By your patience possess your souls

 

 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 rumors of 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 asked of the scribes, "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."  My study Bible comments that Christ's prophecy of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled in AD 70, when the temple was destroyed by the Romans.  This prophecy is quite literally true, that "not one stone shall be left upon another that shall not be thrown down."  Of the beautiful and splendid temple, an architectural wonder as it existed, only one retaining wall remained, known for centuries as the Wailing Wall (as it was the site of pilgrims' prayers) or 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."  In the places where we have Christ's prophecy of the "end times" reported to us, His greatest emphasis are on warnings against deception, particularly of following a false Christ (Matthew 24:4-5, 11, 23-27).  Here in Luke's Gospel, it is the first thing He tells the disciples, and so we understand the priority of this warning in this prominent place.  

"But when you hear of wars and rumors of 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."  My study Bible comments that the wars refer first and foremost to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem, but also include subsequent wars.  It notes that wars are not a sign of the imminent end, but rather the opposite, that these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.  It's also noted that the Scriptures as a whole describe the end times in a variety of ways, so that no precise chronology can be determined (see Daniel 7 - 12; Mark 13; Matthew 24:3-31; 1 Corinthians 15:51-55; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-10, and also the Book of Revelation).  

"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 on these initial sorrows here, which we know about from the history of the Church and especially the early period of its persecution described here by Jesus.  However, great tribulation is a part of Christ's prophecy, and this period includes the entire Christian era.  Moreover, it is not limited to the final years before Christ's return.  In the past century, we have known genocides which included millions of Christians.  Such persecution (and new threats of genocide) remain ongoing.  And yet, Jesus' emphasis here is not on the suffering, but on how we persist through the suffering:  "By your patience possess your souls."

Jesus' forewarning of suffering and end times continues to be prominent in the minds of many followers of Christ.  But it is particularly important that we understand these things are foretold, and that if we go through any form of persecution or tribulation, it should not deter us from faithfully seeking to know what Christ asks of us.  He says that betrayals and persecutions, being brought into courts and before magistrates and rulers, "will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony."  Moreover, there is a Helper who will be sent to be with us and help to guide us in that testimony:  "I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist."  Christ's followers are even told to "settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer."   It is the occasion for testimony that is important; it is the patience of the faithful that is important, even if we are 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."  In our modern lives, where so much attention is taken up in social media, it may seem quite odd that such things are not of the kind of significance to Jesus as to make a difference to our faith, but rather may offer occasion for the practice of our faith, and for our patience as faithful.  We're often told about family values and of the emphasis on family in our Churches, but here, Jesus is saying these relationships are secondary to the communion of our faith, our participation in Christ's being and truth, even those of parents and brothers, relative and friends.  He puts this in such strong language as to say that "you will be hated by all for My name's sake."   In a world in which we see all forms of social media and other ways we are socially linked to one another used to "cancel" or to harass a person, Jesus takes it all on, even if we are hated by all for His name's sake.  We are told by my study Bible that we live in this continuing ongoing period of what is called the messianic age, in which we await the return of Christ, but continue to feel the effects of the spiritual struggle that frames and forms the background to our understanding of the world.  There are persecutions, violence, wars, betrayals -- and thanks to technology, these may continue to pose risks on a greater and more frightening level than ever.  I listened to a very interesting program on eschatology the other day, in which it was emphasized that this is a period in which Psalm 110 is fulfilled.  Lest we forget, in yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus quoted from the first verse of this Psalm, quizzing the scribes regarding both the divine and human nature of the Messiah.  The second verse reads as follows:  "The Lord shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies!"  Even if we understand that wars, violence, tribulations, and upheavals and calamities of all kinds continue in our world, in Christ's completion of His mission, in His Passion, in His Ascension, He nonetheless has declared His rule over this world ("I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven" - Luke 10:18), and we are those who, in the endurance and patience of living our faith, "work the works of God" and therefore participate in that spiritual battle, doing our part as His servants and laborers as we await the time of His return.  And this is the picture He gives us as He speaks of testimony even in the midst of tribulation, of the patience by which we possess our souls, even if those whom we love betray us, even if all hate us for His name's sake.  We should strive to understand His emphasis on endurance, persistence in our faith, and what that means.  For spiritual battle comes not as some contest against "flesh and blood," but by faith, "against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  We live in this age that Christ taught to His disciples, and we must emphatically play our part, through prayer and worship, through living His commandments, through deepening our faith and understanding, testimony if the proper time is given to us, and patience.