Lift Your Head

Thank you for reading this sermon from Christ Fellowship. I hope and pray that this sermon will be a blessing of grace and truth to you. With that said, let me encourage you not to use this sermon as a replacement for your local church. Christ Jesus did not establish his Church simply for us to consume content. Instead, He calls us to be part of a real, covenant family. 

We are picking up this morning in the middle of a prophecy that we started studying last week. Jesus foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and the persecution of God’s church. We’ll start reading today in Luke 21 verse 20:

20 “But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation has come near.

That word “desolation” is an Old Testament word. It’s a word that appears in nine of the prophetic books referring to a future destruction of Israel.

21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside the city depart, and let not those who are out in the country enter it,

22 for these are days of vengeance, to fulfill all that is written.

To fulfill all that is written… in other words, this really should not be surprising to the Jewish people. Jesus tells them that they will be judged by God for their unfaithfulness.
Specifically, they will be judged for rejecting their own Messiah and for persecuting His followers.

23 Alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! For there will be great distress upon the earth and wrath against this people.

Notice that even here, during severe judgment, we see God’s heart for the vulnerable. Jesus is grieving the consequences that God’s judgment will have on mothers and infants. He takes no pleasure in the consequences of sin and rebellion that we bring on ourselves.

But notice, Jesus calls it wrath. Jerusalem is going to be destroyed. The temple is going to be destroyed. But that’s not just a prophecy about something that will happen because of the Romans. This is a prophecy about something that is going to happen because God is angry with His people! This is God’s plan for unfaithful people! And it is going to be terrible.

24 They will fall by the edge of the sword and be led captive among all nations, and Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

A million people died during the siege of Jerusalem. The Jewish people were scattered. Not only did this happen, but it is still happening. We are still living in the times of the Gentiles. 2,000 years later, the temple mount in Jerusalem is occupied by an Islamic Mosque.
And in my view, this judgment will continue until the full number of God’s people are redeemed. That’s when Jesus will return.

25 “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves,

26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken.

This is where the prophecy gets more obscure. These are signs pointing to the end of this age, but we don’t know if Jesus is speaking literally or symbolically. Either way, He’s talking about chaos and fear which has arguably been the pattern of history since the resurrection.

27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.

“They will see…” who is they? It’s everyone. In other words, when Jesus returns it will be undeniable. No one on earth will miss it. A lot of people missed His first coming. No one will miss His second coming.

28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

This is the command to the followers of Jesus. It’s clear. It’s direct. And it’s backed by a promise. “Straighten up and raise your heads.”

What does the coach say to the young player after a mistake? Get your head up! Shake it off. Keep going.

In other words, take courage. Do not succumb to the chaos and the fear around you. All of this chaos and fear – it’s going to be all around you. But you, my disciples, are not going to cave under the pressure. Do not give in to despair. Do not be afraid. Have confidence. Lift your heads. Why? Because “your redemption is drawing near.”

That word – “drawing near” means both drawing near in time AND drawing near spatially. It means soon AND close. Your redemption is soon AND your redemption is close by.

What is Jesus saying? He’s commanding us to stay faithful… to stay anchored while, all around us, the world gives in to chaos and fear. He promises that He is coming quickly and that He is near to us in the midst of it.

This is good advice for us in what is currently a very unstable world. If you’re keeping up with current events, there is a lot of chaos and fear right now. And so, it’s a good time for disciples of Jesus to ask ourselves how we will respond. Will we straighten up and raise our heads, because we know our redemption is near?

29 And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.

30 As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near.

31 So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. (same word, soon and close)

32 Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place.

33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Jesus uses a simple illustration to reinforce his claims. When a tree sprouts leaves in the spring, we know summer is near. In the same way, when you start seeing these signs, it will confirm and verify my words.

You can trust me. As the sun rises and sets, you can trust me. As the seasons change, you can trust me. In fact, my Word is more certain than all these things. That’s what verse 33 means.

But I want to go back and clear up something in verse 32. What does Jesus mean when He says, “this generation will not pass away until all has taken place?”

Some think this means that the disciples who were alive when Jesus said these words would literally witness everything He spoke about. But that’s not the best interpretation.

Instead, if you look at the way the phrase “this generation” is used throughout Luke and the other Gospels, Jesus is referring to the wicked generation of the age we are now living in.

In my view, we are still living in “this generation”. We are still living in the times of the Gentiles – the times of chaos and fear. This age will continue until God’s redemption is complete and Jesus returns.

So, what take-aways do we have from this text?

First, we can say that God’s Word is convincingly and undeniably true. We’re not talking about blind faith here. The history of the world has unfolded exactly as Jesus described it – cycles of chaos and fear being fueled by wars, disease, famine, and natural disasters. All of these “signs from heaven”, as Jesus calls them, verify and lend trust to God’s Word.

Second, God is sovereign over human history. The world is not in control. God is. None of the current or past events have caught Him by surprise. He’s the Lord of everything, and as bad as it sometimes feels, the truth is that it could be far worse. He’s not letting it be as bad as it could be.

Third, God’s justice is certain. The Bible gave the Jewish people fair warning and Jesus gave them plenty of opportunities to repent and follow Him. He’s giving us the same opportunities. He’s giving you one right now and it would be a costly mistake to ignore the warning signs.

Fourth, God’s mercy is real. Even though there is a lot of doom and gloom in our text, Jesus tells the disciples that all of it points to a coming redemption. Jesus is near and His mercy is real.

Ultimately, the cross is the place where God’s judgment and God’s mercy meet. We may come to the Judgment Seat of God wondering, “Will God show us mercy, or will we suffer His wrath?”

And if we take an honest accounting of our life through the lens of God’s law, then we know ourselves to be guilty. But the cross is what enabled God to declare us not guilty by declaring Jesus guilty in our place. The cross was the only way God could maintain His character and prove Himself to be BOTH a just and merciful God.

If you want to respond in faith instead of fear, look to the cross. It’s a guarantee from God, signed in blood, that our struggles are not in vain. And I know that some of you have faced some difficult times recently. You’re grieving. You’re hurting. You may be afraid.

At least once a year, I’m going to use an illustration from Lord of the Rings… In The Fellowship of the Ring, there is a conversation between Frodo and Gandalf in which Frodo laments the dark times he is living in.

Overwhelmed by his quest and the evil spreading across Middle-earth, Frodo says:

“I wish this had not happened in my time.”

To which Gandalf wisely responds:

“So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

You may wish for a different life, a different time, a different struggle—but we are called to be faithful in the time are given. This is exactly what Jesus calls His disciples to in Luke 21.

The world may be full of uncertainty, fear, and darkness, but we are not called to shrink back. Instead, we are called to lift our heads, to trust in the sovereignty of God, and to live faithfully in the moment He has placed us in.

We long for easier days and one day they will come. But in the meantime, Jesus does not ask us to wish away our circumstances—He commands us to stand firm, because our redemption is drawing near. The battle is real, but the victory is certain. And when you forget, return to the cross.