Lange Commentary - Luke 21:25 - 21:36

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Lange Commentary - Luke 21:25 - 21:36


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

Second Part (Luk_21:25-36)

(Parallel to Mat_24:29-41; Mar_13:24-37.)

25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars [in sun and moon and stars]; and upon the earth distress [anxiety] of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring [nations in perplexity concerning a roaring of sea and waves]; 26Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven [the heavens] shall be shaken. 27And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory28[great power and glory]. And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. 29And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; 30When they now shoot forth [have put forth], ye see and know [seeing it ye know] of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. 31So likewise ye, when ye see these things come [coming] to pass, knowye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. 32Verily I say unto you, This generationshall not pass away, till all be fulfilled. 33Heaven and earth shall pass away; but mywords shall not pass away. 34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting [or, revelling], and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. 35For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36Watch ye therefore, and pray always [ ἐí ðáíôὶ êáéñῷ ], that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass [are coming], and to stand before the Son of man.

EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL

Luk_21:25. And there shall be signs.—The Saviour does not now turn back again to the point of time of the destruction of Jerusalem, but He states what shall take place after the êáéñïὶ ἐèíῶí shall have been fulfilled. The consecutiveness of this delineation is plainly enough indicated by the êáß of Luke, and it is purely arbitrary to assert (De Wette) that the Evangelist avoids the åὐèÝùò of Matthew because he wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem. The variation is simply connected with the freer form of the redaction of this discourse of our Lord in Luke, to which it is at the same time to be ascribed that he, since he writes for the Gentile Christians, does not speak of the flight on the Sabbath, of the shortening of these days, and of the false Jewish prophets, while he also does not so particularly specialize further óçìåῖá , as is done by Matthew and Mark. As respects, moreover, the signs themselves, there is as little reason (Starke) to understand by the sun Antichrist, by the moon and the stars antichristian teachers, as (Besser and others) without any proof to understand the stars metaphorically of mighty princes, and the roaring sea of the tumult of nations. Other views we find given by Lange on the parallel in Matthew. Why do we not rather simply believe our Lord at His word, that His ðáñïõóßá will be accompanied with cosmic revolutions, whose actual course can be as little calculated as their possibility can be denied a priori? It was known even from the Old Testament that fearful signs in the realm of nature would herald the day of the Lord, see, e. g., Jer_4:23; Joe_2:30, &c. Commonly such delineations are ascribed to the poetry of prophecy, and certainly it would betray little taste and little intimacy with the style of the Holy Scriptures if one upon such dicta would build a definite theory as to the future destiny of the heavenly bodies. But, on the other hand, we learn even by the extension which natural science has gained in our days to recognize the limitation of human science even, in this sphere, and the genuine cosmologian and theologian will be modest enough not here too rashly to take the word “impossible” upon his lips. We are wanting in any fixed hermeneutic rule to determine proprio marte what is here to be understood literally and what tropically; only the event will determine where in this case lie the boundaries between imagination and reality.

On the earth anxiety of nations.—This allusion to the profound anxiety which shall fill the human world, is peculiar to Luke. The same thought is further developed, Rev_6:12-15, and has in itself psychological probability, without here supposing believers to be entirely excluded. As in the animal world important alterations in the atmosphere are instinctively perceived, as often an inexplicable presentiment of a terrible calamity, whose breaking in is feared, makes even the most courageous pale with terror; so does our Lord give us to expect that an obscure presentiment of great events shortly before His Parusia will weigh like heavy Alps on many a heart. Luke speaks of ἀðïñßá Þ ̓ ÷ïõò (see notes on the text) as an indication of that to which the anxiety and perplexity of the nations has relation. The roaring of the sea and waves, that is, reminds even those who do not live in expectation of the coming of the Son of Man, of terrible things, nevertheless, which are about to come upon the earth, while their evil conscience testifies to them that they have the worst to expect therefrom. The allegorical expositors of Scripture here only understand again the sea of nations, apparently because they find it a little apocryphal that the ocean, at the approach of the mortal hour of this visible creation, should roar somewhat more heavily than wont. We, for our part, find the physical signs in the sea not more improbable than those in the moon and the stars

