NOTES for Luk 21:1-24

Christ's mysterious words about the end of the world and His second coming have mattered in every age. People have always been torn between a sense that the end is near and the warning that no one knows the time. But it appears that words one writer once said about death also apply to the end of the world: it is not only in the future; it is already at work in the world.

That is why the Gospel prophecies can be addressed to every person, whatever age he lives in. They contain not only a prediction of the final horrors; they are filled with confidence that Jesus will not abandon this world on the threshold of its ruin: "I will be with you, I will give you a word for bearing witness to the faith... fear nothing; not a hair of your head will fall in vain..." So these are words not only about the world's last days, but also about the final, ultimate faithfulness of Jesus to His disciples.

What matters is not how much we give to God and to our neighbors, how much we do, but how we do it, with what feelings. Perhaps this is not always so, and it is better to help some sick grandmother with revulsion than not to help her at all. But how often our help, our good deeds, give nothing and only cause pain, because we act without love.

If we do a little with love, give a little with love, then it will be as though we had given everything. Yes, the widow's mite was all she had to live on. We cannot always allow ourselves to give everything, since often it belongs not only to us but also to our family, for example. But if we give sincerely, help sincerely, with love and not out of a sense of duty, our mite will be no less than the widow's mite.

After all, it is possible, while giving only a little, to give one's whole heart every time. In this way one can give oneself even in a simple phone conversation with a lonely friend.

Today, when the story of the poor widow is told, it is not so much about money as about something far more important, of which money becomes a symbol. Money plays the same role in society that blood plays in the body. It flows and nourishes; it envelops society in a network like the web of vessels in our body; it connects us to one another as blood connects the different members. And so, when we give money, we seem to become donors. What does every donor feel after giving blood? Fatigue and weakness, which may last even a week or longer. Mercy likewise does not leave us without loss of blood. Does the Lord then want all our blood to be taken from us, “all she had to live on”? No. But the giving that leaves you weak, unwell, and facing other unpleasant things is Christianity itself; this is precisely what Nietzsche hated. Why have two half-dead people? Better to have one, but strong. There is such evident logic in this; it is so self-evident. If one forgets the soul... Why does a soul come to earth? Even when the Lord sees that a person is now being created who is destined for a painful lot of illness and poverty, say, when the parents are alcoholics, He sends a soul into that body. He cannot do otherwise, which means that this has meaning for Him. But does the Lord ask the soul whether it wants to enter this body? It cannot be otherwise; in any event, He gives His blessing. And then something takes place between that soul and God. Life is hard for the soul, yet it has its own mission here; it did not arrive here by accident. “Whoever believes in chance does not believe in God.” How can one fail to tremble before this miracle: the union of soul and body for the sake of meaning! How, then, can one refuse to give one’s blood, one’s money... if you are still standing while someone beside you can no longer stand?

On the one hand, the law of Moses commands the giving of a tithe. On the other hand, this widow gives, as Christ says, "all her living," that is, much more!

This is when we become true disciples of Christ: not when we count how many days remain until the end of Great Lent, but when we want to abide in it every day; not when we are true disciples of God by arriving at the service without being late and leaving no earlier than the dismissal, but when we want to come long before it begins, into the half-darkness of an empty church, and after the service want to stay longer and pray, pray, pray, when only truly urgent matters force us to leave the church. We are not Christ's disciples when we walk with a person as far as he asks, but when we are ready to walk twice as far: "and if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well; and if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles" Matthew 5:40-41).

"But what is this abundance for?" someone may ask. It is for one simple reason: because God "gives the Spirit without measure" (John 3:34). If the Lord pours out His love without measure, why should we be miserly when everything we have is from Him?

What Jesus says in this passage cannot fail to horrify His listeners. Terrible pictures of persecutions, deaths, and diseases that humanity will have to endure are supplied with such details that there is no room to doubt that what stands before us is not a figurative parable, but a description of reality. And therefore Christ gives us comforting words that help us overcome paralyzing fear: "I will give you a mouth and wisdom."

The Lord calls us to the impossible. On the one hand, He invites us to remember every minute that at any moment everything we build on earth can collapse. But at the same time He opens before us the road of complete trust in God, the path of confidence that every hair on our head has been counted by Him. And the path of Christian life runs between these seemingly opposite positions in life.

