Luke 21:5-11

Revelation 14:14-19

Psalm 96:10, 11-12, 13

Luke 21:5-11

While some people were speaking about

how the temple was adorned with costly stones and votive offerings,

Jesus said, “All that you see here–

the days will come when there will not be left

a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down.”

Then they asked him,

“Teacher, when will this happen?

And what sign will there be when all these things are about to happen?” 

He answered,

“See that you not be deceived,

for many will come in my name, saying,

‘I am he,’ and ‘The time has come.’ 

Do not follow them! 

When you hear of wars and insurrections,

do not be terrified; for such things must happen first,

but it will not immediately be the end.” 

Then he said to them,

“Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 

There will be powerful earthquakes, famines, and plagues

from place to place;

and awesome sights and mighty signs will come from the sky.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, do not let me be deceived by the evil one. Teach me to read the signs of the times and be always prepared to meet you. I long for your embrace that will welcome me into your heavenly dwelling.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Signs of Tribulation: In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus foretold the demise of the Temple. Naturally, the people who heard this prophecy asked Jesus when it would happen and what signs would precede the destruction of the Temple. Jesus first speaks about the signs and later, in Luke 21:32, gives them a time frame (within a generation or 40 years). The signs of the time of tribulation will include false messiahs, wars, insurrections, international strife, earthquakes, famines, plagues, and celestial signs in the sky. Jesus urges his disciples not to be deceived by the false prophets and messiahs and not to be terrified during the tribulation. The signs Jesus predicted all came to pass before A.D. 70. There was a famine in A.D. 45-49 during the reign of Claudius, there were messianic pretenders, the Jewish revolt (insurrection) against Rome began in A.D. 66, and there was turmoil in the Empire after the death of Nero in A.D. 68. In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught his followers to pray especially for mercy during the time of tribulation: “Lead us not into temptation,” “Do not subject us to the test.”

2. The Harvest of the Son of Man: In the Book of Revelation, we contemplate how Christ’s judgment, symbolized by the casting of his sickle, is carried out by the angels. John sees the Son of Man, Jesus Christ, wearing a golden crown, which represents his kingship and victory, and holding a sickle in his hand. The sickle was a tool for harvesting grain. It signals judgment and the end of an age. In Matthew’s Gospel, in the Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds (Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43), wheat symbolizes the righteous, and weeds symbolize the unrighteous. Both are cut down together and then separated. The righteous will be vindicated and welcomed into the eternal dwelling of God, while the unrighteous will be judged and tossed into the eternal fire.

3. The Lord Comes to Judge the Earth: In the Book of Revelation, the first angel harvests the wheat, a symbol of the saints, who are gathered like sheaves and stored in a granary. The second angel is sent out by the Son of Man to sever the sinners like grapes from the vine. The judgment, symbolized as a harvest of grain and grapes, evokes a prophecy from Joel 3:13. In Joel’s prophecy, the nations who threatened Jerusalem were judged. Here, in the Book of Revelation, Jerusalem itself is judged, and this is described by John as the destruction of a wine press or vineyard. The grapes were thrown into the “great wine press of God’s fury” and crushed. This represents especially the flow of blood from the slaughter of those who died in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The siege and destruction of Jerusalem is an event that foretells the battle between good and evil throughout the centuries but points forward to the catastrophic events that will lead up to the end of time and the final judgment by the Son of Man, who will come in glory on the clouds of heaven.

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you will come in glory to judge the living and the dead. I pray that when I stand before you, I am judged as good wheat and not darnel or chaff. You have sowed good seed in my heart, and I want it to flourish into a bountiful harvest of good works for your Kingdom.

Living the Word of God: Am I ready for the final judgment? Am I ready for judgment at the time of my death? What can I do today to be better prepared? Have I asked for forgiveness and mercy for my sins? Have I been thankful for the gifts God has given me? Do I attribute my good and meritorious works first to God and secondly to my collaboration with God’s grace?