Luke 21 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

1. Jesus teaches about a widow who gave her little money to God ([21:1–4](../21/01.md))2. Jesus tells his disciples what will happen before he returns ([21:5–38](../21/05.md))

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

“the times of the nations”

The Jews spoke of the time between when the Babylonians forced their ancestors to go to Babylon and the time when the Messiah would come as “the times of the nations.” In this expression, the term “nations” means people groups who are not Jews, that is, the Gentiles. So this expression meant the time when the Gentiles ruled over the Jews.

Translation Issues in This Chapter

Paradox

A paradox is a statement that describes two things that seem as if they cannot both be true at the same time, but which actually are both true. There is a paradox in this chapter. Jesus tells his disciples in [21:16](../21/16.md), “they will put to death some of you,” but then, in [21:18](../21/18.md), he tells them, “not even a hair of your head will perish.” As a note to [21:18](../21/18.md) explains, Jesus means this second statement in a spiritual sense.