Greek Study Luke 23:33-43

Greek Study Luke 23:33-43

³³When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁴Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And they cast lots to divide his clothing. ³⁵And the people stood by, watching; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!”³⁶The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine,³⁷and saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” ³⁸There was also an inscription over him, “This is the King of the Jews.” ³⁹One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, “Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!” ⁴⁰But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? ⁴¹And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong.” ⁴²Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” ⁴³He replied, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

v33 τον καλουμενον (καλεω) pres. pas. part. "called" Κρανιον "skull" - in Aramaic the Greek rendering is "Golgotha", but Luke drops this name for some unknown reason. 

εσταυρωσαν (σταυροω) aor. "they crucified" - none of the gospel writers describe Jesus' actual crucifixion.

τους κακουργους (ος) "the criminals" (Mark has "bandits", i.e. "terrorists" or "freedom-fighters" if a Jew or "insurgents" if you want to sit on the fence! Luke avoids the political innuendo using the word “criminal” – but also departs form the tradition (and the main rationale for Roman culpability) – wat’s up with that?

v34 αφες (αφιημι) aor. imp. "forgive" - This prayer is not found in all manuscripts.

αυτοις dat. pro. "them" Who, the priests, Romans, people, or all of them?

οιδασιν (οιδα) perf. "they [do not] understand (know). 

v35 θεωρων (θεωρεω) pres. part. "staring” participle is adverbial.

εξεμυκτηριζον (εκμυκτηριζω) imperf. "sneered at" - Luke does not separate the officials from the people when it comes to abusing Jesus. 

λεγοντες (λεγω) pres. part. "they said" attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "they continued mocking him and said."

σωσατω (σωζω) imp. "let him save" rescue/heal himself…

ο εκλεκτος "the one picked out" – I.e. the Messiah, the one God has chosen.

  
v36 ενεπαιξαν (εμπαιζω) aor. ridiculed/made fun of. Some argue the offering of sour wine was how they mocked him - a king would never be offered poor wine (Ps.69:21).

οξος "wine/ vinegar" - low cost dry red wine, like they serve in most restaurants today!

v37 ει + ind. "if" - Introducing a first-class condition, hypothetical, where the stated condition is assumed to be true for argument sake.

v38 επιγραφη (η) "notice" – a placard or formal notice detailing the criminal's name and charge.

ουτος "this one”- not used in Mark. While this is derogatory in context, it is interesting that the charge doesn't have "claimed", although the exact wording of the inscription varies "king of the Jews" is a common.

  
v39 εβλασφημει (βλασφημεω) imperf. "hurled insults" - a durative – i.e. the insults flowed; "he spoke with sarcastic disrespect."

ουχι - "[Are] not [you the Christ]" – the negative here indicates that the question expects a positive response, although it is clear that he doesn't believe Jesus is Christ.

v40 επιτιμων (επιτιμαω) pres. part. "rebuked" serves as an adverb so "rebuckingly? This is purely a Lukan account and is so startling that it has caused great debate as to its authenticity. It is often suggested this criminal initially derided Jesus, but then responded positively, but such is conjecture.

ουδε φοβη (φοβεω) pres. pas. "don't you fear [God]" - The second criminal recognizes Jesus' messianic credentials and expresses the danger of affronting God.

v41 δικαιως adv. "[we are] justly condemned"

απολαμβανομεν (απολαμβανω) pres. "we are getting" what we deserve.

δε "but" - adversative

ατοπον adj. "wrong/improper/wicked” Jesus has done nothing deserving crucifixion. Luke is underlining the innocence of Jesus, not suggesting this criminal has a knowledge of the law, rather he senses the innocence of the man crucified next to him.

v42 μνησθητι (μιμνησκομαι) aor. pas. imp. "Remember me kindly / show me your kindness" an epitaph found on gravestone inscriptions of the time.

v43 σημερον adv. "today" – the coming day - a common technical phrase used of the messianic kingdom, does not mean "this day" but rather "the coming day." Jesus is responding to the criminal's understanding of paradise as a holding place for the righteous prior to the final establishment of the kingdom. The theology of death as asleep is inferred by this, the timeless nature of the resurrection is at the heart of this statement.

