Luke 21:1-19

21:1-4 | How a person gives indicates how much of their heart belongs to God. Although the poor widow gave very little – two mites or lepta, about one-fiftieth of a day’s wage for a common laborer – as a percentage of her income, she gave far more than the rich.

21:5-6 | Unaided by God’s Spirit, people are inclined to focus on the external, being impressed with size, grandeur, or physical beauty. Jesus sees with very different eyes; He recognizes not only the temporary nature of human accomplishments but also God’s estimation of those accomplishments.

21:7 | Herod’s temple gleamed with such splendor and enormity that the disciples wanted to know what sign they could look for as its destruction approached, probably so they could avoid the calamity. Luke does not include the additional question they asked about “the end of the age” (Matt. 24:3), perhaps because that is a typically Jewish question and not one pondered by many Gentiles, his primary audience.

21:8 | Even in Jesus’ day, many would-be messiahs appeared, attracting groups of followers, and then disappeared with the coming of persecution or the passing of time. By including this sign, Jesus was saying that as the time of God’s judgment approached, even more of these false christs would arise, and many people would be deceived (Eph. 5:6; 2 Thess. 2:3; 1 John 4:1).

21:9-10 | Wars and conflicts (commotions) between peoples and nations will escalate. Nations (Grk., ethnos) describes what would be deemed people groups or ethnic communities, while kingdoms refers more to what is commonly recognized as nation-states.

21:11-12 | While Christians will escape the Tribulation itself, they will not escape the hardships that lead up to it, just as they are not exempt from the pain of living in a fallen world.

21:12-15 | God turns hardship and difficulty to good use in His kingdom. When Christians are arrested because of the gospel, they will have the opportunity to testify about Jesus before rulers, governors, kings, and presidents (Phil. 1:12-13). By relying on the Holy Spirit, these faithful believers will be able to speak like Jesus did when He confounded His accusers (Acts 6:10).

21:16-19 | Here is the comfort in these verses: even persecution and martyrdom fall within God’s sovereign control. Persecuted believers should never imagine their dark situation means the devil is winning. While evil may prosper for a while, that time is short – but an eternity of glory with God lasts forever (Matt. 10:21-22; 1 Pet. 1:6-9).