Luke 21:8
Jesus answered, "See to it that you are not deceived. For many will come in My name, claiming, 'I am He,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them.
See to it
This phrase is a call to vigilance and discernment. In the Greek, the word used is "βλέπετε" (blepete), which means to look, perceive, or be aware. Jesus is urging His followers to be watchful and attentive to the signs of the times. This vigilance is not passive but active, requiring believers to be spiritually alert and discerning in a world filled with deception.

that you are not deceived
The Greek word for deceived is "πλανηθῆτε" (planēthēte), which implies being led astray or wandering from the truth. Jesus warns against false teachings and misleading claims that could divert believers from the true path. Historically, the early church faced numerous heresies and false prophets, and this warning remains relevant today as believers must guard against doctrines that contradict the core truths of Christianity.

For many will come in My name
This phrase indicates that false prophets and teachers will claim the authority of Christ. The use of "in My name" suggests a pretense of divine endorsement. Throughout history, many have falsely claimed to represent Christ, leading people away from the true Gospel. This serves as a reminder to test all teachings against the Scriptures and the character of Christ.

claiming, 'I am He,'
The declaration "I am He" echoes the divine name revealed to Moses in Exodus 3:14, "I AM WHO I AM." In the New Testament, Jesus uses "I am" statements to affirm His divinity. False messiahs will mimic this claim, attempting to usurp Christ's unique position. Believers are called to recognize the true Christ by His works, words, and fulfillment of prophecy.

and, 'The time is near.'
This phrase refers to the eschatological expectation of the end times. The Greek word "καιρός" (kairos) denotes a specific, appointed time. False teachers may exploit the anticipation of Christ's return to manipulate and control. Historically, predictions of the end times have often led to fear and confusion. Jesus advises His followers to remain steadfast and not be swayed by sensational claims.

Do not follow them
This is a direct command to reject false leaders and teachings. The Greek word "ἀκολουθεῖτε" (akoloutheite) means to follow or accompany. Jesus emphasizes the importance of discernment and loyalty to His teachings. In a world filled with spiritual counterfeits, believers must cling to the truth of the Gospel and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus
The central figure in this passage, providing a warning to His disciples about future deception.

2. Disciples
The immediate audience of Jesus' warning, representing all believers who are to heed His words.

3. False Messiahs
Individuals who will falsely claim to be Christ or to have divine authority, leading people astray.

4. End Times
The period leading up to the return of Christ, characterized by deception and false teachings.
Teaching Points
Be Vigilant Against Deception
Jesus' warning is a call to be spiritually alert and discerning, recognizing that deception can come from those who appear authoritative.

Know the True Christ
Understanding the true nature and teachings of Jesus is crucial to identifying false claims and teachings.

Test All Teachings
Believers are encouraged to test all teachings against Scripture, ensuring they align with the truth of God's Word.

Stay Grounded in Scripture
Regular study and meditation on the Bible help believers remain rooted in truth and less susceptible to deception.

Do Not Follow the Crowd
Popular opinion or movements claiming divine authority should be carefully evaluated against biblical truth.
Bible Study Questions
1. What specific characteristics of false messiahs does Jesus warn about in Luke 21:8, and how can we recognize them today?

2. How does Jesus' warning in Luke 21:8 relate to the broader theme of deception in the end times found in other parts of the New Testament?

3. In what ways can believers prepare themselves to discern truth from deception, as advised in 1 John 4:1?

4. How can understanding the true nature of Christ help us avoid being led astray by false teachings?

5. What practical steps can we take to ensure we are not following false teachings or movements, especially in a world filled with conflicting messages?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Matthew 24:4-5
Jesus gives a similar warning about false Christs and deception, emphasizing the need for vigilance.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
Paul warns about the coming of the man of lawlessness, who will deceive many, paralleling Jesus' warning.

1 John 4:1
John advises believers to test the spirits to discern truth from deception, reinforcing the need for spiritual discernment.