τω παραδεισω/ (ος) "paradise" - Originally a Persian word used of an enclosed garden, later a holding place after death where the righteous awaited the coming kingdom - Jesus likely means "heaven" in the sense of a new garden of Eden.

  

Text Notes 

33. criminals: Mark and Matthew use the Greek word λεσται, "peasants who have been repressed and separated from their land and village. This is usually the result if they have been excessively taxed and forced to sell their land, have had their land confiscated by elites, or have broken an law enforced by the elites." Barabbas was a λεστεσ (Luke 23:18-19). Jesus had been accused of political crimes (Luke 23:2; 38, 39). In Luke the Greek is κακουργο, literally, "malefactor;" a common thief. This is Luke’s way of dismissing the earthly, political issues. Jesus’ crucifixion between two criminals is seen as a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12 (Luke 22:37).

34. "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing": "to whom do they refer? Scarcely to the Roman soldiers. Apart from the fact that the soldiers have not yet men mentioned (see v. 36), the ‘ignorance motif’ of Acts would have to be invoked to explain the sense of ‘them,’ i.e. the Jewish ‘leaders’ of the context, those who were crucifying and mocking him" (Acts 2:36).

they cast lots to divide his clothing: An allusion to Psalm 22:18.

35. See Psalm 22:8.

He saved others, let him save himself: This is an acknowledgement that Jesus had saved others. The reading concludes with Jesus’ statement to one of the criminals in verse 43, "today you will be with me in paradise," indicating that both he and the criminal will be "saved," not from the cross but from separation from God.

the Messiah of God, his chosen one: In Luke 9:35 "chosen one" is coupled with "my son" in the Transfiguration narrative. Jesus is God’s chosen one, the one anointed by God (at baptism, and now with the baptism of death (Mark 10:38; Romans 6:3).

36. The soldiers also mocked him: They continued their ill-treatment of Jesus which began in 22:63-65, now with the added tone of ridicule.

37: "Satan had offered Jesus the kingdoms of the world (4:5-7). The soldiers challenge Jesus to demonstrate his kingship by saving himself…. For Luke this is of course a high point in his narrative. Jesus is the King of the Jews. His only crime was to be what he truly is, and the cross is the place of his enthronement, for greatness is won through renunciation of self." 

38. This is the King of the Jews: Literally, King of the Judeans. Jesus’ answer to Pilate’s question, "Are you the king of the Judeans," an affirmation of the assertion, though it leaves Pilate with the determination of how to understand it. Luke adds the demonstrative pronoun, "this" to the title to indicate the Roman taunt directed against both Jesus and any other royal pretenders. Other Judean kings would be treated as this one had been treated.

39. One of the criminals: In Mark 15:32 and Matthew 27:44 both robbers revile Jesus. In Luke only one criminal attacks Jesus, the other rebukes the first.

43. paradise: This is a Persian loan-word meaning a garden or park. It took on the connotation of the garden of Eden (Revelation 2:7). It is used as a synonym for heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:3-4.

This is a different kind of king. The passage bristles with irony, which reflects the Markan account and must have arisen from Jesus’ first followers who made the connections. After all Jesus taught that the greatest would be the one who serves and He called the dominant models of power into question. Yet at the same time other forces pull in a different direction. Jesus the loser becomes Jesus the winner, but who wants to focus on losing? Paul spoke of the powerful powerlessness of the cross. Crucifixion confronts the norms of power with a new way of being God. 

Luke follows Mark for the most part, but with variations in order and important additional details. Jesus is crucified on the grounds that he is subversive. That subversiveness is associated with the notion of ‘messiah’. ‘King of the Jews’ makes the charge explicit and stands over the cross as a warning against other would-be messiahs. Such a figure was widely expected to overthrow Rome. The notion was, however, rather flexible and may not have entailed military intentions at all but these finer points of Jewish theology would have been lost on a busy Roman administrator like Pilate.  His chief concern would have been to suppress any form of popular movement that held potential to undermine stability. Fear is often ruthless. He understood enough to know there was no need to round up Jesus’ followers and execute them. You cut the head off the snake and the rest will die. But it didn’t die and Christians acclaimed Jesus messiah and not the kind of messiah that warranted an execution. In this sense the charge against him was false. Thus it makes sense to bring Barabbas into the story for he too belonged as did those who were crucified with Jesus. Outside of Luke’s Gospel they are called ‘lestai’, a term commonly used for revolutionaries. This all goes together to create an ironic situation in which one falsely charged for being ‘King of the Jews’ and messiah is being hailed as the ‘King of the Jews’ and ‘messiah’ by Christians.

