Jesus has just been describing the events that are to come when Jerusalem is “surrounded by armies” ( Luke 21:20 ) and that those in Judea should flee to the mountains because the days of vengeance that have been written about must be fulfilled and even be trodden down by gentiles. He is obviously referring to the siege of Jerusalem in 70AD where the Romans will surround the Holy City, slay those inside and believers of Jesus will escape to Pella in the foothills of the Transjordan Mountains. It is following these sayings that Jesus gives us a parable.

29  And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees; 

Jesus is talking to his disciples, he gives them a parable which unlike his earlier previous parables, this one is very clear and Jesus explains it afterwards. He tells them to look at the “fig tree” and then follows it with “all the trees” he is most likely generalising so his listeners to not get stuck on a specific tree because he is going to explain a universal principle that applies to all of them. It could also has the connotation of specificity to generality which illustrates how universal the statement he is about to give is.

30  as soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. 

Here he brings to focus the natural life cycle of trees, something which all of his audience would have a basic understanding of. He explains how the life cycle of tree corresponds to the seasons, when you see the leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Nothing exists in a vacuum, especially not living things, they exist in relation to something else. A trees lifecycle and the seasons are interconnected, with the tree reacting to the season.

31  So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 

“So also” now Jesus applies this simple parable to the situation at hand. All the warnings of devastation that he has given in the previous verses about what is to become of Jerusalem will be a sign that the Kingdom of God is near. The “Kingdom of God” can be a confusing phrase for Jesus to use as earlier in the Gospel he has already said that the Kingdom is here, among them. So here must be a reference to the active judgement or event that justifies the Kingdom of God. It is similar to how the Old testament refers to God as always being there but at specific times language is used to articulate God’s decisive action in a particular event which could be misinterpreted as God not being there beforehand but obviously he was. Something observable will serve as a sign of the Kingdom of God.

32  Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away till all has taken place. 

“Truly, I say to you” Jesus begins important statements with this phrase. It follows with Jesus stating that “this generation”, in reference to the followers of his that he is talking to, will not pass away till all of what he has previously said in his predictions of Jerusalem have taken place. This solidifies that Jesus is not talking about the yet to happen second coming event but something much sooner. Interestingly enough as we have already highlighted, all the details of his previous statements link with the siege of Jerusalem in 70AD. The siege will take place about 37-40 years after Jesus’ predicts it. 40 Years to the Jews was considered a generation because of the 40 years in the wilderness. It is a reversal of promise in the Exodus that this generation must pass away before they enter the promised land, spanning 40 years. Here the generation will survive the 40 years to witness the passing of the old promised land in order to make way for true promised land, the Kingdom of God. Jesus is making it clear that within this generations lifetime the events he predicted will happen.

33  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

In the final verse of todays readings Jesus references Isaiah 51:6 “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be for ever, and my deliverance will never be ended.” Jesus is proclaiming that his own words have an equality with God’s or more accurately, he is implicitly saying “I am God” because my words hold equal authority. He is comparing the temporary nature of the sky and the earth with his words which are divinely grounded. Some commentators all note that this could be a reference to the celestial and nature imagery found in the Temple, which once destroyed, will pass away but Jesus’ words, the New and Eternal Covenant will remain, as it does to this day.

Jesus is moving from Galilee to Judea. This section of Luke is very long, building up to his final week in Jerusalem.

11 On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee.

Galilee is in the north, an agricultural region with mainly gentiles but some Jews. Jesus would spend much of his time here. Judea is in the most southern part of Israel and Samaria is in the middle. Instead of just passing through Samaria he follows the traditional pilgrimage route going around the edge of Samaria, this route took longer but it’s emblematic of the historical conflict between Jews and Samaritans . After the Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom of Israel in 722 BC, many Israelites were exiled, and foreign populations were settled in their place, leading to intermarriage and the formation of a mixed population. These are who the Samaritans are. They even developed their own worship practices, centering on Mount Gerizim rather than Jerusalem, and accepted only the Pentateuch as canonical scripture, rejecting other Jewish traditions. They aren’t just considered not Jews but also inherently anti-jewish by their existence.

“The hostility between Jews and Samaritans stemmed from longstanding differences in ethnicity, worship practices, and religious texts, causing them to regard each other as unclean” (The New Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 8, p. 276).

12 And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance

13 and lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.”

Jesus enters a village on the border of Samaria and is greeted by ten lepers. Lepers were people with a contagious skin disease so they were required by religious law to only live amongst eachother and to be separated from non-infected people. They want to greet Jesus and they call him Master, epistatēs in greek, which means overseer or teacher so they seem to recognise who he is and at least to some degree they recognise his authority but they must stay at a distance because of the Law.

“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.” (Leviticus 13:45–46)

They ask Jesus to “have mercy” on them which means they believe he can help their affliction (something people thought incurable without divine help) implying that the authority they believe him to have is more than just that of mortal man.

