“Not a Hair of your Head will Perish”
Luke 21:5-28
11/18/07
If you’ve been keeping up with the
international news lately you know about the recent turmoil that the
country of Pakistan is experiencing these days as its President has set
aside the constitution in order to set up military rule in its
place. It’s hard for us to identify with what the people of
that country are going through, but just imagine if something like that
happened here in our own country. What would life be like, if
suddenly our government fell? Imagine the anarchy, the chaos, and
turmoil you’d be experiencing. Now add to that the constant
threat of suicide bombers and terrorist attacks on a daily basis.
Then, to top it off, picture a mass persecution of Christians, and
you’ve got some idea of the horrors that Jesus describes here
concerning the tribulation which Christians would experience, beginning
with the destruction of Jerusalem and its temple in 70 A.D., then later
on what they would experience when Rome persecuted and killed
Christians for confessing Jesus, and finally what they will go through
just prior to Christ’s coming.
Compared to all this, we Christians today in this
country know nothing at all of what it means to suffer for the Name of
Christ. The worst we experience is a spike in oil prices or a
drop in the value of our stocks and mutual funds. Yes,
there’s the occasional earthquake that does cause some
significant localized damage, but nothing like what happens when
earthquakes occur in third-world countries. Their structures
aren’t built to earthquake code as ours are, and as a result
thousands die in a 5.6 quake, whereas when one of those happens here
our T.V. shows aren’t even interrupted. And yes,
there’s that drought that’s now affecting the southeastern
states. But again, nothing like the droughts in other countries
where thousands die as a result.
Now, I know many of you don’t like to hear bad
news. I don’t like to hear bad news. If it were up to
me, I’d give you nothing but good news. But unfortunately,
Jesus gives us some bad news here, and that is, that things in this
world are going to get progressively worse before they’re going
to get better for the Church. You’ve already seen and heard
of wars and tumults as nation has risen against nation and kingdom
against kingdom over the centuries. You’ve experienced
earthquakes first-hand and seen them create tsunamis which wipe out
hundreds of thousands of people. You’ve seen famines and
pestilences like AIDS and the bird flu hit countries all over the
world. You’ve even seen some extraordinary cosmic events in
your lifetime. But you haven’t seen anything yet!
Jesus says that “there will be terrors and great signs from
heaven... And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars,
and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the
roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with
foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the
heavens will be shaken.” What’s more, in addition to
all this, Christians are going to be persecuted on a massive
scale. Jesus tells His disciples, “They’ll lay their
hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and
prisons (a reference to persecution from religious groups - the Jews in
those days), and you will be brought before kings and governors (a
reference to persecution from secular authorities - Rome in those days)
for my name’s sake (that is, because you confess
Jesus).” Now, this is exactly what happened to the Apostles
and the early Christians. You can read about it in the book of
Acts. Not only from the Bible, but also from outside sources you
can read about how throughout the centuries, even up until this day
when Christians are still being persecuted in countries where
Christianity is outlawed, the saints have suffered and are suffering at
the hands of religious groups, secular authorities, and yes, even
members of their own families for confessing Jesus Christ crucified and
risen from the dead for our salvation. And this is only going to
continue and grow worse in the days just prior to our Lord’s
return.
The fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the
Jewish temple in 70 A.D. was a little preview of the Last Day and the
end of the world in miniature. Jesus described those events with
the same language He used to describe the world’s end:
Nation against nation, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, terrors and
great signs from heaven. If you had been living in or around
Jerusalem during that time, you would have thought the world was coming
to an end, too. At least, it would have seemed like it.
Again, imagine if Washington, D.C. were suddenly wiped off the face of
the earth. But Jesus told His disciples ahead of time that this
would happen, so that they wouldn’t despair or be shaken in their
faith. God was going to pour out His judgment and wrath on
Jerusalem and the Jewish religion, because they had rejected His Son,
their Messiah. The temple building in Jerusalem was no longer
going to be the place where God met with His people. Instead, it
was going to be in His Son, the new temple, where God dwells in the
flesh. It’s in Jesus that God now meets with His people as
Christ comes to us through His Word and Sacraments and builds us up as
living stones into a holy temple where He dwells among us in the temple
of His body. Similarly, on the Last Day, God is going to pour out
His wrath and judgment on the world and all false religions which have
rejected Jesus Christ, persecuted His Church, and set up for themselves
false places of worship and idols of their own making in place of the
God who has revealed Himself in His crucified and risen Son.
