And he said, See that ye be not led astray, for many shall come in my name, saying, *I* am [he], and the time is drawn nigh go ye not [therefore] after them.
The disciples had just asked the Lord when the temple would fall and what sign would show that it was about to happen. His first words give them no date; instead He warns them about the men who would gladly supply one.
The Lord's reply is not a supply of facts for the curious.
Notice how the Lord presents the whole matter. He does not give a mass of details to feed our curiosity. He gives predictions that sound a note of warning and carry instructions of the greatest importance to His disciples. He says everything in a way that appeals to our consciences and not our curiosity.
The claim "I am he" only tempts people who are already expecting someone. And refusing the real One is what leaves the door open.
You never find this exact warning against false Christs in the letters of the apostles. The apostles wrote those letters to Christians, and no Christian could be fooled by a man's claim to be Christ… These disciples were, as the godly remnant of the nation, looking for the Messiah to bring in glory. So the Lord warns them not to believe anyone who rises up among them saying, "I am Christ."… The rejection of the true Christ lays them open to the reception of a false Christ. Our Lord had warned them of this: "I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him."… But take the letter of John, and what do you find there? "Beloved, do not believe every spirit." The great mark of the Church is the presence of the Holy Spirit, and the deceit we have to watch against is false spirits, not false Christs, though there are many antichrists.
The deceivers claim more than a person. They claim a date too, and Luke is the one who records that claim.
There are only two real differences. Luke had events only a few years away in view, and he records our Lord as saying that "the time draws near." Matthew, who points to the later fulfilment of the prophecy, leaves these words out. Matthew also says the false Christ "will deceive many," which points to the great national falling away at the end of the age. Luke gives the warning but records no such prediction. The Christians in Jerusalem were in fact not deceived by the claims of the impostors who arose at the time of the revolt against Rome.
The same words are deception in one mouth and plain truth in another. The Lord treats them as a deceiver's line; an apostle writes them to Christians as fact.
The Lord treats it as deceit to say "the time draws near." Yet the apostle puts us under those very words (Luke 21:8; James 5:8). After certain signs or events, the Lord tells the remnant that their expectation is near. The apostle tells us that ours is always near.
The warning was not theoretical. Within a century of these words a man appeared who fitted them exactly.
In A.D. 131 a fanatical deceiver, Bar-chobab, rose up, presenting himself as the promised Messiah. How well the Lord gave His warning!
Not every pretender uses the title, and the count is far from finished.
History has proved how necessary such a warning was. There are almost countless prophetic deceptions today, and they have multiplied fast since the 1800s. Many have already come claiming to be Christ. Some of them do not use this exact title, yet they lift themselves into the place that belongs to the Lord Jesus alone. Many have been deceived by them.
The Lord gave the warning plainly, so anyone who falls for it carries the blame.
The Lord did not satisfy mere curiosity. He urged them to be careful not to be deceived. In the matter of prophecy there are countless deceptions. If we are deceived, we are to blame. God is not deceived, and honest communion with Him, in submission to His Word, will keep us safe. We have seen in our own days the truth of what the Lord says. Many would come in His name claiming to be the Messiah, and thousands have fallen for them despite the Lord's plain warning.
- The question. The disciples wanted a date and a sign. The Lord answered the conscience, not the curiosity.
- The bait. Two claims travel together — a person ("I am he") and a deadline ("the time is at hand"); the Lord calls both of them deception.
- The opening. Refusing the One who came in His Father's name leaves people open to the one who comes in his own name.
- The record. Bar-chobab fitted the warning, and many have since. Some never used the title. They just took the place that belongs to Christ alone.
- The guard. Do not go after them. God is not deceived, and honest communion with Him, in submission to His Word, keeps us from being fooled.
And when ye shall hear of wars and tumults, be not terrified, for these things must first take place, but the end is not immediately.
The disciples had just asked when the temple would fall. The Lord answers with a warning, not a date. He names the things that make people panic: war and public unrest. Then He says these are not the sign that the end has come.
Older translations end this verse with "the end is not by and by." Today that sounds like "not for a long time." It meant the opposite: not at once. So the verse is a command against panic.
They are not to fear the violent movements of men. They are not to imagine that these upheavals mean the end is coming at once — for that is what "by and by" means here.
The Lord does not present the coming turmoil as an accident. Writers trace it to one cause: the King was rejected. Until He reigns, the world has no peace.
The Lord first gives a general sketch of the ruin about to follow. Moral improvement, truth spreading everywhere, peace for mankind — for now these were misleading dreams. They should be on their guard against them. ... His disciples were not to be disturbed or deceived. Such evil things must be because the King was rejected, and the end is not yet. Instead of learning war no more as when He comes in His kingdom, nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.
Because the end is not immediate, headlines are not a countdown clock. The purpose of the warning is practical: a disciple who is not shaken by world events can keep working.
Besides the false Christs, there would be political disturbances, restlessness, and actual wars and rumours of wars. These would attract attention and mark the state of things on earth. But the disciples were not to be troubled. All this would come to pass, but these were no signs of His coming — the end was not yet. So the Lord is providing what would guide and strengthen His witnesses, keeping them calm and steady in their places. He gives instruction that would make them calm in service, not agitated by circumstances or by false hopes... They might still serve quietly on.
Commentators note that Luke tells this discourse as history. Several place verse 9 in the years running up to the Roman siege of Jerusalem.