The way out of the dilemma is to emphasize that Jesus was no threat at all. It was all a terrible misunderstanding. Jesus was talking about the kingdom of God, the kingdom within, and it had nothing to do with the broader political concerns. And you can read Luke this way: that forgiveness of individual sins is the goal, a forgiveness that is offered generously even to those who despise him 23:34 shows and even available for ‘criminals’ as 23:39-43 illustrates. Luke has even removed from his narrative the dangerous suggestions that Jesus may have spoken against the temple, which Mark reported as an echo of the Jewish trial and for which the tearing of the curtain of the temple was an advance sign. In Luke it is now more a sign of divine grief (23:44-45).

Was Jesus then a messiah of a rather harmless kind, concerned primarily with the inner world? Did those who colluded in his execution just miss the boat? Was it all a terrible misunderstanding? Luke is at pains to emphasize Jesus was innocent, he even has both Pilate and Herod Antipas say so. But there is no smoke without a fire. Something was smoldering in the movement of Jesus even if not military intervention. It was, however, something which gained a following that presented a clear and present danger to Roman stability. It is impossible to make sense of this without recognizing that there were indeed elements of subversion within the Jesus movement.

So Luke presents Jesus from the beginning as one who is addressing Israel’s hopes of liberation. The songs of the birth narratives are filled with it. And Jesus marches into the synagogue to link his mission to Isaiah 61 where He announces good news to the poor, hungry, and those who weep. He asserts the value of the valueless. He gathers people and announces change. He is not beginning a school for meditation nor is he promising a utopia at some other time and place. He is announcing a change that it already manifesting itself in Him and His community. And this was certainly NOT harmless for those with invested in the status quo. Was he one with Barabbas and the brigands? No; yet we need to see that in some sense He would have more in common with them than with Christian quietists.

To affirm that Jesus is king is to affirm a different kind of kingship. But it is not a kingship which abdicates into an inner world of meditation. Powerless is passivity if no power is taken up. Jesus was enormously powerful and aggressively assertive. He did not come to create a set of doormats but to spread a revolution of love and grace, which entailed identifying and embodying a new kind of power. The feast of Christ the king is very assertive. The paradox and irony of the passion is not be dissolved by saying Christ’s concerns lie elsewhere. It is rather to be entered as representative of a fundamental conflict in the here and now: about God, about Christ, about being Christian. 

‘King’ is a male gendered expression but the issue is larger than this. Asserting Christ the king as an image of splendor with all the trappings of ancient royalty, in word and song it reinforces standard images of greatness, might and domination. Asserting Christ the king is a counter image to a world that keeps the poor poor.  Christ the King is a subversive declaration. It is a way of locating what matters most because what matters most in the end is God.

Conclusion

The Scripture readings (Jer. 23:1-6, Col. 1:13-20, Luke 23:35-43) does not allow us to push Christ’s kingship off to a heavenly place. They remind us reconciliation applies to "all things, whether on earth or in heaven" (Col. 1:20). The peace of the gospel required a violent and unjust death.  But Christ rules those who have received the redemption, reconciliation and forgiveness as a result of that death. We would never expect that one described as the incarnation of divine fullness (Col. 1:19) would enter into his rule dying like a common criminal. The Gospels underscore the irony of the crucifixion by describing his mocking and Luke rubs the message in by repeating this mocking three times (Luke 23:35-39): the rulers of the people mock the idea of a savior who cannot save himself, the soldiers mock him as a powerless king and one of the criminals mock him because he cannot save either himself or those dying with him.

But then people expect that divinely anointed leaders of the last days will redeem them. The promise of a divinely installed shepherd from the Davidic line (Jeremiah) does not point to some other world. It promises that the Jewish exile will end and the people will dwell securely in their land under the leadership of a king whose name will be "the Lord is our righteousness". Such a promise undercuts other rulers’ claims to legitimacy or divine support. But the rule of justice and peace will not be created by the political figures of this present age either.  God condemns them for destroying what they should have protected. 

