Day 81 – December 15, 2023: Luke 19-24

We close out Luke with a couple of different topics that we need to cover: Jesus’ second coming, also known as the day of judgment, and the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I know, that looks like 5 things, but it is only two. Let’s look at the second coming, or the day of judgment, which is emphasized in Luke 21. We see the well known Scripture in vss. 10-11 which speaks of earthquakes and famines and plagues and how these are signs of the day of judgment that is coming. Over history people have tried to match up earthquakes, famines, and plagues as the, emphasis on the, sign that the days are now upon us. Not so fast, Jesus has still not come back, and the day of judgment has still not come upon us.

There is the prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem which could have already happened when this Gospel was written. Jerusalem was destroyed in 71AD and so the people reading this early on could have said that these end times are upon us now. The point of these Scriptures is really seen in vs.34 where we are called to be alert and on our guard. Our alertness needs to be seen in our prayers. As we wait for the coming of the Lord, prayer has to be our calling card.

A quick reference to vs.33 where Jesus tells us that heaven and earth will both pass away, but that comes on the heels of Jesus stating that all of these things will take place before this generation passes away. What is this generation? Obviously the day of judgment did not come, and yet Jesus’ compatriots are no longer with us. We know that Scripture tells us in Revelation 21 that there will be a new heaven and a new earth, and so we have to assume that in order for the new to come the old has to be redone, revised, restructured, or pass away. We have the promise of restoration, but that restoration is not to where it was, but with Jesus in all things. This includes a new heaven and earth.

When we talk about the resurrection we have to recognize that it is the single most important theological truth that we believe which is somewhat unbelievable. We believe that we will be resurrected, bodily, just as Jesus was. That ties us into a new heaven and a new earth along with a new body. Boy, I can’t wait.