Luk_21:26. Men’s hearts failing them for fear, ἀðïøý÷åéí , that is, not only grow rigid (De Wette) or fall into swooning, but, as Hesychius interprets = ἀðïðíåõìáôßæåóèáé . What even now not unfrequently happens by a very high degree of heat, anxiety, or sorrow, that the tension of the moment has the loss of life as a consequence, will then especially no longer be classed among the rare casualties; no wonder, since even the powers of heaven shall be shaken, “perhaps the sustaining and working forces of the heavenly system, with their influences for the earth, so that the Lord finally comprehending all together, means to say, ‘Everything together shall give way and finally fall to pieces, 2Pe_3:10-12. ” Stier. According to De Wette, this phrase from Matthew, forsooth, limps behind, but an exegesis which does not feel that just by this terrible word the sufficient explanation of the just-portrayed anxiety is given, appears itself not to stand upon a wholly good footing.

Luk_21:27. And then.—Here also, as in Matthew and Mark, the personal coming of the Messiah at the very time when the whole visible creation threatens to sink into a chaos. According to Matthew, there is finally seen first the sign of the coming of the Son of Man, afterwards Himself. According to Mark and Luke, on the other hand, the appearance of the Messiah upon the clouds—Mark in the plural, Luke in the singular—is immediately beheld, while these two are silent as to the óçìåῖïí . For the principal views as to the latter, see Lange on Mat_24:30. It may be very well supposed that the cloud of light itself which bears Him and the glory which surrounds Him might be this óçìåῖïí . Compare the assurance of the angels at the Ascension, which Luke alone has preserved to us, Act_1:11, that the Lord shall come again even so ( ïὑ ̔ ôùò ) as ( ὅí ôñüðïí , i. e., ἐí íåöÝëç , Luk_21:9) they had seen Him go towards heaven. The mention of the appearance and activity of the angels at the last day, we find only in Matthew and Mark ad loc. [and in almost all the passages in the first three Gospels in which our Lord refers to the day of judgment.—C. C. S.] On the other hand, Luke lays emphasis on the practical side of the matter, the expectation and joy with which the disciples of our Lord, who are conceived as then still living upon the earth, shall behold the approach of these things. This again is genuinely Pauline, comp. Rom_8:19-23.

Luk_21:28. And when these things begin to come to pass.—There is not the least reason for understanding by ôïýôùí exclusively what is last named, the coming of the Son of Man in His äüîá . This manifestation is in a certain sense the work of a moment, and when this shall have come to pass, then is the redemption of His own not only near ( ἐãßæåé ), but really present. Rather are we to understand thereby all previous tokens, which are named Luk_21:25-26, and which must necessarily endure for some time (therefore also ἀñ÷ïìÝíùí ). These same events which the world shall gaze on with helpless terror, must be for believers an awakening voice to joyful hope and expectation, since these very ὠäῖíåò prove that the birth-hour of their salvation comes with every moment nearer and nearer. The heads which hitherto had often been bowed under all manner of misery and persecution, must then be lifted up, comp. Rom_8:19; Jam_5:8.

Luk_21:29. And He spake to them a parable.—Here also, as in Luk_21:10, Luke appears as narrator, while with Matthew and Mark the tone of discourse continues undisturbed. The latter is internally more probable. The former is a new proof of the greater freedom of Luke’s redaction. Moreover, the mention of all the trees, with and beside the fig-tree, is peculiar to him. Perhaps our Lord speaks here especially of a fig-tree, because this had served Him so frequently as a type of the Israelitish people, Mar_11:12-14; Luk_13:6-9. But that He here also speaks of that symbolical fig-tree, in other words, that He designates the reviving Israel as a prophet of His near approach (Stier), appears to us quite as unproved as that the Lord means to allude to the amarum and venenatum quiddam in the sap of the fig-leaves, and adduces the incrementa malignitatis, as presages of His coming (Ebrard). In both cases the mention at least of all the trees would be quite incongruous, and we therefore consider it as better to assume that He spoke so especially of the fig-tree because He wished to designate it as a special kind of tree, in distinction from the others.