As for Luke 21, it is much more historical... So verses 9 to 19 give us the state of things from after the Lord's death until the Roman armies surrounded Jerusalem. There is no mention of the abomination of desolation here.
The same writer lists what those years would ask of the disciples, up to the Roman sack of Jerusalem under Titus.
In these earlier verses (8-19) the Lord dwells on the dangers, duties, and trials of the disciples before Titus sacked Jerusalem. They were especially to beware of a pretended deliverer, and of the cry that the time of deliverance was at hand. Nor were they to be terrified by wars or commotions, any more than seduced by fair promises. These things must first happen, but the end not immediately.
Not everyone limits the verse to the first century. Some read the same words as a picture of the whole course of the world. They also read them as an answer to the hope that things will slowly improve.
Wars and commotions would come (v. 9), as they have, but this is not enough to signify the end. Nations and kingdoms are set against one another. That shows the gospel will not slowly change the world for the better, as some have imagined... How well the Lord knew and fully declared that the gospel would not convert the world. His words here are a rebuke to those who have cherished such futile hopes.
Another writer warns against reading the news as fulfilled prophecy.
There are sure signs that we are in the last days. But these are not the "wars and tumults," the "earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences," or the "terrors and great signs from heaven" of Luke 21... Some have allowed their imagination to run riot over such things and over sensational events in the political world.
- Meaning — In older wording, "the end is not by and by" means the end is not at once. Wars do not announce it.
- Cause — The turmoil goes back to the rejection of the King. Peace on earth waits for His reign, so dreams of steady progress are misplaced.
- Composure — "Do not be terrified" is the point of the warning. Disciples who know what is coming stay calm, steady in their places, and go on serving.
- Timing — Commentators differ. Several read verses 9–19 as the years from the Lord's death to the Roman siege of Jerusalem. Others hear a description of the world's whole course.
- Caution — Both readings agree on one rule. Never treat today's conflicts as proof that the end has arrived, and do not let imagination run wild over political events.
Then he said to them, Nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;
The Lord has just told the disciples not to panic at wars and unrest, for "the end will not be at once." Here He describes the world between His going and His return — and readers ask whether He means the fall of Jerusalem, the last crisis, or both.
Matthew and Mark give this stage of trouble a name that Luke does not repeat. One writer marks where the section ends:
Luke 21:9. — Down to verse 11 we have what Matthew and Mark call the "beginning of birth pains."
So nation against nation is not the crisis itself but the first pang. Such troubles are not new, yet they still point forward:
So we read of "the beginning of sorrows," announced in advance by nation rising against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, with the famines, plagues and earthquakes that come with them. These things are not unique to that one moment. Yet they still come before it, and so they give a clear warning of worse to follow.
Luke's report differs from Matthew's. One writer explains that Luke has the nearer event in view, while Matthew looks to the end of the age — and that the same features mark both:
Luke refers to the state of things around the siege of Jerusalem by Titus. Matthew refers to the final troubles of the Jews. The two are clearly much alike. The features that long ago became history in the earlier events will appear again in the later ones. False Christs, wars, commotions, and frightening natural events are common to both periods. So in the first few verses (Luke 21:8-11; Matt. 24:4-8) there is only slight variation between the reports.
What the Lord announces here is the opposite of the promised kingdom. It settles the character of the whole present time:
The new age has not yet come, and it cannot while the Lord Jesus is away. Whatever men promise and hope for, all their scheming will not succeed. All their expectations will prove false. "Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" — that is, a state quite the opposite of what is promised for the kingdom.
This also answers a hope many have held about what the gospel would do in the world:
Nations and kingdoms are hostile to one another. This shows there would be no gradual change for the better in the world through the gospel, as some have foolishly imagined. Instead there would be a sharp increase in alarming signs — earthquakes, famines, plagues. The Lord knew well, and declared fully, that the gospel would not convert the world. His words here are a rebuke to those who have cherished such futile hopes.
The Lord warns His followers in advance. World events then cannot shake them or confuse their sense of the times:
But in each case His warnings arm His disciples beforehand. They must not let false Christs deceive them for a moment, or follow them. They must not fear the violent movements of men, or think that such upheavals mean the end is coming at once.
- Beginning — war between nations is the first birth pang, not the birth. Matthew and Mark call this stage "the beginning of birth pains."
- Twice over — the same features marked the siege of Jerusalem and will appear again in the final troubles. Luke and Matthew report this section almost alike.
- Contrary — a world of nation against nation is the opposite of the promised kingdom. So that kingdom has not yet come.
- Undeceived — nations keep clashing to the end. No human scheme and no spread of preaching will slowly mend the world.
- Unshaken — warned in advance, believers do not follow false Christs, do not fear violence, and do not rush to say the end has come.
there shall be both great earthquakes in different places, and famines and pestilences; and there shall be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.
Luke 21:11 sits inside the Lord's answer to a question about the temple's destruction. Commentators read the events He lists — earthquakes, famines, plagues, terrors overhead — both as history already fulfilled and as a picture of what still lies ahead. The chapter raises a question every generation asks again: are these disasters the sign that the end has come?
One writer marks off Luke's report of this prophecy from Matthew's.
Here the Lord Jesus gives us a very direct and immediate picture of the destruction of Jerusalem, which was then close at hand. Matthew passes over the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans. He fixes attention on what will take place at the end of the age. Luke gives us this last event too — at least he closes with the future crisis. But the main point in the central part of Luke is to point out the destruction that was then at hand. It was a distinct state of things, and a distinct time, from the circumstances of the Son of man's day.
