The 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, November 13, 2022

Luke 21, 5–19

While some people were speaking about how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings, Jesus said, “All that you see here— the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.  Then they asked him, “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” He answered, “See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them! When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.  Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.  Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”

“All that you see here — the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”  This prophecy uttered by the Lord came as a great shock to the Apostles because this rebuilt Temple was supposed to stand until the Messiah came to restore the kingdom of Israel.  It went completely against what the Pharisees had taught them to expect.  And if the Temple was destroyed, Jerusalem would be sacked and the armies of Israel wiped out.  It was unthinkable.  And since they believed Jesus to be, at least, the promised Messiah, they banked on his words to be rock solid.  But how could he be the Messiah of Jerusalem and the Temple were going to be destroyed?  “Teacher, when will this happen? And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?”. Their questions came in a panic, in a daze.  In asking them, they are stalling for time to understand what Jesus had told them.  They ask in order for him to rephrase his prophesy, to make it more conformable with what they had always believed.

“See that you not be deceived, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ Do not follow them!”  These words could not have helped the Apostles at the time but they were of great benefit to them later and to us today, for down through the ages individuals and movements have proclaimed that they are God or that the end has come.  Some individuals have been very specific about the time.  But anyone claiming to be God or that the end of the world is to end at a certain time is not to be believed.  “When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for such things must happen first, but it will not immediately be the end.”  First, he tells them what is not a sign of the end.  Wars and insurrections are inevitable in a fallen world such as ours, and will continue until its end.  “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues from place to place; and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”  This verse is often read as providing signs of the end times, but it is linked to the foregoing verse that this “will not immediately be the end”.   “Before all this happens, however, they will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name.”  The Lord warns his Apostles first of the destruction of the Temple, he has already warned them about his coming Passion and Death, and now he warns them that they themselves, instead of sitting in earthly thrones around him, will be persecuted.  He tells them, though that this has a purpose: “It will lead to your giving testimony.”  Since the Lord has not yet given them the commandment to go forth to all the world to preach the Gospel, they would not have understood this at the time.  “Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”  The Lord speaks of himself as though he will still be present to them at the time of their arrest and trials.  He promises to give them wisdom, as though he himself would defend them.

“You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death.”  The Apostles must have been frozen by his words, afraid to move or even swallow.  They could hardly believe their ears.  He had spoken hard words before, but nothing like this.  They had expected all along to march in triumph against the Romans and here he was telling them that they would be handed over by their own kin.

“You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”  Already the Pharisees hated them and regarded them as dupes.  They hated even the crowds that listened to him: “But this multitude, that knows not the law, are accursed” (John 7, 49).  But the idea of being hated by everyone for believing in the Lord must have rattled them even further.  The Lord promises that not a hair of their heads will be “destroyed”, but he has already said that some of them would be put to death.  He is speaking now of their immortal souls, for “by your perseverance you will secure your lives.”  By their remaining faithful to him unto death, they will secure their lives to his life, and they shall live forever, reigning in a kingdom greater than they could have imagined.