Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:
The day is surely drawing near! But what day? We just had election day. For many, that day was circled on the calendar as “the day.” But, that day has come and gone until next year. Could it be planning for Thanksgiving? What about Christmas? No, not any of those days.
The day is surely drawing near! The big day. The day we publicly proclaim each time we confess the Creed: “And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead, whose kingdom will have no end” (Nicene Creed).
Yes, that’s the day! That day is surely drawing near! The Last Day. The Day of Christ’s Return. The Second Coming. Judgment Day. That day is surely drawing near! But when? And how will I know? We, like the Twelve disciples, ask these questions. Today, Jesus prepares us for that day that draws near – the day of our redemption.
As we come to the end of the Church Year, the themes we hear read on Sunday mornings take a shift. I’m sure you noticed that already. For these final weeks of the Church Year, the Christian Church renews her hopeful yearning for the return of her bridegroom, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the redemption of all things.
But along with the joy of the Lord’s return, we must first face various trials, tribulations, pains, persecutions, plagues, and the like. This doesn’t sound at all like what we want, but these events prepare us for Christ’s coming.
In our reading today from Luke 21, the disciples were in awe of the Jerusalem Temple, and why wouldn’t they be? The temple was beautiful! It was huge! You see, for about the last 50 years, the temple had been undergoing an extensive renovation and expansion, and it would not be finished for another 30 years – until AD 64. This was the legacy of King Herod the Great. His goal was to put the temple on the map of the Roman Empire. He certainly did that. With its spectacular white stones, its 40-foot marble columns, its tapestries, its golden and bronze doors.
The temple was like the Empire State Building or the Chrysler Building of its time with its elegance and beauty. Everyone was in awe. Well, everyone but Jesus. “As for these things that you see,” Jesus said, “the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down” (Luke 21:6).
You see, the destruction of the temple is intended to be an advanced sample of the end of the world. Man certainly enjoys focusing on its accomplishments. But God is here to constantly humble us by reminding us on who is really in control. We may build fancy buildings, skyscrapers, and stadiums, but God has the power to wipe them completely off the face of the earth.
As for the destruction of the temple, it served as a sneak peak of what is to come. In Scripture, the same use is made of the Flood and of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In an instant, the Flood wiped away unrepentant man (Genesis 6). In an instant, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, due to their sexual perversions – their homosexual lust, were destroyed when the Lord reigned on them sulfur and fire (Genesis 19:24). For each event, God gave an advance picture of the final Divine retribution on unrepentant despisers of God’s grace – the coming destruction, and of the glorious deliverance of a small remnant by God’s grace – Noah’s family and Lot.
Jesus speaks of Jerusalem and the temple being razed and abandoned. Here, He is foretelling of God’s withdrawal of His grace and His Means of Grace from the Jews hardened in unbelief. Spiritually, they would be left desolate and deserted.
This coming destruction of the temple and the city will be a preview of what is to come on the Last Day. In AD 70, Jerusalem and its temple would lay in ruins. They would lay in ruins, because they no longer served any theological purpose, since the Son of God – the Second Person of the Trinity – Jesus the Christ is the embodiment of the true Temple. And Christians were not to remain in Jerusalem, but to spread the good news of salvation to all nations, all peoples, to the ends of the earth.
But then what? When is the end? When is the Last Day?
Well, when Jesus returns on earth! But as Jesus says, many will say, “‘I am he!’ and ‘The time is at hand!’” (Luke 21:8). Through history, many have claimed to be Jesus. But would Jesus really reveal Himself to a select few? No! When he returns all will know by sight and sound in an instant! So we must not go after these shallow imitations of the one true God. Jesus is the only one who shares the name of God. He is Yahweh in the flesh. Again, we will all know when Jesus returns. There will be no question. No doubting. We will all know.
So, this time between His first coming and His second coming, we ought not fall for false teachings that claim to be God-pleasing, since the truth has been fully revealed in Jesus Christ as given us in Scripture.
So, don’t go after false teachers! But Jesus says there will be more to come – not just false teachers. There will be wars and tumults, insurrections, but do not be terrified.
Jesus says, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” (Luke 21:10). Our sinful nature and the world are often convinced that humanity can prevent wars and make world peace. But even with the League of Nations, the United Nations, and NATO, what still happens? Wars and rumors of wars. But why? Why can’t we end the prospect of war? We can’t because it proves that the day is surely drawing near.
“There will be earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences,” Jesus says. “And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11). Again, our sinful nature and the world don’t see these as signs that the day is drawing near. Instead, we often hear things like: “There is no God!” “We can fix it!” “If we only had this legislation made law.” “If we only vote for this candidate, we can save the earth!” Yes, we are to be good stewards of the earth, but humankind’s actions cannot lead to the end of life on earth. Only God has that power. He is the Creator. We are only mere creatures. Again, these phenomena only prove that the day is drawing near.
Jesus then speaks of consequences Christians will face in the latter days. We will be persecuted. We will face religious and civic persecution for confessing the truth that Jesus is Lord. We will face betrayal by our closest loved ones. In the West, we are beginning to see the ramifications of the concept of toleration really meaning affirmation. We are seeing sin praised by the culture. For us Christians, this means that when we publicly confess the one true faith, we must be ready to be ridiculed, or worse, persecuted. This again proves that the day is drawing near.
Judgment is coming. The day of vengeance is coming. But for us Christians, we do not fear! We are baptized believers. The Lord has prepared for this day. You see, He died on the cross to pay for our sins and thus take away the judgment. Christ took the judgment on Himself, the very wrath of God against sinners, so that the judgment would not fall upon you!
So, we prepare by being in His Word and taking the coming day of judgment very seriously. We heed Christ’s call for repentance and at the same time, we look forward to this great and awesome day as a day of redemption!
The unrepentant sinful world, however, has much to fear. But we don’t! The world may be careening out of control. Whether it is politics and governments, or catastrophes and disasters, or terrorism, there’s a lot that could frighten us. But in the middle of it all, God provides His Word.
Jesus’ words give us hope and strength and perspective. He says, “This will be your opportunity to bear witness” (Luke 21:13) and “By your endurance you will gain your lives” (Luke 21:19). Jesus says to us: “I have rescued you! You are mine!” You see, God’s Word assures us that He is moving the world toward the goal of that final day.
As the unrepentant world lives in fear or wrongly thinks they can solve the world’s ills, we look forward to that great day with confidence in Jesus Christ!
The Day is surely drawing near – and God is in control of everything!
Yes, we often wrongly believe that we are in charge. But, gone is the Jerusalem temple. Gone is the Roman Empire. We must always be reminded that God is running the show, He controls history. So, every time you read or hear about a war or a disaster, let it remind you that this tired, troubled world is moving toward the goal, the plan, that God has in store for when the Christ returns in glory, when we “will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:27). On that day, Jesus will set all things right.
For the unrepentant that day will be a dreadful day, but for us, Jesus says, that day will be a glorious day. He says, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise you heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28). In other words, don’t give up. We may experience bad things that could weigh us down, but our redemption draws near. Take courage! The Lord is coming! The Lord is coming to redeem you, and this is a promise we can hold on to with fullest confidence. So, we must remember and believe: The day is coming when Jesus will return to redeem His people! Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.
+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +
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