Looking into the lectionary
Revised Common Lectionary
23rd Sunday after Pentecost
November 16, 2025
Luke 21:5-19
A South African man named Joshua Mhlakela predicted the end of the world and the rapture would happen on September 23. In a YouTube video, he confidently proclaimed, “The rapture is upon us. I’m a billion percent sure. I saw Jesus sitting on his throne, and I could hear him very loud and clear saying, ‘I am coming soon. He said to me on the 23rd and 24th of September, ‘I will come back to the Earth.’”1
But Jesus did not return on September 23 — just as He did not when William Miller predicted October 22, 1844, or when Harold Camping warned of May 21, 2011 (later revised to October 21). Such predictions have echoed across two millennia, and each time, the world continued on. Why many continue to proclaim in Jesus’s name, “The time is near!” (Luke 21:8) escapes me, as Jesus plainly told his disciples, “But about that day and hour no one knows, neither the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32).
Luke 21:5-19 anticipates the language of Christ the King Sunday a week later and the early Sundays of Advent. As a preacher, you may cringe when you encounter apocalyptic language such as is found in Luke 21, Matthew 24, and Mark 13. Especially in light of prophecies like Joshua Mhlakela’s, we may wonder, along with folks at the end of the first century C.E., “Where is the promise of [Jesus’] coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation” (2 Peter 3:4).
The news is full of wars and insurrections, nation rising against nation and kingdom against kingdom. Great earthquakes, famines and plagues happen on a regular basis around the world. Jerusalem, Israel and the Middle East are constantly in the news, especially in the aftermath of the events of October 7, 2023, and the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. You can also find harrowing accounts of Christians being persecuted in many countries. It’s no wonder many come in Jesus’s name and say, “The time is near!” (Luke 21:8).
When the first believers heard Luke’s gospel proclaimed near the end of the first century C.E., they had personal experience with wars and destruction and suffering. They had witnessed the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the temple. Likely, some of them expected Jesus to return. They may even have been tempted to abandon the faith in the face of so many challenges. Your congregation members are not facing the same circumstances as those early Christians. However, contemporary events are just as likely to cause believers to wonder how they are to make it through these trying times with their faith intact.
You won’t have time in one sermon to go into detail about the characteristics of apocalyptic literature, but it wouldn’t hurt to remind your hearers that such writings were intended to bring hope and comfort to believers in tumultuous times. Jesus’s words in Luke 21 do not contain a timeline, even as he vividly tells of hardships and tribulations. Nevertheless, Jesus’s teaching contains consolation and exhortation about how believers are to live faithfully as we await the promised return of Christ, especially when the times tempt us to despair.
Proclaim loudly and confidently these words of caution, comfort, and exhortation: Beware that you are not led astray (21:8); Do not be terrified (21:9); This will give you an opportunity to testify (21:13); I will give you words and a wisdom (21:15); But not a hair of your head will perish (21:18); By your endurance you will gain your souls (21:19).
An interesting textual variant in verse 19 can mean either “By your endurance you will gain your souls” (future indicative) or “By your endurance gain your souls.” (imperative) Either way, we Presbyterians hear these words of Jesus as a call to faithful living in these trying times.
As Robert Bohler, Jr. wrote in the Outlook 24 years ago, “We have something to say in this current discussion. The hope for the world, today and in the future, is in Jesus Christ! This is what we can see clearly and must proclaim boldly. We must be about doing the will of God on a daily basis, looking expectantly for Christ’s return, working for the kingdom of God and proclaiming the good news of the gospel. One day, in God’s own timing and own way, Christ will return and make all things new. Come, Lord Jesus! Amen.”
Questions for reflection on Luke 21:5-19
- How is your congregation faithfully bearing witness to Jesus Christ in these challenging times?
- How does what we believe about the future shape how we live and act in the present as followers of Jesus Christ?
- How can we understand and find hope in apocalyptic language in today’s world?
View the corresponding Order of Worship for the Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost.
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