Luk_21:30. When they now put forth.—Designedly Luke expresses himself here somewhat less definitely than Matthew and Mark, because he does not intend to bring into prominence the specific peculiarity of the fig-tree, whose leaves develop themselves at the same time with the setting of the fruit, but only has in mind that which is common to all trees. With the various kinds of trees the putting forth of leaves is the token of approaching summer; whoever sees the one knows then of himself that the other is at hand.— Ἀö ̓ ἑáíôῶí , “etiamsi nemo vos doceat.” Bengel.—The kingdom of God.—Here, of course, agreeably to the whole text, definitely apprehended as regnum gloriœ.

Luk_21:32. This generation shall not pass away.—For a statement of the different views with reference to the signification of ἡ ãåíåὰ áý ̓ ôç , see Lange, ad loc. The explanation that our Lord had in mind the generation then living is certainly the least artificial, while every other gives immediate occasion to the conjecture that it has arisen from the perplexity as to how to bring the prophecy into agreement with the fulfilment. It may be asked, however, whether the words Ý ̓ ùò Ü ̓ í ðÜíôá ãÝíçôáé cannot be understood in such a sense that they make the explanation of ãåíåÜ as designation of that generation at all events possible. By ðÜíôá we have no longer to understand the destruction of Jerusalem in itself, which now already lies behind our Lord’s view, nor yet His ðáñïõóßá itself, for in the following verse there is again mention of a passing away of heaven and earth, but we have to understand the presages of His coming which He had just indicated symbolically, as, for instance, in the image of the putting forth of the leaves of the trees. These presages now occupy necessarily a certain period of time ( ἀñ÷ïìÝíùí , Luk_21:28, and ãßíåóèáé , used of things of this sort, is an elastic idea, by which not only that which is momentary, but also that which is successive, is expressed). So must, therefore, the explanation be permitted, “until all things shall have begun to come to pass,” all things, that is, which are to serve as the previous signs of His coming; and this was really the case during the life of the contemporaries of our Lord, who in the destruction of Jerusalem saw the type of the approaching end of the world. He will therefore say: This generation shall not pass away without the beginning of the end of the world here foretold you having come to pass in the actual destruction of Jerusalem. Our Lord by no means says that everything which was to take place before the ôÝëïò will be omnibus numeris absolutum atque ad finem perductum before a generation of men will have passed. The question cannot be merely what ãßíåóèáé signifies in itself, but what it is to signify in this connection. An explanation of this verse, it is true, in which no difficulty at all remains, and every appearance of arbitrariness is avoided, we, alas, even at this day, are not acquainted with.

Luk_21:33. Heaven and earth shall pass away.—After the discourse has risen to this height, there would ensue a dreary anti-climax, if we would recognize in these words only a figurative designation of the destruction of the Jewish state. Our Lord points evidently to the destruction of the earthly economy, which shall be followed by the appearance of a new heaven and a new earth, 2Pe_3:8-14, and gives assurance therewith that even then, when an entirely new order of things shall have come in, His words, in particular the promises of His coming, then first fully understood and fulfilled, would not cease to remain words of life for all His own. “They will approve themselves as eternal in an eternal church, and that one of eschatological character.” Lange.

