Luke Chapter 21
As Jesus last days on this earth were coming to an end, He made it a point of teaching and warning us about end times. Jesus taught His disciples about two specific events. One event was the fall of Jerusalem that would happen in a few short years after He left this earth. The second event would be in the future, His second coming, when He would return to establish His throne.
Jesus did not give us a specific date for either event, but He did give us specific signs to watch for. Jesus wanted the believers in that day to be prepared for the day the temple would be destroyed causing Jerusalem to fall to the Romans in AD 70. The second event has not yet happened, but we can see signs all around us that the day is coming soon!
Let's Reflect
1. While Jesus was walking through the beautiful temple of Jerusalem, He noticed a poor widow give her offering. She stood in a long line of people who were putting their offering in the box in the temple. What did Jesus say about her offering?
2. While they were admiring the beautiful stonework of the temple Jesus taught them that the temple would be destroyed. He told them that not one stone would stand upon another. The Romans when they set fire to the temple structures, it caused the gold overlay to melt down between the stones. The Romans turned over all the stones to get to the gold. What question did the disciples of Jesus ask about this event?
3. The signs of things that will warn us are described in verses 8-19. These signs describe things that will happen before both events. But a specific sign was given to the disciples of Jesus time that would tell them to flee Jerusalem. What was that sign according to verse 20?
When the attacks happened, Christian believers had remembered what Jesus had said and they did escape across the Jordan River. There were 1.1 million Jews killed by the Romans and 97,000 were taken captive. But the Christian believers’ lives were spared because they obeyed the words of Jesus and left when they saw the sign.
4. Jesus told us in the end times that people will be persecuted for their faith in God. He even warned us that people we think that would never “give us up” will turn us over to the authorities. Who did Jesus name, as people who will turn us over to authorities for being Christians?
5. While some will die for their faith, Jesus told us that in an eternal perspective what will not perish even? See verse 19.
6. Verse 25 begins signs that are specific to the second coming of Christ. What are some of the signs we can be watching for?
7. Jesus assured us that when these great terrible events begin to happen that there is hope. The events will not last forever. We can be sure of what, a promise that Jesus gave?
8. Jesus taught that when we see the appropriate signs just as when we see the leaves of a fig tree budding, we know it is summertime; when we see these signs He told us about - it means His Kingdom is at hand. What will happen to the generation that sees these signs?
9. What did Jesus say we are to be doing in anticipation of His second coming?
Devotionals
