Luke 21:20 - Meaning and Application

Jesus has already given them a picture of the next thirty-eight years. Now he shows what all of it would lead to at last, the destruction of Jerusalem and the complete scattering of the Jewish nation. That event was a small day of judgment, a sign and picture of Christ’s second coming, which is more fully described in Matthew 24. For those whose whole life was tied to Jerusalem, its fall would feel like the end of the world.

He tells them that they will see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, the Roman armies (Luke 21:20). When they saw that, they could know its destruction was near. The siege might last a long time, but it would end in the city’s ruin. In mercy as well as judgment, when God begins a work, he brings it to completion.

On that signal, he warns them to escape for their safety (Luke 21:21). Those in Judea should leave the country and flee to the mountains. Those inside Jerusalem should get out before the city was fully shut up and the siege works were raised. Those in the surrounding towns and villages should not go into the city, thinking it was safer there. They must leave a city and land that God had already given up to destruction. “Come out of her, my people.”

He then foretells the terrible ruin that would come on the Jewish nation (Luke 21:22). These are the days of vengeance, so often spoken of by the Old Testament prophets, when the full judgment would come on that stubborn people. Every warning would be fulfilled, and the blood of the Old Testament martyrs would at last be required. All that was written must come true in the end. After long patience that has been abused, days of vengeance will come, because a delay is not a pardon.

He shows the greatness of that destruction in several ways. First, it came from the wrath of God, and that wrath would be like a fire that burns and destroys. Second, it would be especially hard on pregnant women and nursing mothers. They would be most likely to panic and least able to escape, and it would also be bitter for them to think they had borne and cared for children only for them to fall into the hands of murderers. Third, the whole land would be filled with confusion, because people would not know what to do or how to help themselves.

He also describes how the struggle between the Jews and the Romans would end. Many would die by the sword, and it is said that more than eleven hundred thousand fell in those wars. In effect, the siege of Jerusalem was a military execution. The rest would be carried away captive, not into one nation, as when the Chaldeans conquered them, but into many nations, which would keep them from staying together or forming one people again. Jerusalem itself would be trampled down by the Gentiles. The Romans, after taking it, would lay it waste as a rebellious city that had become hateful to kings and provinces.

He next describes the great fear that would come on people everywhere. There would be frightening signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and also in this lower world, with the sea and waves roaring in terrible storms beyond the usual course of nature (Luke 21:25). The result would be worldwide confusion and dread, distress among the nations, and great uncertainty. Dr. Hammond understands “the nations” to mean the different rulers or divisions of the Jewish nation, such as Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. Men’s hearts would fail them for fear (Luke 21:26), because they would be worn out, discouraged, and almost lifeless from terror. They would be like people who live every day under sentence of death, always fearing what is coming next (Romans 8:36).

When judgment begins at the house of God, it will not stop there. It will seem as if the whole world is coming apart, and then no one can be secure. The powers of heaven will be shaken, and the pillars of the earth will tremble with them. In this way, the whole Jewish order, its policy, religion, laws, and government, would be completely dissolved through a chain of unmatched disasters and total confusion. But Jesus uses these figures also because they will be literally fulfilled at the end of time, when the heavens are rolled up and the earth and all its works are burned up (2 Peter 3:10, 2 Peter 3:12). That day was full of terror for unbelieving Jews, and the great day will be just as terrible for all unbelievers.

In this way, it is like a appearing of the Son of man. Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory (Luke 21:27). The destruction of Jerusalem was, in a special sense, an act of Christ’s judgment, since judgment has been given to the Son of man. His religion could not be fully established until the temple was destroyed and the Levitical, that is, priestly, system was ended. Even after people had been converted, both Jews and many Gentiles still clung to that old order, until it was removed by judgment. So this may rightly be called a coming of the Son of man in power and great glory, though not yet in visible form, but in the clouds, for God often comes in clouds and darkness when he executes judgment.

Some understand this as evidence of Christ’s first coming. Then the unbelieving Jews would be forced to admit, too late, that Jesus was the Messiah. Those who would not see him coming in the power of grace to save them would be made to see him coming in the power of wrath to destroy them. Those who would not let him rule over them would have him triumph over them. It was also a foretaste of his second coming. In the terrors of that day, they would see something of the Son of man coming in a cloud, and something of the terror of the last day. They would see a small likeness of it. If this is so dreadful, what will that day be like?

He encourages all faithful disciples with respect to the terrors of that day (Luke 21:28): “When these things begin to happen, when Jerusalem is under siege and everything is moving toward the destruction of the Jews, then look up. While others are looking down in fear, look toward heaven in faith, hope, and prayer. Lift up your heads with joy and confidence, because your redemption is drawing near.”

When Christ came to bring judgment on the Jews, he also came to redeem the Christians who were persecuted and oppressed by them. Then the churches had rest. When he comes to judge the world at the last day, he will redeem all who belong to him from every burden and trouble. For that reason, the very thought of that day is pleasant to all good Christians, even though it is dreadful to the wicked and ungodly. It is like that with their own death as well. When they see that day drawing near, they can lift up their heads with joy, knowing that their redemption is near, their being taken to their Redeemer.

Here is one prediction that seems to reach beyond the destruction of the Jewish nation, and it is not easy to understand: “Jerusalem shall be trampled down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

Some understand this as referring to what has already happened, as Dr. Hammond does. The Gentiles, who conquered Jerusalem, would keep control of it, and it would remain mainly Gentile until the appointed time for the Gentiles was complete. That would mean until a large part of the Gentile world had become Christian. Then, after Jerusalem was rebuilt by Emperor Hadrian, who kept Jews out of it, many Jews would turn to Christ and join with the Gentile Christians in setting up a church in Jerusalem that would flourish for a long time.

Others understand it as referring to what is still future, as Dr. Whitby does. Jerusalem will remain in Gentile hands, by one group or another, for the most part, until the time comes when the nations that are still unbelieving embrace the Christian faith. Then the kingdoms of this world will become Christ’s kingdoms, and all the Jews will be converted. Jerusalem will be inhabited by them, and neither they nor their city will be trampled down by the Gentiles any longer.