The verse ends with terrors and great signs from heaven. One writer points to strange sights over the city that the historian Josephus recorded. (Older translations render the phrase as "fearful sights.")
Josephus, the historian, tells us that a star or a comet with a long tail shaped like a sword hung over the city for a whole year. Another sign was that on one occasion chariots and troops of soldiers were seen among the clouds, rushing to and fro. On another occasion a great light shone around the altar for about half an hour and then died out. The gate of the inner court of the temple, made of brass and so heavy that it took twenty men to shut it, opened by itself. This was taken to mean that the temple would no longer be protected from the enemy. These events may seem like fables, but the historian declares that many people witnessed them, and Tacitus confirms these signs.
The Lord gave this list to men who would have to keep serving while the world shook.
The disciples were not to be troubled; all this would come to pass, they were no signs of His coming, the end was not yet. So the Lord is caring for what would guide and strengthen His witnesses, keeping them calm and steady in their places. He gives them the kind of teaching that would keep them calm in service, not stirred up by circumstances or by false hopes.
Disasters of this kind have marked every century. One writer weighs the wording of the verse before treating any of them as fulfilment.
You can trace such events through the whole course of world history. But they have been rare, not frequent, while the text plainly implies they will happen often, and probably in different places at the same time. How often has a Christian, on hearing of an event of this kind, said, "Surely we must now be in the time of Matthew 24!" Yet the very fact that it draws comment as a rare event shows that we are not yet in that time. It is fair to conclude that the prophecy means famines, plagues and earthquakes to a degree and over an area beyond anything known before.
Commentators differ over what is shaken here. One writer reads the earthquakes as a symbol.
As a symbol, earthquakes point to an upheaval of the lower masses of society. This overthrows the social system, either in part or completely.
Another writer does not choose between the two readings.
I have little doubt that the scene will be as mixed as the language. There will be terrible signs really given. Besides that, there will be a real breaking up of all existing powers, and terror in every heart… But there will be more than a revolution. It will be an overthrow and upsetting of all visible and organised powers.
Disasters in the meantime still carry a voice, and men are quick to explain it away.
These happen under the providential government of God. Through them He keeps making Himself heard and shows His power… Sadly, people too often treat such judgments as natural events or mere accidents and disasters. They see no God in them, and soon forget them. These judgments should warn men. A light shower often falls before a storm, and in the same way these frequent judgments are only the forerunners of the great storm of the wrath of God that will fall on this guilty world.
- Setting. Luke's report keeps the coming Roman siege of Jerusalem in view, while Matthew looks past it to the end of the age.
- Signs. Josephus recorded strange sights over the city: a sword-shaped comet, armies in the clouds, a temple gate that opened by itself.
- Scale. The wording points to disasters more frequent and more widespread than any before. One rare disaster shows the time has not yet come.
- Steadiness. The Lord gave the list so His witnesses would stay calm and keep serving, not chase false hopes.
- Shaking. Ground trembling, society collapsing, or both — these are forerunners. They are a light shower before the storm, calling men to reckon with God now.
But before all these things they shall lay their hands upon you and persecute you, delivering [you] up to synagogues and prisons, bringing [you] before kings and governors on account of my name;
The Lord has just described wars, earthquakes, famines and terrors in the sky. Now He turns to what will happen to His own followers, and He puts their suffering first in the order of events. Two questions follow. When does this persecution fall? And why does He say the cause is His name rather than anything the disciples do?
The little phrase that opens the verse changes the whole timetable. What the disciples will suffer is not folded into the wars and signs; it runs ahead of them. Writers take this as the mark that Luke is describing the years the book of Acts records.
Mark, as well as Luke, gives special weight to the persecutions the disciples would have to endure. Luke says these persecutions take place before the signs among the nations. They are, therefore, persecutions of the early Christian days. The book of Acts shows us they happened as soon as the new message of salvation was preached.
Commentators differ on how far these words reach. Some limit them to the first century. Others expect the same faithful sufferers again at the close of the long era that opens with Jerusalem's fall.
Jerusalem's troubles began with the siege of the city by the Roman general Titus, and they will not end till the times of the Gentiles have run their course. At the beginning of those troubles, and in their closing days too, there will be real disciples of Christ on earth. They will have to bear testimony in the face of direct opposition from their countrymen the Jews.
The verse names two different powers. The synagogue was the religious court of the Jewish people. The prisons, kings and governors were Gentile. One commentator draws out what that mix means, and how it marks Luke's account off from Matthew's:
In Luke's gospel the prophecy relates to the events before the Roman army destroyed the temple and the city. Here "the gospel of the kingdom" is not named. And the text does not say the persecution comes especially from the Gentiles. It comes from Jews and Gentiles alike. The difference is important. It helps to show that the prophecy in Matthew relates, not to the events before the siege of Jerusalem, but to the troubles before the day of the Lord — the same period the book of Revelation speaks of.
The history that follows shows every part of the verse coming true. Arrest, prison and trials before rulers all came fast. The result was not what the persecutors wanted.
The disciples would go to prison and stand before Gentile kings and rulers for the sake of the name of Christ. This became true very soon after the Lord Jesus returned to glory. But the Lord used this persecution in a way men did not expect. He made it a testimony to Himself and to the gospel of His grace… We see this in Peter and John (Acts 4:13-14); in Stephen (Acts 6:8-10; 7:1-60); and in Paul (Acts 22:1-21; 24:24-25; 26:1-31).
