NOTES for Luk 21:25-38
Against the background of the terrible events of the apocalypse, when “people will faint with fear,” amid wars and darkness, Christ's words sound paradoxical and astonishing: “Then stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” This is precisely the dimension that has always been missing from every recent prediction about the end of the world. Nothing good was expected from it, and certainly no one expected it to be an encounter with Christ. Yet this is a pressing question, and it is no accident that these words are addressed to everyone: “This generation will not pass away until all has taken place.” However the history of the earth as a whole unfolds, each of us has a personal end of the world ahead, when history will continue on its course without us. What matters most here is to remember that meeting God is joy and deliverance, including deliverance from fear.