And by day he was teaching in the temple, and by night, going out, he remained abroad on the mountain called [the mount] of Olives;
Luke 21 closes by stepping back from the great prophecy to show the shape of Jesus' days in that last week. Why did the Messiah spend His nights on a mountain instead of in Jerusalem, and why does Luke record it at all?
These verses are not another event in the story. They describe a settled pattern that ran through the whole week.
The closing verses are a summary of our Lord's manner or habit at this time. His nights were spent on the Mount of Olivet. By day He taught in the temple, where all the people came early to hear Him. This is what led several copyists to insert the paragraph from John 7:53 to 8:11 here. But there is no real ground for moving it.
The prophecy was finished, but the teaching was not. Luke sums up the rest of the week in one line, then tells us nothing of what was said.
The prophecy was ended, and that day's teaching, as far as Luke's record of it goes, was now concluded. But the Lord's unwearied service still went on… How well this short statement fits the grace that so marks this gospel! The Lord taught daily those who wanted to hear Him. But of anything said to them after what we have read, Luke gives not a word. The Light of the world was soon to be put out of it.
He did not leave the city each evening by choice. He had no home to go to.
In the closing verses of the chapter, Luke reminds us that He who foretold His coming again was still the rejected One. By day during that last week, He diligently spoke the word of God; at night, having no home, He stayed on the Mount of Olives.
Grief did not turn Him inward, and it did not stop His work.
He spoke little of His own sorrows, but much of the sorrows of others. When He saw the city, He wept over it. But He taught in the temple, His feelings perfect, His zeal unbroken, His love unwearied. … The "Hope of Israel" was now like a stranger in the land. He was a traveller who turned aside, so as not to stay in the beloved city even for a night.
One writer sees more in these mountain nights than shelter. He traces them back to what Jesus saw when He looked at the world.
And because He was absolutely perfect as man, He could measure that ruin as no one else could. Through sin, the first man had brought ruin into this world — a world which He created, and which did not know Him. The sight of this ruin led Him not only to suffer, but to pray, yes, to live in prayer, as Luke 6:12 and Luke 21:37 show.
The hill He slept on carries a future. Commentators link it both to His going away and to His coming back.
The Lord still returned to give testimony, walking and working in the day. But His resting-place was that mount. It is the place from which He departed, and where His feet shall stand in that day. Patient in service, He taught daily and early in the temple; at night He was separate from the judged city. His time had now come.
This hill keeps appearing in the gospel record, and always with Him.
It comes into prominence in the New Testament because of the Lord's association with it. He was in the habit of going there: "at night he went out and lodged on the mount" (Luke 21:37; Luke 22:39; John 8:1). The Lord sat on this mount, opposite the temple. From there He spoke to His disciples of the future tribulations and coming judgement (Mark 13:3). It seems He also went up to heaven from a low part of the mount near Bethany (Luke 24:50; Acts 1:12). And He will stand on that mount again when He returns.
- Habit, not incident. These lines sum up the Lord's routine through His last week. It was not a one-off night away.
- Rejected. He taught in the temple by day and had no home to return to by night; the city that heard Him gave Him no bed.
- Unwearied. The rejection did not shorten His service — He wept over the city and kept teaching in it, His zeal unbroken.
- Prayer. The mountain nights belong with Luke 6:12. He measured the ruin sin had brought into the world, and lived in prayer over it.
- Return. Olivet was His resting-place at night. It is the mount He left from, and the mount where His feet will stand again — rejection now, reign later.
and all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.
Luke closes Jesus' public ministry with a routine, not a miracle: teaching in the temple by day, the Mount of Olives by night, crowds at dawn. So why did Israel's Teacher have no bed in the city He taught in, and what became of those early listeners?
Verses 37 and 38 are not a new episode. They sum up how Jesus spent every remaining day before His death. One commentator notes how well that summary fits the tone of this Gospel.
The prophecy was ended, and that day's teaching, as far as Luke's record of it goes, was now concluded. But the Lord kept serving without tiring. In a few closing words the writer describes how He spent that last week of His life on earth... How well this short statement fits the grace that marks this Gospel — the Lord teaching day after day those who wanted to hear Him! But of anything said to them after what we have read, Luke gives not a word. Soon the Light of the world would be put out of it.
This same habit sits behind an old copying question. Some scribes moved the account of the woman caught in adultery to this spot in Luke, because the setting matched.
The closing verses sum up our Lord's habit at this time. He spent His nights on the Mount of Olives, and by day He taught in the temple, where all the people came early to hear Him. This is what led several copyists to insert the paragraph from John 7:53 to 8:11 here. But there is no real ground for moving it.
He taught in Jerusalem but would not sleep there. The mountain He withdrew to each evening is the same one connected with His departure and His promised return.
The Lord still returned to give testimony, walking and working in the day. But His resting-place was that mountain — the place He left from, and the place where His feet shall stand in that day. Patient in service, He taught daily and early in the temple; at night He was separate from the judged city. His time had now come.
The city gave Him no room for the night, yet His grief over it never slowed His work.
He spoke little of His own sorrows, but much of those of others. When He saw the city, He wept over it. Yet He taught in the temple, His feelings perfect, His zeal unbroken, His love never tiring... The "Hope of Israel" was now like a stranger in the land, a traveller who turned aside so as not to stay in the beloved city, even for a night.
The mountain was more than a place to sleep. One writer traces the Lord's prayer life to what He saw of the world's ruin.
Because He was absolutely perfect as man, He could measure as no one else could the extent of the ruin that the first man, through sin, had brought into this world. He created that world, and it did not know Him. The sight of this ruin led Him not only to suffer, but to pray — yes, to live in prayer, as Luke 6:12 and Luke 21:37 show.
The time alone fed the work that followed.
Far from man's uncertainty and contempt, the Son of God withdrew to enjoy the fellowship of the Father. From there He returns for service.
The word used for those who gathered is not merely "crowd" but "people," the nation in a broad sense. Kelly makes the distinction while defending John's parallel account: it was "not merely 'the crowd' (ὄχλος), but 'the people' in a large sense (λαός), which here flocked to the Lord's teaching in the temple."
But coming early is not the same as believing.
The Lord spent the last few days of His life on earth teaching in the temple, but He spent His nights on the Mount of Olives. The power of the Spirit of God moved the people to come early in the mornings to the temple to hear Him. How could the people change so quickly from hearers to persecutors, crying out for His crucifixion? It may seem astonishing to us. But that is the sad fickleness of a crowd who only hear the Word of God and never do it. They were curious, but unsaved.
- Night — He would not sleep in the city that refused Him. He spent each night on the mount He would later leave from, and where His feet will stand again.
- Prayer — Those nights were more than rest. Writers point to them as marks of a life lived in prayer, and as time with the Father before service.
- Morning — He came back and taught, His zeal unbroken. These verses sum up a whole final week, not one day — and His time had now come.
- Hearing — Those who came were not just a crowd but "the people" in a large sense, and the Spirit of God moved them to come at daybreak.
- Doing — The same early listeners soon shouted for His death. They were curious, but unsaved — hearing without doing is the warning here.