14 When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed.

In other places Jesus will touch lepers to heal them (Matthew 8:1-4) but in this case perhaps because of the large crowds with him he demonstrates his divine capacity to simply will things into existence as he doesn’t even say they are healed just that they must present themselves to the priests according to custom to show that they are clean and along the way they are miraculously cured. This demonstrates the many methods that Jesus can heal.

“and the priest shall go out of the camp, and the priest shall make an examination; then, if the leprous disease is healed in the leper,” (Leviticus 14:3, RSV)

15 Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice;

All the lepers are healed but only one of them will turn back and thank Jesus for it. He praises God for this healing that Jesus has done, the leper is therefore recognising the son being sent by the father implicitly.

16 and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.

In the old testament context to fall at someone’s feet is a sign of reverence towards royalty.

“When the woman of Tekoa came to the king, she fell on her face to the ground and did obeisance, and said, ‘Help, O king.’” (2 Samuel 14:4, RSV)

Luke takes note of the fact that the only one to return to Jesus in order to thank him was a Samaritan, this implies that the other nine lepers were Jews. Interesting implication here beyond the obvious is that leprous Jews were welcomed to a degree among Samaritan villages albeit still isolated from the common population, in their exile from their own people. This speaks to the puritanical nature of Jews to the detriment of their own kind and what is perceived as laxity of the Law on the part of the Samaritans is closer to the compassion of Jesus himself. This is encapsulated by who actually returns to thank Jesus, it’s the Samaritan, not the Jews.

17 Then said Jesus, “Were not ten cleansed? Where are the nine?

18 Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?”

19 And he said to him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”

Jesus acknowledges the other nine not returning to thank him by asking the question “was no one found to return and give praise to God except for this foreigner?”. In response to their healing the Jews who are zealous for purity are absent of mind on to whom this purity is directed, that being God. They are more about returning to the world than they are to thank him who made it or more literally “give glory to God”. This can’t be overlooked, they have experienced a miraculous cure by a prophet but they are so taken up into being a part of the material world that they completely blank on the supernatural event that just occured. The Samaritan on the other hand, who worships what he does not know, does give glory to God in response to this healing.

A peculiar word for foreigner is used here and this is the only time the word is used in the entire new testament. The word is allogenēs.

(allos, “another,” genos, “a race”)

Moulton and Milligan illustrate the use of the word by the inscription on the Temple barrier, “No foreigner (allogenēs) may enter within the balustrade (soreg) around the sanctuary and the enclosure. Whoever is caught, on himself shall he put the blame for the death which will ensue” according to Mommsen this inscription was cut by the Romans.

“The stone bears an inscription forbidding any foreigner to enter within the balustrade and enclosure surrounding the sanctuary, under penalty of death.(Moulton, J. H., & Milligan, G. (1930). The Vocabulary of the Greek Testament: Illustrated from the Papyri and Other Non-literary Sources (p. 9)).

For context, this inscription has been discovered on several stone fragments and is consistent with accounts from the historian Josephus (Jewish War 5.5.2; Antiquities 15.11.5). The warning reflects the seriousness of maintaining the sanctity of the inner Temple areas and emphasizes the boundary between Jews and Gentiles in worship practices.

Considering the temple is the place of giving glory to God in the sacrificial liturgy in it’s fullness Jesus could be highlighting that a man who is not even allowed passed the temple barrier is giving greater glory to God than those literally allowed to partake in the liturgical rites.

Jesus then says the man’s faith has made him well. The other men were also physically healed but something invisible has been made well in the Samaritan, the phrase literally means he has been “saved”. The same Greek verb, σῴζω (sōzō), meaning “to save” or “to heal,” is used in the healing of Bartimaeus (Mark 10:52; Luke 18:42)

There are quite a few old testament correlations in this passage with that of 2 Kings 5:1-14 where the prophet Elisha heals the leprous gentile Naaman. Naaman asks to take two mule-loads of earth from Israel back to Syria so he can worship the God of Israel on it. This request reflects an ancient belief that worship was tied to specific lands or locations (2 Kings 5:17). The Samaritan receives entrance to the kingdom after his healing, Naaman brings the literal dirt of the kingdom to his own lands to worship the true God.

Jesus has just finished describing the destruction of the Temple in his prophecy of the days to come. The final verse of the previous reading is “there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.” So everything previous to these readings is establishing what will occur before and in the climax of 70A.D when the Romans destroy the City of the Jerusalem and the Second Temple and will culminate in signs from heaven.

12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. 

Beginning in verse 12, Jesus says “but before all this” referring to his prophecy focused on the City and the Temple, this makes it clear that before 70 A.D the following events will occur. Turning his attention to his disciples he describes a “they” who will lay hands on them, oppressing them. These same people with bring them to the synagogues and put them in prison. They will also be brought before foreign and secular authorities like monarchs and governors because of Jesus’ name. Up until this point Jesus’ prophecies have extended beyond the time the scriptures were written but now the prophecies he gives detailing the lives of the Apostles before 70A.D are all included in the New Testament itself.

