NOTES for Luk 21:5-11

What Jesus says in this passage cannot fail to horrify His listeners. The terrible scenes of persecution, death, and disease that humanity will have to endure are described in such detail that there can be no doubt that what lies before us is not a figurative parable but a description of reality. Christ therefore gives us words of comfort 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 asks us to remember every minute that everything we build on earth may collapse at any moment. At the same time, however, He opens before us a path of complete trust in God, a path of confidence that every hair on our head has been counted by Him. The path of Christian life lies between these two seemingly opposite attitudes toward life.