Luke makes the rulers of the people the first to mock a crucified Jesus while the people stand in mute witness. Yet such mockery has an ironic quality. When the Roman soldiers who represent the real power mock Jesus as king of the Jews, they include both the people and their leaders in this gesture of contempt. And these soldiers do not expect Jesus’ act of saving himself to include them. Jesus merely provides the occasion to express their disdain for a weak, vacillating people. His execution demonstrates the power of Rome. But Luke’s version of the crucifixion does not permit mockery to turn the scene into a piece of political irony. Instead, Luke uses a tradition about the repentant criminal to provide a dramatic example of how Jesus in fact becomes savior even from the cross. During the trial scene, Pilate repeatedly states Jesus is innocent. The second criminal reminds us Jesus has done nothing to deserve the death. He then goes beyond mere recognition that Jesus is innocent to Jesus is King. So in the end Jesus is not a failure he is on the way to kingship, which is a lesson the risen Jesus must teach to his own confused disciples (Luke 24:26) 

The criminal recognizes both the justice of his own sentence and the possibility for salvation in Jesus. His reward; greater than what he requested, is a place with Jesus. "Today you will be with me in Paradise." Is paradise the Magic Kingdom? Not hardly. We can only enter Jesus’ kingdom if we shed the flawed, human perceptions of power and like the thief turn toward the ultimate dichotomy, a Crucified Messiah!

The Earth is mine, the sea and all that is within

The reasoning of the tempters at the foot of the cross and the tempter in the wilderness is simple: “The “Son of God” could not, should not, and ought not die.” 

The reasoning in heaven is equally simple: “The “Son of God” can, needs to and, will be obedient.”

These two view will eventually have a wreck at the corner of Kingdom and World. The Gospel story for today is that wreck. - PK

Christ the king Sunday is not that old. It seems to have been created by the Franciscans for whom it had spiritual and theological overtones but was made a feast only as recent as 1925 by Pius XI in the encyclical Quas Primas. Pius’ motivation was a growing sense of nationalism in Europe following WWI. 

In a European mind, the ideal or spirit of “king” is yet alive and well, even though on face value though many Europeans would argue it. The idea of Government as the “accepted powerful other” is a staple of European politics. The monarch was raised and trained to be the one who would make weighty decisions for the common folk who accepted that someone else was in charge of a significant portion of their lives. If it had not been for this type of decision power, Lutherans might have faired differently during the 16th century but the peace of Augsburg makes sense in Europe — not in America which is made up of the minority views that could not let the king define what they believed. 

In true form to the traditional training of the prince to eventually take the throne, most German politicians have PhDs and the most efficient way to get rid of them is not the ballot box but rather a close investigation into their theses to root out possible cases of plagiarism. In the last decade that has derailed a few political careers in Germany. But, the PhD is to say to the common folk: “Here is one who has gained the expertise and approval to run a part of your life.” Americans of all stripes will bristle at the “run your life” phrase but that is part and parcel the job of a king: One who truly does know better. 

The connection of that thought: There is one who truly does know better, to our Colossians lesson would seem obvious. Christ, was present at the creation, through him and for him all things were made. He knows where all the levers are, he knows the dangers and possibilities of creation. No one can claim to know how the universe works and disagree with him. No one can argue about the purpose of human life with Christ, one can only listen because he was there at creation and he knows it first hand. He does not have to philosophize or theorize. He simply knows. 

This was one of Bonaventure’s, a Franciscan, arguments with Aquinas. Christ was incarnate from the beginning. Adam’s sin did not make it necessary for Christ to become incarnate. He already was. He was king from and to all ages, not a Prince - a lessor royal -  in training, pushed into action by circumstances. Christ Jesus came to his own, both in the sense of his own creation and his own possession. The Incarnation was not a repair job brought on by the sin of Adam for which one now owed the mechanic who was sent to fix this vexing problem but who knew otherwise little about the working of the universe. Jesus Christ was not a single purpose tool. 

