Beautiful Stones and Baffling Signs
If I were to suggest a theme for Luke 21:5-36, it would be this: “The end times according to Jesus.”
What we find in this portion of Luke’s Gospel is nothing short of a staggering, and even alarming, prophecy given by our Lord concerning the end of the world as we now know it. No believer can consider these words seriously without drawing a very deep breath, and praying most fervently for strength in order to endure what our Savior promises will happen.
This prophetic section of Luke commences with 21:6 and a blunt prediction of the fate of Israel’s beautiful temple in Jerusalem: “the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” From there our Lord sets forth the events that will transpire both in the immediate and distant future, as human history marches inevitably toward its divinely ordained destiny.
But why would the temple be destroyed? What would such a terrible calamity signal? And how would this event fit into the explicit and full arrival of the Kingdom of God?
Well, I believe we are in for a very exciting time in the Word this Lord’s Day! Let me encourage you to be sure and read this entire section from Luke, and also the parallel passages in Matthew (24:1-51) and Mark (13:1-37).