Luke 21:25-38
From v. 25 onwards the signs announced concern events still to come. These will be terrible times. The most stable state of affairs will be overturned and so too the souls of men. Fear is already spreading throughout the world. Men think to escape by digging shelters (Revelation 6:15 . .). But for the faithful of those times, deliverance (called their redemption in v. 28) will come from on high. This will be the Lord’s return in glory; for us, believers of today, what we are waiting for is His return on the cloud – a sure promise! Indeed so, for heaven and earth will pass away, but His words will not pass away (v. 33).
Generally people do not consider gluttony a terrible sin. Yet it is associated with drunkenness because it contributes to the weighing down of the heart (v. 34). It encourages selfishness – through it we forget the needs which are all around us (cf. Luke 16:19 . . .). The joy of waiting for the Lord disappears in a heart thus weighed down (end of v. 34); the cares of life invade it. For that reason the exhortations to be sober and to watch are often put together in the epistles (1 Thessalonians 5:6-7; 1 Peter 1:13; 1 Peter 4:7; 1 Peter 5:8); here the Lord advises us, "take heed to yourselves . . . watch ye therefore, and pray always" (vv. 34, 36).