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Luke 21:34–36
“Stay awake 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” (v. 36).
Having prophesied the fall of Jerusalem, describing the signs that the time of the city’s and temple’s destruction was at hand (Luke 21:5–33), Jesus concluded the Olivet Discourse with a word of application for His hearers. We find that application in today’s passage, where we see that our Savior exhorted His audience to a life of watchfulness and prayer (vv. 34–36).
Jesus did not reveal the signs of the Roman siege of Jerusalem simply to give His disciples information. Instead, Christ preached the Olivet Discourse to motivate His people to faithful action. Knowing that a time of great travail would come within a generation, the disciples were to maintain a state of watchfulness so that they would not be caught off guard in the day of Jerusalem’s judgment (v. 34). Complacency might lead them to stay in the city until it was too late to escape the Roman invasion, until it became impossible to flee to the mountains (vv. 21–22). We live long after that fall of Jerusalem in AD 70, but there is an admonition to us as well. Let us not become so distracted by the cares of life that we are caught unaware by providential turns in history and are unprepared to serve God when our circumstances change suddenly. In our day, the safety and cultural privileges that the church in the West has enjoyed for many centuries may very well be on their way out, at least for a time, so we need to be thinking about how we are going to maintain our religion and provide for ourselves as the social cost for professing Christ increases.
Luke 21:34–35 features Jesus’ warning that “that day . . . will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth.” At first glance, this seems to refer to a universal judgment, leading many people to believe that at least some of the Olivet Discourse is about the final coming of Christ. It may be that Jesus here incorporates references to His final advent, using what He has said about the fall of Jerusalem to point to His final coming to judge the living and the dead. The lengthier record of the Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24–25 does seem to shift to the return of Christ at the end of history beginning in 24:36. Jesus’ reference to the “whole earth” in Luke 21:35, however, may signify the whole world known to the disciples—that is, the Mediterranean world. Even so, the admonition in verse 36 applies as we anticipate Christ’s final coming. Let us pray for the perseverance of ourselves and others so that we remain in the faith.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Scripture tells us in passages such as Luke 21:36 that we are not passive in our perseverance, that maintaining our faith does not occur wholly apart from our involvement. Instead, we have a role to play. We must continue to repent and believe every day of our lives, praying that God will enable us to be faithful to the gospel and to maintain our confession even when we suffer for the sake of the gospel.
For further study
- Deuteronomy 4:15–31
- Matthew 25:1–13
- Colossians 4:2
- Hebrews 3:7–4:13
The bible in a year
- Jeremiah 27–28
- 2 Timothy 4