The Lord gives the reason for all of it in four words. He does not say they will suffer for their mistakes, their tactlessness, or their politics. The cause is His name — their link with Him. One commentator points the logic the right way round:
To be Christ's is enough to stir up the world's anger. Circumstances may be needed to call it out, but it is there… The world hates us because of Him, not Him because of us. It is not our faults, then, that are the true cause, but His grace and moral excellence, His divine nature and glory.
The verse is a prediction, but its purpose is practical. He tells them in advance for two reasons. When the arrest comes, they will not read it as the collapse of everything. And they will know what to do with it.
The Lord does make predictions. He foretells (1) the rise of false Christs, (2) wars and unrest, along with strange events in the physical world around them, (3) the coming of bitter opposition and persecution, even to death. But in each case His warnings arm His disciples in advance… They are to accept the persecution as an occasion for testimony. And when they testify, they are not to rely on a prepared defence, but on supernatural wisdom given to them when the moment arrives.
- Before — the persecution runs ahead of the wars and signs. That sets it in the days the book of Acts records, though some writers see it repeated at the end of the age.
- Both — Jewish and Gentile hands alike: synagogue courts and Roman prisons, religion and state together.
- Because — the stated cause is His name. The hatred falls on the disciple because of the Master, never on the Master because of the disciple.
- Beforehand — He tells them first. So the arrest comes as something their Lord predicted, not as proof He has failed them.
- Beyond — God turns the persecution into testimony to Himself before kings. Peter, Stephen and Paul each proved it.
but it shall turn out to you for a testimony.
Jesus has just warned His followers about arrest, prison and trials before rulers. Then He turns the whole picture around: the courtroom is not the end of their witness but the place for it.
Older translations read, "it shall turn out to you for a testimony." One writer traces that word, and finds Paul later resting on it:
The word translated "turn out" appears in one other place in the New Testament in just this sense. That is Luke 21:13, where the Lord Himself tells His disciples that when men lay their hands on them, and deliver them up to synagogues and prisons, "it shall turn out to you for a testimony." You will recall how much Luke was with Paul. We may suppose he had told him of these words of our Lord Jesus. If that is the case, Paul also had the Lord's own words to rest on for the certainty he speaks of. And what a blessed certainty His words are!
Matthew records the same promise. One writer shows where the arrest carries the message:
When they were whipped and brought before councils and governors and kings, all this should become a testimony to them. It is God's way of presenting the gospel of the kingdom to kings and princes. And it does so without changing the character of that gospel, without adapting it to the world, and without mixing up the Lord's people with the world's ways and its false greatness. What is more, circumstances like these made their testimony far more visible than being linked with the great ones of the earth would have done.
Writing on Luke's account, the same writer places the promise among Jesus' instructions for the days ahead:
The Lord then turns to the duties and the circumstances of His disciples before that hour... He goes into much more detail about their ministry during that period. He encourages them, and promises them the help they will need. Persecution should turn to them for a testimony.
The promise was not left as a general comfort. The book of Acts supplies the receipts.
The disciples would be imprisoned and brought before Gentile kings and rulers for the sake of the name of Christ. This became true very soon after the Lord Jesus returned to glory. But the Lord used this persecution in a way that men did not expect, for a testimony to Himself and to the gospel of His grace... We see this in Peter and John (Acts 4:13-14); in Stephen (Acts 6:8-10; 7:1-60); and in Paul on various occasions (Acts 22:1-21; 24:24-25; 26:1-31).
Luke's account is not just a shorter copy of Matthew's. One writer dates the persecution from the words that open verse 12:
In Luke, the persecution comes before the fighting and unrest mentioned in the earlier verses. Our Lord's words are, "But before all these things they will lay their hands on you." This distinction agrees with the facts. The great persecution of the Christians by the Jews was not during the civil wars that ended in the fall of Jerusalem. It came before them, and this is what Luke is referring to. On the other hand, the great persecution of the faithful Jews by the Gentiles, which is what Matthew speaks of, will happen during the terrible wars and upheavals before the Lord's glorious appearing.
Commentators differ over how far the passage reaches. One writer ties it to the years before the Roman siege of Jerusalem. He also notes that Luke states the results of their testimony in broad terms, "which would be true in the highest sense" (William Kelly).
Jesus warns them in advance, and the warning shapes how they are to meet the trouble:
In each case His warnings arm His disciples in advance... They are to accept the persecution as an occasion for testimony. When they testify, they are not to rely on a prepared defence, but on supernatural wisdom given to them when the moment arrives.
One writer applied the same words to a church in serious trouble:
We need the force of the words, "All these things shall turn to you for a testimony." I was told a church was in great difficulties. I said I would take heart, because these are just the kind of difficulties Peter and Paul had. I would rejoice in them as something that would help the Church through the wilderness.
- Turn. The word Jesus chose points to an outcome men did not expect: the attack itself is what gets turned, and Paul later rested on these same words of His.
- Warned. He tells them beforehand, so they meet the arrest as a chance to testify and not as a disaster.
- Reach. The turn carries the gospel to kings and rulers no messenger could reach otherwise. It arrives unchanged, without borrowing the world's greatness.
- Fulfilled. Peter and John, Stephen and Paul show the promise coming true, in the years before Jerusalem fell.
- Today. Difficulties that look as if they will stop the work are the same kind Peter and Paul faced. Take heart in them.