Acts 4:3 “And they arrested them and put them in custody until the morrow, for it was already evening.”

Acts 5:18 “hey arrested the apostles and put them in the common prison.”

Acts 5:40 “So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name.”

Acts 22:19  “And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in thee.”

Acts 24:1-5  “And after five days the high priest Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullus. They laid before the governor their case against Paul; and when he was called, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying: “Since through you we enjoy much peace, and since by your provision, most excellent Felix, reforms are introduced on behalf of this nation, in every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude. But, to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly. For we have found this man a pestilent fellow, an agitator among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes”

13 This will be a time for you to bear testimony. 

Jesus now says that these exact moments in the trials they are going to face are the moments when they will be able to bear witness to the Gospel in the most fruitful way. This is true based on what is mentioned in the Book of Acts

Acts 4:8-12 “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, 10 be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well.”

Acts 7:1-2  “And the high priest said, “Is this so?” 2 And Stephen said: “Brethren and fathers, hear me.”

Acts 24:10-21 “And when the governor had motioned to him to speak, Paul replied: “Realizing that for many years you have been judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.  As you may ascertain, it is not more than twelve days since I went up to worship at Jerusalem;  and they did not find me disputing with any one or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues, or in the city.  Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me.  But this I admit to you, that according to the Way, which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law or written in the prophets,  having a hope in God which these themselves accept, that there will be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.  So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward God and toward men. Now after some years I came to bring to my nation alms and offerings.  As I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple, without any crowd or tumult. But some Jews from Asia—  they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation, if they have anything against me. Or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood before the council,  except this one thing which I cried out while standing among them, ‘With respect to the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you this day.’ ”“

14 Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; 

15 for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 

Here Jesus commands his disciples to not plan out what they are going to say or to meditate on it before they give an answer. The holy spirit will give them a voice and wisdom which nobody that opposes them will be able to refute. Once again this is all true by what occurs to the apostles in the previous examples given, in each case the spirit grants them the ability to say what is needed. This should be understood as a command only to the disciples, this is not a promise that in all cases this will happen, Jesus is specifically telling his disciples what they must do when they suffer their trials before 70 A.D.

16 You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; 

17 you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. 

Jesus now goes on to tell the disciples that through whom they will be reproached. It will be by close family members like parents, siblings and cousins. Even their social circles will be responsible for delivering them to the authorities who will persecute them. Jesus also says that “some of you they will put to death” this is true and some disciples will even suffer martyrdom within the writings scripture like Saint James. All of this suffering even at the hands of those closest to the disciples will be because of Jesus’ name. They will be hated.

18 But not a hair of your head will perish. 

The previous verse helps establish this verse as hyperbole, not a hair on their head will perish but he just said some will die, most commentators typically say this is proof of Jesus being hyperbolic and this is likely but there is a chance that Jesus could be referring to their glorified bodies in the resurrection which of course will not suffer any damage whatsoever and that will be their reward for going through all these trials and sufferings so although their bodies will be harmed in this life, they are only temporary tents, when their nature is changed and glorified it would be like they never suffered at all.

19 By your endurance you will gain your lives.

It is this final verse of the reading that makes it most clear to me that Jesus is referring to the resurrection and is being literal, not hyperbolic about his statement on not a hair of their head perishing. If we accept the glorified body and life in heaven as to being a fullness of our lives then it is a gain of life. So by the endurance of the apostles they will gain their (full) lives. Otherwise it would not make much sense to be hyperbolic then purely contradictory.

Jesus continues teaching in the temple in the last week of his life after cleansing it and he has just taught on the subject of the poor widow who gave her last two copper coins as a freewill offering to the temple.

5 And as some spoke of the temple, how it was adorned with noble stones and offerings, he said,

Jesus is teaching large crowds along with his disciples in the temple but Luke does not specify which people initiate the comments that Jesus responds to. Luke just says “some spoke of the temple” whereas the corresponding passages in Matthew 24:1-2 and Mark 13:1-2 isolate the disciples as the speakers. The words are not quoted here in verse 5 but neither are they in Matthew. Mark quotes the disciples saying “Teacher, look at the magnificent stones and buildings!” which is the substance of what Luke writes.

