and destruction in spiritual and natural realms as the end approaches. Jesus speaks first of the “heavens” and then he speaks of the “earth.” Jesus uses poetic, symbolic language to make a concrete point: there will be destruction, death, and chaos in the world (in both its spiritual and natural aspects) as the end draws near.
The war in Ukraine, the prevalence of the pornography and abortion industries, the presence of COVID, and the struggles and pain you have in your own life are symptoms of the fallen spiritual and natural worlds to which Jesus is referring here.
Passages like these show us: these things have not caught Jesus off guard. This world is unfolding according to his plan and his plan includes overcoming all of this evil and chaos and making all things right.
The Point Behind These Symbols
Now, that we have a better grasp of what Jesus is talking about, let’s try to understand his point. Jesus’s concern here does not seem to be about whether there will be this chaos and destruction in the world: he simply asserts it will be the case. Rather, he describes two different ways of responding to it:
We see the first one in verse 26. He says there will be “distress of nations in perplexity…people fainting in fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world.”
Jesus says that fear and confusion will define this age. Could you think of better words to describe how people feel in our society today? Never have I witnessed such fear and never have I witnessed such fear and confusion in people as I have in the last two years. The emotions are things we each feel in varying degrees:
Has COVID created a sense of fear or confusion in you?
Has police brutality, riots, and political unrest in our city created a sense of fear or confusion in you?
Does illness in yourself or a loved one or depression or anxiety disorders create a sense of fear or confusion in you?
Chaos in our bodies, our relationships, and the world consistently provoke these kinds of responses. This is not a unique age or time: it is sadly a typical one in our fallen existence.
The description Jesus gives here is not simply of people who experience a sense of fear and confusion, but of people who are overwhelmed and controlled by these emotions. He says people will be “fainting with fear and with foreboding at what is coming on the world.”
You may not be to the point of fainting, but does fear dominate your thoughts or your life choices?
Do you have an anxious demeanor? Friends, I know this is my natural disposition apart from the help of God, I constantly face the distraction of anxious thoughts that threaten to dominate my mind.
Do you avoid people because of fear of illness, social anxiety, or the cost of interacting with others?
Never before has it been more normal to isolate and separate yourself from interacting with others. Please visit my apartment building and you will observe this in five minutes. And I suggest that a sense of fear contributes to this phenomenon.
Yet, our Lord Jesus calls us into a different response to an unraveling world. He begins to explain why in verse 27,
Luke 21:27
ESV
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
There will be a sudden moment when the things that people found so fearsome and worthy of their attention will suddenly seem insignificant. Everyone’s eyes will become locked on the returning king.
Church, please picture this: suddenly everything and everyone stops. There is a man descending from the sky. He radiates with beauty and power. He is returning to the world he made to assume all authority and rule for all of time. You understand that all suffering and all evil is coming to an end in the world. Here finally is the one you have been waiting for. That’s the picture Jesus is painting of himself.
When Jesus returns, it will be clear there is no one more glorious, more wonderful, more authoritative than him. All the world will come to a sudden stop, and all the things they were focusing on and worrying about will seem insignificant. Then, the Son of Man will occupy the full attention of every human.
There are some of us here who love him and anticipate his return who will respond with joy.
Sadly, unless they repent, there are some here who are rejecting Jesus and will respond with terror.
Christians, we want to strive to help others recognize this reality now, so when they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, they respond with great rejoicing with us rather than an even greater sense of terror that they have made a terrible mistake.
Now, Jesus is going to show us an alternate response we should have, in the present, to help one another and our neighbors keep everything in perspective of the return of Christ:
Luke 21:28
ESV
28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Jesus talks about how a Christian should respond to the turmoil and chaos in the spiritual and natural worlds. He says, “when these things begin to take place… straighten up and raise your heads.” That means, grow in confidence that God has a good plan and that your obedience to Jesus is part of that good plan.
When the world experiences chaos, they begin to sense that “their plan” is falling apart and hopelessness and fear set in as their lives lose a sense of purpose behind the things that are happening.
On the other hand, when Christians experience chaos in the world, it’s a signal to us that we are closer than ever to seeing Jesus. That’s what Jesus means by “your redemption is drawing near.” We just got through a very hard year on many accounts, and we are one year closer to seeing Jesus.
What can possibly give us such an unwavering sense of confidence that endures in every situation of chaos?
That we worship the king who will return to this world to rule over all of heaven and earth.
It is meditating on this reality that frees us from fear in this age to be courageous followers of Jesus. If we meditate on the things the world meditates on, we will find ourselves to be fearful people. If we meditate on Jesus coming back, we will find ourselves to be bold and courageous people.
In moments of great turmoil, at the next wave of COVID, at the next instance of social unrest or a chaotic election, at this present moment, we straighten up and raise our heads. That means, our body language reveals the disposition of our souls. It’s not one of defiance or carelessness, but rather of confident expectation that God has got this. That we would have a demeanor of calmness and trust in the midst of chaos and continue to move toward people rather than away from them.
Imagine what our neighbors would feel like if at the next catastrophe, when everyone else is panicking, you are calmly reaching out to them to love and serve them.
We could even start to live like this now. More than ever, our world has normalized isolation and avoiding others. Yet, this way of life is not the way of Jesus. There are likely very few people engaging your neighbors, family, and friends. Let’s be the exception.We have not bought into society’s narrative that isolation is a good thing for society. We pursue people intentionally like Jesus did.
Gospel Connection
Now, a fundamental building block of our faith is that evil, suffering, and death do not indicate that there is no good plan for things or a good God we can trust in. Rather, we trust that God in his wisdom and goodness takes the evil and death that we sinful people cause and uses them to accomplish his good plan. God uses evil and suffering as a part of his good plan, and never do we see that more clearly than when Jesus of Nazareth dies on the cross.
Luke writes about this very thing in the book of Acts 2:23-24
Acts 2:23–24 (ESV)
23d this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.
24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.
Was there ever a greater moment of chaos and evil than when the Roman and Jewish authorities nailed the savior of the world to a cross? Would any moment have ever felt as chaotic and disheartening than that if you were a follower of Jesus?
Yet, was there ever a moment where was God accomplishing more good? At the very moment it seemed as if the world was falling apart, Jesus was rescuing the world from its sins through his death. The moment that looked like the plan of God had fallen apart was the moment that the plan of God was triumphing, as becomes clear a few days later when Jesus raises from the dead.
Church, we can trust this Jesus in the moments and times of crisis we face. He already walked through the greatest crisis imaginable. The plans of our God don’t. ever. fail. This same Jesus is quickly coming back to rescue us from sin, despair, and death, so the fear of those things don’t control us like they used to. We can be courageous disciple-makers as the world falls apart.
And if you don’t yet have a relationship with this wonderful savior who is quickly coming back, please talk to me or anyone else who is following Jesus and ask more about how you can know and trust Jesus.
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 392.
[2] Marvin Richardson Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 1 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1887), 418.
