In this section Luke records the assault of the Sadducees respecting the resurrection (Luke 20:27-40); then omitting the lawyer's question, he tells of our Lord's unanswered question respecting _Christ the Son of David_ (Luke 20:41-44); like Mark he gives but a brief summary of the discourse against... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:1-4. THE WIDOW'S MITES. See on Mark 12:41-44; comp. also the introductory note to Matthew 24... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:1. AND HE LOOKED UP (Luke 21:1). From where he had been sitting during the delivery of His denunciatory discourse ‘over against the treasury' (Mark). The distance could not have been very great.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:4. UNTO THE GIFTS, _i.e.,_ those in the chests. ‘This incident, witnessed by Jesus at such a time, resembles a flower which He comes upon all at once in the desert of official devotion, the sight and perfume of which make Him leap with joy.' (Godet.)... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:5-6. SOME. Luke is quite indefinite here. SACRED GIFTS, made for the most part by heathen: such as holy vessels by the Emperor Augustus, and others by Ptolemy Philadelphus, king of Egypt, and especially the magnificent golden vine presented by Herod the Great, and described by Josephus. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
The discourse of our Lord about the last times, is here connected most closely with the prediction of the destruction of the temple (Luke 21:5-6). There is no allusion to the mount of Olives, where, as Matthew and Mark distinctly assert, the question of Luke 21:7 was put; but the wording of that ver... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:7. THE QUESTION. See on Matthew 24:3; Mark 13:4. AND THEY ASKED him, _i.e.,_ those spoken of in Luke 21:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:8-11. THE OPENING WARNING. See on Matthew 24:4-8; Mark 13:5-8. The varia tions are slight: AND THE TIME (_i.e.,_ of the kingdom) IS AT HAND (Luke 21:8). These are the words of those deceivers who should come. COMMOTIONS (Luke 21:9). Peculiar to Luke. THEN SAID HE ONTO THEM (Luke 21:10). A... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:12. BUT BEFORE ALL THESE THINGS. Matthew says ‘then,' and Mark also seems to imply that the persecutions would follow the signs, etc. (Luke 21:11-12). But the discrepancy is only apparent. The passage in Matthew (Matthew 24:6) tells of what shall take place before the end comes, then in Matt... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:12-19. PERSECUTION PREDICTED. See on Matthew 24:9-14; Mark 13:9-13. Luke's account shows great independence in this paragraph.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:13. IT SHALL TURN TO YOU, FOR A TESTIMONY, _i.e.,_ of your faithfulness, giving you an opportunity to testify for the Lord, and ‘against them' (Mark 13:9).... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:15. Peculiar to Luke, but comp. Matthew 10:19-20. A MONTH AND WISDOM. The former refers to the words they were to utter; the latter, to the gift of delivering these words appropriately. According to others, ‘mouth' refers to the form, ‘wisdom' to the thought. In any case both thought and w... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:16. SOME OF YOU. James, one of those present, was soon put to death (Acts 12:2).... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:18. AND NOT A HAIR OF YOUR HEAD SHALL PERISH. Some would add: ‘as long as you are needed for the service of Christ;' others refer it to the safety of the mass of Christians at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem. But the fact that Luke 21:16 points to the death of some makes a reference... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:19. IN YOUR PATIENCE, or ‘stedfastness,' YE SHALL WIN YOUR SOULS, or ‘lives.' In the endurance of these predicted afflictions they should gain, or come into the possession of, their true life. If Luke 21:18 refers to physical safety this promise also does. ‘In' means: in this God appointed w... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:20. COMPASSED WITH ARMIES. The plainest and most graphic form of the prediction. Luke, writing for Gentile readers, does not refer to Daniel's prophecy, but speaks of its fulfilment. We prefer this view to that which finds a different sign here; see on Matthew 25:15. There was abundant time,... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:20-24. THE DIRECT PREDICTION OF THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. See on Matthew 24:15-22; Mark 13:14-20. There is no parallel in Luke's report to Matthew 24:23-28; Mark 13:21-23.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:21. IN THE MIDST OF HER, _i.e.,_ Jerusalem, not Judea, as appears from the last clause of the verse. See the emended text. This Gospel does not contain so full directions in regard to the flight, as that written more especially for Jewish Christians (Matthew).... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:22. DAYS OF VENGEANCE. Of God's vengeance, not of man's. Comp. chap. Luke 18:8. Even Titus seems to have been conscious that he was a minister of Divine retribution. ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN MAY BE FULFILLED. Our Lord then asserts that this retribution bad been already prophesied in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:23. UPON THE LAND, or ‘earth.' This may be general, but as the direct reference is to the war under Titus, it more probably means: the land of Judea. If the wider sense be adopted, the particular distress (Divine retribution) is brought out in the clause: WRATH UNTO THIS PEOPLE.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:24. THEY SHALL FALL, etc. Peculiar to Luke. The reference is, of course, to ‘this people.' ‘According to Josephus, the number of the slain amounted to 1,100,000; 97,000 were carried away as slaves, mostly to Egypt and the provinces.' AND JERUSALEM SHALL BE TRODDEN DOWN OF THE GENTILES, or... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:25-33. THE SIGNS OF THE COMING OF THE END. See on the paragraph in general, the notes on Matthew 24:29-35; Mark 13:24-31. The only variations are in the signs mentioned in Luke 21:25-26, and the exhortation in Luke 21:28.These signs evidently refer not to the destruction of Jerusalem, but to... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:28. BUT WHEN THESE THINGS, _1e,,_ those spoken of in Luke 21:25-26, since the coming of the Son of man (Luke 21:27) would be instantaneous. BEGIN TO COME TO PASS. This suggests their continuance, but the close of the verse indicates a brief period. LOOK UP. The word means to raise one's... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:34. TO YOURSELVES. Emphatic. OVERCHARGED. Made heavy, sleepy, and hence unexpectant, the underlying thought being the sudden return of the Lord. Three things are mentioned as bringing them into such a state. SURFEITING, heaviness and dizziness such as drunkenness of _yesterday_ gives; DR... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:34-36. CONCLUDING WARNING. Peculiar to Luke in this form, though the same thoughts occur in Matthew 24:42-51; Mark 13:32-37.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:35. FOR IT SHALL COME IN UPON ALL, etc.. It is to be a universal surprise, a universal judgment. The idea of sitting securely is implied in the word dwell.... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:36. BUT WATCH YE. This is the main exhortation, and the mode of the watching is further described, AT ALL TIMES MAKING SUPPLICATION. ‘At all times,' in effect, belongs both to the watching and praying. THAT YE MAY PREVAIL, or ‘have the strength,' be in a condition. This is the sense of the... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:37. EVERY DAY. Lit., ‘the days,' definite days of that week of His passion. OLIVET. Luke makes no mention of Bethany, where, according to Matthew and Mark, our Lord spent the nights of Sunday and Monday. This is all they assert, although from their inserting the supper at Bethany _after_ th... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:37-38. CONCLUDING SKETCH OF OUR LORD'S TEACHING. Peculiar to Luke. Luke does not assert that our Lord afterwards taught in the temple, and thus contradicts the accounts of Matthew and Mark. Unlike them he has prefaced the final discourses with a general sketch of our Lord's activity during t... [ Continue Reading ]
Luke 21:38. CAME EARLY IN THE MORNING, rather than came eagerly, as some translate. This suggests that our Lord was for the greater part of the teaching days in the temple; a fact in accordance with the number of incidents which we must place on Tuesday. No miracles are mentioned in this connection;... [ Continue Reading ]