The Widow’s Offering (21:1–4)
The episode of the widow’s sacrificial offering stands in contrast to the greed of the teachers of the law (see previous passage). While they exploit others for gain, she gives self-sacrificially from her poverty.
The temple treasury (21:1). The term gazophylakion refers either to one of various treasury rooms located in the temple569 or to a chest or receptacle used to receive the money. The Mishnah speaks of thirteen shofar-chests (trumpet-shaped receptacles) located in the temple, which were used to collect various kinds of offerings.570 Since people are “throwing” (ballō; NIV, “putting”) money into the gazophylakion, this latter sense seems more likely. The former sense is evident in John 8:20, where Jesus is said to have been teaching in the gazophylakion.
A poor widow (21:2). Widows were often the poorest and most helpless members of society. See comments on 18:3.
Two very small copper coins (21:2). The copper coin here is a lepton, the smallest coin in circulation in Palestine (see 12:59). It was worth one-half a quadrans (Mark 12:42), or 1/128 of a denarius (the wage of a day laborer). A common laborer would earn one lepton in about four minutes of a ten-hour work day. Since this is “all [this widow] had to live on” (Luke 21:4), the woman is indeed very poor.
This poor widow has put in more (21:3). There are Jewish and Greek parallels to the maxim that generosity is relative to a person’s wealth. Aristotle wrote that “one’s generosity is to be evaluated in terms of one’s resources…. People who are truly generous give in proportion to what they actually have. It is possible, therefore, that a person who gives but little out of small resources is more generous than another.”571
Signs of the End of the Age (21:5–38)
With the time of his departure rapidly approaching, Jesus instructs his disciples on the cataclysmic events to come for Jerusalem and the signs that will accompany his return. In the first part of the discourse, Jesus speaks of signs that, though often interpreted eschatologically, are not indications of the imminent end (21:8–24). These include the appearance of false christs (21:8), catastrophic events like wars, earthquakes, and famines (21:9–11), widespread persecution of believers (21:12–19), and the horrific destruction of Jerusalem (21:20–24). For Luke Jerusalem’s destruction serves as a preview and “type” of the final day of God’s judgment; but it must be distinguished from it. A key transition occurs in 21:24, when Jesus predicts that “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (italics added). The discourse then turns to the events that will follow the “times of the Gentiles” and will herald the end.572
HEROD’S TEMPLE
A model of the Jerusalem temple.
The temple was adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God (21:5). Herod the Great’s greatest building project was his restoration of the temple in Jerusalem. The extraordinary beauty of the place astounded everyone who saw it. A later rabbinic proverb reads, “He who has not seen the temple of Herod has never seen a beautiful building in his life.”573 Josephus gives a detailed description of the buildings and ornaments and remarks that the exterior of the building lacked nothing that could astound a person. The sun reflecting off the massive gold plates on the building “radiated so fiery a flash that persons straining to look at it were compelled to avert their eyes as from solar rays.” Massive white stones twenty-five cubits long (37.5 feet), with some as much as forty-five cubits long (67.5 feet), were used in the construction. These gave the building a brilliant white appearance so that to approaching strangers the temple looked like a snow-covered mountain.574 The “gifts dedicated to God” (anathēma) are probably offerings given by worshipers in fulfillment of vows.
Not one stone will be left on another (21:6). This image indicates total devastation, but should not be read over-literally (see comments on 19:44). Jesus was not the only one to predict the destruction of Jerusalem. Josephus describes a man named Jesus son of Ananus, who, for four years before the Jewish revolt and then for three years during it, wandered the city crying, “Woe to Jerusalem!” Though whipped first by the Jewish leadership and then by the Roman procurator Albinus, for seven years he continued his mournful cry. He was eventually killed during the siege of Jerusalem by a stone from a Roman catapult.575
Many will come in my name, claiming, “I am he” (21:8). Messianic and prophetic claims were not uncommon in the first century (see comments on 17:23). Josephus blames an incorrect interpretation of “an ambiguous oracle” from the sacred writings about one who would become “ruler of the world” (a reference to Isaiah 9?) for the disastrous Jewish revolt of A.D. 66–74. Josephus denies the messianic significance of this prophecy and claims it concerned the establishment of Vespasian as Roman emperor.576
Wars and revolutions … great earthquakes, famines and pestilences (21:9–11). Cataclysmic events, whether human conflicts like war and revolution577 or “natural” disasters like earthquakes are often associated in the Old Testament and Judaism with God’s judgment.578 The judgments of the Day of the Lord are marked by earthquakes and other cosmic disturbances.579 Apocalyptic Judaism drew strongly on this imagery. In the third vision of 2 Esdras (also 4 Ezra), Ezra asks the Lord when the signs he has been showing him will take place. The Lord responds:
Measure carefully in your mind, and when you see that some of the predicted signs have occurred, then you will know that it is the very time when the Most High is about to visit the world that he has made. So when there shall appear in the world earthquakes, tumult of peoples, intrigues of nations, wavering of leaders, confusion of princes, then you will know that it was of these that the Most High spoke from the days that were of old, from the beginning.580
ARCH OF TITUS
The arch depicts the captives of Jerusalem in the aftermath of the Jewish war in A.D. 70.
Jesus responds against overzealous apocalyptic fervor by pointing out that these events are typical of human history and should not be confused with the end.
Great signs from heaven (21:11). Cosmic signs are also common in prophetic and apocalyptic literature as portents of God’s judgment (see comments on 21:25).
