As
some were talking about the temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts, he said, “As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.” They asked him, “Teacher, so when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are about to happen?” He said, “Watch out that you don’t get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Therefore don’t follow them. When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won’t come immediately.”
Luke 21:5-9
Luke 21 [1.] He looked up, and saw the rich people who were putting their gifts into the treasury. He saw a certain poor widow casting in two small brass coins. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow put in more than all of them, for all these put in gifts for God from their abundance, but she, out of her poverty, put in all that she had to live on.”
Luke 21 [5.] As some were talking about the temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts, he said, “As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.”
Luke 21 [7.] They asked him, “Teacher, so when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are about to happen?”
Luke 21 [8.] He said, “Watch out that you don’t get led astray, for many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is at hand.’ Therefore don’t follow them. When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified, for these things must happen first, but the end won’t come immediately.”
Luke 21 [10.] Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines, and plagues in various places. There will be terrors and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and will persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons, bringing you before kings and governors for my name’s sake. It will turn out as a testimony for you. Settle it therefore in your hearts not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to withstand or to contradict. You will be handed over even by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. They will cause some of you to be put to death. You will be hated by all men for my name’s sake. And not a hair of your head will perish.
Meaning:
In the last days before his death Jesus taught daily in the temple courts. As people admired the building, he made a shocking prediction about its future, and the disciples asked when it would happen. His first answer was not a timetable but a warning. Mark and Matthew record the same conversation (Mark 13:1; Mark 13:2; Mark 13:3-4; Matthew 24:1-2; Matthew 24:3-5).
- “decorated with beautiful stones and gifts”
The temple of Jesus’ day had been rebuilt and greatly enlarged by Herod the Great. Its white stone and gold made it one of the wonders of the ancient world, and wealthy donors had given costly ornaments to adorn it. When Jesus visited Jerusalem earlier, people remarked, “It took forty-six years to build this temple!” (John 2:20). For a faithful Jew the temple stood for God’s presence among his people, so it seemed permanent and untouchable.
- “there will not be left here one stone on another”
Jesus’ answer echoed what he had said as he wept over Jerusalem: “They will not leave in you one stone on another, because you didn’t know the time of your visitation” (Luke 19:44). The prophecy was fulfilled in AD 70, when Roman armies under Titus captured Jerusalem and the temple was burned and torn down. Solomon had already confessed that no building could contain God: “heaven and the heaven of heavens can’t contain you; how much less this house that I have built!” (1 Kings 8:27). The beauty of the stones could not save a nation that rejected its King. Jesus himself is the true meeting place of God and humanity, for “he spoke of the temple of his body” (John 2:21).
- “so when will these things be? What is the sign”
The disciples wanted a date and a sign. It is a natural question, and Jesus answers it in the verses that follow (Luke 21:10-14; Luke 21:20-22). Yet he begins by turning their attention from curiosity about timing to faithfulness in the meantime.
- “Watch out that you don’t get led astray”
The first danger is deception. Many would come “in my name,” claiming “I am he,” words that in Greek can also echo the divine name I AM, as the WEB footnote notes. Others would announce, “The time is at hand.” In the decades before AD 70 several self-styled deliverers arose in Judea, as the Jewish historian Josephus records, and drew followers into the desert with promises of deliverance. Jesus says plainly, “Therefore don’t follow them.” Elsewhere he warned, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing” (Matthew 7:15).
The second danger is panic. “When you hear of wars and disturbances, don’t be terrified.” Wars “must happen first,” for God is not surprised by the turmoil of nations, but “the end won’t come immediately.” Disturbing events are not a signal to abandon ordinary faithfulness or to believe every rumour about the end.
The Significance of Luke 21:5-9
- Hold earthly things loosely
Buildings, institutions and achievements, however beautiful, are temporary. Our hope rests on Christ and his unshakable kingdom, not on anything made with hands.
- Discernment
Believers are to test claims carefully. John writes, “Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Anyone who sets dates or claims special authority must be weighed against the words of Jesus.
- Calm in troubled times
Jesus’ words free us from fear. Paul urged the Thessalonians “not to be quickly shaken in your mind, nor yet be troubled” by claims that the day of Christ had come (2 Thessalonians 2:2). God remains in control of history.
Cross-References:
Mark 13:2: "There will not be left here one stone on another, which will not be thrown down." Mark’s record of the prophecy.
Mark 13:5-6: "Be careful that no one leads you astray." The same warning in Mark.
1 Kings 8:27: "will God in very deed dwell on the earth?" Solomon’s prayer at the first temple.
Matthew 7:15: "Beware of false prophets," Jesus’ earlier warning about deceivers.
Conclusion: Jesus foretold the fall of a temple that seemed permanent, and he answered the disciples’ question about timing with a call to watchfulness. His followers are not to be led astray by those who come in his name or announce that the time is at hand, nor terrified by wars and disturbances. God rules over history, so those who trust Christ can stay calm, discerning and faithful until the end.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible