Luke 21:20

Commotions - Seditions and civil dissensions, with which no people were more agitated than the Jews. Verse 11 Fearful sights - What these were the reader will find in detail on Mat 24:7 (note). Verse 12 Synagogues - Or, assemblies, etc. See these all explained on Mar 13:9 (note). Verse 13 It shall turn to you for a testimony - That is, it shall turn out on your part for a testimony to them (your persecutors) that you are thoroughly persuaded of the truth of what you teach, and that you are no impostors. Verse 14 Settle it therefore, etc. - See on Mat 10:19 (note). Verse 15 I will give you a mouth and wisdom - Στομα, a mouth, must appear plain to every person to be used here for a ready utterance, or eloquence in speaking. They shall have an abundance of wisdom to know what to say; and they shall have an irresistible eloquence to say what they ought. Verse 18 But there shall not a hair of your head perish - A proverbial expression for, Ye shall not suffer any essential injury. Every genuine Christian shall escape when this desolation comes upon the Jewish state. Verse 19 In your patience - Rather, your perseverance, your faithful continuance in my word and doctrine. Ye will preserve your souls. Ye shall escape the Roman sword, and not one of you shall perish in the destruction of Jerusalem. Instead of κτησασθε, possess, or preserve ye, I read κτησεσθε, ye shall preserve. This reading is supported by AB-B, five others; both the Syriac, all the Arabic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, all the Itala except two, Origen, Macarius, and Tertullian. Verse 22 These be the days of vengeance - See on Mat 24:21 (note). Verse 24 They shall fall by the edge of the sword - Those who perished in the siege are reckoned to be not less than eleven hundred thousand. See Mat 24:22. And shall be led away captive - To the number of ninety-seven thousand. See Josephus, War, b. vi. c. ix. s. 2, 3, and on Mat 24:31 (note). Trodden down of the Gentiles - Judea was so completely subjugated that the very land itself was sold by Vespasian; the Gentiles possessing it, while the Jews were either nearly all killed or led away into captivity. Of the Gentiles be fulfilled - Till the different nations of the earth, to whom God shall have given the dominion over this land, have accomplished all that which the Lord hath appointed them to do; and till the time of their conversion to God take place. But when shall this be? We know not. The nations are still treading down Jerusalem, and the end is known only to the Lord. See the note on Mat 24:31. Verse 25 The sea and the waves roaring - Figuratively pointing out the immense Roman armies by which Judea was to be overrun and destroyed. Verse 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear - Or, Men fainting away through fear, (Αποψυχοντων), being ready to die. Coming on the earth - Or, Coming upon this land, οικουμενῃ. See this translation of the word vindicated in the note on Luk 2:1 (note). Verse 29 He spake to them a parable - Illustrated all these predicted facts by the simile of a fig tree. See this explained on Mat 24:32 (note). Verse 31 The kingdom of God is nigh at hand - After the destruction of the Jewish state, the doctrine of Christ crucified shall be preached every where, and every where prevail. Verse 32 This generation - This race of men; but see on Mat 24:34 (note), and Mar 13:30 (note). Verse 34 Take heed to yourselves - See our Lord's parable, relative to this matter, explained, Mar 13:34 (note). Be overcharged - Literally, be made heavy, as is generally the case with those who have eaten or drank too much. Take heed that ye be not rendered secure by an improper use of lawful things: do not make this earth your portion: expect its dissolution, and prepare to meet your God. Verse 35 The face of the whole earth - Or, of this whole land. The land of Judea, on which these heavy judgments were to fall. See Luk 21:25; see also Luk 2:1. Verse 36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always - Perhaps we should connect ες παντι καιρῳ, continually, with αγρυπνειτε, watch, as it appears to be the most natural order. Indeed the word continually belongs equally to both watch and pray; and no man is safe, at any time, who does not attend to this advice as literally as possible. That shall come to pass - That is, the tribulations which are on their way to overwhelm and destroy the Jewish people. These are sufficiently stated in the preceding verses. To stand before the Son of man - To be acquitted, and to be condemned, are expressed, in Rom 14:4, by standing and falling. Those who were faithful to the grace they had received were not only not destroyed in the destruction of Jerusalem, but became heralds of the grace and mercy of God to the nations. Thus they were counted worthy to stand before the Son of man - to minister salvation in his name. Verse 37 And in the day time - Or, every day - τας ἡμερας. This probably relates to the four last days of his life already mentioned. Abode in the mount - He taught all day in the temple, and withdrew every evening, and lodged in Bethany; a town at the foot, or on the declivity of the mount of Olives. See the note on Mat 21:17. Verse 38 The people came early - He returned early from the mount of Olives, and the people came early in the morning to the temple to hear his teaching. For practical observations on the awful subject of this chapter, see Matthew 24 at the end. Introduction The chief priests and scribes plot our Lord's destruction, Luk 22:1, Luk 22:2. Judas, at the instigation of the devil, betrays him, Luk 22:3-6. He eats his last supper with his disciples, Luk 22:7-18. Institutes the eucharist, Luk 22:19, Luk 22:20. Announces one of his disciples as the traitor, Luk 22:21-23: The contention which should be greatest, Luk 22:24-30. Warns Peter against Satan's devices, Luk 22:31, Luk 22:32. Peter's resolution, Luk 22:33. His denial foretold, Luk 22:34. Tells his disciples to make prudent provision for their own support, Luk 