St. Luke's Episcopal Church
Cleveland, Tennessee

Twenty-fifth Sunday after Pentecost
November 18, 2007
Luke 21:5-19

If someday I were to pass around some blank sheets of paper, and I were to invite you to write down your favorite Gospel passage, I would be willing to bet that not one of you would pick this passage. I think that is a safe assumption. This is a difficult passage. It is admittedly difficult. It would be easy to skip over it and go to something a little better known and a little more comfortable to us. But I want us to avoid that temptation this morning. I think, if we look at this in its historical context, we can make some sense of what Jesus is saying here, and I would like us to try that this morning for just a few minutes.

We are going to be looking very closely at this passage if you want to follow in your bulletin. First of all, the setting is very important. In Luke’s narrative, what we call Palm Sunday has just happened. Jesus and his disciples have come into Jerusalem triumphantly. So just imagine being one of Jesus’ disciples. You still really don’t understand that Jesus is going to have to die for the sins of humanity. That doesn’t fit your stereotype of the Messiah. It is very clear, when we read the Gospels, that the disciples had this basic Jewish understanding of the Messiah - - that he would be a political figure, that the kingdom of God would be a political reality that the Messiah would usher in. So, just imagine how that stereotype would have been bolstered by this triumphal entry. People were waving palm branches as Jesus makes his way in, shouting, “Hosanna, blessed be the king of the Jews. Hosanna. Here he is our Savior, our Messiah. It would have been a very heady experience for the disciples thinking, “This is all coming to fruition. He really is about to usher in the kingdom of God.” Even though Jesus has tried to teach them, “That is not what the kingdom is.” Jesus says in Luke, “The kingdom of God is within you.” The kingdom for Jesus is reconciliation with God through forgiveness. It is not a political reality. So that is the setting. Palm Sunday has happened. What we call Good Friday has not yet happened. So this is that in-between time.

I want you to imagine one more thing before we start looking at the passage. Imagine yourself being from out in the country two thousand years ago. Remember who the disciples were. Think of Peter and Andrew, James and John. These men were fishermen. They were work-a-day folk, who may have never come to Jerusalem for any length of time whatsoever. So imagine coming in from the countryside and seeing the most magnificent structure you have ever seen - - the temple. The temple had just been renovated about forty years earlier during the reign of King Herod the Great. The temple at this time in history was in all of its splendor. In the Book of Maccabees in the Apocrypha, you can read all about the gold, all the finery that was in this temple. So that is what is happening here, the disciples have come into the big city with Jesus. They are absolutely in awe of the temple. That is what happens here in Luke 21. Let’s begin to look at it closely for just a few minutes.

Luke is talking about the disciples, here, “When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God.” So just imagine these fellows from out in the countryside just being in awe of what they are seeing. They can’t believe the beauty. They can’t believe the grandeur of the temple. They are riding high. Jesus has to teach them that it is not going to stay this way. He begins by saying, “As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” Now, this happened in 70 AD when the Romans destroyed Jerusalem including the temple. The temple, as such, has never been rebuilt in the intervening 2000 years. So, Jesus knew that one day there would be a conflict between the Romans and the Jews, so he says, “This temple won’t stand forever.” They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” Ancient people looked for signs, in the heavens primarily. We do the same thing. We are not as conscious of it as the ancients were, because we are more scientifically oriented. But, we still look for signs in the heavens. Well, ancient people really did that, so they want to know when Jesus says, “The temple will be destroyed.” “Well, when? What should we look for?” Jesus said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.” So, Jesus is teaching here, “Don’t be swayed by people who claim to be the Messiah when times get tough. Jesus is saying, “I am he. I am the Anointed One. You can trust me. You don’t need to go after people who claim to be, who I, in fact, am, the Anointed One of God.” He goes on to say, “When you hear of wars, and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” So, again, Jesus knows that there is conflict coming between the Romans and the Jews. “And that doesn’t mean that the end of the world is here,” says Jesus. He is encouraging these people to keep the faith. Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.” Now, again, think of the context here. If you are one of Jesus’ disciples, and you have just seen his entry into Jerusalem, and you still think he is going to inaugurate a political kingdom. Jesus, out of compassion, I would argue, is trying to teach the disciples that this is not how it is going to be, “I am about to be betrayed, and you will be persecuted too. You will be persecuted because of my name.” Jesus is trying to warn his disciples of the reality they will face after he is gone. He says, “This will give you an opportunity to testify. So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict.” So notice what is happening here. On the last night with his disciples, Jesus will teach them, “I am with you always.” He will make that very clear during what we call the Last Supper, but here he is giving them an advance teaching. “You won’t even have to worry about what to say when you are brought in before the authorities. I will give you the words.” So what Jesus is doing here is saying, “I will be with you. When you go through what you will go through in my name, I will be with you. You don’t even have to rehearse what you will say. I will be with you.” He is trying to comfort his disciples. I think, at first glance, if we just read this out of context, we would find this frightening, or incomprehensible, at least. But when we really study this in its historical context, we can see Jesus being very compassionate and very sensitive to his disciples’ needs. He wants them to know, “You will have difficulty because you are my followers, but I will be with you.”

Ultimately Jesus says in the last verse, “You have nothing to fear.” “You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name.” We know that Jesus did divide families, because sometimes people accepted him as the Messiah, and others within the same family did not. We know that a number of the disciples did face a martyr’s death. Peter, particularly, comes to mind. But other disciples died the death of a martyr. Jesus is being very honest with his disciples. “There will be persecution because of my name, but I will be with you.” Then he closes by saying this, “But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your souls.” So Jesus, ultimately, is saying to the disciples, “Keep the faith. Be strong in the midst of persecution. I will be with you.” Jesus is saying, “Ultimately, you have nothing to fear.” Paul says in Romans, “Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.” So I would submit to you that what Jesus is doing here, while the disciples are misunderstanding the significance of the triumphal entry, they can’t help but think that Jesus is about to usher in a political revolution; because that is what most Jewish people thought the Messiah would do. Jesus is trying to teach them that the kingdom of God is a matter of the heart. The kingdom of God is reconciliation with God through forgiveness. And, in the meantime, there will be very difficult times. “You will undergo persecution. You will undergo a taste of the hardship that I am about to undergo.” And, yet in the end, Jesus says, “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” In other words, “I will be with you, and, ultimately, nothing can separate you from my love.”