In the meantime, all these signs of God’s
impending wrath upon the world are meant to move us to
repentance. It’s on account of sin - our sin - that
God’s terrifying judgment is coming. God is patient, not
wanting anyone to perish, but all to repent and come to faith in Jesus
Christ. On Good Friday God also gave us a little preview of the
Last Day with the same signs of God’s wrath that Jesus mentions
here - the darkening of the sun, a great earthquake, the tearing of the
temple veil, and the raising of a number of dead saints. With
these signs God wants the world to know that He has already poured out
His wrath on His Son on the cross, so that all who believe in Him might
not have to drink of the cup of His wrath themselves. He wants
you to continue to confess this for yourself, that you might not fall
away into unbelief or unrepented sin, but continue to confess your sins
and live under His grace and mercy towards you in Jesus. And so,
God graciously gives us warnings to draw us back to Himself. But
one day His patience with the world will come to an end, and there will
be no second chances. All who reject the Savior will suffer both
God’s temporal and eternal punishment.
Because Christians confess that Jesus is the only
Savior God has given to the world and that no one comes to the Father
but through Him, Christians are going to be persecuted for this just
like the Apostles and the early Christians were, just like the Church
has always been from the beginning. We will be persecuted by both
secular and religious bodies. We will even be betrayed by our own
parents, brothers, relatives, and friends. Some of us will be put
to death. And there will come a time when we will be hated by all
for the sake of Christ’s Name. To top it all off, the devil
will be actively trying to deceive us into believing in false christs
and false gospels. Jesus warns us of this when He says here,
“See 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.” Already during
the time of the Apostles this was happening. It had happened
among the Galatian Christians to whom the Apostle Paul wrote, “I
am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in
the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel - not that
there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to
distort the Gospel of Christ.” And the Apostle John writes,
“Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that
antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come.
Therefore we know that it is the last hour.” And further on
he writes, “By this you know the Spirit of God: every
spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from
God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from
God. This is the spirit of the antichrist...” Jesus
warns us of this attempt by Satan to deceive us into believing a lie,
so that we might always be on the alert, always watching, always
holding fast to the Word of God, so that we aren’t misled and end
up denying Christ, even while thinking we still believe in Him.
Many of these religious sects and cults today use the name of Jesus and
try to pass their teaching off as the Gospel. But their Jesus is
an entirely different Jesus and their gospel an entirely different
gospel than what we are given in the Word of God. The better you
know the original, the better you’ll be able to recognize a
counterfeit when it comes along.
You also won’t be shaken when catastrophe
hits, if you know the Word of God, because in it your Lord has already
told you that such things are coming. Jesus says, “When you
hear of wars and tumults do not be terrified, for these things must
first take place...” You have not built upon sand, but upon
the Rock, the Rock of Christ and His Word, so that when the wind and
waves of God’s wrath hit the world, you will not be swept away,
but you will stand firm, because Christ has endured the wrath of God
for you on His cross.
And that is the good news that Jesus has to give you
today. Even though all of these bad things are going to happen
prior to Christ’s return, Jesus has overcome the world,
He’s defeated the devil, He’s appeased God’s wrath,
and He’s coming back to take you to be with Him. And
nothing can keep you from Him, not even death itself. So, even
though you might have to suffer for confessing Jesus in this world,
even to the point of death, you don’t need to be afraid.
Jesus says that “not a hair of your head will
perish.” And that goes even for those of you who
don’t have many hairs left to lose. The fact is, even if
you lose your physical life for Christ’s sake, you have the sure
hope of the resurrection of your body to look forward to.
And so, the suffering in this life calls for
endurance. As Jesus says, “By your endurance you will gain
your lives.” Elsewhere He says, “Whoever wishes to
save his life will lose it; whoever loses his life on account of me,
this one will save it.” That is, if you reject the
suffering of the cross and choose the comforts of this life over
Christ, you will lose your life. But if you remain steadfast in
the faith by the grace of God and by the strength He gives you by His
Spirit through His Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper, you will
gain your life. And when it comes time to confess Jesus, the Lord
Himself will give you what to say. In fact, He has already given
you what to say in the Scriptures. The more you know these words,
the more you’ll be ready to give an answer to those who ask you
about the hope you have in Jesus. And if you do suffer for
confessing Jesus, you can do what the Apostles did, who rejoiced that
they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name of
Jesus. Suffering for Jesus’ sake, after all, goes with
being a disciple of Jesus. As Paul wrote to the Philippian
Christians, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of
Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for His
sake...” Because Jesus suffered, we will suffer also.
But because He was glorified, we will be glorified also.
In your Baptism you were united to Christ’s
death, so that you might also be united to His resurrection. And
in that Baptism, the whole you was baptized, even the hairs on your
head. The Lord even knows how many hairs there are on your
head. If He so cares about your hairs, how much more does He care
about you? No need to worry, then, when the bad news of this life
hits us, when the birth pangs of the end of the world come upon the
earth, or when we must suffer for confessing Jesus. He is with us
always, even to the end of the age. He is putting Himself, body
and blood, into us today through His holy Supper. And even though
we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we will fear no evil,
for He is with us then too. Psalm 46 reads, “God is our
refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we
will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved
into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the
mountains tremble at its swelling... The LORD of hosts is with
us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Amen.