It was true that the temple complex and renovations by Herod were a marvel. The historian Josephus describes the Temple in both of his major works, Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish war:

“Now the outward face of the Temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men’s minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it turn their eyes away, just as they would have done at the sun’s own rays. But this Temple appeared to strangers, when they were at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow; for as to those parts of it that were not gilt, they were exceeding white.” (Jewish War 5.222–223)

“The Temple had doors also at the entrance, and lintels over them, of the same height as the Temple itself. They were adorned with embroidered veils, with their flowers of purple, and pillars interwoven: and over these, but under the crown-work, was spread out a golden vine, with its branches hanging down from a great height, the largeness and fine workmanship of which was a surprising sight to the spectators.” (Jewish War 5.225–226)

“King Herod, having a mind to make this a most illustrious temple… beautified it all over, not only in the inner part, but in the outer courts also. The cloisters he built were on all sides, extended even to the utmost limits of the Temple mount, which was vastly raised and enlarged beyond what it was before.” (Antiquities 15.391–395)

6 “As for these things which you see, the days will come when there shall not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Jesus responds to the musings of his disciples by prophesying. Many think Jesus is talking about the end of the world be is only talking about the city and temple. He says that “days will come” when no bricks will be standing on another one that is not cast to the ground. He specifically identifies the temple “these things which you see”. This leaves no possibility for misinterpretation on the ears of Jesus’ listeners or the readers of scripture. He is declaring a physical destruction of the temple will take place in the future. This is not the first time Jesus has declared this. The details that Jesus uses line up with that of Josephus:

“NOW as soon as the army had no more people to slay or to plunder, because there remained none to be the objects of their fury, (for they would not have spared any, had there remained any other work to be done,) Caesar gave orders that they should now demolish the entire city and temple, but should leave as many of the towers standing as were of the greatest eminency; that is, Phasaelus, and Hippicus, and Mariamne; and so much of the wall as enclosed the city on the west side. This wall was spared, in order to afford a camp for such as were to lie in garrison, as were the towers also spared, in order to demonstrate to posterity what kind of city it was, and how well fortified, which the Roman valor had subdued; but for all the rest of the wall, it was so thoroughly laid even with the ground by those that dug it up to the foundation, that there was left nothing to make those that came thither believe it had ever been inhabited. This was the end which Jerusalem came to by the madness of those that were for innovations; a city otherwise of great magnificence, and of mighty fame among all mankind” (Jewish War)

7 And they asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign when this is about to take place?”

In response to Jesus’ prophecy his disciples ask two questions. When will this happen and what will the sign be when it is about to happen. This might seem like the same question asked in different ways but since Jesus used the term “days” he is mostly like referring to an era of sorts, this was how ancient peoples measured time, they did not have our year system. They then ask about what “signs” will there be marking the event. Although throughout Hebrew history the acknowledgement of signs proceeding or marking events as they happen occurred, during the Second Temple Period a large amount of influential Jewish apocalyptic literature was influencing the common folk including the apostles, heavily focused on omens in the skies. These are the signs they are referring to in the second part of their question.

Michael E. Stone, in Scriptures, Sects, and Visions: A Profile of Jewish Apocalypticism, notes that apocalyptic literature such as 1 Enoch and 2 Baruch highlighted cosmic disturbances and signs as markers of the eschaton:

“Signs were often viewed as a form of divine validation and were anticipated in apocalyptic contexts as harbingers of divine intervention in history.”

John J. Collins, in The Apocalyptic Imagination, discusses the role of “signs” in texts like the Dead Sea Scrolls:

“The Qumran community believed that celestial and terrestrial signs would accompany the end of days, confirming the fulfillment of prophecy. The ‘War Scroll,’ for instance, envisions divine intervention marked by extraordinary phenomena 

8 And he said, “Take heed 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.

Jesus is attempting to tell his disciples what will happen without causing them to panic. Instead of asking their questions directly he jumps to the point of the dangers of misjudging what is occurring by warning them to not be led astray, that many will claim to be coming in his name, even that they are him and that the time is nigh but they should not follow them. Some of these Messianic imposters are actually mentioned in the book of Acts. The phrasing like much of the Olivet discourse is pulling from the Prophet Jeremiah was was prophesying the destruction of the first temple by the Babylonians.

“Do not trust in deceptive words, saying, ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!’” (Jeremiah 7:4)

9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not be terrified; for this must first take place, but the end will not be at once.”

He continues to try to keep his disciples heads level about the revelations that he is giving to them. When you hear about wars don’t be afraid because these things will occur between now and the end of the old covenant but they are not the actual endings, they are just events that happen before hand and must take place. The end will also not happen all at once, there will be stages that will reach a climax with the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.

10 Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom;

Jesus now predicts even further turmoil on a much wider scale, nations will war against each other, kingdoms will clash and these are all to happen before the end of the covenant. The great Jewish-Roman war which is the symbolic cosmic conflict of Jew versus Gentile. Nation rising against nation.

11 there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences; and there will be terrors and great signs from heaven.

All of what Jesus says here is true. In the lead up to the destruction of the temple there will be cataclysms that will effect the world, Colossae was destroyed in the 50’s A.D because of an earthquake, Pompeii and Herculaneum, Roman cities, were nearly entirely destroyed in 62 A.D by powerful earthquakes that had a  magnitude of 5.2-6.1 on the Richter scale, with a maximum intensity of IX or X on the Mercalli scale. This means that the earthquake was extremely violent, causing widespread damage and loss of life.