This incarnate presence of Christ was important to the Franciscans spiritually as well. If indeed he was incarnate in and through all and if in that incarnate self all things held together, moved, breathed and had their being, then all things living need to be considered holy unto the Lord (Zechariah 14:20) of the universe and ought to be treated as such. Field and stream held great treasures but they were the monarch’s and one took them only by permission. Creation is the Lord’s possession and one is obliged to respect it even more-so. 

These two thoughts might guide us this week. The death of Christ is more profound than often told. It is not merely Jesus dying for our sins. It is the king of Glory, the King of Kings, the sovereign of the Universe, the reason for Being, that is dying on the cross between two thieves. He came to his own and they did not receive him. Have you ever told the Lord how things work here on earth? Have you ever tried to instruct the almighty? I would point those who would confidently answer “yes” to the book of Job, especially the 38th chapter and following. But that confident “yes” also comes from one of the criminals Jesus is executed with. He is certainly happy to tell Jesus what he ought to do right then. The other one has it right, he asks that the King do mercy for him whatever that mercy might be, trusting that Jesus might know best how to do this.

The spur gear does not tell the engineer why it is orbiting inside the internal gear. It has no idea what a tire is or how its own actions affect the wheels. No, the engineer knows best what oil ought to be in the transmission. It is his design, even if it has suffered abuse by the grind of daily life. Sin does not absolve the sinner from listening to the Creator even if the creation is no longer exactly what was created in Charity. To live with a King as your sovereign, instead of yourself, requires that you live conscious of the King’s mind and ways. To be ignorant of them is dangerous. What the sovereign holds precious you ought to respect.

At the same time, no part is unimportant. The wheel does not turn if the spur gear has disintegrated. All parts are lovingly designed by the King, a loving eye envisioned them. Not only that but: Deus non ex machina est. The assumption of a continued incarnate presence linked to the preciousness of all life ought to lead one to a life of reverence of all things living. St Francis was known to pick up worms in the middle of the road and move them to the side lest they be run over. I dare you to remember that image when you drive down the road on a wet spring or early fall day and the road is flush with worms. Do you swerve for woolly worms scampering across the road in Fall? You will now . . . They are the Lord’s, you know. As are you.

The Texts for the 26th Sunday after the Pentecost, November 13, 2016

First Reading: Malachi 4:1-2a

1See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2aBut for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.

Psalm: Psalm 98

1 Sing to the LORD a new song, 

    for he has done marvelous things.

2 With his right hand and his holy arm 

    has he won for himself the victory.

3 The LORD has made known his victory; 

    his righteousness has he openly shown in

                             the sight of the nations.

4 He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to

                             the house of Israel, 

    and all the ends of the earth have seen the

                             victory of our God.

5 Shout with joy to the LORD, all you lands; 

    lift up your voice, rejoice, and sing.

6 Sing to the LORD with the harp, 

    with the harp and the voice of song.

7 With trumpets and the sound of the horn 

    shout with joy before the King, the LORD.

8 Let the sea make a noise and all that is in it, 

    the lands and those who dwell therein.

9 Let the rivers clap their hands, 

    and let the hills ring out with joy before the LORD,

    when he comes to judge the earth.

10 In righteousness shall he judge the world 

    and the peoples with equity.

Second Reading: 2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

6Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you, 8and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you. 9This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Gospel: Luke 21:5-19

5When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, [Jesus] said, 6“As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.”

  7They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” 8And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.

  9“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.” 10Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

  12“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.”

Green Study of Luke 21:5-19

Isaiah 65:17-25

¹⁷For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth; the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind. ¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy, and its people as a delight. ¹⁹I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and delight in my people; no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it, or the cry of distress. ²⁰No more shall there be in it an infant that lives but a few days, or an old person who does not live out a lifetime; for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth, and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed. ²¹They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²²They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands. ²³They shall not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord— and their descendants as well. ²⁴Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. ²⁵The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; but the serpent—its food shall be dust! They shall not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain, says the Lord.

Luke 21:5-19

⁵When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, ⁶“As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.” ⁷They asked him, “Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?” ⁸And he said, “Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, ‘I am he!’ and, ‘The time is near!’ Do not go after them.⁹“When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.”¹⁰Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; ¹¹there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven. ¹²“But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name.¹³This will give you an opportunity to testify. ¹⁴So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; ¹⁵for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. ¹⁶You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. ¹⁷You will be hated by all because of my name. ¹⁸But not a hair of your head will perish. ¹⁹By your endurance you will gain your souls.

v5 λεγοντων (λεγω) gen. "[some of his disciples] were remarking" – a genitive absolute participle serves to form a temporal clause; "when some were speaking".

