Lukechapter 21
38 verses · BSBLuke book hub →
Speaks with:Mark 13×13Matthew 24×9Luke 12×5Matthew 10×3Mark 12×2John 8×2
Summary
Chapter summary
Widow's two mites. The temple's coming fall; wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, signs in heaven. 'When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.' Fig tree near to summer. Watch ye therefore, and pray always.
Context
Gospel · Luke — Luke overview
- A. 1–4 A Poor Widow Gives All Her Living
- B. 5–19 Not One Stone: Wars, Betrayal, and Testimony
- C. 20–24 Jerusalem Surrounded by Armies
- D. 25–38 Signs in the Heavens; Watch and Pray
The outline
A.A Poor Widow Gives All Her Livingvv. 1 to 4
Read vv. 1 to 4 →B.Not One Stone: Wars, Betrayal, and Testimonyvv. 5 to 19
Read vv. 5 to 19 →C.Jerusalem Surrounded by Armiesvv. 20 to 24
Read vv. 20 to 24 →D.Signs in the Heavens; Watch and Prayvv. 25 to 38
Read vv. 25 to 38 →
The world behind this chapter
Luke 21The history
The widow's two coins were the smallest currency in circulation in Judea. The collection chests stood in the temple court, so the size of a gift was audible as well as visible — which is exactly the contrast Luke draws with the wealthy putting in their gifts.
The admiring remark about the temple mentions its votive offerings as well as its stones. Josephus describes the gifts that hung in the sanctuary, including a great golden vine over the entrance, and the enormous foundation blocks of the platform, some of which are still visible today.
Luke's version of the warning is strikingly concrete about the siege: when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, know that its desolation has come near. Rome did precisely that in AD 70, building a wall of circumvallation around the city, and Josephus, who was present, describes the famine and slaughter that followed.
The instruction to flee to the mountains and not to enter the city assumes the roads were still open early in the conflict, as they were. Eusebius records that the Jerusalem church left for Pella across the Jordan before the siege closed.
The phrase about Jerusalem being trampled by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled has been read in various ways and is worth leaving as the text leaves it — a stated limit, without a date attached.
What it meant to them
For Luke's readers this chapter separated two things they were prone to confuse: the fall of the city, which was near and specific, and the coming of the Son of Man, which was neither.
The instruction in the middle is what they needed most. You will be handed over to synagogues and prisons and brought before kings and governors — and this will be your opportunity to bear witness. That is not survival advice. It is a job description, and the book of Acts is Luke's account of them doing it.
Sources cited
- Flavius Josephus, The Wars of the Jews (Whiston translation)
- Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History
The text of this chapter
This page carries no textual note on Luke 21. Where this site has examined a place the manuscripts differ, the examination is in the manuscripts room. Every place this site examines →
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.