Revelation 13:11-14
Describes the false prophet who performs signs to deceive, illustrating the power of deception in the end times.
Preliminaries of the Second AdventR.M. Edgar Luke 21:5-38
A Martyr's Beautiful ReplyLuke 21:7-28
A Scoffer SilencedLuke 21:7-28
Christ's Promise the Support of His Despised MinistersR. South, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
Encouragement from Christ's Promised AdventA. Farindon, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
Experience of an EarthquakeFrom "Bible Echoes,"Luke 21:7-28
Frequency of EarthquakesDr. Talmage.Luke 21:7-28
How to Use LifeNewman Smyth, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
Judaism OverthrownD. C. Hughes, M. A.Luke 21:7-28
Making for Ourselves SoulsNewman Smyth, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
On PatienceH. Blair, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
On PatienceT. Secker.Luke 21:7-28
PatienceDean Kitchin.Luke 21:7-28
Patience, the Precious Little HerbLuke 21:7-28
Patient Self-Possession in Times of TrialW. Binnie, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
Restoration of the JewsLuke 21:7-28
Second Sunday in AdventJ. A. Seiss, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
Self-WinningNewman Smyth, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
Signs of Nearing RedemptionT. Guthrie, D. D.Luke 21:7-28
Signs of the TimesPresident Davies, M. A.Luke 21:7-28
Terror Produced by a Meteoric ShowerLuke 21:7-28
The Desolation of Jerusalem Confirms Our Faith in God's PromisesLuke 21:7-28
The EndAmerican Sunday School WorldLuke 21:7-28
The Soul Won by PatienceDean Vaughan.Luke 21:7-28
The Testimony of LifeJ. B. Brown, B. A.Luke 21:7-28
People
Jesus, Disciples
Places
Jerusalem, Judea, Olivet
Topics
Assuming, Astray, Care, Christ, Claiming, Close, Deceived, Draweth, Drawn, Follow, Heed, Led, Misled, Nigh, Professing, Replied, Saying, Tricked, Watch
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 21:8

     4971   seasons, of life
     5920   pretence
     5973   unreliability
     8237   doctrine, false
     8402   claims
     8746   false Christs
     8766   heresies
     9140   last days

Luke 21:7-27

     1450   signs, kinds of

Luke 21:7-31

     9170   signs of times

Luke 21:8-12

     2565   Christ, second coming

Library
June 3 Morning
Watch, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.--MATT. 25:13. Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Sunday after Ascension Day
Text: First Peter 4, 7-11.[1] 7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer: 8 above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves: for love covereth a multitude of sins: 9 using hospitality one to another without murmuring: 10 according as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God; 11 if any man speaketh, speaking as it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth, ministering
Martin Luther—Epistle Sermons, Vol. II

When Shall These Things Be?
'And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21. Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22. For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may he fulfilled. 23. But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land,
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Nearness of the Kingdom
THE NEARNESS OF THE KINGDOM St Luke xxi. 31.--"Know that the Kingdom of God is near." Our Lord saith that the Kingdom of God is near us. Yea, the Kingdom of God is within us as St Paul saith "our salvation is nearer than when we believed." Now we should know in what manner the Kingdom of God is near us. Therefore let us pay diligent attention to the meaning of the words. If I were a king, and did not know it, I should not really be a king. But, if I were fully convinced that I was a king, and all
Johannes Eckhart—Meister Eckhart's Sermons

St. Luke xxi. 36
Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man. This might be a text for a history of the Christian Church, from its foundation to this hour, or to the latest hour of the world's existence. We might observe how it Lad fulfilled its Lord's command; with what steadiness it had gone forward on its course, with the constant hope of meeting Him once again in glory. We might see how it had escaped
Thomas Arnold—The Christian Life

Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent
(From the Gospel for the day) How that God is very near to us, and how we must seek and find the Kingdom of God within us, without respect to time and place. [41] Luke xxi. 31.--"Know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." OUR Lord says here that the kingdom of God is nigh to us. Yea, the kingdom of God is in us; and St. Paul says, that now is our salvation nearer to us than we believe. Now ye ought to know, first, how the kingdom of God is nigh at hand; secondly, when the kingdom of God is
Susannah Winkworth—The History and Life of the Reverend Doctor John Tauler