λιθοις (ος) dat. "with [beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God]"the dative is instrumental, expressing means.

v6 καταλυθησεται (καταλυω) fut. pas. "will be thrown down" – literally “detached from place, i.e.  demolished.

  
v7 διδασκαλε (ος) voc. "teacher" - general term, possibly indicating that, as far as Luke is concerned, these people were not disciples.

ποτε .... τι "when [and] what…" two interrogatives + the fut. ind. of the verb to-be, εσται, defy convention. The first part of the question is probably not seeking an actual date for the destruction of the temple, since in Aramaic idiom the next (parallel) phrase in this construction serves to exegete the first, so the two questions are probably best treated as one, "what will be the end of the old order of things that will serve to warn people when Jerusalem is about to be destroyed (Dan.12:6,7).

ταυτα "these things" - still referring to the destruction of the temple/Jerusalem. Bock notes the plural, arguing that more than the destruction of the temple is intended, although the plural most likely refers to the dislodged stones.

το σημειον (ον) "the sign" heralding "these things."

γινεσθαι (γινομαι) pres. inf. "to become” complementary infinitive.

v8 μη πλανηθητε (πλαναω) aor. pas. subj. "that you are not deceived" Technically μη with an aorist subjunctive is treated as a subjunctive of prohibition, subtler than a direct command. 

ελευσονται (ερχομαι) fut. "will come" - "Appear on the scene", TH.

επι τω ονοματι μου "in/under/upon my name" an idiom expressing authority. 

εγω ειμι "I am"

ηγγικεν (εγγιζω) perf. "[the time] is palpable" i.e. "is presently impacting upon."

μη πορευθητε (πορευομαι) aor. subj. "do not go” subjunctive of prohibition. The "end is near" message should be ignored. Life will go on with its usual bumps, and bumps are not signs of the end.

v9 ακαταστασιας (α) "confusions, insurrections, uprisings”

μη πτοηθητε (πτοεω) subj. "do not be afraid".

το τελος "the end" – i.e. the end of the temple/Jerusalem.

v10 εγερθησεται (εγαιρω) fut. pas. "[nation] will rise" - cf. 2Chron.15:6

v12 παραδιδοντες (παραδιδωμι) pres. part. "they will hand you over" modal, expressing the manner in which the action of the verb "persecute" is accomplished, with εις, the sense is to hand over to someone in authority.

απαγομενους (απαγω) pres. pas. part. "you will be brought"

ενεκεν + gen. "and all on account of [my name]" i.e. "because of your association with me.

v14 θετε (τιθημι) aor. imp. "make up [your mind]" idiom; "don't worry about what you will say to defend yourselves.

v15 στομα (α ατος) "words" – mouth, idiom for the power of speech.

αντιστηναι (ανιστημι) aor. inf. "to resist/ contradict" opponents will find no words in which to answer, unable to refute what the disciples say. 

v16 θανατωσουσιν (θανατοω) fut. "they will put [some of you] to death" - in ancient societies people had more opportunity to take the law into their own hands, but the sense here may be to hand over to the courts for the judge to sentence to death.

v17 εσεσθε μισουμενοι "will hate" – a future periphrastic: express the durative (ongoing) nature of this persecution.

v18 ου μη αποληται (απολλυμι) aor. subj. "maybe no means perish" a subjunctive of emphatic negation, "never ever perish."  i] The promise may be literal, or ii] The promise of spiritual preservation, "your souls will be safe"(unlikely) iii] may refer to the safety of the Christian church as a whole, rather than of individuals.

v19 κτησασθε (καταομαι) aor. imp. "you will gain/win [life]" - the variant κατησεσθε fut. ind.; "you will participate in eternal life" is the more likely original in the sense of "a steadfast faith in the face of persecution.

  

Go West . . .

