NOTES for Luk 21:34-36

The Lord describes everything that will happen before His appearance in glory, and He gives us counsel: "...watch at all times and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that are to come and to stand before the Son of Man." That is, something terrible will be happening around us, apparently close to what the prophet Daniel saw (Dan. 7:1-27).

At the same time, the main task of the person who believes in Jesus is to watch and pray in order to escape all this. Not to live through all of it with eyes closed, not to turn away, but to pass through this time while looking at Christ. This is the simplest way to stand before Him. In just this way one can escape all the horrors that are regarded as signs of the Second Coming.

Jesus concludes His description of the calamities that will befall humanity at the end of time with the inward temptations that can overtake anyone. He warns His disciples against sins that can weigh down the heart. The Lord speaks of the cares of this life, drunkenness, and gluttony, which make the heart increasingly incapable of perceiving God. When we allow earthly life to consume us completely and take first place over spiritual life, it is as if we fall asleep, and it becomes ever harder for us to remain sober and spiritually alert. This final trial can therefore prove the most terrible, because it can cause the coming of the Son of Man to pass unnoticed. The Lord often reveals Himself to us in our daily life, but we are unable to see Him or hear His voice because we are too absorbed in our own lives. We can become so focused on ourselves that we are not even able to notice Christ, who may be very near. This passage warns us against this unfeeling heaviness of heart.

The Kingdom of God is near, but Christ Himself said that it comes unnoticed and is already partly among us. This means that we should not identify the coming apocalyptic disasters with the Second Coming and the Last Judgment. After warning the disciples about the fearsome events that will accompany the Second Coming, Christ called them to keep watch and pray in the hope of escaping all these things that are to come. They will be the consequence of human actions, but Christ does not desire disasters for people. He does not wish anyone to perish, and the essence of His coming into the world is not found in cataclysms. On the contrary, the signs of His coming are compared to the tenderness of leaves and the blossoming of unfolding branches.

We are given a warning to be ready for the day He foretold. Therefore, let us note that He warns us not against some especially terrible crimes, but against what is natural and everyday: drunkenness, gluttony, and—most astonishingly—the cares of life. But how can we manage without them? Yet it is not the sea but a puddle that drowns us, and even the most normal and necessary concerns will do us no good if they obscure Christ from us.

Against the backdrop of the terrible events of the apocalypse, when "people will faint from fear," amid wars and darkness, Christ's words sound paradoxical and astonishing: "...Then straighten up and raise your heads, because your deliverance is drawing near." This is precisely the dimension that has always been lost in all kinds of final predictions about the end of the world. People expected nothing good from it, and in any case they did not expect from it a meeting with Christ. Yet this is a relevant question, and not by accident these words are addressed to everyone: "this generation will not pass away until all is fulfilled." However the history of the earth as a whole unfolds, each of us has ahead of us our own personal end of the world, when history will continue its course without us. And here the most important thing is to remember that meeting God is joy and deliverance, including deliverance from fear.

In today's passage the Lord tells His disciples that in the future their life may change very sharply. Now everything is familiar to them: there is Jerusalem, there is the Temple, their beloved Teacher is near, and nothing is required of them except to follow Him. But Christ reveals to them that He Himself is going to His death, that the Temple will be destroyed, Jerusalem laid waste, and the disciples will face persecution, hatred, and betrayal.

To one degree or another, these words apply to each of us. The Lord calls us to keep watch, because we do not know when the ground will give way beneath our feet, when a time of testing will come. And here He gives us very important commandments about how to stand, how to survive, and how to win in this battle of good and evil. First, "do not be afraid and do not be terrified" - the Lord will not abandon His disciples. He will give them words for witness and wisdom that the world will not be able to withstand. The disciples are threatened with persecution and death, yet paradoxically "not a hair of your head will perish." Even the sufferings to come will be filled with meaning and will contribute to Christ's victory. Second, "by your endurance save your souls" - in trials they will need steadfastness. Third, "lift up your heads; your redemption is drawing near" - victory will inevitably belong to Christ, and therefore the final trials will be permeated for them with the joy of that victory. And finally, "keep watch; watch yourselves" - so that at the necessary moment they will not be unready and helpless, will not give in to panic, and will meet the coming Lord with a joyful heart.