Standing Witness

Luke 21:10-19

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 pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name's sake. This will be your opportunity to bear witness. 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. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name's sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives.

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In Luke 21, Jesus speaks again as a prophet with specific warnings about the days to come following his death and resurrection. I considered spending some time elaborating on my views of the end times, explaining how what is called Preterism may shed light on passages like verse 32, where these earth-shattering predictions are promised to take place within one generation. But I feel particularly drawn to verses 10-19, especially verses 14-15:

"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." (Luke 21:14, 15)

To me, this is surprising. The whole context of this passage appears to be about readiness. Jesus is preparing his followers, equipping them for the dire challenges they are soon to face. Why tell them to NOT meditate on their answers or what they will say to their accusers? I can think of a few answers:

1. Silence. Perhaps Jesus was encouraging them to be silent in the face of persecution. This is, in fact, what Jesus modeled for us at his own trial before Herod and Pilate. He was like a lamb who was silent before the slaughter. On the other hand, this very passage makes clear that persecution should be met with not just silence, but seen as opportunity to witness. Jesus promises that he himself will provide the words and wisdom which will confound our enemies and leave them with nothing to say in reply.

2. Mindless answers. Since we are encouraged to bear witness, but not to meditate beforehand on our answers, perhaps this passage is telling us to have a radical reliance on the illumination of the Holy Spirit in the heat of the moment, and in such a way that all faculties of the mind are ignored and exchanged for an ecstatic channeling of the power of God. This passage does not elaborate on how much of our mental faculty should be used to witness to the resurrection, but there is ample evidence elsewhere. There is the example of Paul, who defended the resurrection throughout the book of Acts in the courts of Roman officials and then later exposited the logic of the gospel in letters to the Romans and Colossians. And then there is the simple command stated in 1 Peter 3:15, which seems to work against Jesus in this instance:

"but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect," (1 Peter 3:15)

So, if we are not to be merely silent, and if we know our minds must be engaged in the work of defending and witnessing to the gospel story, what exactly does Jesus mean by encouraging us to NOT prepare answers beforehand?

3. Peacefully Prepared. The balanced answer we seek may simply be that Jesus was speaking words of gracious concern for a collection of followers who were racked with anxiety about the coming trials they faced. By telling them not to meditate beforehand, he was reminding them that God Almighty was on their side and would not fail them, no matter how weak and inadequate they felt as they stood before the rulers of this world. As Jesus' own example shows in this passage, we are to seriously consider and prepare for the trials that lie ahead. But at the same time, our preparations and answers will never be sufficient without the indwelling power and wisdom of the Holy Spirit, who works with our minds to give an answer that our adversaries will not be able to withstand or contradict. 

Paul sums up this kind of peaceful preparation in his first letter to Corinth. May we find the foolishness of the cross of Christ to truly be the wisdom and power of God, especially in the face of our trials and persecutions:

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:20-25)

Waiting for His Return

Luke 17:20-21

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

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Luke 17 includes an extending section answering the question of when and where the coming of the kingdom will take place. I'd like to walk through these verses and simply summarize what I think each verse is saying about Jesus' second coming. I am being intentionally simplistic, because I believe Jesus has revealed only a limited glimpse of what the end times will be like - but he's revealed enough that it should shape our life today:

1. Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed, nor will they say, "Look, here it is!" or "There!" for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you." (v 20-21)

- The kingdom has already come in some measure, quietly and unnoticed by most, even though it is right in our midst.

2. And he said to the disciples, "The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. (v 22)

- We will long for His return, but we may be waiting longer than expected. The delay may be painful, especially in the face of persecution.

3. And they will say to you, "Look, there!" or "Look, here!" Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. (v 23-24)

- Though already here in some aspects, it is also yet to come in its fullness; there will be false predictions and "over-realizations" of His coming throughout history, but we must keep a level head and sober mind at all times.

4. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. (v 25)

- The king and His kingdom are inaugurated through suffering; the nature of His rule will begin humbly and continue to be characterized not by might, but by servant hearts who walk in the way of the cross.

5. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building, but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all— so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed. (v 26-30)

- There will be a final judgment and mankind will be surprised when the black shadow of their sin is finally understood in contrast to the light of His holiness and glory.

6. On that day, let the one who is on the housetop, with his goods in the house, not come down to take them away, and likewise let the one who is in the field not turn back. Remember Lot's wife. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it. (v 31-33)

- Our understanding of the nature and progress of this kingdom should produce a present lifestyle characterized by a willingness to forgo earthly rights and possessions - a readiness to leave this world for the better world to come, and never look back.

