The Rev. Jeremy Thompson, vicar at St John’s Lee, comments on Luke 21 v 25 – 36.

I SUFFER from tinnitus. I find it hard to hear what people are saying.

There is a sense in which we all suffer from cultural tinnitus. When we read a passage of scripture like that set for Sunday, images that would excite Dan Brown come to mind and we struggle to hear clearly what is really being said.

The language Jesus uses is apocalyptic! The “day of the Lord” is coming amidst dreadful calamity. But we need to remember that Jesus was using colourful language that his hearers would have understood.

Jesus is predicting the destruction of Jerusalem. His hearers would have understood that “the sun the moon and the stars” were the great nation powers of his day, just as we know what “the lion roaring” means.

Events are coming that will shake his hearers to their very “foundations”.

In 70 AD, the Emperor Titus laid siege to Jerusalem and laid it waste. It was a crushing blow for most, but some saw through the calamity and perceived the sovereignty of Christ.

By holding true to him they found strength and hope and new life.

We are not in the Jerusalem of 70 AD and we do not face the same calamity of Jesus’ hearers.

But we face our own calamities – break down of relationships, illness, unemployment, death of loved ones. These can be crushing blows leading to despair. Or they can be opportunities for new life and new beginnings if we look for Christ, because our redemption is drawing near.