I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist

 Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."  So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."

Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.  But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."

- Luke 21:5-19 

Yesterday we read that as Jesus spoke to the leadership in the Temple, He said to them, "How can they say that the Christ is the Son of David?  Now David himself said in the Book of Psalms:  'The Lord said to my Lord,  "Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool."'  Therefore David calls Him 'Lord'; how is He then his Son?"  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' houses, and for a pretense make long prayers.  These will receive greater condemnation."  And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites.  So He said, "Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had."

  Then, as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and donations, He said, "These things which you see -- the days will come in which not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."  So they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, but when will these things be?  And what sign will there be when these things are about to take place?"  And He said:  "Take heed that you not be deceived.  For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am He,' and, 'The time has drawn near.'  Therefore do not go after them.  But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately."   Christ speaks of the destruction of the temple, which would happen in AD 70.   The fulfillment of His prophecy would come at the time of the Siege of Jerusalem, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  The destruction of the temple is linked with 'end times.'  There is no precise chronology that can determine exactly when that will happen, although it is spoken of in a variety of ways throughout Scripture:  see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, and the Book of Revelation.  Christ's admonition is not to listen to those who proclaim His Return, but to endure, and do not be terrified.   He repeatedly warns not to follow false Christs.  The Gospel speaks to the absolute splendor of the temple at Jerusalem, which had quite recently (by Herod the Great, father of Herod Antipas) been rebuilt and added to.  It was known as one of the great wonders of the world, renown not only for its beauty but for its scope of building and conception.  It was the crown jewel of building projects of the man also known as Herod the Builder, his most magnificent structure.

Then He said to them, "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.  And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven."  In the earlier verses, we clearly read a warning about what is to come in Jerusalem.  But Jesus extends His talk of end times to the wars that will come as part of the age.  These are not signs of the imminent end, but rather characteristics of the age, before the "end." These are things they and we are to endure, for as He says in the previous verse, the end will not come immediately.

"But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons.  You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake.  But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death.  And you will be hated by all for My name's sake.  But not a hair of your head shall be lost.  By your patience possess your souls."  Here is the great depth of Jesus' teaching on the time before the end time.  His followers will go through persecutions.  But the real essence of His word to us is that it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony.  He gives specific instruction:  settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer.   We are to rely on Him:  I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  And the message here is one of pain, a depth of betrayal even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends.  What a warning it is, and what prophecy:  you will be hated by all for My name's sake.   The message here is not invincibility in some worldly personal sense; He warns that some will be put to death.  But it is in patience that we endure and possess our souls.  This is the heart of His faith in us.

What Christ does here in this teaching about the end, or perhaps we should say, the times before the end, is give us a way of seeing ourselves through them as those who fill an important function.  Persecution offers opportunity for testimony.  This is not something to think about and ponder and meditate in advance.  It is something that offers an opportunity for the work of God in us and through us.  It is an opportunity to rely fully on God's help, strength, work, and testimony.  What Jesus teaches about testimony is akin to the teaching of St. Paul on prayer:  that it is God who works in us (". . . the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession . . . " - Romans 8:26-27).  Christ as the Word, God the Son, says, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom . . .."  In the depth of tragedy, events that are terrifying, and persecutions even to the death and with the worst sorts of betrayal, there is opportunity for what is good.  There is opportunity for testimony, for the work of God the light that comes into the world and shines in the darkness, even if the darkness does not comprehend it -- and neither can it overcome (John 1:5).   Our endurance, patience, and possession of our souls is the primary thing He emphasizes.  We should not let fear nor terror get in the way of understanding that there is a mission to be part of, something in which we participate at all times -- and maybe most vividly when under duress.  We don't really know the work of God in testimony.  We never know who it effects or how.  We don't know all the spiritual workings of the Word.  But it is important to know that the Greek word martyr means "witness."  Witnessing is not necessarily about making conversion, particularly in the immediate sense.  Jesus does not say here that the kings and rulers before whom His followers will be taken are going to be converted to faith in Him and His gospel message.  He does not say that adversaries will all experience conversion or change their minds.   What He does promise is that adversaries will neither have the power to fully oppose nor contradict the word He gives.  In effect this is a promise that His word is true, and will remain, and we by our patience will possess our souls in that truth.  It is in this sense of the salvation of the soul that not a hair of your head will be lost.  Testimony involves a synergy of God's work through us, with us.  In taking in Jesus' words we should understand that the work of God is as He spoke about the Spirit:   "The wind blows where it wishes. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit" (John 3:8).  And so it is with testimony.  We don't know how it's going to work, on what levels even prayer works within us and among us and in our world.  What we are to understand is that we are all connected in a great Body, a communion of saints, and that testimony is important work for our own souls and for that communion in which we all participate by faith.  And -- most importantly -- that even the worst of circumstances becomes by the work of God in us an opportunity for this most important good in the world, this most important act of light coming into the world, even through our own testimony.  He bears us as lights in the world for His light, even in the greatest and grimmest darkness.  Let us ponder such a great mystery, even as Jesus is going to His Passion.