Evil Habits and Injurious Indulgences.
The Word of the Lord may not denominate in plain terms every particular sin and evil practise man may engage in; however there are general terms and principles of righteousness that prohibit and condemn every possible sinful act man may perform. The words card-parties, picnics, fairs, shows and theaters are not found in the writings of the apostles; however indulgence in these is "revelry," "living in pleasure," "rioting" and worldliness, of which the Scriptures say the participants do not love God
Charles Ebert Orr—The Gospel Day

Remaining Books of the Old Testament.
1. The divine authority of the Pentateuch having been established, it is not necessary to dwell at length on the historical books which follow. The events which they record are a natural and necessary sequel to the establishment of the theocracy, as given in the five books of Moses. The Pentateuch is occupied mainly with the founding of the theocracy; the following historical books describe the settlement of the Israelitish nation under this theocracy in the promised land, and its practical operation
E. P. Barrows—Companion to the Bible

Submission.
"In your patience possess ye your souls."--Luke 21:19 "Stille, mein Wille! dein Jesu hilft siegen." [40]Unbekanntes. [[41]Catherina Schlegel] transl., Jane Borthwick, 1855 Be still, my soul!--the Lord is on thy side; Bear patiently the cross of grief and pain; Leave to thy God to order and provide-- In every change He faithful will remain. Be still, my soul!--thy best, thy Heavenly Friend Through thorny ways leads to a joyful end. Be still, my soul!--thy God doth undertake To guide the future,
Jane Borthwick—Hymns from the Land of Luther

Epistle Lxiii. To Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage.
To Dominicus, Bishop of Carthage. Gregory to Dominicus, &c. We have already learnt what great pestilence has invaded the African parts; and, inasmuch as neither is Italy free from such affliction, doubled are the groans of our sorrows. But amid these evils and other innumerable calamities our heart, dearest brother, would fail from desperate distress, had not the Lord's voice fortified our weakness beforehand. For long ago to the faithful the trumpet of the Gospel lesson sounded, warning them that
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Of Meditating on the Future Life.
1. The design of God in afflicting his people. 1. To accustom us to despise the present life. Our infatuated love of it. Afflictions employed as the cure. 2. To lead us to aspire to heaven. 2. Excessive love of the present life prevents us from duly aspiring to the other. Hence the disadvantages of prosperity. Blindness of the human judgment. Our philosophizing on the vanity of life only of momentary influence. The necessity of the cross. 3. The present life an evidence of the divine favour to his
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Lessons from Olivet
Our last chapter was on the Transfiguration. The next will be on The Last Supper. Between these two events in our Saviour's life, how many interesting incidents took place! How many important sayings that fell from his gracious lips during this period are written for our instruction by the four evangelists! There is, for instance, the beautiful lesson about what it is on which the value of our gifts depend. He taught this lesson when he saw the rich casting their gifts into the treasury. Among them
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

At Night, Jesus Abode on the Mount of Olives
And in the day time he was teaching in the temple; and at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called the mount of Olives.--St. Luke xxi: 37. * * * * * NOTE BY THE ARTIST As we ascend towards sunset the slopes of Olivet, and pause to gaze on the scenes beneath, the panorama of the city presented to view is in its leading features essentially similar to that upon which the eyes of Jesus rested, when "at night he went out, and abode in the mount that is called
Richard Newton—The Life of Jesus Christ for the Young

The Present Distress of Nations.
"And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them with fear, and for looking after those things which are coming to pass on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken" (Luke 21:25, 26). As we have already remarked more than once, prophecy invariably has a double fulfillment at least, and so we believe it is with the one just quoted. Directly, it has reference
Arthur W. Pink—The Redeemer's Return

