NOTES for Luk 21:1-24
Christ's mysterious words about the end of the world and His Second Coming have been relevant in every age. People have always been torn between a sense that the end is near and the warning that no one knows its time. Yet the words one writer spoke about death seem applicable to the end of the world: it is not only something that will come in the future; it is already at work in the world. That is why the Gospel prophecies can be addressed to every person, regardless of the age in which he or she lives. 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 destruction: “I will be with you. I will give you words with which to bear witness to the faith... fear nothing—not a hair will fall from your head in vain...” Thus these words concern not only the world's final days, but also Jesus' final and utter faithfulness to His disciples.