Why Jesus is So Trustworthy - Today's Bible Verse Explained (Commentary / Homily) - Saint Luke 21:29-33

By Tony Joe:

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 21:29-33

Jesus told his disciples a parable. “Consider the fig tree and all the other trees. 

When their buds burst open, you see for yourselves and know that summer is now near; in the same way, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.

Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place. 

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

Today's Bible Verse Explained (Commentary / Homily) - Saint Luke 21:29-33

The 21st Chapter of the Gospel According to St. Luke has perplexed many readers as it blends together Christ's predictions about two future events - one near and one far away in eternity.

The context for this mysterious Chapter is Christ's final days of teaching at the Jerusalem Temple.

The chapter opens with Jesus observing what none other in the mighty Temple observes - a poor widow's offering of two copper coins - and describes how He exalts her, for the sheer sacrifice she has done of donating her entire livelihood for God's Temple.

Her seemingly tiny offering is contrasted against the impressive offerings of the rich and famous that dominate the Temple proceedings that day.

Further on in this Chapter, Jesus encounters people who marvel at the richness of Jerusalem Temple - the expensive way in which it was built and the kind of rich offerings it attracts.

Christ responds to them by one of His most famous prophecies ever - “As for these things that you see, the days will come when there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.” 

His listeners are shocked, and they asked him, “Teacher, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when these things are about to take place?”

It is in this backdrop that today's Bible verse too needs to be understood.

In His detailed replies to this very specific question - about when Jerusalem Temple would be destroyed and what would be its signs - Christ could have limited His answers to only that.

But that would have been too human a way to respond. Like, how purely human teachers, prophets, or gurus would have responded.

Jesus designed almost all His teachings - that became the basis for all the four Gospels - as applicable to posterity too, for all the generations until the end of time.

Therefore, we find Him mysteriously blending together prophecies about two events - one a near event, which is the imminent destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, and the other one a far event, the coming of the Son of Man for the Final Judgement and the end of the world.

Biblical scholars have generally come to a conclusion that verses 5-9 is specifically about destruction of the Jerusalem Temple; verses 10-19 is applicable to both the imminent seige of Jerusalem as well as the persecutions till the end of world; verses 20-24 is again specific about the imminent destruction of Jerusalem; verses 25-28 is about the signs of the end of the world and Christ's Second Coming; verses 29-33 (today's reading) is again about the specific destruction of Jerusalem; and finally the mysterious Chapter 21 ends in verses 34-38 with clear instructions on how to escape the wrath of God during the end of the world.

If a Gospel writer like St. Luke was not inspired by the Holy Spirit, the temptation to clearly demarcate between these two prophecies - even unto separate chapters would have been strong, in order to give human clarity to Christ's mysterious words.

But under the guidance of God's Spirit, St. Luke recreates it only as Christ said it and meant it, without any embellishments, so that the end result is what Jesus intended - which is the applicability of this prophecy to all generations till the end of time, eternity.

Indeed, mysterious are the ways of God. 

Psalm 90:4 reads, "A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night." Again, St. Peter repeats this in 2 Peter 3:8 which reads, "But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day." 

In today's Gospel reading, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree, how the burst of its buds signals that the advent of summer is near, and that so will the encircling of Jerusalem by armies would signal its total destruction and foreign occupation for a long time to come. (Verse 20 of Chapter 21).

This prophecy is a masterpiece in itself. When Jesus predicted this, around AD 33 or so, His community and the Romans had a cosy relationship with each other, even though it was a foreign occupation that they supposedly disapproved of, but about which they could do little. The Roman Empire was flourishing, and nobody could have imagined that any other army would even dream of laying siege to a prized Roman ruled city like Jerusalem.

And we should also note that Jesus even predicted the timing of this seemingly improbable event accurately - "Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place."

The influential people of the Jerusalem would have, however, ridiculed this prophecy in their hearts. Not only was it improbable, but its timing - within this generation itself - made it impossible. 

But soon after Christ's death, resurrection, and ascension into Heaven, the political climate in Judea started to change. Within the next three decades, the community would make themselves organized and powerful under the leadership of Zealots, and by AD 66 would gather enough courage to defeat and drive off the Roman forces from Jerusalem and much of Judea.

For the next four years, Jerusalem was under the community's control. But the Romans came back for a massive assault, known in history as the the Siege of Jerusalem of AD 70. It was exactly as how Jesus had predicted, like how the city would be surrounded by armies, and how it would happen during the lifetime of His listeners itself.

Again, nobody could have imagined the Romans to recapture power so easily and so fast, and that it would result in total destruction of Jerusalem, massacre of tens of thousands of community members, and their exile from their motherland for around 1900 years!

Today, Jesus wants us to know that if this prophecy from Him has come true, so will all His prophecies including His Second Coming for the Final Judgement and the end of the world.

However, our greatest reassurance too is His total confidence in Himself and God - "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away."

That is not the way in which any human teacher, prophet, or guru has ever spoken in history or will speak in the future.

Jesus remains the only great spiritual figure who knowingly and willingly walked into the most painful and horrific death as final proof for His words, thus atoning the sins of all who trust His words.

What is more, He has inspired thousands of martyrs to humbly, willingly, and courageously lay down their earthly lives for the greater glory of God, during times of persecutions.

And Christ is the only person in history who has shown Himself as resurrected in body to hundreds of his followers after the most crushing of deaths. 

That is why we can totally trust all His words, including all His commandments including His supreme commandment to love God above everything else, and to love our neighbour as ourselves, so that we are saved from God's wrath at the Final Judgement.

Mysteriously, Chapter 21 also provides a singular example of how to practice this love for God and neighbour - in the poor widow who sacrificed all she had - and let us do the same, sacrifice the maximum for God, and for our neighbours who are in need.