Jesus’ list of events that precede His coming are becoming ominously familiar. Wars and disturbances? People aren’t just dying in Israel and Gaza but also at the hands of a madman in Maine. Earthquakes? In Morocco last month, one killed almost 3,000 people, while thousands more were injured and left homeless. Plagues? Well, after COVID we all know about that one. Signs in the heavens? Just a couple of weeks ago, we saw a solar eclipse that looked like a ring of fire in the sky.

So, what do we do when it looks like things are falling apart? Jesus gave us some good advice in Luke 21. In the first place, He says we should not allow ourselves to be misled (v. 8). After all, these sorts of signs have happened many times before in world history and will keep happening until He returns. No, the signs of His return will be as universal as they are unmistakable, for Jesus will come in a cloud with power and great glory (v. 27).

But at the same time, Jesus told us to stay on guard, to be on the alert (vv. 34-36). Since His coming could be at any time, we should always be ready to stand before our Lord (v. 36). That’s why we should be about His business, instead of giving ourselves over to “dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life” (v. 34), even worries about COVID or climate change or inflation or elections.

No, things have fallen apart many times before: even Jerusalem was destroyed first by the Babylonians some 700 years before Christ, and then again by the Romans some 40 years after Jesus’ crucifixion (vv. 20-24). But the good news is that Christ is risen. And He is coming again. So, whatever bad things may keep coming our way, let us lift up our heads, for our redemption is drawing near (v. 28).

Luke 21:8-36 (NASB)

8 And He said, “See to it that you be not misled; for many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am He,’ and, ‘The time is at hand’; do not go after them.
9 “And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end does not follow immediately.”
10 Then He continued by saying to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom,
11 and there will be great earthquakes, and in various places plagues and famines; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.
12 “But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you to the synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for My name’s sake.
13 “It will lead to an opportunity for your testimony.
14 “So make up your minds not to prepare beforehand to defend yourselves;
15 for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to resist or refute.
16 “But you will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death,
17 and you will be hated by all on account of My name.
18 “Yet not a hair of your head will perish.
19 “By your endurance you will gain your lives.
20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is at hand.
21 “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are in the midst of the city depart, and let not those who are in the country enter the city;
22 because these are days of vengeance, in order that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
23 “Woe to those who are with child and to those who nurse babes in those days; for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath to this people,
24 and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
26 men fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 “And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29 And He told them a parable: “Behold the fig tree and all the trees;
30 as soon as they put forth leaves, you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near.
31 “Even so you, too, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.
32 “Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place.
33 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.
34 “Be on guard, that your hearts may not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day come on you suddenly like a trap;
35 for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth.
36 “But keep on the alert at all times, praying in order that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”