That the Ruler Relax not his Care for the Things that are Within in his Occupation among the Things that are Without, nor Neglect to Provide
The ruler should not relax his care for the things that are within in his occupation among the things that are without, nor neglect to provide for the things that are without in his solicitude for the things that are within; lest either, given up to the things that are without, he fall away from his inmost concerns, or, occupied only with the things that are within bestow not on his neighbours outside himself what he owes them. For it is often the case that some, as if forgetting that they have
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

July 18 Evening
She hath done what she could.--MARK 14:8. This poor widow hath cast in more than they all.--Whosoever shall give you a cup of water to drink in my name, because ye belong to Christ, verily I say unto you, he shall not lose his reward.--If there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not. Let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.--If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, and one of you
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

Two Forms of one Saying
'He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.' --Matt. xxiv. 13, R.V. 'In your patience possess ye your souls.'--Luke xxi. 19. These two sayings, different as they sound in our Version, are probably divergent representations of one original. The reasons for so supposing are manifold and obvious on a little consideration. In the first place, the two sayings occur in the Evangelists' reports of the same prophecy and at the same point therein. In the second place, the verbal resemblance is
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Great Assize
[i.e., The Last Judgment -- GL] [21] "We shall all stand before the judgement-seat of Christ." Rom. 14:10. 1. How many circumstances concur to raise the awfulness of the present solemnity! -- The general concourse of people of every age, sex, rank, and condition of life, willingly or unwillingly gathered together, not only from the neighboring, but from distant, parts; criminals, speedily to be brought forth and having no way to escape; officers, waiting in their various posts, to execute the orders
John Wesley—Sermons on Several Occasions

Observing the Offerings and Widow's Mites.
(in the Temple. Tuesday, April 4, a.d. 30.) ^B Mark XII. 41-44; ^C Luke XXI. 1-4. ^b 41 And he sat down over against the treasury [It is said that in the court of the women there were cloisters or porticos, and under the shelter of these were placed thirteen chests with trumpet-shaped mouths into which offerings might be dropped. The money cast in was for the benefit of the Temple. An inscription on each chest showed to which one of the thirteen special items of cost or expenditure the contents would
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

The Epistle to the Colossians.
The Churches in Phrygia. The cities of Colossae, Laodicea, and Hierapolis are mentioned together as seats of Christian churches in the closing chapter of Colossians, and the Epistle may be considered as being addressed to all, for the apostle directs that it be read also in the churches of the Laodiceans (Col. 4:13-16). They were situated within a few miles of each other in the valley of the Lycus (a tributary of the Maeander) in Phrygia on the borders of Lydia, and belonged, under the Roman rule,
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

The Four Gospels.
General Character and Aim of the Gospels. Christianity is a cheerful religion and brings joy and peace from heaven to earth. The New Testament opens with the gospel, that is with the authentic record of the history of all histories, the glad tidings of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. [871] The four canonical Gospels are only variations of the same theme, a fourfold representation of one and the same gospel, animated by the same spirit. [872] They are not full
Philip Schaff—History of the Christian Church, Volume I

Elucidations.
I. (Unless patience sit by his side, cap. i. p. 707.) Let me quote words which, many years ago, struck me forcibly, and which I trust, have been blest to my soul; for which reason, I must be allowed, here, to thank their author, the learned and fearless Dean Burgon, of Chichester. In his invaluable Commentary on the Gospel, which while it abounds in the fruits of a varied erudition, aims only to be practically useful, this pious scholar remarks: "To Faith must be added Patience, the patient waiting
Tertullian—Of Patience

Look we Then, Beloved, what Hardships in Labors and Sorrows Men Endure...
3. Look we then, beloved, what hardships in labors and sorrows men endure, for things which they viciously love, and by how much they think to be made by them more happy, by so much more unhappily covet. How much for false riches, how much for vain honors, how much for affections of games and shows, is of exceeding peril and trouble most patiently borne! We see men hankering after money, glory, lasciviousness, how, that they may arrive at their desires, and having gotten not lose them, they endure
St. Augustine—On Patience

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