Lucas 21

Lucas 21

Pentecost - In Matthew 23 the Lord has announced judgment on the Pharisees and blindness on the nation. Now in chapter 24 He announces the overthrow of Jerusalem (Matt. 24:1-2). In the minds of the disciples they had eschatological significance, for their fulfillment was associated with Messiah’s coming and the terminus of the age. They asked: “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world [age]?” (Matt. 24:3). Probably the promise of His return (Matt. 23:39) had given the disciples this eschatological association. The answer to the first question is not recorded by Matthew, but is given in Luke 21:20-24. This portion of the discourse had to do with the destruction of Jerusalem under Titus in 70 A.D. (Things to Come) COMMENTARIES FAVORING LUKE 21:20-24 AS YET FUTURE Commentaries that interpret Luke 21:20-24 as describing a yet future fulfillment: John MacArthur's commentary on Luke and his study Bible (Sermon on Lk 21:20-24), Moody Bible Commentary (Kevin Zuber), Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Commentary, Expositor's Bible Commentary (Walter Liefeld) (Actually it is a "hybrid" = "It is certainly possible to assume that Jesus' predictions incorporated two phases: [1] the events of AD 70 involving the Temple and [2] those in the distant future"). Below are some representative comments... Kevin Zuber in the Moody Bible Commentary - The tribulation will be a time of unprecedented persecution and hardship for the Jewish people and nation of Israel (Lk 21:23b; cf. Jer 30:7). The height of persecution will come with a siege of Jerusalem (Lk 21:20a; Zech 12:1-9). The description here and in parallel texts on this point in prophetic history (cf. Mt 24:4-31) make it unlikely that this is a description of the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70. (Ed: See comparison of "parallel texts" in Luke 21 and Matthew 24 in chart below). John MacArthur's commentary on Luke 21:20-24 - In a.d. 70, forty years after our Lord spoke these words, His prediction that Jerusalem would suffer desolation was fulfilled. The Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, sacked the city, burned the temple, and slaughtered thousands of people. But no previous assault, including the destruction of Jerusalem in a.d. 70, is what Jesus referred to here. (ED: NOTICE THAT THIS COMMENT IS AT ODDS WITH THE STATEMENT HE HAD JUST MADE "His prediction that Jerusalem would suffer desolation was fulfilled.") It is true that during that Roman siege there were those in Judea who did flee to the nearby mountains, and others who were in the midst of the city did manage to leave before the city was surrounded, while those who were in the country naturally did not enter the city once that massacre and destruction had begun. (MacArthur New Testament Commentary – Luke) Comment: It is interesting that