Death comes to either the soul or the body. The soul cannot die, and yet it can die. It cannot die because its consciousness is never lost. It can die, if it loses God. You see, just as a soul itself is the life of the body, so in the same way God is the life of the soul. As the body dies when the soul that is its life abandons it, in the same way when God abandons the soul, it dies. To make sure, however, that God does not abandoned the soul, it must always have enough faith not to fear death for God’s sake. Then God does not abandon it, and it does not die. — St Augustine

I was walking through downtown Atlanta, Georgia, from a hotel next to the famous Apollo Theater on Peachtree, along Peachtree (but another Peachtree) to the Southeastern Synod’s office on, you guessed it, yet another street called “Peachtree” in some iteration. There are 33 streets in Atlanta that are named Peachtree in some form. It is Atlanta’s way to defend itself against outsiders. I was on my way to present myself to the Synod’s candidacy committee as a candidate for ordination. 

Behind me were 12 years as a man who worked in iron and machinery. Ahead lay, well, I was not sure. I am not totally sure that after 24 years, even I could have explained it to my then 31 years old self. I am today not sure that the 31 year old could explain to me today why it was a good idea and how he got to that moment walking on Peachtree — the other one, not the behind me or the one I was headed to. 

Ahead up on Peachtree, the third one, not the one I was walking on or walking from, waited 16 pastors and laypeople who wanted to know whether I was a good risk to send on this trip to pastor-dom.  What does one say to these people waiting in that room? 

What does one say to those behind, for that matter? What does one say to Ken who looked at me as I announced my departure at GM? “I wish I could leave like you are doing, I’ve wanted to, but they own me here.” He turned and walked to his desk in the corner of our group office. I could tell from his voice and face that he was fighting tears. 

That afternoon on a street in Atlanta, Georgia, I became a friend to Luke 21:14-15. There are some things that are beyond words to explain or prepare, to justify or judge, and no, I had no idea what I would say to these people.

We walk into many moments in our lives without a map. Not all of them are dangerous or perilous. Some, on the surface at least, are joyous: The birth of a child is one of these. But, somehow even that event has a sequel. It is the moment when the realization strikes: This child, helpless and crying, is YOUR responsibility. 

It might be a sad occasion: The last member of the generation of your father and mother dies. The realization hits you that YOU are now the elder. Perhaps it is the occasion when it falls to you to tell someone you care for that someone they loved dearly has died. 

These moments in our lives are singularities. In a way there is no preparing for them, nothing will prepare you for them, no one can take care of them for you, no one else can experience them own your behalf. They are moments that linger in the mind. You will remember that you were on Peachtree — no the other Peachtree, the Peachtree perpendicular to Peachtree downtown — when the matter calls itself to mind and you do recall that something profound changed in you that moment. I expect that dying will be such a  moment as well.

There is a certain helplessness in these moments. You know you will and must go this way, it is not a matter of choice really, this is it, you are it, it is this time, and this is the correct Peachtree and you are to be going west.

On the other side of what awaits you will no longer be you as you know it. The person is the same, the trajectory of life is irrevocably different and always will be. Call it a personal apocalypse if you must, we all have them.

I admit, the apocalypse Jesus speaks of is much more thrilling and probably makes for better movies. The destruction of the temple changed the life of an entire people just as much as the exile once had. Not a single one of them would be the same again and neither would the world. The disciples who would soon find themselves on the outs with the temple and no longer welcome in its courts had their apocalypse before the destruction when they got kicked out. What was Jesus’ words to them? “When these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Lk 21:28)

This is really the lesson in the apocalypse according to Luke: When you see sudden, seismic, explosive, irrevocable changes, look, look to God, your salvation is in this. 

My favorite Peanut cartoon, probably a knock off of modern origin, has Charlie Brown say: “Some day we will all die, Snoopy.” “But,” Snoopy answers, “on all the other days we don’t.” 

Drastic changes in life that we live through, our personal apocalypses, can teach us something eternal. So many times, the “end” has come but it has not been our “end.” Somehow, the end brought something new. Did we embrace it? Did we receive it from the gracious hand of God? (Bonhoeffer WoV 736) Did we look up and see the beauty of new possibilities that only God Almighty could work? Or, did we protest and hang our head in dark places to lament our loss and pain? 

Is our world in the hands of a gracious God or is it not? I guess all of us have to answer that somehow and we answer it with our lives. 

“When these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” (Lk 21:28)