Luke 22:7-20 comments: the first Lord's Supper

22:7 ¶  Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. 8  And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. 9  And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? 10  And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. 11  And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? 12  And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. 13  And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. 14  And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. 15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: 16  For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. 17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: 18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. 19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. 20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

Exodus 12:6  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.

Christ teaches His little congregation to honor the traditions established by God for the Jewish people. He does not fail to follow the Passover but becomes our Passover lamb.

Exodus 12:21  Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said unto them, Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

John 1:29  The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Notice how in verse 10 that God uses anonymous people that aren’t figured into the picture by name but have a significant part to play. We don’t have any information for where this servant carrying a pitcher of water or his employer or master, the goodman of the house, met Christ or what his relationship was with Christ as a disciple. But, we just have to accept that the information is not there. It is similar to this in Acts where we don’t know how this group was established in Corinth.

Acts 18:9  Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10  For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

Regarding the Lord’s Supper it was not uncommon in a meal for there to be one cup passed around. Ordinary people even up through the European Middle Ages at a group meal often drank from the same cup, put their fingers in the same plate of food, took soup from the same pot or plate, etc. etc. Their culture was vastly different from ours and we need to get that straight in our heads and not read our time back into it.(7)

Paul called this meal in 1Corinthians 11:20 The Lord’s Supper. In 1Corinthians 10:16 he referred to it as the communion of the blood and body of Christ. Christ breaks a piece of bread, holding it in His hands but calling it, the bread, His body. Christ is holding a cup of wine that is not blood but He calls it blood. Jesus uses this type of metaphor in other places confusing His hearers who are not of the right heart.

John 6:28 ¶  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 30  They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? 31  Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33  For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 34  Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 35  And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. [Jesus refers here to Himself as being a superior Manna, true bread from heaven. It is a metaphor, a type, He is using. Jesus is not saying He is literally bread, referring to hunger and thirst as a spiritual condition, see Matthew 5:6  Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.] 36  But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37  All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38  For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39  And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40  And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day. 41  The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. 42  And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? 43  Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. 44  No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45  It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. 46  Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47  Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48  I am that bread of life. 49  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50  This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 52  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat? 53  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54  Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55  For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56  He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57  As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58  This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever. 59  These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

    60 ¶  Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? 62  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. [Here He revealed the spiritual nature as opposed to the carnal nature of His comparison of Himself to the Manna in the wilderness.] 64  But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65  And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father. 66  From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67  Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68  Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69  And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70  Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71  He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

So, Christ has used this comparison to underscore that meat and drink can preserve us for a time physically but only the spiritual can preserve us for eternity. Paul wrote;

Romans 14:17  For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.

We have God’s words in this Bible. It is written in Job;

Job 23:12  Neither have I gone back from the commandment of his lips; I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food.

Job 34:3  For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat.

So, no reasonable person is going to stuff food in their ears or tear off a page of the Bible, crinkle it up, and try to shove it in their ear to follow the Bible literally. We know that the Holy Spirit uses a great many metaphors and makes use of typology in writing the Bible.

Now that we understand the spiritual nature of what Christ is saying, that the wine in the cup is not His literal blood and the bread is not His literal body, we can understand what is happening here more clearly.

Paul emphasized the solemnity and gravity of this recurring ordinance and what it represents.

1Corinthians 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.

It is not only a solemn occasion that requires serious thought but it is a time of self-reflection and self-examination.

1Corinthians 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body.

Here is the larger passage from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians. Paul first complains about the Corinthians raucous misuse of the times they shared the Lord’s Supper, their disrespect of it, and then lays out its meaning for them.

1Corinthians 11:17 ¶  Now in this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for the better, but for the worse. 18  For first of all, when ye come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. 19  For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you. 20  When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s supper. 21  For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken. 22  What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

[This would show the stark contrast between a debauched and drunken pagan feed at one of the temples of pagan gods, with food offered to idols, and the gravity of the Lord’s Supper.]

