There was a Netflix disaster comedy called “Don’t Look Up” from 2021 that served as a satirical look at the topic of climate change, political inaction, corporate greed, and media misinformation. Basically, scientists were pointing out that a globally catastrophic event was imminent, while the political naysayers were downplaying the seriousness of the matter, all the while joking by saying “don’t look up” to put a silencer on the doomsdayers.
Luke 21 is like reading a page from that storybook, with Jesus predicting the destruction of the temple, wars, earthquakes, persecution, astrological signs, and curious weather patterns. These days, so many people try to figure out the end times. When will Jesus return? What will be the signs that lead up to this event? Will the church be persecuted? What is the rapture? We can ask and wonder and argue and contemplate, but the short answer is … We. Do. Not. Know.
Jesus has a way of saying things and then not explaining them in a lot of detail. There are certain mysteries to faith we just cannot know this side of heaven. Were the words Jesus said in this passage (v. 25-28 specifically) a description of events already happening at the time, things that eventually happened in our knowledge of history, or a prediction of what is to come? Some of those things have happened, some are happening now, and some are possibly to come. But the end of verse 28 is where we are told not what will happen but what to do.
Stand. Look up.
Don’t get bogged down with the weight of what we do not and cannot know. Those distractions will keep us from seeing what God is doing right here, right now. Instead, as Paul says in Colossians 3:2, “Think about the things of heaven.” Or in other words …
Look up!
Reflection:
- Are there certain areas where you find yourself too focused on the unknowns of life?
- How do you feel about the fact that there are some things we just cannot know?
- How can you redirect your attention to look up?