From: Luke 21:5-11

Discourse on the Destruction of Jerusalem and the End of the World

[5] And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and
offerings, He (Jesus) said, [6] “As for these things which you see, the days will
come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be
thrown down.” [7] And they asked Him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what
will be the sign when this is about to take place?” [8] And He said, “Take heed
that you are not led astray; 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 tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not
be at once.”

[10] Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against
kingdom; [11] there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and
pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.”

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Commentary:

5-36. The disciples are in awe of the magnificence of the temple, and Jesus uses
the occasion to give a long discourse, known as the “eschatological discourse”
because it has to do with the last days of the world. The account given here is
very similar to those in the other Synoptic Gospels (cf. Mt 24:1-51; Mk 13:1-37).
The discourse deals with three inter-connected subjects — the destruction of Je-
rusalem (which took place some forty years later), the end of the world, and the
second coming of Christ in glory and majesty. Jesus, who also predicts here the
persecution the Church will experience, exhorts His disciples to be patient, to
pray and be watchful.

Our Lord speaks here in the style and language of prophecy, using images taken
from the Old Testament; also, in this discourse prophecies which are going to be
fulfilled very soon are mixed in with others which have to do with the end of the
world. It is not our Lord’s intention to satisfy people’s curiosity about future events,
but to protect them from being discouraged and scandalized about what is going
to happen in the days immediately ahead. This explains why He exhorts them:
“Take heed that you are not led astray” (v. 8); “do not be terrified” (v. 9); “watch
at all times” (v. 36).

8. On hearing that Jerusalem is going to be destroyed, the disciples ask what
sign will be given as a warning of these events (vv. 5-7). Jesus answers by telling
them “not to be led astray,” that is to say, not to expect any warning; not to be
misled by false prophets; to stay faithful to Him. These false prophets will come
along claiming to be the Messiah (”I am He!”). Our Lord’s reply in fact refers to
two events which in the Jewish mind were interrelated — the destruction of the
Holy City and the end of the world. This is why He goes on to speak of both
events and implies that there will be a long gap between the two; the destruction
of the temple and of Jerusalem are a kind of sign or symbol of the catastrophes
which will mark the end of the world.

9-11. Our Lord does not want His disciples to confuse just any catastrophe —
famine, earthquake, war — or even persecution with the signals of the end of the
world. He exhorts them quite clearly: “Do not be terrified,” because although all
these has to happen, “the end will not be at once;” in spite of difficulties of all
kinds the Gospel will spread to the ends of the earth. Difficulties should not pa-
ralyze the preaching of the faith.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading	Daniel 2:31-45 ©

Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar, ‘You have had a vision, O king; this is what you saw: a statue, a great statue of extreme brightness, stood before you, terrible to see. The head of this statue was of fine gold, its chest and arms were of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet part iron, part earthenware. While you were gazing, a stone broke away, untouched by any hand, and struck the statue, struck its feet of iron and earthenware and shattered them. And then, iron and earthenware, bronze, silver, gold all broke into small pieces as fine as chaff on the threshing-floor in summer. The wind blew them away, leaving not a trace behind. And the stone that had struck the statue grew into a great mountain, filling the whole earth. This was the dream; now we will explain to the king what it means.

‘You, O king, king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength and glory – the sons of men, the beasts of the field, the birds of heaven, wherever they live, he has entrusted to your rule, making you king of them all – you are the golden head. And after you another kingdom will rise, not so great as you, and then a third, of bronze, which will rule the whole world. There will be a fourth kingdom, hard as iron, as iron that shatters and crushes all. Like iron that breaks everything to pieces, it will crush and break all the earlier kingdoms. The feet you saw, part earthenware, part iron, are a kingdom which will be split in two, but which will retain something of the strength of iron, just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together. The feet were part iron, part earthenware: the kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. And just as you saw the iron and the clay of the earthenware mixed together, so the two will be mixed together in the seed of man; but they will not hold together any more than iron will blend with earthenware. In the time of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not pass into the hands of another race: it will shatter and absorb all the previous kingdoms, and itself last for ever – just as you saw the stone untouched by hand break from the mountain and shatter iron, bronze, earthenware, silver and gold. The great God has shown the king what is to take place. The dream is true, the interpretation exact.’

Responsorial Psalm	Daniel 3:57-61 ©

All things the Lord has made, bless the Lord.