A great famine struck Jerusalem before the Temple was destroyed, Josephus even recounts in his history on the Jewish War “the famine was so severe that people were eating human flesh, and even the very young children were being devoured by their own parents.” (Josephus, The Wars of the Jews, Book 6, Chapter 3).

Finally Jesus says “there will be terrors and great signs from heaven”. This too is corroborated by Josephus who wrote: “Thus there was a star resembling a sword, which stood over the city, and a comet that continued a whole year. … So these publicly declared that this signal foreshowed the desolation that was coming upon them. Besides these, a few days after that feast, on the one-and-twentieth day of the month Artemisius, a certain prodigious and incredible phenomenon appeared … which I suppose would seem a fable, were it not related by those that saw it … before sun-setting, chariots and troops of soldiers in their armor were seen running about among the clouds, and surrounding of cities.”

Jesus is in the last week of his life, teaching in the temple every day. He has passed every test and avoided every trap laid out by the Pharisees, Scribes and Sadducees. Following this Jesus has explicitly called out the scribes by name saying they devour the houses of widows.  “Scribes held significant influence over legal matters and could misuse this power by convincing widows to bequeath property to the Temple or for their own gain. Their services often carried hidden costs, which could result in the financial ruin of vulnerable individuals who depended on their legal guidance.” (Jeremias, Joachim. Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus. 1969) This is juxtaposed against his observation of a widow in the temple in todays reading.

1 He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury;

 Jesus sits opposite the treasury, the location for monetary collection and observed those contributing to it, he specifically observes the rich people putting in their gifts.

“The Treasury was located in the Court of Women, where thirteen trumpet-shaped chests were set up to receive contributions. These chests were designated for different purposes: some were for Temple upkeep, others for sacrifices, and still others for freewill offerings.” (Edersheim, Alfred. The Temple: Its Ministry and Services). The Greek word used for “looked up” is anablepō, it has two meanings, one is to look up and the other to recover sight. It carries a purposeful sense of looking, not a casual one. He is not passively watching what is going on, he is going to use this as a teaching opportunity.

2 and he saw a poor widow put in two copper coins.

He then sees a poor widow put in two copper coins.  The copper coins the widow put into the treasury is called a lepton. The lepton was a small, thin copper coin, and its value was minuscule compared to other coins in circulation, such as the silver denarius. Two lepta were worth approximately one-sixteenth of a denarius, which was a day’s wage for a labourer. Luke highlights that she is a “poor widow”. A widow in this society was already at the bottom of the societal ladder, without male representation she was at the whims of the world and all its chaos. This is why God has a particular love for Widows and throughout the old testament because of their vulnerability, this same particular love is expressed toward orphans for the same reason. Examples of the Mosaic law’s perspective on widows can be found in Exodus 22:22 where it says “You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child.” and Deuteronomy 27:19 where it reads “Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow.” .

 3 And he said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them;

Jesus uses this societal contrast as a teaching moment for those around him, likely including his apostles but also others in the court. It is important to point out that this court where the gifts were offered was open to lots of people including women meaning it was very busy, which is why Jesus used these locations to teach, he could get a lot of peoples attention at one time. He begins his teaching with “truly” this always proceeds significant teachings by Jesus and is a sign for his listeners to pay attention. He states that the poor widows has put in more than all the rich people they have observed. The phrase πλεῖον πάντων (more than all) can grammatically be understood as “more than all of them together” or “more than each of them individually,” depending on the context. Some scholars suggest the collective interpretation (“all of them combined”) because the widow’s offering represents a profound act of self-sacrifice that outweighs even the sum of the others’ contributions in its spiritual value.

4 for they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all the living that she had.”

In addition to mandatory contributions, there were various voluntary offerings, such as freewill offerings Deuteronomy 16:10. The widow’s freewill offering of two lepta is more in value to God than the large total numerical value of those offering percentages out of abundance because the Widows offering put in “all the living that she had”. She sacrificed entirely, whereas the rich sacrificed nothing. Jesus uses the act of the widow to teach people God’s perception of value coming from sacrifice, a contrite heart not the blood of goats or chests of gold.

Jesus has been teaching in the temple, giving lessons to the common people and rebuking those who leave traps for him and question his authority. He gives the parable of the vine-growers which makes the scribes and the chief priests very nervous as they realised the parable was directed them. This leads us to Luke 20:27-40 where the Sadduccees try to trip Jesus on the theological viewpoint that made them stick out among those during the Second Temple Period.

