New Testament Commentary - Luke 21

by Don R. Hender

Scriptural Text [& Editorial]	Commentary & Explanation	Footnotes ~ References ~ JST
CHAPTER 21 Jesus foretells the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem—He tells of the signs to precede his Second Coming, and gives the parable of the fig tree.
1 AND he looked up, and saw the ^arich men casting their gifts into the treasury. 2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two ^amites. 3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
5 ¶ And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, 6 As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one ^astone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
7 And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what ^asign will there be when these things shall come to pass? 8 And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. 9 But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.		1^a D&C 128:20; 2^a Mark 9:2 (2-13); Luke 9:29 (28-36); John 1:14; 2 Pet. 1:16 (16-19); TG Jesus Christ, Glory of;
10 Then said he unto them, ^aNation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and ^apestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and ^apersecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name's sake. 13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.
14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to ^ameditate before what ye shall ^banswer: 15 For I will give you a mouth and ^awisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to ^bgainsay nor resist.
16 And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 17 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's ^asake. 18 But there shall not an ^ahair of your head perish^a. 19 In your ^apatience ^bpossess ye your souls^a.	18^a there shall not an hair of your head perish All grow old and bald. This speaks not of mortality but of the resurrection unto immortallity. The hairs of the head of a man are numbered unto the Lord. In the resurrection, which is a free gift unto all men who dwell in this second estate, all things are restore and nothing is lost. Thus as Job has said, that though one does rot in the grave and return to the dust of the earth, yet in the flesh, that of the restoration of the resurrection, all will be returned and nothing lost, not even a hair of the head. 19^a patience possess ye your souls Time is but a fleeting moment of eternity. We need to learn to be patient in the aflictions of this mortality. In that patience and endurance is to be found the reality of the eternal and immortal souls of men. Life does continue on after the death of this mortal frame, and all will ' be restored upon resurrection day, patience, endurance and understanding of such is the key of the matter which possess the reality of the eternal soul of man.
20 And when ye shall see ^aJerusalem compassed with ^barmies, then know that the ^cdesolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the ^acountries enter thereinto. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be ^aled away ^bcaptive into all ^cnations: and Jerusalem shall be ^dtrodden down of the ^eGentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be ^ffulfilled.
25 ¶ ^aAnd there shall be signs in the sun, and in the ^bmoon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts ^afailing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be ^bshaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a ^acloud with power and great glory.
28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your ^aredemption draweth nigh. 29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the ^afig tree, and all the trees; 30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32 Verily I say unto you, This generation ^ashall not pass away, till all be fulfilled^a. 33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.	32^a This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled Now what meaneth this? Certainly that contemporary generation of Christ's mortal ministry is dead and gone and all is not fulfilled. Was the Lord mistaken? NO! But the Lord does speak from an eternal perspective. 'This Generation' is the Generation of the Lord. In an eternal perspective, 'This Generation' began with Jehovah's birth, he being the first born spirit of the Father of this generation. That spirit birth of Jehovah marked the beginning of the ages of time and it marked the beginning of the 'Generation of the Lord'. And that 'Generation of the Lord' does compass the 'time' perspective from His Spirit Birth until the end of times and the final judgement. And thus does Christ who is the same as Jehovah stand from all eternity to all eternity in 'His Generation'. When one considers eternity, time is but marked and carved out of it. Only in respect to a 'Generation of Time', does time take on meaning. Jesus often spoke of 'those whom the Father had given him'. Those who have been 'Given to Jehovah', are all those who were spirit born after him until the final judgement governed by him. This is the eternal perspective. And in this perspective, the 'Generation of Jehovah' will not come and go until 'all has been fulfilled'. Now, while we are but concerned with 'This Generation of the Lord', one need not suppose that in eternity there has not and will not be other such 'Eternal Generations', for God does not cease to be God, and his work and glory is eternal. If that Work and Glory were to have a beginning and an end in that it would stop or was at one time 'NOT', then God would cease to be God. Thus we must consider that from the vast eternal perspective, that there have also been and will continue to be 'Other Eternal Generations' of the sons and daughters of God outside of and exclusive of the 'This Generation of Jehovah'. But it is only as to 'This Generation' that we need concern ourselves with. We are all Christ's, we are of His Generation, the Generation of Jehovah, which stands from his being spirit born, the 'Firstborn' of this Generation, until the end of days, or the end of these particular ages of time which pertain unto Jehovah. Thus when Jesus states that 'This Generation' shall not pass away, until all has been fulfilled', then he is speaking 'outside the box' of mortality and he is speaking of 'His Generation' from 'His Spirit Birth' until the final judgment and end thereof. That 'His Generation' has such a beginning and end is scripturally based, for He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, even the First and the Last of it all. And this is what it means, that Christ's or Jehovah's Generation will not pass away until all is fulfilled. And it does not speak of merely one generation of mortality in terms of mortal birth and death as most all readers become confused in applying it unto such.
34 ¶ And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with ^asurfeiting, and drunkenness, and ^bcares of this life, and so that ^cday come upon you ^dunawares. 35 For as a ^asnare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 ^aWatch ye therefore, and ^bpray always, ^cthat ye may be accounted ^dworthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of ^eman.
37 And in the day time he was ^ateaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. 38 And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.