Settle therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand [your] defence,
Jesus has just warned His disciples about arrest, trial and betrayal, and promised that it will all turn into a chance to witness. Now He asks for a decision made in advance: walk into the courtroom with no speech prepared.
The Lord gives the command before the crisis comes, so the crisis finds them already decided. One writer sums up what the disciples are to do when persecution arrives:
They are to accept the persecution as a chance to bear witness. And as they bear witness, they are not to rely on a prepared defence. They are to rely on wisdom from God, which He will give them when the moment comes.
The instruction is not that words do not matter. God promises a better source of words, and that source is stronger than the hatred waiting for them:
But if believers were arrested and had to face the Jewish council or the magistrates, they were not to decide in advance how to answer the charges, or what to say. The same Spirit of God who empowered Christ would empower them and guide their words. For the grace of God is greater than the strongest opposition of hatred.
Each Gospel writer reports this promise differently. Luke's version puts the gift in the Lord's own hands, and ties it to the situation then closing in on Jerusalem:
All of this applies strictly to the state of things before the Romans besieged Jerusalem, both in the world and among the disciples. Any fair-minded reader must see it. Luke alone shows the grace of the Lord in giving His own a mouth and wisdom that goes beyond the cunning and power of every enemy. In Mark they are to say "whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speak, but the Holy Spirit."
The book of Acts shows the promise working. A crowd of opponents took on Stephen by himself, and not one of them could beat him:
Alone he could face his opponents, and defeat them. "They were not able to withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking" (Acts 6:10). They did not convince him, and they could not silence him. They could not resist the wisdom he showed, or the Holy Spirit by whom he spoke. The Lord had promised, "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict" (Luke 21:15). And the writer who preserved that promise here tells us how truly it was fulfilled. One man could confound a multitude.
Commentators are careful about how far the words reach. One writer keeps them for the men who first heard them, and contrasts what happened to them with what lies ahead for Jewish believers in the last days:
This was a special promise given to the disciples. We see it fulfilled again and again, in a striking way, in the Acts of the Apostles. But there is nothing to show that such will be the case with the Jewish believers in the last days. They will be silenced, driven out and almost destroyed. Only the sudden and glorious appearing of Christ will save them from being wiped out completely. In Matthew there is nothing at all matching this part of the prophecy as Luke records it.
Commentators differ on how far the verse reaches into everyday Christian service. One warns against using it as an excuse for unprepared preaching, and then shows where it does still hold:
Whenever it can be done, a person should think about and study the subject he expects to speak on. It is no mark of spirituality to take no thought about how or what we will speak. We do not believe that is a correct use of the Scripture. The Lord gave that promise in a very different setting. There He assures His disciples that they will never be deserted when they face kings and rulers for His name's sake... The same holds when someone has no way of knowing in advance what he will speak about, or when an unexpected opening for the gospel comes.
Another writer carries the same help from the courtroom into everyday service:
There was no need for them to plan their defence beforehand. The Holy Spirit would give them the words to speak in the hour of need. The same was true of their ministry. They could rely on the help of the Spirit of God, whether they were making known the gospel of the grace of God, or opening up and applying the truth to God's people.
- Settle — decide before the arrest ever comes. Then the trial finds the heart at rest, not scrambling for a defence.
- Given — in place of a rehearsed speech the Lord Himself promises a gift: a mouth and wisdom no enemy can answer.
- Distinctive — only Luke shows the Lord Himself giving the promise. In Mark, the Holy Spirit speaks the words.
- Proved — Acts shows the promise kept. Stephen alone silenced a whole crowd of opponents.
- Bounded — writers tie the promise first to the disciples in the days before Jerusalem fell. They differ over how far it reaches preaching today.
for *I* will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your opposers shall not be able to reply to or resist.
The Lord warns His disciples about the days ahead — arrests, trials, hostile courts — and tells them not to prepare a defence. Instead He promises words of His own, and no opponent will be able to answer them.
What men meant as an attack, the Lord turned into testimony.
But before these things, the disciples would suffer bitter persecution. It would come from the hatred of religious Jews. They would go to prison and stand before Gentile kings and rulers because of the name of Christ. This became true very soon after the Lord Jesus returned to glory. But the Lord used this persecution in a way men did not expect, for a testimony to Himself and to the gospel of His grace.
Luke alone records the Lord's own words here: He Himself gives both the mouth and the wisdom. Mark's account of the same promise puts it differently.
Luke alone shows the grace of the Lord. He gives His own a mouth and wisdom greater than the cunning and power of all their adversaries. In Mark they are to speak "whatever shall be given you; for you are not the speakers but the Holy Spirit."
The wisdom comes from God, not from the speaker. And Stephen was not the last to receive it.
God does provide the weapons with which, if called upon, His people may meet those opposed to Him. The Lord promised to provide them (Luke 21:15). So Stephen proved that the Lord keeps His word. His enemies could not resist the wisdom and spirit with which he spoke (Acts 6:10). In this he does not stand alone, for the Lord still cares for His people.
Stephen stood alone against a crowd of opponents. His case shows what the promise looks like in practice.
Numbers were on their side. He is the only one named as fighting bravely for the truth. But their numbers did not overawe him... They could not convince him. They could not silence him. And they could not resist the wisdom he showed, or the Holy Spirit by whom he spoke. "I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict" (Luke 21:15), had been the Lord's promise. And the evangelist who preserved that promise shows us how completely it came true. One man could confound a multitude.
Israel's religious leaders met the same surprise in Peter and John.
