Luke 21:33

21:33 Heaven and earth will disappear: See study note on 16:17.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

33. Heaven and earth shall pass away] 2Pe_3:7; Isa_51:6; Psa_102:26.

but my words shall not pass away] Rather, my sayings, my utterances. Isa_40:8.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.

31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.

32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.

33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

Ver. 33. See Mat 5:18.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away. A general conclusion to the whole prophecy. "No word of mine," said the Master, "will ever pass away unfulfilled. Some of you will even live to see the terrible fulfillment of the first part of these utterances. All that mighty pile of buildings called Jerusalem will pass away, but my words which told of their coming ruin will remain. All this vast creation, earth, and stars will disappear in their turn, but these sayings of mine, which predict their future passing away into nothingness, will outlive both earth and heaven.

The immortality of Christian truth.

These striking words suggest to us

I CHRIST"S CONSCIOUS CONNECTION WITH THE ETERNAL FATHER. Had there not been in him a profound and abiding consciousness that, in a sense far transcending our own experience, God dwelt in him and he in God, these words would have been wholly indefensible; they would have been in the last degree immodest. Proceeding from any other than the Son of God himself, they would have simply repelled us, and would have cast grave discredit on every other utterance from the same lips. It was because he was Divine, and felt the authority which his Divinity conveyed, that he could and did use such words as these without any trace of assumption; without violating that "meekness and lowliness of heart" which he claimed to possess the possession of which neither friend nor enemy has attempted to dispute.

II THE PERMANENCE OF TRUTH COMPARED WITH THE TRANSITORINESS OF MATTER. It is only in a limited and figurative sense that we can speak of material things as eternal. The hour will come when they will perish; indeed, they are perishing as we speak. The immovable rocks, the everlasting hills, are being disintegrated by sun and rain; the fixed earth rises and falls; the "changeless rivers" are cutting new courses for their waters. Only truth abides; it is only the words in which the thought of the Eternal is expressed that do not pass away. Fashions do not touch it with their finger; revolutions do not overthrow it; dispensations leave it in its integrity. We look particularly at

III THE IMMORTALITY OR THE THOUGHTS OF CHRIST.

1. We have found him a true Prophet. Events have happened according to his word.

2. We are finding hint to be the Divine Teacher of truth to-day. He has that to say to us which, in our better moods and worthier moments, we hunger and thirst to hear. In his deathless words there are still treasured for us salvation from our sin, comfort in our sorrow, sanctity in our joy, strength in our struggle, companionship in our loneliness, and peace and hope in our decline and death. Unto whom shall we go if we sit at his feet no longer?

3. We shall find him the Source of truth in the after-life. Death will not make his words less true, even of it makes some of them less applicable than they are here and now. His thoughts will never lose their hold upon our heart, never cease to affect and shape our course. The truths which Jesus spake eighteen centuries ago will beautify our life and bless our spirit in the furthest epochs and the highest spheres of the heavenly world.

(1) If we would render the truest service to ourselves, we shall do our utmost to fill our minds with the thoughts of Christ; for these will prepare us for any and every condition, here or hereafter, in which we can possibly be placed.

(2) If we would serve our race most effectively, we shall consider in how many ways we can impress his thoughts upon the minds of men and weave them into the institutions of the world. And we shall find, at any rate, these three:

(a) The testimony of a Christian life.

(b) The utterance, in public or in private, of Christian doctrine.

(c) The support of Christian institutions. C.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. παρελεύσονται. 2Pe 3:7; Isa 51:6; Psa 102:26.

οἱ δὲ λόγοι μου. ‘My sayings,’ my utterances. Isa 40:8.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ. Comp. 2Pe 3:10; Heb 1:11, Heb 1:12; Rev 20:11, 21:1; Psa 102:26; Isa 51:6. A time will come when everything material will cease to exist; but Christ’s words will ever hold good. The prophecy just uttered is specially meant; but all His sayings are included. Comp. οὐδὲ γὰρ παρῆλθεν ὐπʼ αὐτῶν λόγος (Addit. Esth. 10:5).

οὐ μὴ παρελεύσονται. So also in Mar 13:31, but in Mat 24:35 παρέλθωσιν, which A R X etc. read here and A C D X etc. read in Mk. As the subj. is the usual constr, in N.T. after οὐ μή, copyists often corrected the fut. indic. to aor. subj. Comp. Mar 14:31; Mat 15:5; Gal 4:30; Heb 10:17, etc. The Old Latin MSS. used by Jerome seem here to have read transient … transient. Our best MSS. of the Vulgate read transibunt … transient. Jerome may have forgotten to correct the second transient into transibunt: or he may have wished to mark the difference between παρελεύσονται and παρέλθωσιν. Cod. Brix. with the Book of Dimma and some other authorities has transibunt … præteribunt. See Hermathena, No 19. p. 386.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.