The River of Redemption; Luke 21:20-24

Delivered during the Sunday Morning Worship Service, 6/1/2025. As His "Discourse on Things to Come" continues, Jesus turns His attention once again to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. This time with a warning that will prove essential for the early church to flee Jerusalem when the signs become apparent. After painting a bleak picture of suffering and distress, Jesus ends the paragraph with an enigmatic statement about the "times of the Gentiles". We will look carefully at this statement and realize it is the only positive aspect of this otherwise very negative prophesy. We will notice the subtle shift in Luke's narrative concerning the flow of God's plan of redemption. To this point, all movement has been relentlessly towards Jerusalem. But now, and continuing through the book of Acts, the movement will be away from Jerusalem and the Old Temple. Ultimately we will see this overarching narrative as a mighty river of redemption, flowing from heaven directly to Jerusalem and the Cross. And afterwards, as a river that continues to flow, but away from Jerusalem to a dark and dying world. Ultimately we will find "there is a river that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb". And it is the River of Redemption.