Luke 21 :: Holy Week

Luke 21

First, I can't believe no one mentioned anything on Friday about us reading of Jesus' talk about taxes on April 15th.  That makes me laugh a little.

Yesterday began what is commonly referred to as "Holy Week" in many circles of Christians.  In fact, on the ABC News last night, David Muir referred to this week as the holiest week of the year for Christians all over the world.  While I do not ascribe to any one week being more holy than another or a day being more holy than another day, I do realize the significance of what happened between what we call Palm Sunday and Resurrection Sunday.  Over the next 5 days, we will all see the significance up close and personal.

Sometimes when I read Jesus, I get as confused as it appears the disciples did at what he was saying.  This is particularly unfortunate because I have seen the backside of the story and I have had many people smarter than me write about it for centuries.  Today is one of those days where I am just not clear about all of the details that Jesus is explaining.

At times it appears that Jesus is speaking of his final days on earth.  At other times, it seems as though he is speaking of our final days on earth.  Sometimes it's clear that he is referencing what he is about to go through and other times it feels like he is telling stories about today.  Then at the end of the chapter, he makes this statement:

Don’t brush this off: I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too—these things will happen.  (32)

Primarily, Jesus is explaining to the disciples what is about to happen to him.  His imagery is exquisite and he paints a graphic picture of what is about to take place in the next few days.  He is the temple that will be destroyed, he is the one who will get beaten, he is the one who will then come in style.  These things have to come.  His other main reference is to what will happen before they die.  As we will see before the week is over, many of these words from Jesus will actually occur right before their eyes.  Some of his words may have happened after he left the earth, but I don't know my geographical history well enough to tell you.

Just as the disciples heard these words with an immediacy in mind, we too can approach this text with a bit of an immediacy.  The same kingdom that Jesus ushered in then, is here now.  We are part of the restoration of this earth, so we cannot just assume that everything is about tomorrow and not about today.  Jesus beckoned this urgency, the disciples lived it and we can embrace it.