27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who say that there is no resurrection,

Members of the Sadducean party come to Jesus. Luke points them out as “those who say that there is no resurrection” beyond that we do not get much detail about the Sadducees within the New Testament but luckily other sources do exist which highlight this peculiarity. They were an aristocratic priestly party who filled the seats of the sanhedrin and ultimately controlled all of the temple. Their name is supposedly derived from Zadok, the high priest who served under King David and King Solomon. Of all the groups they were the smallest in number, but had great influence because they were essentially all priests of the Temple. Only a priest could offer sacrifice and by the Second Temple Period this group had risen to prominence almost exclusively filling these ranks. They did not just reject the resurrection but the afterlife and spiritual word entirely (see Acts 23:8). They were very strict in there adherence to the Mosaic Law but seemed to deny all supernatural things. Their denial of supernatural things including the resurrection come from the fact that they only accept the first five books of Moses, ignoring the prophets, the writings and also any oral tradition. This illustrates the lack of a unified “canon” of scripture that many modern day people assume existed among the Jews of the Second Temple period but alas, this is a myth.

28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the wife and raise up children for his brother.

The Sadducees begin their question by addressing Jesus as “Teacher” didáskalos in Greek, it can mean teacher, doctor, master or instructor. It was typically used to denote a person whose responsibilities involved teaching things concerning the word of God and considering this question ends in some what of a trick, like the previous questions, this might not be being used in a honest fashion. They proceed with invoking a Mosaic Law known as the Levarite Law which is found in Deuteronomy 25:5 where a brother has the responsibility to continue his dead brothers lineage by siring children with his widow. Considering israelites had tribal land allotments which hinged upon inheritance and widows would be destitute by themselves this is actually a very reasonable position to make a law about.

29 Now there were seven brothers; the first took a wife, and died without children;

30 and the second

31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died.

32 Afterward the woman also died.

33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”

The Sadduccees introduce a scenario where there are seven brothers , the first taking a wife but dying without a child and so the Mosaic law comes into play with the second brother taking up the responsibility required by the law but he also dies and this repeats until all seven have died along with the woman with no children. They take a Law of mercy given by Moses and make a mockery of it by reducing it to an absurd scenario whilst also ignoring the entire point of the law, marriage and the resurrection. Some scholars have noted that this could be a veiled reference to the Book of Tobit where the wife of Tobias is previously engaged seven times to be married but all seven men die before consummating the marriage because of a curse. It is not such a long shot since this was popular literature and they’re already mocking the resurrection so why wouldn’t they use the stories of books they do not believe in as the building blocks of a joke?

34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage;

Jesus responds to them by saying the men of this age get married. The Greek word for age used here is aiṓn it can mean a period of time or more appropriately “world” or “universe” like a framework of reality. The sons of this world marry and are given in marriage would be an easier to understand translation. What Jesus is doing is describing a difference between this life and the life to come. Marriage is something limited to this world of existence.

35 but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage,

Now Jesus begins to elaborate on what makes the world to come different. Everyone who is born is accounted worthy to live or otherwise they would never begin to exist, even those who die were accounted worthy to exist at some point in this age but of the world to come Jesus says they must be “accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead”. In order to enter this age and the resurrection you must be worthy kataxioō in Greek, it is the same word that St Paul uses in 2 Th 1:5 in reference to those who can enter the Kingdom of God. For most people, even in this time period, the point of life was to marry and have progeny but Jesus is shuffling their perception of what the point of life is.

36 for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

Why are they not given in marriage? Because the purpose of marriage is due to our mortality, if we do not die, we do not need to reproduce and live on in our proceeding generations. Another purpose for marriage is the sanctification of the spouses (see 1 Corinthians 7:14 and paragraph 1643 CCC), In the world to come, we will not need either because we will behold God as he is. Marriage in this life is a shadow of the divine marriage to the heavenly bridegroom. We still have our familial bonds in Heaven and will actually be able to love them all the more perfectly because of God. Jesus goes further saying they will be equal to the heavenly host and will be sons of God when they are sons of the resurrection. When Jesus says we are equal to angels he means in the context of immortality not that we become angels, unlike angels we will actually exist bodily at the resurrection whereas they will not. This term, “sons of God” is very curious as it pertains to the divine council world view spoken of by Dr Michael Heiser. He points to passages like Deuteronomy 32:8-9 which is a retelling of the events at the Tower of Babel in Genesis. The sons of God are those of the divine council of God who are put in charge of the nations but now we are to be those Sons of God in the advent of the New Covenant. Jesus is the King of Kings, we are called to co-rule with him, we become rulers in his name on Earth and as we are of his body we are also sons of God by adoption as well as in power.

37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living; for all live to him.”

Jesus now uses their own witness against them, he invokes Moses to prove the resurrection by recalling Exodus 3:6 (a book the Sadducees do accept) where the Lord calls Moses from the burning bush, identifying himself saying “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.”. The “I am” being perpetual and continuous, for the Lord to still be their God, they must still be alive unless either Moses or God is a liar. Which the Sadducees would never dare to say. They thought they had cornered Jesus but he has them now in a very tight spot.

39 And some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.”

40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

The scribes give their verdict “Teacher, you have spoken well” the term didaskalos being used again reflects how the Sadducees instigated the conversation in probable mockery but now the professional lawyers of the Law of Moses call him that in defeat as this ends a long string of varying groups all trying to catch him out and none can. Jesus will go on to give one more teaching on the Psalms of David before beginning his “woe” statements against the authorities of the Law.