Deliver you to synagogues (21:12). (Cf. 12:10.) In first-century Judaism the elders of the synagogue were administrative as well as religious leaders, and the synagogue served not only as a place of worship, but also for public gatherings, including judicial hearings.581 The judicial hearings and sentences that led to Paul’s five lashings by the Jews (2 Cor. 11:24) probably took place in local synagogues.
I will give you words and wisdom (21:15). These words recall God’s promise to Moses (Ex. 4:12, 15) and Jeremiah (Jer. 1:9) that he would put his words in their mouths.582
Betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends (21:16). (Cf. Micah 7:6.) In the tight-knit Diaspora Jewish communities, acceptance of Jesus as Messiah could result in excommunication and even stoning.583 Such social disintegration was viewed by the rabbis as a sign of the end of the age (see comments on 12:52–53).584
Not a hair of your head will perish (21:18). This is an idiom meaning complete protection.585 In light of the reference to martyrdom in 21:16 and to “gaining life” in 21:19, this probably means spiritual rather than physical deliverance.586
When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies (21:20). The horrific siege of Jerusalem by the Romans and its accompanying famine is described by Josephus in great detail in books 5–6 of his Jewish War (see comments on 19:44; 21:23).
JUDEA CAPTA COIN
An imperial bronze coin commemorating the Roman victory over the Jews in A.D. 70. It is inscribed with the words, “captive Judea” (IVDEA CAPTA).
Let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains (21:21). Normally, people in the countryside would flee to the fortified cities for protection. Yet Jerusalem will be the wrong place to be during this siege (see comments on 21:23). The early church historian Eusebius records that, in response to this oracle, Christians in Judea fled to the city of Pella in Decapolis during the Jewish revolt.587
Punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written (21:22). The Old Testament repeatedly speaks of judgment against Jerusalem for her sins.588 While many of these prophecies speak of Jerusalem’s destruction by the Babylonians in 586 B.C., Jesus saw them as prophetic previews for the destruction of A.D. 70.
How dreadful … for pregnant women and nursing mothers! (21:23). The siege and famine in Jerusalem were particularly traumatic for those with children. Josephus describes one gruesome episode where a starving woman, whose food was repeatedly stolen by certain city defenders, killed and cooked her own infant. She ate half and, when the guards arrived and demanded the food they smelled cooking, offered the other half to them. In horror they fled from the house. When this report went out to the city, “those who were starving longed for death, and considered blessed those who were already dead, because they had not lived long enough either to hear or to see such evils.”589
Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles (21:24). Israel’s darkest times were when foreign nations conquered and occupied the holy city of Jerusalem, whether at the Babylonian captivity (Jer. 25:10–11), during the Maccabean period, or now with the Romans.590 The author of 1 Maccabees deplores the time when “Jerusalem was uninhabited like a wilderness…. The sanctuary was trampled down, and aliens held the citadel; it was a lodging place for the Gentiles. Joy was taken from Jacob” (1 Macc. 3:45).
STANDARD OF THE 10TH ROMAN LEGION
This was a key Roman army in the Jewish war.
The times of the Gentiles (21:24). This is a period of world domination by the Gentiles that precedes the return of the Messiah. Daniel’s prophecies of a great statue (Dan. 2) and beasts from the sea (Dan. 7) envision a period of world domination by the Gentiles before the establishment of the kingdom of God (2:44; 7:27).
Signs in the sun, moon and stars … the heavenly bodies will be shaken (21:25–26). Cosmic signs and disturbances are common in prophetic and apocalyptic literature as evidence of God’s judgment and the end of the age (Isa. 13:9–10; 34:4).591 Ancient peoples viewed heavenly signs as omens of good or evil. Josephus describes a star shaped like a sword and a comet that appeared over Jerusalem as a sign of her coming destruction.592 Heavenly armies were also seen running through the clouds and surrounding the city.593
Nations will be in anguish and perplexity…. Men will faint (21:25–26). It was widely held in Judaism that the time leading up to the end, sometimes called the “messianic woes” or the “birth pains of the Messiah,” would be a period of great distress and tribulation.594 The War Scroll at Qumran says, “It will be a time of suffering for all the people redeemed by God. Of all their sufferings, none will be like this, from its haste until eternal redemption is fulfilled” (see comments on 21:9–11).595
The Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory (21:27). This image is taken from Daniel 7:13, 14, where an exalted messianic figure is described as “one like a son of man,” who comes on the clouds of heaven and is given authority, glory, and an eternal kingdom. The apocalyptic work 1 Enoch develops this image with reference to the Messiah (see comments on 5:24; 9:26).
Look at the fig tree and all the trees (21:29). The fig tree here represents a nature analogy and is not a symbol for Israel (contrast 13:6). Fig trees are bare in the winter, so the first signs of leaves are evidence that summer is near. The signs Jesus has been describing will herald the return of the Son of Man.
This generation (21:32). The Greek term genea normally means “generation,” that is, people living at a particular time. Some have suggested that the word instead should be translated “race” and that the saying means the nation Israel will survive until the return of Christ.596 Although possible, this is an unusual use of genea. If the reference is to the disciples’ own generation, either Jesus’ prediction was wrong (since he did not return in the first century) or else the events of A.D. 70 in some way fulfilled the prophecy (the Son of Man “came” in judgment). Perhaps the best explanation is that “this generation” refers not to the disciples’ generation, but to a (later) generation alive when the signs begin to take place.
Heaven and earth will pass away (21:33). See comments on 16:17.
To stand before the Son of Man (21:36). To “stand before” in this context means to stand confident of approval and vindication. In 1 Enoch 62:8–9 the “elect ones” stand before the Son of Man in glory, while the wicked fall on their faces and flee from his presence in shame.