In today's Gospel reading, the Lord speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem. On the one hand, Christ's predictions were fully realized in AD 70, when Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed by the Romans. On the other hand, in every age we see in the world around us the fulfillment of what the Lord describes: nation rises against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there are earthquakes, famines, and other terrifying events. All this prevents us from limiting His prophecy to the events of the year 70. One way or another, the ruin and destruction of which the Lord speaks are an image of the fate of a world that does not accept Christ. In this connection, it is important for us to notice that the Lord gives us the hope of salvation precisely within this terrifying prospect. Knowing everything that is to happen and revealing it to His disciples, He says: “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” Christ calls us not to fear, but to put our trust in God in the very midst of the catastrophes we witness.

The combined Gospel reading read today includes three passages from chapter 21 of the Gospel of Luke, in which the Lord speaks about the destruction of Jerusalem. On the one hand, Christ's predictions were fulfilled in full in AD 70, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans. On the other hand, in the reality around us in any age we see the fulfillment of what the Lord says: nation rises against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there are earthquakes and famine and other terrible events.

All this does not allow His prophecy to be referred only to the events of the year 70. One way or another, the death and destruction of which the Lord speaks are an image of the fate of the world that does not accept Christ.

In connection with this, it is important for us to notice that the hope of salvation is given to us by the Lord precisely in this terrifying prospect. Knowing everything that is happening and revealing it to the disciples, He says: by your endurance save your souls. Christ calls us not to be afraid, but to place our hope in God precisely amid the catastrophes of which we are witnesses.

Speaking about the end times and about His second coming, the Lord directs the apostles' attention, and therefore ours as well, mainly not to natural catastrophes, and not even to wars, but to what will happen personally to us. The Lord says that He will come a second time to each of us personally, Himself, and at the same time to all, to the Church. And before this, catastrophes will not simply happen in the world in general; we will be persecuted. Personally, each of us may be persecuted, and each will thereby bear witness to Christ.

We often say that Christ has already become incarnate and has already come to earth, forgetting that we are those who wait: we await His second coming, which will transform us and this world. Even when we see the horrors now taking place in the world, we can see in them signs of the Lord's approach and not fear suffering, but sing: "Come, Lord," Maranatha!

The Lord says that those who confess His teaching will face hard trials. Christians will have hands laid on them, they will be brought to trial in the synagogue, thrown into prisons, persecuted... From an ordinary everyday point of view, this means Jesus' complete failure as a preacher. If His followers are facing such trials, is there any point in believing Him?

The answer the Savior gives does not fit within the framework of familiar logic, because Christ thinks on the scale of eternity. His words, "...this will be your opportunity to bear witness," mean that in these difficult situations His followers will be able to bear full witness to Him. For God Himself took humiliation and pain upon Himself not in order to abolish them, but in order to sanctify them. Many holy martyrs in the history of the Church revealed the light of Christ in their sufferings and in this way became His true witnesses.

When we face danger, we want to hide and run away, but these words of the Gospel call us to the exact opposite: despite our smallness and helplessness, to carry Christ in this suffering.

There is hardly a Christian on earth who has not thought about witness, either his own witness or witness in general. And persecutions for the faith are also familiar to many. It would seem that there is nothing unusual in this: history knows many martyrs for an idea who were persecuted for refusing to renounce their convictions. It can seem that Christians are no exception here: they were persecuted for their religious convictions just like many others. But is this really so?

At first glance, there really are no fundamental differences. Except, however, for one thing: Jesus, as is evident, commanded each faithful person not to think about what he would say when he had to answer before his persecutors. And this can seem truly strange: after all, the matter concerns the most important thing, the confession of one's faith, and here, as it can seem, the Savior calls us to let everything take its own course!

But it turns out that the matter is completely different: Jesus simply calls us in a critical situation to give Him the opportunity to act. He Himself will speak through us, and all that remains for us is not to hinder Him. Not to hinder Him with our fears, our self-confidence, or our self-admiration. And then He will say through us everything that must be said, but that we could never have said without His help.

This phrase was spoken by Jesus as part of His prophecy about coming disasters and persecutions, and it is precisely in this context that it should be considered. Moreover, the point is not the patience of any people in any difficult situations, but specifically Christians during persecutions. This does not mean that we should look with Olympian calm at injustices or violence happening next to us; Jesus Himself intervened in such cases, and rather promptly.

