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The Gospels · New Testament

Luke 21

Luke 21: the widow’s mites and the words about Jerusalem

General context

Jesus looks up and sees rich men casting gifts into the treasury and a poor widow casting in two mites, and says she has cast in more than all of them, because they gave of their abundance and she gave of her penury all the living that she had. When some speak of the temple's goodly stones and gifts, he says the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another, and they ask when and by what sign. He warns against those who will come in his name, speaks of wars and commotions, nation against nation, earthquakes, famines, pestilences and signs from heaven, and says that before all these the hearers will be seized, persecuted, delivered to synagogues and prisons and brought before kings. He tells them not to prepare their answers, says some of them will be put to death and betrayed by parents, brethren, kinsfolks and friends, and also that not a hair of their head shall perish. He speaks of Jerusalem compassed with armies, flight to the mountains, days of vengeance, the edge of the sword and captivity into all nations. Then signs in sun, moon and stars, the Son of man coming in a cloud, the parable of the fig tree, and a charge to watch and pray. The narrator closes with his daily teaching in the temple and his nights on the mount of Olives.

Cited passages: Luke 21:1, Luke 21:2, Luke 21:3, Luke 21:4, Luke 21:5, Luke 21:6, Luke 21:7, Luke 21:8, Luke 21:9, Luke 21:10, Luke 21:11, Luke 21:12, Luke 21:13, Luke 21:15, Luke 21:16, Luke 21:18, Luke 21:19, Luke 21:20, Luke 21:21, Luke 21:22, Luke 21:23, Luke 21:24, Luke 21:25, Luke 21:27, Luke 21:28, Luke 21:29, Luke 21:31, Luke 21:33, Luke 21:36, Luke 21:37, Luke 21:38

Luke 21 (KJV)

1And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.

2And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.

3And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:

4For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

5And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said,

6As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

7And they asked him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be? and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass?

8And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.

9But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass; but the end is not by and by.

10Then said he unto them, Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:

11And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.

12But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought before kings and rulers for my name’s sake.

13And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

14Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what ye shall answer:

15For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

16And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

17And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.

18But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

19In your patience possess ye your souls.

20And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.

21Then let them which are in Judæa flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto.

22For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.

23But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people.

24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

25And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;

26Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.

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

28And 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, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

31So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

32Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

33Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, 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, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

37And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.

38And all the people came early in the morning to him in the temple, for to hear him.

This page shows the King James Version. In the app, reading opens in the Berean Standard Bible unless you have chosen another translation. The reader includes five translations: the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), the King James Version (KJV), the World English Bible (WEB), the Bible in Basic English (BBE), and the American Standard Version (ASV). Search covers three of them: Berean Standard, King James, and World English. Basic English and American Standard readers search the King James words.

Historical context

The widow is unnamed and the narrator gives only the amount, two mites; the assessment that she gave more than all is Jesus' own statement, not the narrator's. Everything said about the temple's stones and about Jerusalem is cast in the future, and the chapter records no fulfilment and gives no date. The persecution is addressed directly to the hearers in the second person, not to a later generation named in the text. Two statements stand side by side without being reconciled: some of you shall they cause to be put to death, and there shall not an hair of your head perish. Verse 32 says this generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled, and the chapter never defines the span it means. The closing two verses give the only concrete setting, daytime teaching in the temple and nights on the mount of Olives.

Cited passages: Luke 21:2, Luke 21:3, Luke 21:4, Luke 21:5, Luke 21:6, Luke 21:7, Luke 21:12, Luke 21:16, Luke 21:18, Luke 21:20, Luke 21:22, Luke 21:24, Luke 21:27, Luke 21:32, Luke 21:37, Luke 21:38

Literary context

The chapter opens on the smallest act it records, two mites dropped into a treasury and noticed, and then widens to nations, armies, the sun and moon and the whole earth. The contrast between abundance and penury is stated in one sentence and never repeated. The two-part question, when shall these things be and what sign will there be, governs everything after it, and the answer keeps pushing the end further off: the end is not by and by, then before all these, then when these things begin to come to pass. The fig tree parable sets an ordinary seasonal sign beside the cosmic ones and asks for the same reading. Commands pile up at the close, take heed, watch, pray always. The last two verses drop back to an ordinary rhythm of days and nights, and the crowd coming early to hear him.

Cited passages: Luke 21:1, Luke 21:2, Luke 21:3, Luke 21:4, Luke 21:5, Luke 21:6, Luke 21:7, Luke 21:8, Luke 21:9, Luke 21:11, Luke 21:12, Luke 21:20, Luke 21:23, Luke 21:24, Luke 21:25, Luke 21:26, Luke 21:27, Luke 21:28, Luke 21:29, Luke 21:30, Luke 21:31, Luke 21:34, Luke 21:36, Luke 21:37, Luke 21:38

Key moments

  1. Two mites and all her living (Luke 21:4). Jesus says the widow gave of her penury all the living that she had.
  2. Not one stone upon another (Luke 21:6). He answers talk of the temple’s stones with a coming demolition.
  3. When shall these things be? (Luke 21:7). The hearers ask for the time and the sign.
  4. Brought before kings (Luke 21:12). He says they will be seized and delivered up before these things come.
  5. Jerusalem compassed with armies (Luke 21:20). He names armies around the city as the sign of its desolation.
  6. The Son of man in a cloud (Luke 21:27). He describes the Son of man coming with power and great glory.
  7. Watch ye therefore (Luke 21:36). He charges them to watch and pray always.

For reflection

Jesus tells the same hearers that some of them will be put to death and that not a hair of their head shall perish. How do you hold those two sentences together when they sit two verses apart?