Jesus has entered Jerusalem, being welcomed like a king by the crowds but is still rejected by the authorities of the Jewish people. After weeping for them and prophesying their future destruction at the hands of gentiles, Jesus proceeds toward the temple. All three synoptic Gospels place the Cleansing of the Temple at the end of Jesus’ ministry whereas John’s Gospel places it at the start. There are a variety of acceptable opinions that explain the apparent contradiction. The historical view which allows for two separate events, one being at the start of Jesus’ ministry (mentioned in John but omitted by the Synoptics) and the second at the end of Jesus’ ministry (mentioned in the Synoptics, omitted by John) with the inclusion and omission being explained by theological and symbolic emphases. Another more common view is that it is a singular event that the authors place differently to serve different theological aims.

45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold,

Jesus enters the temple and begins driving out “those who sold.” The other Gospels provide additional context about what was being sold and by whom. For instance, Matthew 21:12–13 specifically mentions pigeons and money changers. Selling within the temple complex was forbidden by Jewish law, yet during Jesus’ time, a lax attitude had allowed the outer courts—the Court of the Gentiles—to become a marketplace. This area was originally intended as a space for Gentiles to worship the one true God.

The temple complex itself was an immense structure, covering 36 acres. It consisted of concentric courtyards that increased in sanctity as one moved closer to the temple building at the center. Therefore, when the Gospels state that Jesus “entered the temple,” they refer not to the temple building itself but to the larger temple precinct, most likely the outer court where such commerce took place.

46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer’; but you have made it a den of robbers.”

Here Jesus combines two Old Testament passages to issue a powerful condemnation of the current state of the temple. The first quotation, “My house shall be a house of prayer”, is drawn from Isaiah 56:7. In its original context, this verse emphasizes the temple’s role as a sacred space for all nations, a place where both Jews and Gentiles can worship the one true God. By invoking this verse, Jesus underscores the temple’s intended purpose as a place of prayer and worship, not a marketplace.

The second quotation, “but you have made it a den of robbers”, comes from Jeremiah 7:11, part of the prophet’s condemnation of the corrupt practices of the Israelites. Jeremiah accuses the people of turning the temple into a place of hypocrisy, where individuals sought refuge from their unrighteousness while continuing in unjust behavior.

This combination of two passages serves to critique the temple’s current state. While Isaiah highlights the temple’s sanctity and openness to all, Jeremiah emphasizes the need for purity in worship and the dangers of hypocrisy. By linking these texts, Jesus articulates a comprehensive rebuke: the temple, meant to be a place of prayer for all nations, had become a corrupt institution that failed to fulfill its divine calling.

The method Jesus uses to combine these two scriptures is typical of the rabbinic tradition of His time. Rabbinic exegesis often involved linking different passages to create a fuller understanding of a theological or moral point. Techniques such as gezerah shavah, which connects verses based on shared words or themes, were commonly used.

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people sought to destroy him;

Here in this verse we see Luke’s editorial choice to condense the ministry in Jerusalem, omitting the leaving and returning aspects found in Mark. Jesus is teaching daily in the temple, most likely beginning where he just drove out the animal sellers and money changers. This area provided the best vantage point for Jesus to teach the most amount of people as everyone regardless of race or gender was allowed here. Luke highlights the three classes of people who will be responsible for his death. The chief priests: high ranking religious leaders who held authority over the temple and its rituals mostly if not all Sadducees. The scribes: the experts in Jewish Law, typically associated with the Pharisees but their services for consultancy were for anyone who could pay and finally the “principle men of the people” or more literally “first of the nation”. This would be the nobles of Jerusalem, the wealthy aristocracy. These three groups were the main occupiers of the Sanhedrin, the 71 man group that had the highest authority and influence over the temple and people although their authority was more limited under Roman rule. For example they could not stone people to death when they wanted anymore.

48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people hung upon his words.

The fact that the religious leaders “did not find anything they could do” reflects their powerlessness in the face of public opinion. While they have the power to plot against Jesus, they are hindered by His widespread support. This foreshadows the eventual arrest and trial of Jesus, where the leaders must rely on manipulation and betrayal (as with Judas) to seize Him, since they cannot act openly while He is still so popular with the people.

The phrase “hung upon” is very interesting as the Greek word is ekkremamai. It is used to convey the meaning “to hang on the lips of a speaker” but it’s literal meaning is suspension or hanging. It is only used once in the entire bible.

John Nolland (Luke: A Commentary) points out that this verse shows the clear distinction between the intentions of the authorities and the people. While the leaders desire to destroy Jesus, the people are eager to hear and follow Him, emphasizing the gulf between these two groups.

