Luke 21:5-28 - Last Words on Last Things - November 13, 2022

A prominent 20th century philosopher once made a brilliant observation. He said that “it’s difficult to make predictions, especially about the future.” This philosopher’s name was Yogi Berra – who also happened to be an all-star catcher for the New York Yankees. Now, whether he actually said those words is debatable. What is undebatable is that they are true, right? The future is unpredictable – as we can all attest to. Meteorologists prove every day that their weather forecasts are at best, educated guesses that are often inaccurate. Two years ago, did you hear anyone predicting that we’d be paying close to $4 for a gallon of gas today? Just five days ago, every political pundit was predicting what they called a “red wave.” Tuesday’s election was barely a red trickle. And, last but not least, who in their right mind would have predicted that the Vikings – the Vikings! – would be in command of the NFC north division? (It’s so bad that I’m considering the unthinkable: asking my wife if there is anything on her “honey-do” list just so I don’t have to watch the Packers!) The future is unpredictable – and, therefore, it is unwise to make predictions about it. And yet, that’s exactly what Jesus does this morning: he predicts the future. And unlike any meteorologist, economist, or political or sports commentator – we’re going to see why we should take Jesus at his word about the last things.

We’ll start towards the end of our text where Jesus predicts that before the end of time there will be signs in the sun, moon, and stars. And on the earth nations will be in anguish, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the surging waves, people fainting from fear and expectation of the things coming on the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Seeing pictures and videos of war-torn Ukraine and the aftermath of hurricane Ian may serve as a kind of a “snap-shot,” a “teaser” of what the end will look like – but they are nothing compared to what is coming. It will be like nothing this world has ever experienced or anyone could ever imagine.

The question is: how do we know we can trust what Jesus says about the future? I thought the future was unpredictable? Fortunately, the Bible provides us with a litmus test. In Deuteronomy the Lord says if a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, and the thing does not come about and does not come true, the LORD has not spoken that word. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him (Deuteronomy 18:22). Easy enough, right? If what the prophet predicts comes true, he comes from the Lord. How does that test fit with Jesus’ words? Well, Jesus is in fact making two predictions here – and the first was a short-term prediction regarding the city of Jerusalem and the temple. The people in Jesus’ day thought that the city of Jerusalem was invincible. It was God’s city, the home of his temple. They couldn’t fathom that God would let his city and his temple be destroyed. And yet, as they were busy ogling the temple’s beauty, Jesus warns them that these things you see here – the days will come when there will not be one stone left on another – every one will be thrown down. Jesus told them what to do when they saw Jerusalem surrounded by armies: let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let those who are inside the city get out. Let those who are in the country not enter the city. When the Romans razed Jerusalem and the temple to the ground in 70 AD, Jesus’ prophecy was fulfilled with pinpoint accuracy. Jesus’ warning saved many Christian lives. They knew to flee when the Romans began to surround the city. The truth of Jesus’ short-term prediction about Jerusalem is proof that we can trust his predictions when it comes to the end of time.

The disciples ask for a sign indicating that these things are about to happen. Jesus doesn’t describe a sign (singular), but signs (plural). Broadly speaking, Jesus warns about signs that will occur in four areas of life: 1) political; 2) natural; 3) religious; and 4) personal. 1) Politically, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Not only have we witnessed a war in Ukraine and saber-rattling between many other nations – including the very real threat of another world war – right here in our own nation we just lived through another contentious election, where it became crystal clear how politically, culturally and morally divided our own nation is. 2) In nature, there will be horrifying sights and great signs from heaven. This past Tuesday people all over the world were able to witness a total lunar eclipse: the moon went dark. It was a sign. Not necessarily a sign that the end will arrive tomorrow – but that the End is coming! 3) Religiously, Jesus says that before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, handing you over to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. While, for the most part, we still enjoy religious freedom in our country – millions of Christians around the world do not. And, in recent we have experienced how easy it is for the governing authorities to prevent us from gathering for worship and how our right to freely speak the truth of Scripture – especially those that fly in the face of the current moral revolution – is under attack. 4) But Jesus saves the most troubling sign for last: you will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends. They will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all people for my name’s sake. Perhaps the most powerful temptation that anyone of us will face to forsake our faith in Jesus will come from our families – from those who turn away from him, even though they’ve been baptized and confirmed in the faith; from those who hate us because we hold to the truth of Scripture even as our society spirals down the drain of immorality; from those who threaten to disown us because we point out and rebuke their sin. But whatever form these signs take in the political, natural, religious or personal realms, Jesus’ point is clear: it’s going to get worse as the end gets closer.

