Commentary - Luke 21:37-38

Bird's-eye view

Here at the end of Luke 21, we have a summary statement that describes our Lord’s regular pattern during that final week in Jerusalem. After delivering the weighty prophecy of the Olivet Discourse, a prophecy concerning the utter destruction of the temple and the end of the Judaic age within a generation, Luke gives us this description of Jesus’s rhythm. It is a rhythm of confrontation and retreat, of public teaching and private communion. By day, He is in the temple, the very headquarters of the corrupt system He has come to judge and replace. By night, He is on the Mount of Olives, a place of prayer and fellowship with His Father. This is not just a logistical arrangement; it is a profound theological statement. Jesus is demonstrating that He is the true Temple, the true place of meeting with God, and the people who are hungry for righteousness are beginning to understand this, flocking to Him early in the morning.

This pattern establishes the battle lines. The conflict is between the old, dead religiosity of the temple establishment and the vibrant, life-giving authority of the Son of God. His daily presence in the temple is a pressing of His claim, an invasion of enemy territory. His nightly retreat to the Mount of Olives is where He draws His strength, demonstrating His utter dependence on His Father. The response of the people shows that the Spirit of God was moving, drawing the remnant to the true Shepherd even as the corrupt shepherds were plotting His murder. These two verses are therefore a microcosm of Christ’s entire ministry: authoritative teaching, divine communion, and the gathering of a new people.

Outline

Context In Luke

These verses serve as a concluding summary to the Olivet Discourse in Luke’s gospel. Jesus has just finished warning His disciples about the coming judgment upon Jerusalem, which would be fulfilled in A.D. 70. He has called them to be watchful and to pray that they might escape the tribulation that would befall that generation. The verses that follow this section describe the plotting of the chief priests and scribes to kill Jesus, precipitated by the treachery of Judas. So, this passage sits right on the cusp between Christ’s public teaching ministry and the beginning of His passion. It is the calm before the storm, showing us the settled routine of the Lord as He prepares to accomplish the central work of redemption. It is a portrait of faithfulness in the face of imminent suffering and betrayal.

Verse by Verse Commentary

Luke 21:37

Now during the day He was teaching in the temple, but during the night He would go out and spend it on the mount called “of Olives.”

The first clause, "Now during the day He was teaching in the temple," shows us the Lord’s unflinching boldness. The temple was the seat of the very men who were plotting His death. It was the ossified center of a covenant that had been broken by the leadership of Israel. And yet, Jesus walks right into the heart of their domain, day after day, and teaches. He is not hiding. He is pressing His claim as the rightful Lord of that house. By teaching there, He is declaring that the true authority, the true word from God, is now found in Him, not in the corrupt Sanhedrin. He is, in effect, cleansing the temple again, this time with His doctrine. The money changers were a symptom; the disease was the false teaching and hypocrisy that Christ was now dismantling with His words of life.

The second clause, "but during the night He would go out and spend it on the mount called 'of Olives,'" gives us the other side of this divine rhythm. After confronting the darkness in the city, He retreats to a place of communion with His Father. The Mount of Olives was a significant place. It was from there that the glory of the Lord departed in Ezekiel’s vision (Ezekiel 11:23), and it was from there that Jesus would ascend into Heaven (Acts 1:12). It was a place of prayer, quiet, and fellowship with His disciples. This nightly pattern was the source of His strength for the daily conflict. He was showing us that the most potent public ministry is sustained by the most consistent private devotion. The war is won in the prayer closet before it is ever fought in the public square. Jesus, in His perfect humanity, modeled for us this absolute dependence on the Father.

Luke 21:38

And all the people would get up early in the morning to come to Him in the temple to listen to Him.

This is the result of the faithful rhythm described in the previous verse. The spiritual hunger of the common people was not being met by the dry, formalistic religion of the scribes and Pharisees. But when they heard Jesus, they heard the voice of God. And so they came "early in the morning." The Greek here implies a habitual action, a constant stream of people. They were eager. They got up before their workday began to hear the words of life. This demonstrates a true spiritual revival taking place in the hearts of the remnant. While the leadership was blind, deaf, and murderous, the sheep were hearing the voice of their Shepherd.

Their desire to "listen to Him" is a rebuke to the entire religious establishment. The temple was supposed to be the place where Israel heard from God, but it had become a den of thieves. Now, the people must come to the temple courts, not to hear from the priests, but to hear from an itinerant preacher from Galilee. They were drawn to the substance, not the ceremony. They came for the man, Jesus, because He was Himself the Word made flesh. He was the true Temple, and these early morning gatherings were the true worship services. This is a picture of the gospel’s power to create a new community, a new temple, built not with stones, but with living souls drawn to Christ.

Application

The rhythm of our Lord’s life in this passage is a pattern for every believer. We are called to a life of engagement with the world and retreat with God. Our days are to be spent in our callings, in our "temples", whether that be an office, a job site, or a home, being salt and light, speaking the truth, and living out the lordship of Christ. This is our public testimony, our daily confrontation with a world that is at enmity with God.

But this public faithfulness is impossible to sustain without the nightly retreat. We must have our own Mount of Olives. We must be people who regularly and intentionally withdraw from the noise of the day to be with our Father in prayer and in His Word. This is not a legalistic requirement, but a fundamental necessity. It is where we are refueled, reminded of our mission, and reassured of our Father's love. Without this, our public engagement will become hollow, brittle, and ultimately fruitless. We will burn out or sell out.

Finally, we should be encouraged by the response of the people. Faithful, Word-centered ministry will always attract those who are truly hungry for God. Our task is not to be clever or entertaining, but to be like our Master: to teach the truth with boldness and to live a life steeped in communion with God. When we do this, God will be faithful to draw His people. He will build His church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.