30th Mar 26 | 13:54
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Luke 21 34-38 WATCH AND PRAY VI 05 Luke 21 36-37 The significance of the Mount of Olives
📖 Luke 21:34-38
*FRIEND OF GOD*
Fri25Jun2021 - *The significance of the Mount of Olives* - _Luke 21:34-38_ - WATCH AND PRAY VI (05) – Bible reading: _Matthew 26:38-40_
_Luke 21:36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man."_
With this verse, the Lord concludes His message to His disciples regarding His return.
_Luke 21:37-38 And in the daytime He was teaching in the temple, but at night He went out and stayed on *the mountain called Olivet*. (38) Then early in the morning all the people came to Him in the temple to hear Him._
We see here the mention of the Mount of Olives or Olivet. This place carries much meaning and significance for us.
The Lord has made known to us as to what is to happen in the end times. Out of His great love and mercy, He has revealed these to us, His disciples. If we have been made to know these things, we become accountable and responsible to follow His instruction to watch and pray, be prepared for His return and to stand before Him.
The Mount of Olives was the place from where the Lord made known the details of His return, to His disciples. We must note here that the teaching related to His return was given privately to His disciples. As His disciples, we are responsible to watch and pray.
_Matthew 24:3 Now *as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying*, "Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?"_
Mark goes further to say that the teaching of the Lord’s return was given to the inner circle of disciples.
_Mark 13:3-4 Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked Him privately, (4) “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things will be fulfilled?"_
The Mount of Olives was a very special place in the heart of our Lord. As he entered Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives, He wept over the city of Jerusalem.
_Luke 19:37-38 Then, *as He was now drawing near the descent of the Mount of Olives*, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works they had seen, (38) saying: " 'BLESSED IS THE KING WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!' Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"_
_Luke 19:41-44 Now as He drew near, *He saw the city and wept over it*, (42) saying, "If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. (43) For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, (44) and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation."_
This is the pain of God’s heart for our world today. The Lord longs for people to return to Him. As we look at our world, we see no sign of remorse or repentance to return to our Maker, instead, people are more concerned about how to overcome the pandemic, not realizing that the pandemic is an outcome of our rejection of God.
*The Mount of Olives represents the place of God’s sorrow*. The place where the Lord agonised over our world. The Mount of Olives must have the same significance for us too.
_Matthew 26:30 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives._
The garden of Gethsemane was the place of agony for our Lord. This garden is located at the base of the Mount of Olives, on a slope directly across the Kidron Valley from Jerusalem.
_Matthew 26:38-40 Then He said to them, "*My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me*." (39) He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." (40) Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "*What! Could you not watch with Me one hour*?_
The Mount of Olives was also the place from which Jesus ascended to heaven.
_Acts 1:9-12 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, *He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight*. (10) And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, (11) who also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? *This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven*." (12) Then *they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet*, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey._
The Lord will return and His feet will be placed on the Mount of Olives.
_Zechariah 14:3-4 Then the LORD will go forth And fight against those nations, As He fights in the day of battle. (4) And *in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives*, Which faces Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall be split in two, From east to west, Making a very large valley; Half of the mountain shall move toward the north And half of it toward the south._
The Mount of Olives represents the heart of God that agonises over a world that is rejecting Him. We too, as His disciples, *need to carry on our hearts the message of the Mount of Olives*, which is to agonise with our Lord over a world that is rejecting Him.
_Ezekiel 9:4 and the LORD said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it."_
*Thought to ponder*
```The Mount of Olives calls us to watch and pray.```