Leithart
Days of Vengeance, Luke 20:45-21:38
INTRODUCTION
It is always important to remember that Luke wrote two books about Jesus and the early church, and that the two books work together. In the first book, the gospel of Luke, Jesus the Beloved Son comes to the vineyard and is killed by the vinedressers (20:9-18). The owner of the vineyard plans to take vengeance on the vine dressers, and hand the vineyard to others, but this doesn?t take place immediately. Jesus, as it were, comes a second time to Israel in the book of Acts, this time working through His Spirit-filled apostles. When the vine dressers reject Jesus for the second time, He takes vengeance against them. Jesus forgives the Jews?Eattacks on Him, but He does not tolerate an attack on His bride.
THE TEXT
?Then, in the hearing of all the people, He said to His disciples, ?Beware of the scribes, who desire to go around in long robes, love greetings in the marketplaces, the best seats in the synagogues, and the best places at feasts, who devour widows?Ehouses . . . .?? (Luke 20:45-21:38).
DEVOURING WIDOWS?EHOUSES
Here we have a very bad chapter break. Most of chapter 20 is taken up with debates with the scribes and chief priests, but in verse 45 Jesus begins talking with the disciples. He is still talking with His disciples in 21:3-4. The condemnation of the scribes and the scene of the poor widow go together.
Jesus condemns the scribes mainly for their pride and hypocrisy. They make a big show of their piety, taking the most prominent seats in the synagogues and making long prayers. At the same time, they prey on widows, which are the object of God?s special care. They use their piety to mask their oppression of the helpless. The widow in 21:1-4 is an example. She is pious and generous, putting her last coins into the temple treasury. But in context, she is among the oppressed; instead of taking care of her, the temple authorities receive all that she has to live on.
It is natural for Jesus to move from observations about the scribe?s oppression of the weak and helpless to a lengthy prophecy about the destruction of the temple. According to Jeremiah 34, Judah was overthrown by Nebuchadnezzar for a similar sin, for refusing to release slaves. The officials and people of Judah at first obeyed the Lord?s command to release fellow-Jews they had taken as slaves, but then ?each man took back his male servant and each man his female servant . . . Therefore, thus says Yahweh . . . I am proclaiming a release to you . . . to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and I will make you a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth?E(Jeremiah 34:16-17).
NOT ONE STONE ON ANOTHER
When some of the people comment on the beauty of the temple, Jesus warns that someday the temple will be completely destroyed (Luke 21:6). It is clear throughout the passage that Jesus is referring to an imminent event. The sign of desolation will be ?when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies?E(v. 20), and then the disciples ?who are in Judea should flee to the mountains?Eand ?those who are in the midst of the city?Eshould depart (v. 21). The disciples are not to remain in the city out of a sense of nationalist loyalty, but treat Jerusalem as Babylon: ?Flee from the midst of Babylon, and each of you save his life! . . . For this is Yahweh?s time of vengeance?E(Jeremiah 51:6). As a result of this invasion, ?Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles?E(v. 24). At the end of the chapter, he announces explicitly that ?this generation will not pass away until all things take place?E(v. 32).
Jesus warns that there will be a period of waiting before the final catastrophe, and prophesies several things that will happen during that time. First, some will come saying that they are Jesus returned (v. 8). Second, there will be international turmoil, with nation rising against nation (vv 10-11). Third, Jesus?Edisciples will suffer persecution (vv. 12-19). It is clear that the persecution is coming from Jews. The ?they?Ewho will ?deliver you to the synagogues?Eare clearly Jews (v. 12), and the same ?they?Ewill ?bring you before kings and governors?E(v. 12). As Romans increase the pressure on Israel, the Jews will make the Christians the scapegoats. This is consistent with the history recorded in Acts, where the main persecutors of the early church were Jews. Finally, the disciples should expect to be betrayed by their own families. No wonder Jesus has been teaching that a disciple has to ?hate?Ehis father and mother to follow Him.
Jesus tells His disciples that they should not prepare a defense ahead of time. Through the Spirit, they will be given wisdom that will defeat their opponents (v. 14-15; cf. Acts 6:8-15).
SIGNS IN THE HEAVENS
Jesus?Edescription of the collapsing heavens leads many Christians to think that Jesus is talking about the end of the physical universe. How can the events Jesus describes in verses 25-28 take place before ?this generation passes away?E The answer is that Jesus is using standard prophetic imagery to describe the collapse of a world-system. Sun and moon are set in the heavens to ?rule?E(Genesis 1:16-18), and throughout Scripture the sun and moon represent rulers (Isaiah 13:9-10; Ezekiel 32:7-8; Joel 2:2, 31; 3:15; etc.). the sun and moon going dark is a sign that some ruler has been cast down.
The reference to the sea in verse 25 also draws on prophetic imagery from the OT. Through much of the OT, Israel is pictured as land in the midst of the Gentile sea (e.g., Psalm 46). The ?roaring of the sea and its waves?Edescribes the turmoil of the Gentile world at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. Nero committed suicide in 68 A.D., and four emperors followed in quick succession. The famed pax Romana crumbled. This verse shows that the events surrounding A.D. 70 were not limited to Palestine. The whole world-order set up at the time of the Babylonian exile was being brought down.
The coming of the ?Son of Man in a cloud?Eis also perplexing to some. Jesus, however, is quoting from Daniel 7, where the Son of Man ascends to the Ancient of Days on a cloud to receive all the dominion and authority and power that had belonged to the Gentile empires of the ancient world. This will be ?seen?Ein the sense of being perceived: When Jerusalem is destroyed as Jesus predicts, then all will know that He is David?s Lord who has been seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven.
FIG TREE
Jesus tells a parable to illustrate the point of the signs that He has enumerated. Just as a fig tree?s leaves signifies the approach of summer, so the events He describes show that the kingdom is close at hand.
With this crisis on the horizon, it is particularly important that the disciples avoid drunkenness, dissipation, and being weighed down with worries of life. Again, we see that Jesus?Ewarnings against riches are especially relevant to the disciples in His time. If they are too attached to their property and possessions, they could well end up being destroyed in the destruction of the city.
Though Jesus is prophesying about events in the generation of the apostles, His warnings apply to every generation of Christians. Jesus comes to judge the earth in many times and many ways, and we should always be ready when He comes.
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