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

 

 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 Jesus said to religious leaders in the temple, "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."  We have to imagine how extraordinary the beautiful and magnificent temple was at Christ's time.  It had been refurbished and expanded under the rule of Herod the Great (the father of Herod Antipas).  Herod the Great was also known as Herod the Builder, and the temple was his most ambitious project.  In its time it was known as one of the wonders of the world, not only for its grandeur but also the architectural beauty employed to adorn it.  Jesus' prophecy, "not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down," would manifest within a generation.  To be specific, in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  It was rumored that there was gold between the stones, and although the plans for the Siege of Jerusalem specifically excluded an assault on the temple, a fire began and eventually the temple was entirely destroyed and sacked.  Only one retaining wall remained, today called the Western Wall.

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."  My study bible comments that the Scriptures describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7-12; Mark 13; Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10; the Book of Revelation; and this entire chapter of Luke).  Christ's repeated emphasis is on watchfulness and the practice of virtue, as opposed to constructing timetables of things that have not yet happened.  Here Jesus' first warning is about following false prophets, those who will claim to speak in His name.  Secondly He warns against fear, even midst rumors of wars, and other violent calamities.  But first He warns them that persecutions are coming.  The emphasis here, however, is that persecution becomes an occasion for testimony.  And here Jesus begins to give instructions under these extremely difficult circumstances.  There is a sense of complete reliance upon God, just as when He sent out the Seventy, and told them they would be as lambs among wolves (Luke 10:3).  But it is Christ who will give those under persecution "a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist."  This is "a mouth and wisdom" such as Jesus has been displaying throughout His time in Jerusalem during this Holy Week as He disputed with the religious leaders in the temple.  And yet, the promise is for persecution, betrayal even by one's closest family members, and being hated by all for My name's sake.  What then can He means when He says that "not a hair of your head shall be lost"?  Here is the answer:  "By your patience possess your souls."  

Often today we seem to be drawn into the idea that if God truly favors us, if our faith is on the right track, we will be validated in some sense by success, by things going our way in the world.  But we have to stop and pause when we read these words of Jesus, and consider that, in fact, His promise does the very opposite.  He's saying that what is in store for His followers is persecution.  And not only is it simply persecution  because of His name and their faith in Him, it is so much more than that.  He describes it all here in vivid detail:  betrayal even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends;  some put to death; and hated by all for His name's sake.  That is not success, applause, and all the rewards in the world one can get.  Moreover, persecution -- even being delivered up to authorities and to prison -- is an opportunity for testimony.  And here is a great sense of what is important in Christ's view that should put us all at attention.  Testimony is a cherished opportunity, a place that is exalted in His view expressed here.  We are to be entirely dependent upon God (again, just like the disciples when they were sent out on their first missions).  We don't need to meditate beforehand on what we will say; it is He who will give us a mouth and wisdom with which to testify, which our adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist.  Imagine that in this world in which so many seek to be validated through worldly success our greatest opportunity is instead an occasion to testify, and that under persecution.  How do we reconcile these points of view?  I find that in thinking in a worldly sense, that of the person who will childishly demand some sort of "proof" of the wisdom of our faith, we lose all sense of what is actually of great importance to Christ, at least as is reported here in the Gospel.  We can spend lots of time debating how these seemingly anomalous attitudes evolved in Christianity, but that is a long and complex history, I fear, that isn't all-that-easily sorted out as many people think.  What we can say for certain is the unmistakable emphasis that Jesus gives here that it's not really our social status or standing in the society that matters most, when all things are considered.  Neither is it even our good standing in the eyes of our neighbors, or even relations with our closest friends and family members.  Even the worst of persecutions -- the possibility of being put to death -- do not amount to a higher importance than the blessed opportunity Jesus speaks of here:  that of offering testimony, of expressing not necessarily the dogmatic assertions of theology in their loftiest forms nor even the most learned defense afforded by higher education, but of a humility that relies instead fully on Christ and therefore on faith.  It is at this moment of a great test that Christ finds our best opportunity that He speaks of here.  And we should not forget that.  It doesn't matter whether or not we are under formal persecution, or life offers us great wealth with which to endow or help our faith and its expression in the world.  If we are blessed to live in peacetime, and not within the chaos and persecutions and wars that Christ speaks of here, we still should not forget His words.   Because it is my belief that persecutions and betrayals might come to us in all sorts of forms, and opportunities for testimony do not simply come at times of formal persecution by state authorities.  There may be times when we have to choose between friends, even relationships with relatives.  We might have to consider giving up a job or even changing a career, because times come to us even in the most personal of ways that will ask for our testimony.  We may even have to testify by "voting with our feet," so to speak, and walking away from something that seems good but which conflicts in that place where the deepest convictions of our soul rest, where it is Christ who gives us a mouth and wisdom with which to speak, one way and another.  No, it really doesn't matter whether or not we can see around us the nominal signs which Christ speaks of here, because there will always be persecutions of faith, and wars seen and unseen, even an inexplicable hatred which we may incur simply for His name's sake.  In times of seeming peace we should not be surprised if there are occasions for testimony afforded by circumstances in our lives, simply because we have faith in Christ even if only openly expressed in a place deep in our hearts.  One way and another we must keep in mind what He teaches, even if it comes in forms we don't easily recognize and that are all too personal.  Let us always recall what He says is most important, including the humility in those times when we are simply to rely upon Him, without great preparation in advance, for our response to the world.  His greatest desire is that by our patience we possess our souls.