The leading teachers of Israel's schools of learning might well marvel. They saw "the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men" — untrained in what this world counts as knowledge. They also "recognized that they had been with Jesus."
Some stretch these words into an excuse for unprepared preaching. Commentators warn against that.
Wherever possible, one should think about and study the subject he expects to speak on. It is no mark of spirituality to give no thought to how or what we shall speak. Nor do we believe it a correct use of Scripture to expect the Lord to keep a promise He gave in a quite different setting... Here He is assuring His disciples that He will never desert them when they stand before kings and rulers for His name's sake.
The promise belongs to the courtroom, not the pulpit.
People misapply it when they use it of preaching the gospel. It does not refer to any service for the Lord. It was to save the disciples from anxiety at their trial.
Commentators differ on whether this promise stretches beyond the first disciples. One reading limits it to them:
This was a special promise to the disciples. We see it fulfilled again and again, in striking ways, in the book of Acts. But nothing shows that the same will be true for Jewish believers in the last days. They will be silenced, banished, and almost destroyed. Only Christ's sudden and glorious appearing will save them from being wiped out completely.
Another reading carries it forward to witnesses who come later.
The Lord's words to His apostles in Matthew 10 and Luke 21 will have a special reference to them. They will go out to speak with "a mouth of wisdom" that He will give them.
- Pressure. The Lord promised arrest and trial, then turned that pressure into a chance to testify before kings and rulers.
- Gift. No one prepares these words in advance. Luke alone records the Lord saying that He Himself would supply the mouth and the wisdom.
- Weapon. God hands over the weapon at the moment of need. He did it for Stephen, whose opponents could neither convince him nor silence him.
- Limit. The promise steadies a believer on trial. It is not an excuse for stepping into the pulpit unprepared.
- Reach. Commentators differ. Does the promise stop with the first disciples, or reach later witnesses too?
But ye will be delivered up even by parents and brethren and relations and friends, and they shall put to death [some] from among you,
The Lord has been telling His followers what their witness will cost. Now the threat moves inside the home, and for some of them it ends in death.
One writer lists the subjects of this prophecy in order. The suffering in this verse falls under the second of them — the testimony of the disciples.
The prophecy has three subjects. First, the troubles of Jerusalem that came from the Lord's rejection by the Jews. Then the testimony of the disciples that followed that rejection, and guidance for them while they are in their sorrows. Last, the whole thing ends with the Lord's second coming, which will bring deliverance to the city and the nation. Jerusalem's troubles began with the siege of the city by Titus, and they will not end until the times of the Gentiles have run their course. At the start of those troubles, and again in their closing days, there will be real disciples of Christ on earth. They will have to bear witness while their own countrymen the Jews openly oppose them.
Family betrayal is what sets Luke's account apart from Matthew's. One writer compares the two accounts, and points to who the persecutors were in each.
The early Christians were not hated by the Gentiles as Gentiles, but by all men, whether Jews or Gentiles. In fact their chief sufferings and persecutions came from the Jews… Luke is foretelling what the early Jewish Christians would suffer at the hands of their own countrymen and closest relatives. His prophecy simply describes what took place soon afterwards… Matthew, however, speaks of a very different persecution. It comes from the Gentile oppressors of the nation, before the Lord's coming in power. So Matthew leaves the family division out.
The verse lists parents, brothers, relatives, then friends. One writer traces this hatred to what happens in a heart when God makes Himself known.
As long as God is not revealed, people tolerate everything. But when He reveals Himself, man's will rises up against His authority. It rises against the pressure that this revelation puts on a conscience which is not at rest. And the closer the relationship, the greater the hatred. This hatred breaks all the ties of nature.
The Lord does not soften it. Some of them would die, and the promise about the hair of their heads does not cancel that.
Many of them would know the deep pain and trial of betrayal by even close relatives, and some would suffer death as martyrs… Yet in the face of such dreadful affliction He told them not a hair of their heads would (eternally) perish. The eternal end was secure. That does not mean none of them would die, for the Lord said some would die as martyrs (v.16).
Read verse 16 beside verse 18 and the two sound like a contradiction. The Lord does not promise escape from the executioner. He promises a care that reaches past him.
In Luke 21:16-18 the Lord says their enemies would put some of them to death, yet not a hair of their head would perish. They were all counted. God has all providential power at His disposal.
The same writer admits the words strike the ear oddly, and does not explain the strangeness away.
It seems strange to us to hear, "Some of you shall they cause to be put to death … but there shall not a hair of your head perish."
One writer draws the two halves together — the hatred, and what endurance would win.
Yet the hatred against them would be so fierce that it would break through all natural ties. It would turn the strongest affections into the bitterest enmity… Through it all not a hair of their heads would perish. He who has counted them all would give a good account of them. By endurance they would gain their lives, instead of losing them.
- Nearest first. The betrayal moves inward from parents to friends. The closer the bond, the fiercer the hatred once God makes Himself known.
- History, not theory. Luke describes what the early believers suffered from their own countrymen and relatives. Matthew's account leaves family division out and speaks of a different persecution.
- Death, not defeat. Some of them would die as martyrs. Even so, not a hair of their heads would perish.
- Counted, not spared. The Lord promises no shield from the sword. He has counted every hair, and He will give a good account of them all.
- Endurance wins. By holding out they would gain their lives instead of losing them.
and ye will be hated of all for my name's sake.
Jesus warned His followers what lay ahead. Families would betray them. Some would die. And hatred would meet them everywhere, for one reason: His name. Three questions follow. Why does that name draw such hatred? How far does "all" reach? And when did this happen?
