Luke 21:34 Commentary and Bible Study

Like Matthew 24 and Mark 13, Luke 21 is addressed to Christ’s disciples: those who have asked the question that prompted this message. Throughout the chapter he speaks to them as he would only speak to those who follow him, encouraging their faith and their testimony, teaching them how to respond to persecutors, warning of hatred from the world for his name’s sake, showing them how to regard this world, and directing them how to escape from Jerusalem when its judgment comes. They are to read the signs of the times, and recognise when the end is drawing near. But this is also for professing believers living throughout the gospel age, and especially those at the end of the age, when the signs heralding the second coming start to be seen.Now the Lord gives a strong warning about falling prey to temptation. There will be a long delay before he returns, and his disciples will be surrounded by the world on a daily basis. They know they must wait for his return, and live for his return, and not for the pleasures of this age, but there is a danger that their resolve will be worn down and they will give way to the allurements of the world. Three things are mentioned by Christ which are to be watched against. Surfeiting is giving way to excess, excess of pleasures, excessive time given to ourselves, excess of relaxation, enjoying the things of this world too much. The word could be rendered dissipation or debauchery. Secondly, drunkenness – as Noah, after a long life of faithfulness. We must keep up our guard to the end. A long life of faithfulness to the Lord does not earn a period of exemption from the good fight of the faith. Drunkenness involves the suppression of the highest faculties which the Lord has given us, all of which are needed to worship him and to obey him from the heart. The cares of life – maybe legitimate cares, but they become too important to us. Trusting in God to supply all our needs is the only safe path for rich and poor alike. All three of these take our eye off the goal, our expectation of the return of Christ. The saint looks forward to that event because he is involved in the fight against sin, and that day marks complete victory over the enemy and rest from the battle. It is the brow of the hill to which he is moving, the sight of the one who welcomes him home.‘For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.’ A snare takes by surprise. The quarry is trapped before it is even aware that the snare is there, and after the wire has tightened round the neck it is impossible to free itself. The more it struggles the more the snare tightens, for the hunter had designed it to withstand all desperate struggles to escape. It is the another warning about watchfulness. That day will come upon all those still alive on the earth at the Lord’s return. To some it will be the day of deliverance, to others it will be a snare. It will come on the latter as those who lived up to the last moment for sin, and sought to get the maximum out of it. Perhaps they heard this warning, but they didn’t take it seriously. They thought that they could choose the moment they turned away from evil, and drink deeply from sin’s pleasures before they did so, but if we are not living in obedience to Christ, then that day will come upon us when we are not ready for it. What regret will fill the mind! ‘Why did I leave it so long? Why did I not turn to Christ before? What have I gained by the path I have chosen?’ The illustration of the snare tells us that though sin is prolonged over a period of time, judgment is sudden, too sudden for us to acquire a better outlook at the last moment. God will let no one take advantage of his grace like that.