But when persecutions are being "unfolded" against us, then He calls us not to be impatient. He grounds this in trust that God holds our life in His hands, and therefore we can refrain from rushing our own reaction and allow Him to act.

Someone said that in a critical situation we have two options: reaction and response. Reaction is what arises immediately; it comes from ourselves, "from the flesh." Response is where we have stopped our first reaction, endured it, and allowed God, who never acts without our permission, to enter into action. It is no accident that in the preceding phrases Jesus says that we should not prepare or train our reaction in advance, but should trust that God Himself will give His answer. When by such patience we stop ourselves, God enters our life, and He accomplishes our salvation.

In today's passage the Lord tells His disciples that in the future their life may change very sharply. Now everything is familiar to them: there is Jerusalem, there is the Temple, their beloved Teacher is near, and nothing is required of them except to follow Him. But Christ reveals to them that He Himself is going to His death, that the Temple will be destroyed, Jerusalem laid waste, and the disciples will face persecution, hatred, and betrayal.

To one degree or another, these words apply to each of us. The Lord calls us to keep watch, because we do not know when the ground will give way beneath our feet, when a time of testing will come. And here He gives us very important commandments about how to stand, how to survive, and how to win in this battle of good and evil. First, "do not be afraid and do not be terrified" - the Lord will not abandon His disciples. He will give them words for witness and wisdom that the world will not be able to withstand. The disciples are threatened with persecution and death, yet paradoxically "not a hair of your head will perish." Even the sufferings to come will be filled with meaning and will contribute to Christ's victory. Second, "by your endurance save your souls" - in trials they will need steadfastness. Third, "lift up your heads; your redemption is drawing near" - victory will inevitably belong to Christ, and therefore the final trials will be permeated for them with the joy of that victory. And finally, "keep watch; watch yourselves" - so that at the necessary moment they will not be unready and helpless, will not give in to panic, and will meet the coming Lord with a joyful heart.

We so want to know exactly when the events indicated will take place, and for two thousand years people have been puzzling over the dates of coming catastrophes, even though the Lord clearly warned us not to do this. In speculation about times and dates there is a substitution, when our attention is diverted from how we live before the end comes to the search for the date of the end. And yet what follows from His words is that it is far more important to be ready at every moment, which means that at every moment we should live worthily before the face of the Lord.

Among the hardest sayings of Christ in the Gospel are those in which He reveals that the time He indicates is near. But twenty centuries have passed, and the world still lies in evil. Was He speaking about the coming destruction of Jerusalem, and not about a global judgment at all?

There is reason to say that He was indeed prophesying about events of the coming decades, but like the Old Testament prophets, through the images of the catastrophes His listeners were to witness, He was also revealing the meaning of other events. By earthly measures these events are far from the "present moment," but on the scale of eternity they are near. Therefore it is not worth guessing how much earthly time the rule of evil in the world will last, even if it lasts for a very long time. The sentence on evil has already been passed, and it is doomed to disappear.

The terrible picture of Jerusalem's destruction is revealed in this passage in all its fullness. As the details accumulate, they become ever more horrifying. The climax is the death of people from “fear and foreboding of what is coming” alone. What could be more terrible? It is precisely at that moment that the Savior comes, and with Him everything takes on a new meaning.

No one among us knows when Christ's second coming will occur. But many people have lived through a moment when the darkness became so dense that not even a tiny gleam of light remained. It is often at just such a time that the Lord visits us and reveals His power to us. Therefore, when we encounter trials, we must not only suffer and grieve, but also try to see God behind them.

The Lord points the Sadducees and scribes to the foundation for faith in the resurrection in the Book of Exodus: when God reveals Himself to Moses, He speaks not simply of the "continuity of tradition" from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but of the fact that faith, a person's bond with God, becomes the pledge of that person's eternal life. The idea of the soul's eternal existence in a spiritual world is foreign to Scripture; the continuation of life after death means bodily resurrection from the dead. This means that all who have ever found faith in God are alive, for He is not the God of the dead, but of the living.

This fully applies to us as well. Do we realize that eternal life has already begun, that there will be no other life, and therefore everything we do now, we do in eternal life? It is very important to begin living "for real" not beyond the grave, but here, today. This is exactly what the Lord called "repentance" - a change in our attitude toward life, toward the world, toward ourselves, and toward God. Life begins in the context of eternity...