Previous to this Jesus has made his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, marking the end of his long journey to the holy city which has occupied the past ten chapters of Luke’s Gospel. Jesus was joyfully received by the crowds but some Pharisees among them object to the messianic implications of it even telling him to rebuke his disciples but he responded with telling them the stones would cry out if they were silent. Everything has been building up to this moment and many are filled with joy because they do not understand that the Son of Man must suffer and the holy city must be judged for not recognizing who he really is.

41 And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it,

As Jesus draws near to the city and sees it, he wept over it. Although translated as wept, we should not confuse this with the same word as used in John 11:35 (dakryō) when Jesus weeps over Lazarus which is more of a silent, reserved form of crying. The Greek word used in this sentence is klaiō which is used for public mourning used for family members or national acts of mourning of a nation. It is the same word used to describe the widow in Luke 7:13. It is a very loud grief stricken lament, he has never expressed himself this way until now, the moment he sees the city of Jerusalem in the final week of his life.

42 saying, “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace! But now they are hid from your eyes.

Jesus begins speaking by addressing the city of Jerusalem as a whole, saying “Would that even today you knew the things that make for peace!”. Here Jesus is implying, as he has for sometime, that there is oncoming tribulation and that if they knew what would “make for peace” (which would be accepting him as the Messiah and the fulfillment of God’s promises) the city would be peaceful, maybe even implying further that it would have been a perpetual peace. The issue is that this acceptance of him is locked into a particular time-frame of his “visitation” which will be mentioned later and Jerusalem as a whole has not accepted him. The end of the verse “But now they are hid from your eyes” has been interpreted by scholars as an enduring spiritual blindness to God by the Jewish people and this moment marks the handing over of God’s preference to the New Covenant Church. It could also be what Paul references in Romans 11:7-10 and 2 Corinthians 3:14-16, a perpetual blindness to God’s revelation.

43 For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side,

Jesus tells them that in some time in the future their enemies will “cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side” it is reminiscent of Jeremiah 6:6 “For thus says the LORD of hosts: “Hew down her trees; cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem. This is the city which must be punished; there is nothing but oppression within her.” The Greek word for “bank” is charax which literally means “to sharpen to a point” but is used by implication to mean a trench or military mound for circumvallation in a siege.

Many times people will debate ad-nauseam about other statements by Jesus, if they are really prophetic of the siege in 70 A.D. but all those inferences are made because of the extremely clear and terrifyingly accurate ones here. When you compare statements made by Jesus with the Jewish historian Josephus even other Roman sources it is striking. In this verse Jesus is saying that the enemies of Jerusalem will set up barricades around them, surround them and hem them in from all sides.

Josephus writes

“Titus… ordered a trench to be dug, a deep and broad ditch, and to this was added the construction of a wall around the city, which was about four miles in circumference”

Titus’ siege was done exactly the way Jesus described.

44 and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

The language Jesus uses is once again pointing back to the past and predicting the future in store for the holy city. It is referencing Psalm 137:9 “Happy shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” it is a lament of the hatred the Judeans felt toward their Babylonian captors but now Jesus is directing the words against the city itself and it corresponds to the suffering Josephus describes in the Jewish War “The famine… reached its height; so that the city was full of dead bodies… the upper rooms of the houses and the very streets were filled with the dead”. This famine led to acts like enslavement and even worse, cannibalism of their own children.

“They will not leave one stone upon another in you” is another prophecy of Jesus, words he will repeat in Luke 21:6 directed specifically at the temple itself which was dismantled brick by brick once Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans, Josephus and the Roman historian Tacitus confirm this :

“But the [Roman] soldiers, as they were now breaking into the holy house, had a mind to destroy it, and they set fire to it.” (Jewish War 6.4.5).

“The temple was famous beyond all other works of men as a structure of immense wealth and great magnificence… All the walls were overthrown and the temple completely destroyed.”

(Histories, 5.12)

Jesus follows this horrifying future prediction for the Jews with an explanation. “Because you did not know the time of your visitation”. The Greek word used for visitation is episkopē , it is where we get the term Episcopate from, the office of a Bishop and it literally means investigation or inspection but it has a very large divine connotation to it as it was used to describe the act by which God looks into and searches out the ways of men, in order to adjudge them their lot accordingly. The Jews may have acted differently if they had fully understood everything but this is all a test of faith, to fully understand is to rely on your own knowledge and that was not what was required of them.

Another interesting note on these verses actually comes from the perspective of rationalist scholars and I find it very funny. They read the descriptions used by Jesus to describe the siege of 70 A.D. and use it as their primary evidence to conclude that Luke must have written it after the fact. The issue with this perception is that not a single one of the Christians died during the war and Eusebius records in his Ecclesiastical History that this was because Christians listened to divine revelation and left before the siege occurred.

“The whole body, however, of the church at Jerusalem, having been commanded by a divine revelation, given to men of approved piety there before the war, removed from the city, and dwelt at a certain town beyond the Jordan, called Pella.” (Ecclesiastical History , Book 3, Chapter 5)