Our Daily Scripture – 5/4/25 (Sunday)

SCRIPTURE:  LUKE 21

THE WIDOW’S OFFERING (vs. 1-4)

While Jesus was at the temple, he saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury.  He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.  He said: “This poor widow has put in more than all the others.  All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth; but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.” (vs. 3-4)

SIGNS OF THE END OF THE AGE (vs. 5-37)

Some of Jesus’ disciples were remarking about how the temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God.  But Jesus said, “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” (v. 6)

SIGNS THAT WILL TAKE PLACE:

  1.  Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and ‘The time is near’.  Do not follow them. (v. 8)
  2.  There will be wars and revolutions but the end will not come right away. (v. 9)
  3.  Nation will rise against nations, and kingdom against kingdom. (v. 10)
  4.  There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places and fearful events and great signs from heaven. (v. 11)
  5.  They will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. (v. 12)
  6.  Do not worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves for I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. (v. 14)
  7.  You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends and they will put some of you to death. (v. 16)
  8.  All men will hate you because of me but not a hair of your head will perish but gain life by standing firm. (vs. 16-18)
  9.  Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies. (v. 20)
  10.  Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, and let those in the country not enter the city. (v. 21)
  11.  There will be great distress in the land and wrath against these people. (v. 23)
  12.  They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations.  Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (v. 24)
  13.  There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars.  On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. (v. 25)
  14.  Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. (vs. 26)
  15.  The Son of Man will come in a cloud with power and great glory. (v. 27)

ADVICES OF JESUS:

  1. Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. (vs. 34)
  2. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man. (v. 36)

THOUGHTS:

While Jesus was in the temple, he noticed what the people gave.  This poor widow had few resources to make money.  Her small gift was a sacrifice because she gave willingly all she had to live on.  She was a good example for all believers to consider sacrificial giving whether money, time or talent.

The disciples were admiring the temple being built by Ezra after the return from exile later in the sixth century BC.  It was desecrated by the Seleucids in the second century BC., reconsecrated by the Maccabees and enormously expanded by Herod the Great over a 46 year period.  It was a beautiful imposing structure with a significant history, but Jesus said that it would be completely destroyed which happened in AD. 70 when the Roman army burned Jerusalem.

Jesus warned the disciples about the signs of the end times.  He warned them about false messiahs, natural disasters and persecutions, but he assured them that he would protect them and make his Kingdom known through them.  However, Jesus was not saving that believers would be exempt from physical harm or death during the persecutions..  Rather, he was saying that none of his followers would suffer spiritual or eternal loss.  In the end, Jesus promised that he would return in power and glory to save them.  These warnings and promises also apply to us now as we look forward to his return.