Luk_21:34. And take heed to yourselves.—The eschatological discourse in Matthew and Mark is concluded with a description of the unexpected coming of the Parusia, and a parabolic allusion to watchfulness, which we have already met with in Luke in a somewhat different form, chs. 12 and 17 Instead of this he has another conclusion, which, indeed, entitles us to inquire whether the Evangelist, in a freer form, has condensed the main substance of the admonitions given Mat_24:43-51, or whether our Lord on this occasion used these very words. However this may be, his rendering has so much the more value, as it in some measure takes the place of the missing parable of the Ten Virgins, which, according to Matthew, was delivered this same evening by our Lord, but has been passed over by Luke. With deep wisdom our Lord ends His eschatological discourse by leading His disciples back into their own hearts, since their view had involuntarily lost itself in the far future, and in thinking upon the universal historical character of the events here foretold, they might very easily lose out of mind in how strict a connection this Parusia stood with their personal salvation. With a faithful and earnest ðñïóÝ÷åôå , He begins to use the expectation of His coming for their sanctification, as He had just before, Luk_21:28, applied it to their consolation. He warns them that their hearts be not burdened as by a spirit of deep sleep. This might come to pass through three things: êñáéðÜëῃ , heaviness and dizziness, such as drunkenness of yesterday gives, ìÝèῃ , drunkenness, which makes them for to-day unfit to reflect maturely upon their highest interests, and ìåñßìíáéò âéùôéêáῖò , which would plague them for to-morrow, and impel them too strongly to labor for the meat that perisheth. The one, as well as the other, would be able to rob them of the clearness and sobriety of mind with which they should await the coming of their Lord. Not only should that which is entirely unlawful be avoided, but also that which is relatively lawful used with wisdom, in the consciousness that they in no case could reckon upon it for a long time; for the great day was to be, even for them, the servants of the Lord, an unexpected one, áῖöíßäéïò ἐðéóôῇ , comp. 1Th_5:3, while it would come upon other inhabitants of the earth, especially those who were living on in careless quiet, without fellowship with Christ, as a snare. The tertium comparationis lies as well in the unexpectedness as in the ruinousness of such snares as are commonly used for ravening beasts. Ἐðὶ ðÜíôáò ôïὺò êáèçìÝíïõò , here emphatic for a designation of quiet and comfortable sitting, comp. Amo_6:1-6, in which they, therefore, are taken at once, as soon as only the snare is thrown out upon them. See also Jer_25:29; Rev_18:7-8.

Luk_21:36. Watch ye … always.—Comp. Mar_13:37 : ἐí ðáíôὶ êáéñè ͂ may be referred quite as well to ἀãñõðíåῖôå as to äåüìåíïé . The former is probable, on account of the antithesis, and the uncertainty of the Parusia in Luk_21:35, which requires an unremitting watch. Watching and praying are here also, as in Mat_26:41; 1Pe_4:7-8, joined together. Äåüìåíïé , ἵíá , ê . ô . ë . indicates the frame of mind in which they must be found watching and waiting; êáôáîéùèῆôå , comp. Luk_20:35; 2Th_1:5, not “become worthy,” sensu morali, but to be accounted worthy, sensu forensi, digni habiti atque declarati, sc. a Deo. The word appears in the same sense Act_5:41.

To escape all these things, ðÜíôá ôáῦôá , here, as in Luk_21:32, especially of the premonitions of the Parusia considered exclusively on their terrifying side; for to escape the Parusia itself (which is first alluded to in the immediately following expression) is indeed for friend and foe impossible. He escapes ôὰ ìÝëëïíôá , who is not carried away by persecutions, brought to apostasy by misleaders, or robbed of courage by trial. (The genuineness of ôáῦôá is doubtful; it is rejected by Tischendorf and accepted by De Wette; it has little influence on the sense, since, at all events, our Lord means no other future things than these of which He had just spoken.) On the other hand, they must desire above all things to appear before the Son of Man, óôáèῆíáé Ý ̓ ìðñïóèåí , ê . ô . ë . It may, indeed, signify, “to pass the trial,” as in Rom_14:4, but at the end of this discourse it is very probable that our Lord will designate therewith something higher: the fearless appearance, the composed standing before His throne, in order to view Him, to serve Him, and to glorify Him. “The ἐðéóõíáãùãÞ of believers is meant, and this, as it appears, of the living, because as a condition the escaping of all the tribulations is named, 1Th_4:17; 2Th_2:1; Mat_24:31.” De Wette. This óôáèῆíáé is, therefore, not only the beginning, but also the substance, of the highest happiness, the opposite of which is portrayed, Psa_1:5; Nah_1:6; Rev_6:16-17.

DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL

1. It is of high significance that our Lord ends His prophetical office, immediately before His last suffering, with such an eschatological discourse. The course which our Saviour’s teaching has taken during His public life, shows the type of the natural course of development of Christian dogmatics. As He had appeared with the preaching of faith and conversion, so ought at all times the practical questions to come first. But as He did not leave the earth without having also disclosed the secrets of the future, so a Dogmatics which, in reference to the Ý ̓ ó÷áôá , takes an indifferent or sceptical position, is in itself imperfect, and like a mutilated torso. It lies in the nature of the case that Christian eschatology, the more the course of time advances, must become less and less an unimportant appendix, and more and more a locus primaries of Christian doctrine.

2. Whoever asserts that the expectation of a personal, visible, glorious return, which shall put a decisive end to the present condition of things, belongs only to Jewish dreamings, which one from a Christian spiritualistic position may look down upon with a certain lofty disparagement, is here contradicted by our Lord in the most decided manner.

3. What our Lord here announces in reference to the termination of the history of the world is only drawn in strong and broad lines. It is no picture that already contains all the traits of the image of the future complete, but a sketch with which the more detailed painting is outlined, which afterwards could be elaborated by the hand of the apostles. He who believes in the unity of the Spirit in our Lord and His first witnesses, cannot be hindered from seeking in the Apostolic Epistles, or in the Revelation, for the answer to many questions which this eschatological discourse leaves yet remaining for us. Not easily will any one be able to show in this last a conception for which the fundamental thought is not more or less contained in this eschatological discourse, and which, therefore, might not be named, with entire justice, a further explanation and completion of the same. So is the Pauline doctrine of the restoration of Israel only the development of the germ which we find here, Luk_21:24; so is the Apocalyptical image of the convulsions of the realm of nature which shall accompany the coming of the Lord, only the development of the eschatological foundation thoughts already given here. The eschatology of the apostles is related to that of our Lord as the nobly unfolding plant to the bud swelling with sap; not as the subsequently clouded sun to its earlier brilliancy.

4. “The soul works on the body, and there is no member or part of the body that does not feel with the soul. So shall the Lord that shall come work upon all creatures, and they shall not be able to withdraw themselves from His working. Even before His visible appearance will the creatures become aware that the time of His coming is at hand. The lifeless creation, that bends itself without opposition to His almighty will, and men, who can oppose themselves with their impotent will to His almighty will,—both shall be seized with the terrors that hasten on before His appearance. The heaven and the sea, and on earth men, shall have forebodings of that which is to come. There rests upon the prophesyings of our Lord concerning the end,—threatening as they are, terrible as they sound,—nevertheless an obscurity by which their terrible impression is augmented. They wait for their literal and most striking interpretation, for their fulfilment. Before this comes, God’s hand itself has veiled them in a twilight which yields to no human endeavor; but when the fulfilment comes, man shall not only clearly know how fully it fits the prophecy, but also how the prophecy fits the fulfilment,—how they shall, as it were, exactly cover one another.” Löhe.

5. Although, our Lord in this eschatological discourse does not speak expressly of His Divine nature and dignity, it contains so powerful and incomparable a self-testimony of Christ, that it is utterly impossible not to ascribe to Him who so speaks a superhuman character. Nothing is to be compared with the quiet majesty of that word: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” Scoffers think exactly the opposite—namely, that heaven and earth shall remain; the words of our Lord, on the other hand, be forgotten and exposed as lies, 2Pe_3:3 seq.—Yet our Lord, who apparently delays the promise, will not rest until it is all fulfilled. Patiens quia œternus.