The hatred has nothing to do with the disciples' faults. The Lord points instead to whom they belong.
Notice that in these verses the Lord traces the world's hatred of His disciples to one thing: they belonged to Him. They were His servants, and the servant is not greater than his Lord. "If they persecuted Me," He said, "they will also persecute you." The world would not hate them because they were law-breakers, or because of anything objectionable in their character, but because the Lord had chosen them out of the world to be His own.
Persecution for right living is one thing. Persecution for Christ's name is another. One commentator marks the step up:
Confessing Christ brings persecution. Spreading only His moral teaching might well be popular with Jews and Gentiles alike. Before Christ came, and ever since, we should expect persecution for righteousness' sake. But notice the step forward from Matthew 5:10 to the next verse. In the first verse, the persecution is "for righteousness' sake." In verse 11 it is plainly for Christ's sake. Here His own honour is at stake.
The hatred starts further back. It begins when God makes Himself known, and it grows sharper the closer the relationship.
The revelation of God in the person of Christ, or in the preached word, awakens the enmity of the human heart. As long as God is not revealed, people tolerate everything. But when He reveals Himself, man's will rises up against His authority. It rises against the pressure this revelation puts on a conscience that is not at rest. And the closer the relations are, the greater is the hatred. This hatred breaks all the ties of nature. Brother would give up brother to death, and the father his son. The children would rise up against their parents and put them to death. And all men would hate the disciples for the Saviour's name.
Matthew reports the same warning as "hated by all nations." Luke says only "all." One commentator shows what that difference means.
Matthew, speaking of the persecution of the faithful witnesses before Christ's coming, says, "Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake." Believing Jews will suffer this in the last days for their testimony to the coming Messiah. But it is not an accurate account of what the early Christians endured. It was not that the Gentiles hated them as Gentiles. All men hated them, whether Jews or Gentiles. In fact their chief sufferings and persecutions came from the Jews.
One commentator ties Luke's warning to the years before the Roman siege of Jerusalem.
All of this applies strictly to what happened before the Romans besieged Jerusalem, both in the world and among the disciples. Any fair mind must see it.
If the name is the cause, the warning has not expired. Religion in general still passes; Christ Himself does not.
You may speak of religion in a general way — of preachers, of churches, of missions to people who have never heard, of societies for doing good — and be popular. But speak of the Lord Himself, of His precious blood, of the full assurance of salvation, of oneness with Him in heaven, of separation from the world, of standing apart from all its shows and entertainments. Then your friends will quickly grow fewer. Who were the most bitter enemies of the Lord and His servant Paul? The most religious men in Israel. Has the world or human nature changed? We believe not.
Peter and John met this hatred head on. It did not crush them.
The Jewish Council had forbidden them to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But they obeyed God rather than men, and went on with their blessed work. After a miracle set them free from prison, they were arrested again, beaten, and ordered not to speak in the name of Jesus. Were they disheartened or daunted by what they had to endure? Far from it — they left the Council rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
- Name — The hatred is not earned. It falls on the disciples because they belong to Christ.
- Person — Suffering for right living is one thing. This is for Christ's sake, and it touches His own honour. His moral teaching alone would have stayed popular.
- Nearness — When God reveals Himself, man's will rises against Him. The closer the natural tie, the sharper the hatred — so families split.
- All — Luke's "all" is wider than Matthew's "all nations." Jew and Gentile alike hated the early believers, and most of their suffering came from their own people.
- Honour — Beaten and silenced, the apostles left rejoicing. They were counted worthy to suffer shame for that name.
And a hair of your head shall in no wise perish.
The Lord has just warned His followers that their own families will hand them over, and that some of them will die. In the same breath He promises that not a hair of their head will perish. How can a man lose his life and lose nothing at all?
Commentators tie this promise to a specific stretch of history: the persecution the first believers met before Roman armies destroyed Jerusalem. Kelly, having gone through the whole passage, says the fit with that period is unmistakable.
All of this applies strictly to the state of things before the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, both in the world and among the disciples. Any fair mind must see it. Luke alone shows the grace of the Lord in giving His own a mouth and wisdom beyond the cunning and power of every enemy.
The pressure came from close to home. Baines names who inflicted it.
Luke is foretelling what the early Jewish Christians would suffer at the hands of their own countrymen and their nearest relatives. His prophecy simply describes what took place soon afterwards.
Verse 16 sits next to verse 18 with a jolt. Darby admits the strangeness, then shows how God governs His people now.
God's government does not work now in a way that keeps the righteous from suffering — least of all when they suffer for the name of Christ. But Jehovah watches over him. Not a sparrow falls to the ground apart from our Father. It seems strange to us to hear, "Some of you they will put to death … but not a hair of your head will perish." God's government now is not the public rule that puts down all evil. It is applied to the case of the righteous under and through the power of evil. When Christ appears, evil will be put down. As a rule, those who live peaceably will live in peace. But in a world where Satan has power, the righteous will suffer and have many afflictions — none of them without the watchful care of the Lord. And in some way deliverance will come.
The resolution offered is that the promise reaches past the grave. Losing the body is not the same as perishing.
The disciples of the Lord Jesus would in fact be the object of the hatred of all mankind in general. How contrary to their expectations of the arrival of the kingdom! Yet in the face of such dreadful affliction He told them not a hair of their heads would (eternally) perish. The eternal end was secure. This does not mean that none of them would die, for the Lord said some would die as martyrs (v.16). In fact, since then all the disciples have died, but they were to have no fear of the most bitter persecution.