    23 ¶  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30  For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. 31  For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. 32  But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. 33  Wherefore, my brethren, when ye come together to eat, tarry one for another. 34  And if any man hunger, let him eat at home; that ye come not together unto condemnation. And the rest will I set in order when I come.

Christ says here to do this in remembrance of Him and that the cup of wine represents the New Testament in his blood. So, the New Testament is likened to a cup that holds the blood of Christ. The Lord’s Supper, as we practice it, is a memorial.

A memorial keeps something fresh in our minds. It keeps an important event from becoming a mere, hazy memory, an intellectual assent to something that we don’t really appreciate any more, if we ever did. By taking the Lord’s Supper we can keep ever present in our mind that God shed His blood and allowed His body to be broken for us. He paid our sin debt to Himself, paid the ransom for sin to Himself, and we are indebted to Him for this sacrifice.

Exodus 30:12  When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them.

Psalm 49:7  None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him: [The ransom is not paid to the Devil but by God to Himself?]

Mark 10:45  For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.

1Timothy 2:6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

He purchased us with His own blood, God’s own blood.

Acts 20:28  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Hebrews 9:12  Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Hebrews 13:12  Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.

Revelation 1:5  And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

(7) Norbert Elias, The Civilizing Process: The History of Manners (New York: Urizen Books, 1978), 69.

Luke 22:1-6 comments: the last Passover

22:1 ¶  Now the feast of unleavened bread drew nigh, which is called the Passover. 2  And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill him; for they feared the people. 3  Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve. 4  And he went his way, and communed with the chief priests and captains, how he might betray him unto them. 5  And they were glad, and covenanted to give him money. 6  And he promised, and sought opportunity to betray him unto them in the absence of the multitude.

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and its relationship to the Passover should be read from the Old Testament.

Exodus 12:1 ¶  And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2  This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3  Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4  And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5  Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6  And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7  And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8  And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9  Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10  And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11  And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’S passover. 12  For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14  And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. 15  Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. 16  And in the first day there shall be an holy convocation, and in the seventh day there shall be an holy convocation to you; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that which every man must eat, that only may be done of you. 17  And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever. 18  In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even. 19  Seven days shall there be no leaven found in your houses: for whosoever eateth that which is leavened, even that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a stranger, or born in the land. 20  Ye shall eat nothing leavened; in all your habitations shall ye eat unleavened bread.

The chief priests and the scribes sought how they could kill Jesus but not in such a way as to arouse the riotous inclinations of an unruly people who adored Him. It is at this point in God’s plan to redeem mankind to Himself that Satan entered Judas.

Jesus called Judas a devil.

John 6:70  Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?

And although the specifics aren’t related here Judas, a man given to doubtful loyalty to Christ, is possessed, as we understand it, by Satan himself. See here for Judas’ bad character.

John 12:6  This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.

And here for the specific occurrence of Satan taking control of him.

John 13:26  Jesus answered, He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27  And after the sop

Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. 28  Now no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. 29  For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, Buy those things that we have need of against the feast; or, that he should give something to the poor. 30  He then having received the sop went immediately out: and it was night.

But when Satan is finished using a person they are themselves typically finished.

Matthew 27:1 ¶  When the morning was come, all the chief priests and elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death: 2  And when they had bound him, they led him away, and delivered him to Pontius Pilate the governor. 3  Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4  Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5  And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself. 6  And the chief priests took the silver pieces, and said, It is not lawful for to put them into the treasury, because it is the price of blood. 7  And they took counsel, and bought with them the potter’s field, to bury strangers in. 8  Wherefore that field was called, The field of blood, unto this day. 9  Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value; 10  And gave them for the potter’s field, as the Lord appointed me.

Luke 21:29-38 comments: similar signs

21:29 ¶  And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30  When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31  So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32  Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33  Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. 34  And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35  For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36  Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. 37  And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives. 38  And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

See here in Jesus’ closing statements how with the age of the Christian church not revealed that the two prophecies of events at least two thousand years apart appear to be conflated. This confuses the Preterist who say the events of Revelation were fulfilled in 70AD, which is nonsense.