22:35-37. The two swords, Luk 22:38. He goes to the Mount of Olives, and has his agony in the garden, Luk 22:39-46. Judas comes with a mob, Luk 22:47, Luk 22:48. Peter cuts off the ear of the high priest's servant, which Christ heals by a touch, Luk 22:49-51. He addresses the chief priests and captains of the temple, Luk 22:52, Luk 22:53. They lead him to the high priest's house, and Peter follows and denies his Master, Luk 22:54-60. Christ looks upon him, he is stung with remorse, and weeps bitterly, Luk 22:61, Luk 22:62. Jesus is mocked, and variously insulted, Luk 22:63-65. The next morning he is questioned before the council, Luk 22:66, Luk 22:67. He acknowledges himself to be the Son of God, Luk 22:68-70. They condemn him, Luk 22:71. Verse 1 The feast of unleavened bread, etc. - See this largely explained, Exo 23:14 (note); Leviticus 23:2-40 (note), and on Mat 26:2 (note). Verse 2 They feared the people - The great mass of the people seem to have been convinced that Christ was at least a prophet sent from God; and it is likely they kept steady in their attachment to him. The multitude, who are represented as clamouring for his blood at the crucifixion, appear to have been a mere mob, formed out of the creatures of the chief priests and Pharisees. Verse 3 Then entered Satan into Judas - The devil filled the heart of Judas with avarice; and that infamous passion led him to commit the crime here specified. This at once accounts for the whole of this most unprincipled and unnatural transaction. None but a devil, or he who is possessed by one, could have been guilty of it: - let the living lay this to heart. A minister of the Gospel, who is a lover of money, is constantly betraying the interests of Christ. He cannot serve two masters; and while his heart is possessed with the love of self, the love of God and zeal for perishing souls cannot dwell in him. What Satan could not do by the envy and malice of the high priests and Pharisees, he effects by Judas, a false and fallen minister of the Gospel of God. None are so dangerous to the interests of Christianity as persons of this stamp. Verse 4 And captains - Among the priests who were in waiting at the temple, some were appointed φυλακες, for a guard to the temple; and over these were Ϛρατηγοι commanding officers: both sorts are mentioned by Josephus, War, b. vi. c. 5. s. 3. Bp. Pearce, See another sense of captains, in the note on Mat 27:65 (note). Dr. Lightfoot supposes these to have been the captains over the watches; for in three places the priests kept watch and ward in the temple, viz. in

Judgments Predicted. 20 And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21 Then let them which are in Judæa flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22 For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23 But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24 And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; 26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. 27 And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. Having given them an idea of the times for about thirty-eight years next ensuing, he here comes to show them what all those things would issue in at last, namely, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the utter dispersion of the Jewish nation, which would be a little day of judgment, a type and figure of Christ's second coming, which was not so fully spoken of here as in the parallel place ( Matt. xxiv. ), yet glanced at; for the destruction of Jerusalem would be as it were the destruction of the world to those whose hearts were bound up in it. I. He tells them that they should see Jerusalem besieged, compassed with armies ( v. 20 ), the Roman armies; and, when they saw this, they might conclude that its desolation was nigh, for in this the siege would infallibly end, though it might be a long siege. Note, As in mercy, so in judgment, when God begins, he will make an end. II. He warns them, upon this signal given, to shift for their own safety ( v. 21 ): " Then let them that are in Judea quit the country and flee to the mountains; let them that are in the midst of it " (Of Jerusalem) " depart out, before the city be closely shut up, and" (as we say now) "before the trenches be opened; and let not them that are in the countries and villages about enter into the city, thinking to be safe there. Do you abandon a city and country which you see God has abandoned and given up to ruin. Come out of her, my people. " III. He foretels the terrible havoc that should be made of the Jewish nation ( v. 22 ): Those are the days of vengeance so often spoken of by the Old-Testament prophets, which would complete the ruin of that provoking people. All their predictions must now be fulfilled, and the blood of all the Old-Testament martyrs must now be required. All things that are written must be fulfilled at length. After days of patience long abused, there will come days of vengeance; for reprieves are not pardons. The greatness of that destruction is set forth, 1. By the inflicting cause of it. It is wrath upon this people, the wrath of God, that will kindle this devouring consuming fire. 2. By the particular terror it would be to women with child, and poor mothers that are nurses. Woe to them, not only because they are most subject to frights, and least able to shift for their own safety, but because it will be a very great torment to them to think of having borne and nursed children for the murderers. 3. By the general confusion that should be all the nation over. There shall be great distress in the land, for men will not know what course to take, nor how to help themselves. IV. He describes the issue of the struggles between the Jews and the Romans, and what they will come to at last; in short, 1. Multitudes of them shall fall by the edge of the sword. It is computed that in those wars of the Jews there fell by the sword above eleven hundred thousand. And the siege of Jerusalem was, in effect, a military execution. 