The End Times Discourse Introduction (Luke 21:5-38)
As all the other synoptic gospels do at this point, Luke reports a lengthy teaching from Jesus on events yet to come, prompted by His disciples’ admiration of the temple. It is sometimes referred to as “The Olivet Discourse” because Mark and Matthew tell us it happened there. Luke does not; and gives us some variance from Mark and Matthew in the way the teaching is delivered. It is likely that all the gospels report and version of teaching that Jesus delivered on various occasions and with some variety of content, the way that one would expect from itinerant teachers.
What is most clear in Luke, but also detectable in the other accounts, is that what Jesus is teaching about are multiple, future events. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70, the persecution and witnessing ministry of the church in the age to come, and the return of Christ are all seen here. Luke is the most careful about ordering the events and delineating between them.
The main point of the teaching here is the exhortation to endure and persevere in the faith in the long time to come. As we now know, but what would not be apparent to Jesus’s disciples in the moment, the church would need to fulfill its mission in the centuries to come, without Jesus’s physical presence. He uses a lot of Old Testament allusions and makes it clear that an age was coming that would be totally different from the way God had dealt with humanity up to that point. The cross would usher this age in, but the destruction of Jerusalem would also serve as a confirmation and fulfillment of the promises outlined in this teaching.
What is most clear in Luke, but also detectable in the other accounts, is that what Jesus is teaching about are multiple, future events. The destruction of Jerusalem in A.D.70, the persecution and witnessing ministry of the church in the age to come, and the return of Christ are all seen here. Luke is the most careful about ordering the events and delineating between them.
The main point of the teaching here is the exhortation to endure and persevere in the faith in the long time to come. As we now know, but what would not be apparent to Jesus’s disciples in the moment, the church would need to fulfill its mission in the centuries to come, without Jesus’s physical presence. He uses a lot of Old Testament allusions and makes it clear that an age was coming that would be totally different from the way God had dealt with humanity up to that point. The cross would usher this age in, but the destruction of Jerusalem would also serve as a confirmation and fulfillment of the promises outlined in this teaching.
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