6. The eschatological discourse is also remarkable on this account, that it shows that a connection according to the intent of our Lord exists and must exist between ðßóôéò and ãíῶóéò . The example of the apostles and the teaching of the Master show anew: there cannot possibly be any talk of ãíῶóéò so long as no ðßóôéó precedes it. Non intelligere ut credas, sed credere ut intelligas. Where faith however is living, it feels to a certain extent the necessity of also knowing the secrets of the future. Our Lord satisfies this need, so far as the receptivity of His people permits Him, and while the óçìåῖá of His coming are only images of terror and riddles to the unbelieving, believers are at the same time the ãíùóôéêïß , who know what these things denote, and whither they tend. Their faith has, therefore, become a knowing; but, on the other hand also, this knowing, which is still very limited and only in part, leads again to faith, and must end in ever firmer faith, hope, and waiting. Per fidem ad intellectum, per intellectum ad firmiorem fidem.

7. The eschatological discourse of our Lord may be considered as a type of a fitting and edifying treatment of future things for all preachers. Let us consider well how closely this doctrine of His coheres also with the prophetic words of Scripture; how the chief strokes of the picture are placed in a clear light, while points of a subordinate importance remain veiled in an unprejudicial obscurity; how He, above all, delivers this teaching not for the satisfaction of an idle curiosity, but uses it directly for the admonition, for the consolation, and for the sanctification of His own. It admits of no doubt that had the impending end of the history of the world been always written of and spoken of in this way, much less offence would have been taken, and also much less offence would have been given.

8. It is not impossible that our Lord on this occasion uttered the so-called unwritten expression of which Justin Martyr, in Tryph. Luke 47, makes mention with the simple words: äéὸ êáὶ ὁ ἡìÝôåñïò Êýñéïò Ἰ . ×ñ . åῖ ̓ ðåí and which has all the internal traces of genuineness: “In that in which I shall find you, therein will I judge you.”

9. Compare on this Pericope the Dies irœ.

HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL

The visible creation must perish before the heaven and the new earth appear.—The joy of the world perishes often before the end of the world.—If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?—The day of Christ at once a day of terror and of glory.—The different temper in which men go towards and look towards this day: 1. While unbelief yet mocks, faith mourns; 2. while unbelief fears, faith hopes; 3. while unbelief despairs, faith triumphs.—The ordinary laws of nature are abolished when the kingdom of Christ celebrates its highest triumphs.—The coming of the Son of Man: 1. Seen by all eyes; 2. surrounded by heavenly glory; 3. greeted by the redeemed with joy.—Even nature prophesies of the approaching summer of the kingdom of God.—How much the Christian, by attentive observation of the kingdom of nature and of grace, can know of himself.—The knowledge of the hour which has struck in God’s kingdom: 1. Its grounds; 2. its degree; 3. its limits.—The contemporaries of our Lord, even in their lifetime, witnesses: 1. Of the most glorious event; 2. of the most terrible event, that ever the earth has see.—What is perishable and what remains.—Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away: 1. The sublimity; 2. the truth; 3. the comfort; 4. the serious depth, of this utterance.—What the word of our Lord shall continue for His people, even after the end of the world.—What is the greatest danger to which the disciple of the Lord is exposed at the approach of the day of His coming?—He that is full of wine cannot be full of the Holy Spirit, Eph_5:18.—The day of the Lord comes unawares;—woe to the man whom it finds wholly unprepared !—How the best preparation for the coming of the Lord consists: 1. In watchfulness; 2. in activity; 3. in thoughtfulness.—They who sit down in selfishness and carelessness, will be not less surprised by the end than they that pass the night at their wine.—Watching and praying must we await the Lord’s coming.—Nothing higher can the praying Christian desire than: 1. To escape the destruction that lights upon others; and 2. to stand with all His people before the Son of Man.