2. The rest shall be led away captive; not into one nations, as when they were conquered by the Chaldeans, which gave them an opportunity of keeping together, but into all nations, which made it impossible for them to correspond with each other, much less to incorporate. 3. Jerusalem itself was trodden down of the Gentiles. The Romans, when they had made themselves masters of it, laid it quite waste, as a rebellious and bad city, hurtful to kings and provinces, and therefore hateful to them. V. He describes the great frights that people should generally be in. Many frightful sights shall be in the sun, moon, and stars, prodigies in the heavens, and here in this lower world, the sea and the waves roaring, with terrible storms and tempests, such as had not been known, and above the ordinary working of natural causes. The effect of this shall be universal confusion and consternation upon the earth, distress of nations with perplexity, v. 25 . Dr. Hammond understands by the nations the several governments or tetrarchies of the Jewish nation, Judea, Samaria, and Galilee; these shall be brought to the last extremity. Men's hearts shall fail them for fear ( v. 26 ), apopsychonton anthropon — men being quite exanimated, dispirited, unsouled, dying away for fear. Thus those are killed all the day long by whom Christ's apostles were so ( Rom. viii. 36 ), that is, they are all the day long in fear of being killed; sinking under that which lies upon them, and yet still trembling for fear of worse, and looking after those things which are coming upon the world. When judgment begins at the house of God, it will not end there; it shall be as if all the world were falling in pieces; and where can any be secure then? The powers of heaven shall be shaken, and then the pillars of the earth cannot but tremble. Thus shall the present Jewish policy, religion, laws, and government, be all entirely dissolved by a series of unparalleled calamities, attended with the utmost confusion. So Dr. Clarke. But our Saviour makes use of these figurative expressions because at the end of time they shall be literally accomplished, when the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all their powers not only shaken, but broken, and the earth and all the works that are therein shall be burnt up, 2 Pet. iii. 10 , 12 . As that day was all terror and destruction to the unbelieving Jews, so the great day will be to all unbelievers. VI. He makes this to be a kind of appearing of the Son of man: Then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory, v. 27 . The destruction of Jerusalem was in a particular manner an act of Christ's judgment, the judgment committed to the Son of man; his religion could never be thoroughly established but by the destruction of the temple, and the abolishing of the Levitical priesthood and economy, after which even the converted Jews, and many of the Gentiles too, were still hankering, till they were destroyed; so that it might justly be looked upon as a coming of the Son of man, in power and great glory, yet not visibly, but in the clouds; for in executing such judgments as these clouds and darkness are round about him. Now this was, 1. An evidence of the first coming of the Messiah; so some understand it. Then the unbelieving Jews shall be confined, when it is too late, that Jesus was the Messiah; those that would not see him coming in the power of his grace to save them shall be made to see him coming in the power of his wrath to destroy them; those that would not have him to reign over them shall have him to triumph over them. 2. It was an earnest of his second coming. Then in the terrors of that day they shall see the Son of man coming in a cloud, and all the terrors of the last day. They shall see a specimen of it, a faint resemblance of it. If this be so terrible, what will that be? VII. He encourages all the faithful disciples in reference to the terrors of that day ( v. 28 ): " When these things begin to come to pass, when Jerusalem is besieged, and every thing is concurring to the destruction of the Jews, then do you look up, when others are looking down, look heavenward, in faith, hope, and prayer, and lift up your heads with cheerfulness and confidence, for your redemption draws night. " 1. When Christ came to destroy the Jews, he came to redeem the Christians that were persecuted and oppressed by them; then had the churches rest. 2. When he comes to judge the world at the last day, he will redeem all that are his, from all their grievances. And the foresight of that day is as pleasant to all good Christians as it is terrible to the wicked and ungodly. Their death itself is so; when they see that day approaching, they can lift up their heads with joy, knowing that their redemption draws nigh, their removal to their Redeemer. VIII. Here is one word of prediction that looks further than the destruction of the Jewish nation, which is not easily understood; we have it in v. 24 : Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 1. Some understand it of what is past; so Dr. Hammond. The Gentiles, who have conquered Jerusalem, shall keep possession of it, and it shall be purely Gentile, till the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, till a great part of the Gentile world shall have become Christian, and then after Jerusalem shall have been rebuilt by Adrian the emperor, with an exclusion of all the Jews from it, many of the Jews shall turn Christians, shall join with the Gentile Christians, to set up a church in Jerusalem, which shall flourish there for a long time. 2. Others understand it of what is yet to come; so Dr. Whitby. Jerusalem shall be possessed by the Gentiles, of one sort or other, for the most part, till the time come when the nations that yet remain infidels shall embrace the Christian faith, when the kingdoms of this world shall become Christ's kingdoms, and then all the Jews shall be converted. Jerusalem shall be inhabited by them, and neither they nor their city any longer trodden down by the Gentiles.