First, it must be understood that the events of the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple will happen so close in time that the generation hearing Christ will have many who will witness them. With the First Jewish-Roman War less than four decades away this generation will experience it.

But, He includes in His closing remarks something more, that the whole earth will experience, the coming of the kingdom of God physically on earth at Christ’s return. Without the two thousand years of the Church Age in between it appears confusing to some. But, look at the disaster the Jews faced in 70AD as a type and a portent of what the end of human history will look like. The signs of Jerusalem’s fall and the signs of the time before Christ’s return will be similar and Christians will be delivered from both sets of horrors involved in those signs.

Luke 21:20-28 comments: two great events separated by at least two thousand years

21:20 ¶  And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21  Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22  For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23  But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24  And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 25  And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26  Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27  And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28  And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

Here is a clear distinction between the Fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple versus the end of history. Read 20-24 to the comma before until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. There is a couple thousand-year gap in that comma.

Paul wrote about the period of Israel’s blindness over the last two thousand years;

Romans 11:25  For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26  And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

27  For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. 28  As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes. 29  For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. 30  For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: 31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.

32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Notice Paul’s until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. Notice also that God is not done with the Jews but their apostasy turned to our salvation and we are to be witnesses for them, not their persecutors.

Now, back to the comma and the two thousand plus year gap. Here is another example of that type of handling of time in the Bible. Read this prophecy in Isaiah.

Isaiah 61:1 ¶  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn;

Now, read up to the comma after to proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD. Jesus refers to this passage in His early ministry.

Luke 4:18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. 20  And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21  And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.

He stopped where that comma is for us. Before that comma is His first advent and after that comma the day of vengeance of our God holds the second advent as related in the Book of the Revelation. There is a long time in between, two thousand years so far.

From the point at the end of Luke 21:24 and onward we have the events of the end foretold. There was some question about how long that gap might be. If the council had, as related in Acts 7, when they were addressed by Stephen, acknowledged, as he said in verse 52, that they had had the Messiah killed by the Romans, like David killed Uriah by the Ammonites (2Samuel 12:9), that gap may have been much smaller than two thousand years.

Acts 7:52  Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

Christ was ready, perhaps, to receive the repentant Jews. In Mark 16:19; Colossians 3:1; and Hebrews 10:12 He is said to be seated on the right hand of God but in the following He might have been prepared, as an example to us, to receive the Jews if they had been repentant and acknowledged who He is and what they did.

Acts 7:55  But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, 56  And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

They had used the sword of Roman justice to murder the Innocent One (Psalm 94:21; Matthew 27:4) but Peter said they did it out of ignorance.

Acts 3:17  And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.

Confirming what Jesus said from the Cross.

Luke 23:34  Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.

And the Law provided a way to deal with the rulers’ sin from ignorance as per Leviticus, chapter 4. But, it was not to be. The Jews had rebellion against God on their spiritual hearts.

Matthew 27:25  Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.

John 19:15  But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.

And so, we have the age of the Church until the times of the Gentile domination are over. Israel still has to deal with the Gentiles and their very existence, from a temporal and strictly earthly point of view, depends on the support of powerful nations, the holding back of their enemies, and a very, very shaky geopolitical situation with another holocaust from the Beast and Satan’s fury coming. But, when Christ returns to rule Gentile domination is over.

Revelation 11:15  And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Verses 25-27 summarize the events of the Book of Revelation. For 27 see;

Revelation 1:7  Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Finally, as in verse 28, we are told to be expectant of Christ’s return, of His calling us out as the church, His body on earth being removed or translated from here to Heaven.