The hairs were all counted. Darby draws out who holds the power behind such events.
In Luke 21:16-18 the Lord says some of them would be put to death, but not a hair of their head would perish. They were all counted. Providential power is all at God's disposal.
The promise does not remove suffering. It changes whose hand controls it — and that is the comfort being offered.
Trusting in the Lord is perfectly sure. A divine and almighty hand secures us. We know from many passages that the Lord may see fit to let us suffer, but not a hair of our head shall perish. When His time has come, the rod of the wicked shall not rest on the lot of the righteous. He may let us suffer for our God, or for His name's sake. But even then it happens according to His own will and power, not according to the will and power of the wicked. All this assumes someone who is walking in His ways.
The same writer states it as a general principle.
God's care never fails. It shows itself in the smallest details, and it holds despite all that man may think. God may allow many afflictions to come on those who trust Him, and these too will surely be a blessing.
- Counted. God numbers every hair. What He counts, He takes charge of.
- Permitted. Enemies act only as far as God allows. Suffering comes by His will, not by theirs.
- Measured. The promise does not cancel the pain. God still allows affliction, and He turns it into blessing.
- Eternal. Some would die as martyrs, yet nothing of them would perish for ever. Enemies may take the body; the end is secure.
- Historical. These words first met disciples whose own families betrayed them, in the years before Jerusalem fell. Real persecution tested this comfort first.
By your patient endurance gain your souls.
Jesus has just warned His followers about arrest, betrayal by family, and even death — then He ends the warning with one short sentence about endurance. What does He promise them here: their lives now, their eternal safety, or something else?
The "patience" spoken of here is not calm waiting but a quality tested under load. One study of the Greek word traces it through the New Testament and finds its centre in something that holds up:
The word hupomone (from hupomeno, "to sustain") appears once as "enduring" (2 Corinthians 1:6) and as "patient continuance" (Romans 2:7). That fully enters into the thought of the word: it is a "patient endurance" that does not give way under trial and suffering. See Luke 8:15; Luke 21:19… and the phrase "the one who endures to the end," Matthew 10:22 and Matthew 24:13… Romans 15:5 traces it back to its divine source for us. Scripture never applies it to God Himself, because there could be no such testing or pressure for Him. But the Lord Jesus, in the place He has taken as Man, is our perfect example of it, Hebrews 12:2-3 — He "endured" the cross and the hostility of sinners against Himself.
Does the verse promise something gained, or something kept? One writer says the verb can mean holding on to what you have. He ties the promise to the real danger these men faced:
On Luke 21:19: although ktaomai generally means "get," in contrast with kektemai, it is also used for keeping in possession — holding something so as not to lose it. (Acts 4:34; 1 Thessalonians 4:4; Matthew 8:9; Luke 18:12.) It refers directly to being spared, kept by God, saved in the dangers of the mission they had among the Jews.
Commentators differ on the wording, and the disagreement runs down to a single letter in the Greek manuscripts:
In Luke 21:19 the Revisers have adopted a reading and a rendering at least questionable. A B are but slender authority for κτήσεσθε, as against κτήσασθε differing only by one letter; and their own rendering of 1 Thessalonians 4:5 sustains the Authorised Version, "possess," against their own "win" here.
Does the promise mean survival now, or blessing after death? One writer finds the same double hope in a psalm:
The immediate hope would be of preserving life; but it would meet those who might be killed with the fullest and most secure hope. It is the same in Luke 21:19, "gain your lives" (older translations: "gain your souls"), and in Matthew 24:13. The ambiguity there is intentional too.
Jesus is describing what these men would meet before the Roman armies besieged Jerusalem. Yet one writer sees the closing promise reaching further:
All this applies strictly to the state of things before the Romans besieged Jerusalem, whether in the world or among the disciples. That must be clear to every fair mind. Luke alone shows the grace of the Lord in giving His own a mouth and wisdom beyond the cunning and power of all their adversaries… Luke also states in broad terms the result of their testimony, which would be true in the highest sense for heaven if they were killed.
This kind of patient holding on belongs to a particular stretch of time — the stretch in which God is still being witnessed to by people. One writer sets it against a coming period when that will no longer be so:
Jesus had said, "By your endurance you will gain your lives" (Luke 21:19) — a position of faithfulness while the testimony lasts. There will be a time when God alone will testify of Himself, when no one gives Him any testimony at all. It will be a testimony of vengeance, because man has despised His power and His righteousness.
One writer puts into words what the world says when it watches Christians it cannot break:
What can we do with people who let themselves be killed without becoming less joyful — people whom it makes even more joyful? Left to themselves, they are above all our motives. If we oppress them, they possess their souls in perfect joy despite all our opposition. Torments do not conquer them. They find in them only an occasion for bearing a stronger testimony that Christians are beyond our power.
- Pressure — the verse follows warnings of arrest, betrayal and death. This endurance does not give way under trial and suffering.
- Patience — Christ shows the same quality perfectly. He endured the cross and the hostility of sinners; He is the example, not a distant rule.
- Possession — the verb can mean keeping what you already hold, not earning something new. It points to God sparing and keeping them in real danger.
- Preservation — the promise leaves it open on purpose: God may keep your life now, or bless you later. Either way it still holds for those who are killed.
- Proof — this endurance lasts as long as the testimony lasts. A watching world has no answer to it and no power over it.