Starke:—They that have not feared God in their life, shall melt away for terror in the end.—Many weighty things have already come to pass on earth, but the weightiest is yet to be looked for.—Quesnel:—Whoever has despised Jesus in His humility, will see Him against his will in His majesty.—There comes at last a time when we shall be redeemed from all that is a burden to us, 2Ti_4:18.—The earthly-minded regard the spring as the most convenient time for their lust and desire, but true Christians as a type of the glory and resurrection of the children of God.—The summer a beautiful image of eternal blessedness.—God does not let the race of the ungodly perish till all is come to pass, which serves as the proof of His righteousness, and for their punishment.—True Christians who seek that which is above in heaven are as the birds of the heaven who, because they are not on earth, have nothing to fear from the nets of the fowler.—Brentius:—Because man does not know his time, he must learn wisely to accommodate himself to the time.—It is God alone that can make us worthy and ready for the enjoyment of His everlasting glory.—Watching and praying men ever keep together.

On the Pericope:—Fuchs:—Concerning the return of Christ and the hour of death: 1. For the ungodly, terrible; 2. for believers, joyful.—Lift up your heads: 1. In good days, and thank the Lord; 2. in evil days, and trust the Lord; 3. in the last days, and be joyful in hope.—Herberger:—Concerning the last Advent of Jesus and the flower-buds of the last day.—Otho:—The last judgment.—Fresenius:—The redemption of Jesus Christ in its different aspects: 1. The procuring of salvation; 2. the preparation of salvation; 3. the complete revelation of salvation.—Ahlfeld:—Behold the King cometh to thee in might and glory.—Couard:—Christian-mindedness in evil times.—Souchon:—The comfort and admonition of Christ’s prophecy of His coming.—Stier:—The day of the Lord’s return: 1. How; and 2. whereto it is placed before our eyes.—Ranke:—How we have to receive our Lord’s prophecy of His coming again: 1. With deep reverence; 2. with great joy; 3. with holy seriousness.—Rautenberg:—The course of the gospel among the terrors of the time.—Gaupp:—The coming again of our Lord a strong incitement to a godly life, for: 1. It awakens the spirit to a living hope; 2. it inspires in all believing hearts sweet comfort even in the dreariest condition of the kingdom of God; 3. it admonishes most deeply to become worthy, by prayer and watchfulness, to stand before the Son of Man.—Cl. Harms:—The setting forth of the coming of our Lord is seasonably done even in the Advent season: 1. It awakens sleepers; 2. shakes the presumptuous; 3. helps the wavering to a decision; 4. strengthens the weak in faith.—Kraussold:—The coming of our Lord at the end of days: 1. A coming to judgment, and moreover; 2. a terrible and glorious; 3. an undoubtedly certain, coming, and therefore; 4. a coming for which we should perseveringly wait in joyful faith.—Staudt:—How believers demean themselves at the coming of Christ: 1. As attentive observers of the tokens of this coming; 2. as joyful spectators of these mutations in the world; 3. as those delivered out of all judgments.—Dr. A. Bomhard:—The established heart of the believing Christian.—B. Steger:—Of the joyful and blessed freedom of the perfectly righteous.

Footnotes:

Luk_21:25.—According to the reading of Tischendorf, [Lachmann, Meyer, Tregelles, Alford,] ἐí ἀðïñßá ἤ÷ïõò [instead of ἠ÷ïýóçò , Recepta], which is sufficiently supported by A., B., [Cod. Sin.,] C., L., M., [R.,] X., Cursives, [Vulgate, Syriac,] &c.

Luk_21:36.—With Lachmann, Tischendorf, [Tregelles, Alford,] we read äÝ instead of the ïῦ ̓ í of the Recepta, according to B., D., [Cod. Sin.,] Itala.