1Corinthians 15:51 ¶  Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52  In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

 1Thessalonians 4:13 ¶  But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15  For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16  For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17  Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Titus 2:13  Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

Luke 21:5-19 comments: the destruction of the Temple foretold

21:5 ¶  And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, 6  As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 7  And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? 8  And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them. 9  But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by. 10  Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: 11  And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven. 12  But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake. 13  And it shall turn to you for a testimony. 14  Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer: 15  For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist. 16  And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death. 17  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake. 18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish. 19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

Jesus restates His prophecy of the temple’s destruction from 19:41-48. I will repeat some of what I wrote. Here is a prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD70. Josephus, a Jewish general who went over to the Romans, gave us the history of that event if we can believe what he wrote. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem was the main event of the First Jewish-Roman War that ended not only in the disaster to the city but the destruction of the Temple, as well.

What was called Herod’s Temple, the Second Temple with the first destroyed by the Babylonians hundreds of years previously, will be destroyed. The Jews will suffer for rejecting their Messiah and for fabricating a false religion, a house of cards built on the Mosaic Law, not too different from what many Christians have done.  It seems to be a character trait of mankind, making it up as they go along. But, some historical writers say that the destruction of Jerusalem marked the great shift away of Christianity from its Jewish roots.

There is a warning in verse 8 to follow no one after Christ who claims to be Him. Many terrible things will happen, both natural and man-made, before this dreadful event and the disciples are told not to be concerned by them. Based on the context we have the Preterist justification for saying that the events of Revelation were fulfilled when Jerusalem fell to the Romans but this has nothing to do with the events of Revelation. Jesus did not come to physically rule the earth from Jerusalem in 70AD. The Preterist view is simply insane and denies the text of Revelation.

Christ here tells His disciples that He will give them the words to say when they are under persecution.

Jeremiah 1:9  Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.

In chapter 12 Jesus also underscored this point in speaking of persecution.

Luke 12:8  Also I say unto you, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God: 9  But he that denieth me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. 10  And whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven. 11  And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: 12  For the Holy Ghost shall

teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.

The fact that Jesus is talking to His disciples about a persecution to come in time that is not too far distant is evidenced by the following statement.

18  But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

If this passage is foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70AD this undercuts Roman Catholic tradition which has Peter dying at Rome in 64AD. Jesus is promising that not a hair of their head will perish during this terrible national tragedy, that He will give them the words to say.

Remember, that Peter didn’t say he was going to Rome. He said he was writing from Babylon where there was a strong Jewish community.

1Peter 5:13  The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

Babylon was part of the Parthian kingdom at this time and Josephus wrote about how the Jews in Judea appealed to the strong community in Babylon to help them in their rebellions against Rome.

Based on some written evidence by Eusebius, a famous early church historian, and other writers, Christians escaped from Jerusalem before the destruction in 70AD. We know in Acts how God permitted a situation to exist where many Christians had to leave Jerusalem because of persecution, perhaps not only forcing them to be witnesses to the world but also saving them from the awful terror that was to unfold in the Jewish-Roman War that resulted in the destruction of the Temple.

If this passage is a reference to the events leading up to and including the Fall of Jerusalem then literally Christ is assuring these disciples in front of Him that they will survive it. The fearful sights and natural disasters that surrounded the Fall of Jerusalem are spoken of by Josephus, who was not a Christian but a Jew who had sided with the pagan Romans.

Josephus wrote about incredible signs that preceded the conquest of Jerusalem by the future Roman emperor, Titus. They are hard to be believed like soldiers and chariots in the sky and other events that many eyewitnesses claimed to see, according to him. False prophets arose in abundance and a couple are mentioned in Acts by the Jewish teacher of Paul, Gamaliel.

Acts 5:36  For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought. 37  After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

Verse 19 gives us one reason for including longsuffering, which is patience, in the list of the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Trust in Christ, wait on Christ, be faithful and strong. Remember that words joined by and are typically synonymous. We like to think of longsuffering as putting up with the kids’ nonsense but it carried a far more heavy weight in the first century in regard to persecution and suffering.

Colossians 1:11  Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;