7. I tell you, in that night there will be two in one bed. One will be taken and the other left. There will be two women grinding together. One will be taken and the other left." (v 34-35)

- Not everyone will be admitted to citizenship in this kingdom, and many will be surprised by who is who in the end. Though Jesus frequently reminded us of the ironic economy of "the first shall be last," each generation will largely fail to grasp this and fail to walk in the way of the cross.

8. And they said to him, "Where, Lord?" He said to them, "Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather." (v 37)

- There will be no singular location for the final revealing of the kingdom. Where the "corpse" is may simply describe the universal decay and corruption resulting from the fall of mankind into rebellion against God. The "vulture" may simply represent the coming judgment of God.

Matthew, Mark. and Luke each chronicle the closing days of Jesus' earthly ministry by highlighting these judgment sayings. Jesus clearly wanted to equip his disciples with hope of his coming and confidence in light of persecution and perceived delay. We too can take heart knowing that He will come, and that His kingdom already makes progress among us, even if quietly and unnoticed by most. Though many will be surprised by their fate, for those who walk in the way of the cross there is eager longing for "one of the days of the Son of Man" - when His presence and reign will make all things new! May this vision and hope be our own and sustain us until the day he comes again:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death." (Revelation 21:1-8 ESV)

Jesus the Prophet

Mark 13:32, 33

But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. 

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I am the last person who wants to talk about the end times. Even though the Bible clearly addresses details about the Second Coming of Christ and the final judgment, I find myself cringing when I hear well-meaning preachers fixate on the seemingly arbitrary details of Daniel or Revelation, often resorting to conjecture and speculation to make some clever but irrelevant points. They end up sounding like fortune tellers or something worse. So, what place does this chapter have in the story of Jesus and subsequently in our story as followers of Jesus?

There are a couple basic concepts that I've learned about Jewish prophetic writing which may be helpful here. Anyone who has been to a Christmas church service has probably heard some passages of Old Testament scripture quoted - usually a prophetic writing that gives some incredibly coincidental detail about who the messiah would be (a descendant of David), where he'd be born (Bethlehem), and how'd he be born (of a virgin). What is often overlooked is that each of these prophecies also had a contemporary meaning for the original hearers as well. My understanding of prophecy revolves around this idea that prophetic writing is both Forthtelling and Foretelling.

Forthtelling.

This word points to the present or contemporary meaning of any prophetic saying. In Mark 13, the immediate context is Jesus' proclamation as king and as authority over the Jewish temple system. The disciples are asking about Jesus' prediction of the destruction of the temple. Jesus tells them it will happen within their generation - a very specific promise that must be taken seriously. Historically, we know that this prophecy came true in AD 70, when the Roman army completely destroyed Jerusalem and its center of worship. This is Forthtelling, and subsequent warnings about the persecution awaiting his followers fit this category as well.

Foretelling.

The hard part with interpreting prophetic writing is knowing where the Forthtelling ends and the Foretelling begins - or where one verse could actually be taken both ways. Mark 13 clearly has some relevance to the "eschaton" (the End) as well as its obvious meaning for the contemporary hearers. When Jesus describes the sun being darkened and stars falling from heaven, he may be referring to upcoming 1st century political events, but the gravity of the language seems to warrant an even bigger vision of the final day of judgment. The fact that Matthew's version of this passage uses the phrase "end of the age" seems to support this view as well (Matt 24). The verse quoted above, reminding us that no one knows the day or hour, is also a clear reference to those final events that will bring evil to an end and usher in the eternal reign of the messiah over a New Heaven and a New Earth.

Judgment.

Underlying both the Forthtelling and the Foretelling is the common theme of God's impending judgment on the corruption of mankind - whether immediate judgment or delayed final judgment. Jesus ends this chapter with a call for his disciples (and a call for readers today) to "stay awake." What does this mean?

This is where prophecy has application to daily life. When you consider the reality of God's hatred of injustice and his passionate desire for his image-bearers to reflect his infinite love and glory, you start to feel the urgency and gravity of everyday choices. Jesus wants us to think of ourselves as servants who are awaiting the return of their master - servants who are good stewards of the talents they've been entrusted with (notice Matthew's version again which is immediately followed by the parables of the talents and the sheep & goats, which emphasize faithfulness and justice).

Future judgment should inspire present justice. Let us avoid conjecture and distraction in the minutiae of apocalyptic details; instead we should remember the present AND future relevance of every prophetic passage. Let us read these final words with hearts that pray for faithfulness to the very end, in light of the promised return of our mighty king:

It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake." (Mark 13:34-37)