1 And he looked up and saw the rich casting their gifts into the treasury;
2 but he saw also a certain poor widow casting therein two mites.
3 And he said, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow has cast in more than all;
4 for all these out of their abundance have cast into the gifts [of God]; but she out of her need has cast in all the living which she had.
5 And as some spoke of the temple, that it was adorned with goodly stones and consecrated offerings, he said,
6 [As to] these things which ye are beholding, days are coming in which there shall not be left stone upon stone which shall not be thrown down.
7 And they asked him saying, Teacher, when then shall these things be; and what [is] the sign when these things are going to take place?
8 And he said, See that ye be not led astray, for many shall come in my name, saying, *I* am [he], and the time is drawn nigh: go ye not [therefore] after them.
9 And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end is not immediately.
10 Then he said to them, Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
11 there shall be both great earthquakes in different places, and famines and pestilences; and there shall be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.
12 But before all these things they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering [you] up to synagogues and prisons, bringing [you] before kings and governors on account of my name;
13 but it shall turn out to you for a testimony.
14 Settle therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand [your] defence,
15 for *I* will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your opposers shall not be able to reply to or resist.
16 But ye will be delivered up even by parents and brethren and relations and friends, and they shall put to death [some] from among you,
17 and ye will be hated of all for my name's sake.
18 And a hair of your head shall in no wise perish.
19 By your patient endurance gain your souls.
20 But when ye see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then know that its desolation is drawn nigh.
21 Then let those who are in Judaea flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of it depart out, and those who are in the country not enter into it;
22 for these are days of avenging, that all the things that are written may be accomplished.
23 But woe to them that are with child and to them who give suck in those days, for there shall be great distress upon the land and wrath upon this people.
24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of [the] nations until [the] times of [the] nations be fulfilled.
25 And there shall be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity [at] the roar of the sea and rolling waves,
26 men ready to die through fear and expectation of what is coming on the habitable earth, for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.
27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 But when these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws nigh.
29 And he spoke a parable to them: Behold the fig-tree and all the trees;
30 when they already sprout, ye know of your own selves, [on] looking [at them], that already the summer is near.
31 So also *ye*, when ye see these things take place, know that the kingdom of God is near.
32 Verily I say unto you, that this generation shall in no wise pass away until all come to pass.
33 The heaven and the earth shall pass away, but my words shall in no wise pass away.
34 But take heed to yourselves lest possibly your hearts be laden with surfeiting and drinking and cares of life, and that day come upon you suddenly unawares;
35 for as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell upon the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch therefore, praying at every season, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things which are about to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
37 And by day he was teaching in the temple, and by night, going out, he remained abroad on the mountain called [the mount] of Olives;
38 and all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Luke 21
Commentary on Luke 21 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 21
Lu 21:1-4. The Widow's Two Mites.
1. looked up—He had "sat down over against the treasury" (Mr 12:41), probably to rest, for He had continued long standing as he taught in the temple court (Mr 11:27), and "looking up He saw"—as in Zaccheus' case, not quite casually.
the rich, &c.—"the people," says Mr 12:41 "cast money into the treasury, and many rich east in much"; that is, into chests deposited in one of the courts of the temple to receive the offerings of the people towards its maintenance (2Ki 12:9; Joh 8:20).
2. two mites—"which make a farthing" (Mr 12:42), the smallest Jewish coin. "She might have kept one" [Bengel].
3. And he said—"to His disciples," whom He "called to Him" (Mr 12:43), to teach from it a great future lesson.
more than … all—in proportion to her means, which is God's standard (2Co 8:12).
4. of their abundance—their superfluity; what they had to spare," or beyond what they needed.
of her penury—or "want" (Mr 12:44)—her deficiency, of what was less than her own wants required, "all the living she had." Mark (Mr 12:44) still more emphatically, "all that she had—her whole subsistence." Note: (1) As temple offerings are needed still for the service of Christ at home and abroad, so "looking down" now, as then "up," Me "sees" who "cast in," and how much. (2) Christ's standard of commendable offering is not our superfluity, but our deficiency—not what will never be missed, but what costs us some real sacrifice, and just in proportion to the relative amount of that sacrifice. (See 2Co 8:1-3.)
Lu 21:5-38. Christ's Prophecy of the Destruction of Jerusalem and Warnings to Prepare for His Second Coming, Suggested by It—His Days and Nights during His Last Week.
5-7. (See on Mt 24:1-3.)
8. the time—of the Kingdom, in its full glory.
go … not … after them—"I come not so very soon" (2Th 2:1, 2) [Stier].
9-11. not terrified—(See Lu 21:19; Isa 8:11-14).
end not by and by—or immediately, not yet (Mt 24:6; Mr 13:7): that is, "Worse must come before all is over."
