Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. … you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls. (Luke 21:14–19; NKJV)

Luke 21 brings us to one of the many challenging passages in the Gospels. This is Luke’s account of the Olivet Discourse, where He answers the disciples’ questions about the future destruction of Jerusalem and His Second Coming.

For over two thousand years, from the moment Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem, His followers have wondered about these things. And from at least as early as the second century, there have been multiple views about when these promises did or will come to pass.

The questions of when and what these mean are important questions worth wrestling with. And it is encouraging to notice that Jesus could have dismissed His disciples’ questions, but He did not. Instead, He answered them with some detail.

But when we take a step back and place this passage in the larger context of Luke’s narrative, we find that, even here, Jesus’ heart burns with longing to see His disciples wholeheartedly devoted to living out their faith by fulling trusting Him and sharing their eternal hope with our lost world.

Luke places this encounter immediately after Jesus’ condemnation of the Jewish leadership and commendation of the widows’ sacrificial giving. This carries forward Jesus’ way of leadership—not lording it over those under the leader’s care, but sacrificially giving oneself to serving others according to the plans and purposes of God (c.f., Luke 22:24–27).

Sacrificial serving is exactly opposite of the ways of the world. How often do we see those in leadership—politicians, CEO’s, department heads, spiritual leaders, etc.—growing their brand by demanding more from those under their care? And how often do we see those same leaders giving to the extent that it significantly impacts their livelihood?

But Jesus’ followers are to lead by giving more of themselves, not taking more from others. This does not mean we shy away from answering falsehoods and we honor the ungodly whims of the wayward and lost. It means that we prayerfully and lovingly give our best to honoring God and others with our time, talents, and treasures through grace-and-truth-filled words and actions.

How do we do this? Jesus reveals the answer is twofold. On God’s part, He leads, sustains, and carries us forward through inner working of the Holy Spirit in even the most dire circumstances (Luke 21:15–18). Life will not always be pleasant; in fact, it will involve quite a lot of suffering, even potentially unto physical death (c.f., Mark 20:28–30: 1 Pet 4:12–16). But God has promised us eternity, and though we die, yet we will not be lost (Luke 21:18).

On our part, Jesus tells us that our response is to “take heed” (vv. 8, 34), “watch” (v. 36), and “pray” (v. 36) with the goal that we “possess [our] souls” (v. 19). The basic idea here is clear. We are not to be deceived by the world, but remain faithful to our Lord by seeing clearly through eyes enlightened by faith and living empowered through the Spirit as witnesses of Jesus in our hopeless world.

Reader—if you have placed your trust in Jesus Christ, then God has already given you the sure promise of eternity with Him (John 20:30–31)! You are now are His beloved child (John 1:12–13), born of the Spirit (John 3:8), reconciled eternally to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son (2 Cor 5:17–18). The blood of Jesus has washed away your sins once-for-all (Heb 10:10) and God remembers them no more (Ps 103:12n Jer 31:34; Heb 8:12). Now, Jesus is tenderly calling you to walk alongside Him by receiving His sanctifying work in your soul and yielding your life to Him (Rom 2:4; 12:1; Gal 5:16–18).

Christian—our Lord welcomes your prayers, questions, and study about His plans and purposes throughout the course of history. If it were not so, then He would not have told us about such things. But do not let your heart be troubled about the future, or about the suffering this side of heaven that we will surely endure for our Lord. Whatever the future holds, we can rest our hearts securely in our Lord’s promise of residence in eternity with Him (John 14:1–4).