Aren’t you glad you rolled out of bed this morning to hear such a happy, cheerful message? Where’s the good news in Jesus’ last words on the last things? How and when are things going to get better? We’ll get there, but first we need to remember why this is all necessary. Jesus spoke these words on Tuesday of Holy Week, just three days before he would be nailed to a tree to die as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). (Jesus was perhaps alluding to this when he talked about the Temple being destroyed – in that he had earlier referred to his body as a temple that his enemies would destroy, but which he would raise again within three days (John 2:19)).

And, in predicting the hard and troubling signs of the end in this section, Jesus is making clear that what was true for him will be true of each and every Christian. Just as Jesus suffered political and religious and personal persecution – so will all who follow him. That’s why the cross (and the sign of the cross) plays such a prominent role in genuine Christianity. Jesus was nailed to a cross to pay for our sins – and so we are baptized under the sign of the cross placed on our heads and hearts, we are absolved under the sign of the cross, we receive Jesus’ sacrificial body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins with the sign of the cross, we begin and end our worship with the cross. There’s a reason for this: everything we do, every minute of our day, we wake up and go to sleep under the cross. Christianity isn’t so much a way of life as it is a way of death. It’s dying with Jesus in order to be raised with him. It’s dying to sin and self and this world so that we can be alive to God (Galatians 2:20).

And, in a way no one would have ever expected, the troubling things that Jesus says lie in the future help us on that path. Now we might be skeptical of this. How can unrest between nations and in nature; how can religious and personal persecution help us on our path to heaven? Well, when the framework of this world begins to fall apart right before your eyes, where does that drive you? Doesn’t it drive you deeper into the Word of God, to search the Scriptures for some promise, some word of comfort and assurance? Did you catch the word of comfort Jesus gave here? No matter what happens politically or in nature; no matter how badly you are persecuted personally, Jesus promises that not a hair of your head will perish. By patient endurance you will gain your lives.

That’s the comfort hidden in these last Sundays of the church year and in considering the end of the world as we know it: the world as we know it must pass away before the true life Jesus won for us can be revealed. Picture it like the scaffolding that surrounds a building under construction. That ugly, relatively flimsy scaffolding hides the work that’s going on underneath. But when the work is done and the building is complete, then it’s time to tear down the scaffolding and reveal what’s been built. Jerusalem was a visible, historical example of this. Jerusalem certainly had a place and purpose in God’s eternal plan of salvation. It was the dwelling place of God with man until the coming of the Christ. But when Jesus appeared, it was time for the scaffolding to come down. The temple was no longer needed. Not only was the curtain in the temple which hid the Most Holy Place from view torn the moment Jesus died (Matthew 27:51), but forty years later, not one stone of the temple was left standing – and to this day the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim Mosque, stands where the temple used to.  

The same is true of the “scaffolding” of the world we live in today. The nations and institutions, the laws of nature and even our personal relationships – everything we see and experience in this life – is the scaffolding of history under which God is carrying out his plan of salvation; in which he is making everything new through Jesus. So when the nations are in turmoil and creation seems to be groaning in earthquakes and floods and famines and disasters, when the sun, moon and stars go dark – those are all the tearing down of a temporary structure to reveal the permanent, eternal kingdom of God.

More important, the same is true of the scaffolding of our lives individually. Did you notice that Jesus’ first warning sign concerning the end was not political or natural or personal – but spiritual? Watch out so that you are not deceived! For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them. Jesus’ greatest concern is not for our earthly comfort but the preservation of our faith. Under the sinful flesh we all wear is hidden a saint by virtue of our baptism. But the flesh must die in order for the saint to be revealed. Whether that happens through political or religious persecution, through natural disaster, through being alienated from friends and family, or through death itself – the old Adam has to die in order for the New Man to be revealed. In other words, God uses these troubling and painful signs of the end to draw us away from this world – which is passing away; and to draw us closer to himself. That’s good news!

So whether it’s the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, the death of Jesus on the cross, the end of the world on the Last Day, or the day you breath your last, it’s all part of God’s plan to bring about the salvation of his people. So, when everything seems to be getting worse, when you see the signs of the end, when it seems as if the whole world is headed to hell in a handbasket, when the church appears weak and persecuted and so do you, then you know exactly what to do: stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near. You know this because the Son of God and your Savior promises that even if heaven and earth…pass away…my words will never pass away (Luke 21:33). Amen.