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Luke 21:12–15
“Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict” (vv. 14–15).
Without setting a specific date for the fall of the Jewish temple and the city of Jerusalem to the Romans, Jesus nevertheless told His disciples the kinds of things that they should expect to see before the temple fell. False messiahs would arise, wars would occur, and natural disasters would bring destruction. None of those things, however, could be used to identify a specific date for Jerusalem’s end (Luke 21:5–11).
In today’s passage, we see that Jesus also said that His people would be persecuted, delivered up to “synagogues and prisons,” and handed over to “kings and governors” (v. 12). He meant that the early Christians would suffer at the hands of both the Jewish authorities and gentile rulers, for the Jewish religious authorities held power in the synagogues of the Roman Empire and gentiles typically served as governors and in other leadership roles. The fulfillment of Jesus’ words here can be found throughout the New Testament. Acts 5:17–42, for instance, records one occasion when the Jewish leaders imprisoned some disciples of Jesus. Acts 28 concludes with Paul in prison in Rome, preparing to testify of Christ before Caesar. More examples could be listed, but the point is that as Jesus said, many of His followers endured persecution before the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans during the first century. Moreover, history testifies that the persecution of the church did not end with the destruction of Jerusalem but continues to this day in many places around the world.
Having warned His followers of the persecution to come, Jesus then told them that they should not plan in advance how to answer their persecutors, promising to give them a “mouth and wisdom”—an answer—that their enemies would be unable to contradict (Luke 21:14–15). In light of Scripture’s teaching about our duty to think ahead and to count the cost, we know that Jesus did not mean that His followers are to put no thought whatsoever into how they will respond under persecution. John Calvin comments that “our Lord’s design in these words is, to relieve the disciples from that anxiety which interferes with the cheerful discharge of our duty, when we doubt our inability to sustain the burden.” Christians are not to be so focused on how they might respond to suffering that they neglect other godly duties. Instead, as Jesus said, believers should remember that persecution gives an opportunity to bear witness to Him (v. 13). May we do so faithfully if we are ever persecuted.
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Although Jesus was focused on the persecutions that His people would endure during the first century, His words have lasting significance. As Christians, we may suffer persecution for our faith. It is wise to be aware of and to prepare for that eventuality. Yet we must not be so focused on formulating answers to our critics and persecutors beforehand that we ignore other duties to serve one another, take care of our families, and so on.
For further study
- Isaiah 43:10
- Mark 13:9–11
- John 14:26
- Revelation 11:1–14
The bible in a year
- Isaiah 62–64
- 1 Thessalonians 5