10. Nation, &c.—Matthew and Mark (Mt 24:8; Mr 13:8) add, "All these are the beginning of sorrows," or travail pangs, to which heavy calamities are compared (Jer 4:31, &c.).
12. brought before, &c.—The book of Acts verifies all this.
13. for a testimony—an opportunity of bearing testimony.
18. not a hair … perish—He had just said (Lu 21:16) they should be put to death; showing that this precious promise is far above immunity from mere bodily harm, and furnishing a key to the right interpretation of the ninety-first Psalm, and such like. Matthew adds the following (Mt 24:12): "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many," the many or, the most—the generality of professed disciples—"shall wax cold." But he that endureth to the end shall be saved. Sad illustrations of the effect of abounding iniquity in cooling the love of faithful disciples we have in the Epistle of James, written about this period referred to, and too frequently ever since (Heb 10:38, 39; Re 2:10). "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness, and then shall the end come" (Mt 24:14). God never sends judgment without previous warning; and there can be no doubt that the Jews, already dispersed over most known countries, had nearly all heard the Gospel "as a witness," before the end of the Jewish state. The same principle was repeated and will repeat itself to the end.
20, 21. by armies—encamped armies, that is, besieged: "the abomination of desolation" (meaning the Roman ensigns, as the symbols of an idolatrous, pagan, unclean power) "spoken of by Daniel the prophet" (Da 9:27) "standing where it ought not" (Mr 13:14). "Whoso readeth [that prophecy] let him understand" (Mt 24:15).
Then … flee, &c.—Eusebius says the Christians fled to Pella, at the north extremity of Perea, being "prophetically directed"; perhaps by some prophetic intimation still more explicit than this, which still would be their chart.
23. woe unto—"alas for."
with child, &c.—from the greater suffering it would involve; as also "flight in winter, and on the sabbath," which they were to "pray" against (Mt 24:20), the one as more trying to the body, the other to the soul. "For then shall be tribulation such as was not since the beginning of the world, nor ever shall be"—language not unusual in the Old Testament for tremendous calamities, though of this it may perhaps be literally said, "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Mt 24:21, 22). But for this merciful "shortening," brought about by a remarkable concurrence of causes, the whole nation would have perished, in which there yet remained a remnant to be afterwards gathered out. Here in Matthew and Mark (Mt 24:24; Mr 13:22) are some particulars about "false Christs," who should, "if possible"—a precious clause—"deceive the very elect." (Compare 2Th 2:9-11; Re 13:13.)
24. Jerusalem … trodden down … until, &c.—Implying (1) that one day Jerusalem shall cease to be "trodden down by the Gentiles" (Re 11:2), as then by pagan so now by Mohammedan unbelievers; (2) that this shall be at the "completion" of "the times of the Gentiles," which from Ro 11:25 (taken from this) we conclude to mean till the Gentiles have had their full time of that place in the Church which the Jews in their time had before them—after which, the Jews being again "grafted into their own olive tree," one Church of Jew and Gentile together shall fill the earth (Ro 11:1-36). What a vista this opens up!
25-28. signs, &c.—Though the grandeur of this language carries the mind over the head of all periods but that of Christ's second coming, nearly every expression will be found used of the Lord's coming in terrible national judgments, as of Babylon, &c.; and from Lu 21:28, 32, it seems undeniable that its immediate reference was to the destruction of Jerusalem, though its ultimate reference beyond doubt is to Christ's final coming.
28. redemption—from the oppression of ecclesiastical despotism and legal bondage by the total subversion of the Jewish state and the firm establishment of the evangelical kingdom (Lu 21:31). But the words are of far wider and more precious import. Matthew (Mt 24:30) says, "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven," evidently something distinct from Himself, mentioned immediately after. What this was intended to mean, interpreters are not agreed. But as before Christ came to destroy Jerusalem, some appalling portents were seen in the air, so before His personal appearing it is likely that something analogous will be witnessed, though of what nature it is vain to conjecture.
32. This generation—not "this nation," as some interpret it, which, though admissible in itself, seems very unnatural here. It is rather as in Lu 9:27.
34-37. surfeiting, and drunkenness—All animal excesses, quenching spirituality.
cares of this life—(See on Mr 4:7; Mr 4:19).
36. Watch … pray, &c.—the two great duties which in prospect of trial are constantly enjoined. These warnings, suggested by the need of preparedness for the tremendous calamities approaching, and the total wreck of the existing state of things, are the general improvement of the whole discourse, carrying the mind forward to Judgment and Vengeance of another kind and on a grander and more awful scale—not ecclesiastical or political but personal, not temporal but eternal—when all safety and blessedness will be found to lie in being able to "STAND BEFORE THE Son of Man" in the glory of His personal appearing.
37, 38. in the daytime—of this His last week.
abode in the mount—that is, at Bethany (Mt 21:17).