Expository Thoughts On Luke – Luke 21:20-24 - John Charles Ryle
THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM
The subject of the verses before us is the taking of Jerusalem by the Romans. It was fit and right that this great event, which wound up the Old Testament dispensation, should be specially described by our Lord’s mouth. It was fitting that the last days of that holy city, which had been the seat of God’s presence for so many centuries, should receive a special notice in the greatest prophecy which was ever delivered to the Church.
We should mark in this passage, our Lord Jesus Christ’s perfect knowledge. He gives us a fearful picture of the miseries which were coming on Jerusalem. Forty years before the armies of Titus encompassed the city, the dreadful circumstances which would attend the siege are minutely described. The distress of weak and helpless women–the slaughter of myriads of Jews–the final scattering of Israel in captivity among all nations–the treading down of the holy city by the Gentiles for eighteen hundred years, are things which our Lord narrates with as much particularity as if He saw them with His own eyes.
Foreknowledge like this is a special attribute of God. Of ourselves we “know not what a day may bring forth.” (Prov. 27:1.) To say what will happen to any city or kingdom in forty years from the present time, is far beyond the power of man. The words in Isaiah are very solemn–“I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done.” (Isa. 46:10.) He who could speak with authority of things to come, as our Lord did in this place, must have been very God as well as very man.
The true Christian should continually keep in mind this perfect knowledge of Christ. Past things, present things, and things to come, are all naked and open to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. The recollection of the sins of youth may well make us humble. The sense of present weakness may make us anxious. The fear of trials yet to come may make our hearts faint. But it is a strong consolation to think that Christ knows all. For past, present, and future things we may safely trust Him. Nothing can ever happen to us that Christ has not known long ago.
We should mark, secondly, in this passage, our Lord’s words about flight in time of danger. He says respecting the days preceding the siege of Jerusalem, “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let those who are in the midst of it depart out; and let not those who are in the countries enter thereunto.”
The lesson of these words is very instructive. They teach us plainly that there is nothing cowardly or unworthy of a Christian in endeavoring to escape from danger. There is nothing unbecoming our high vocation in a diligent use of means in order to secure our safety. To meet death patiently and courageously, if it comes on us in the path of God’s providence, is a duty incumbent on every believer. But to court death and suffering, and rush needlessly into danger, is the part of the fanatic and enthusiast, not of the wise disciple of Christ. It is those who use all means which God has placed within their reach, who may confidently expect God’s protection. There is a wide difference between presumption and faith.
We should mark, thirdly, in this passage, our Lord’s words about vengeance. He says, with reference to the siege of Jerusalem, “These are the days of vengeance (punishment), that all things which are written may be fulfilled.”
There is something peculiarly dreadful in this expression. It shows us that the sins of the Jewish nation had been long noted down in the book of God’s remembrance. The Jews by their unbelief and impenitence, had been treasuring up wrath against themselves for many hundred years. The anger of God, like a pent-up river, had been silently accumulating for ages. The fearful tribulation which attended the siege of Jerusalem, would only be the outburst of a thunderstorm which had been gradually gathering since the days of the kings. It would only be the fall of a sword which had been long hanging over Israel’s head.
The lesson of the expression is one which we shall do well to lay to heart. We must never allow ourselves to suppose that the conduct of wicked men or nations is not observed by God. All is seen, and all is known; and a reckoning day will certainly arrive at last. It is a mighty truth of Scripture, that “God requires that which is past.” (Eccles. 3:15.) In the days of Abraham “the iniquity of the Amorites was not yet full,” and four hundred years passed away before they were punished. Yet punishment came at last, when Joshua and the twelve tribes of Israel took possession of Canaan. God’s “sentence against an evil work” is not always executed speedily, but it does not follow that it will not be executed at all. The wicked may flourish for many years “like a green bay-tree,” but his latter end will be that his sin will find him out. (Gen. 15:16; Eccles. 8:11; Psalm 37:35.)
We should mark, lastly, in this passage, our Lord’s words about the times of the Gentiles. We read that He said, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
A fixed period is here foretold, during which Jerusalem was to be given over into the hands of Gentile rulers, and the Jews were to have no dominion over their ancient city. A fixed period is likewise foretold which was to be the time of the Gentiles’ visitation, the time during which they were to enjoy privileges, and occupy a position something like that of Israel in ancient days. Both periods are one day to end. Jerusalem is to be once more restored to its ancient inhabitants. The Gentiles, because of their hardness and unbelief, are to be stripped of their privileges and endure the just judgments of God. But the times of the Gentiles are not yet run out. We ourselves are living within them at the present day.
The subject before us is a very affecting one, and ought to raise within us great searchings of heart. While the nations of Europe are absorbed in political conflicts and worldly business, the sands in their hour-glass are ebbing away. While Governments are disputing about secular things, and Parliaments can hardly condescend to find a place for religion in their discussions, their days are numbered in the sight of God. Yet a few years, and “the times of the Gentiles will be fulfilled.” Their day of visitation will be past and gone. Their misused privileges will be taken away. The judgments of God shall fall on them. They shall be cast aside as vessels in which God has no pleasure. Their dominion shall crumble away, and their vaunted institutions shall fall to pieces. The Jews shall be restored. The Lord Jesus shall come again in power and great glory. The kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ, and the “times of the Gentiles” shall come to an end.
Happy is he who knows these things and lives the life of faith in the Son of God! He is the man, and he only, who is ready for the great things coming on the earth, and the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ. The kingdom to which he belongs, is the only kingdom which shall never be destroyed. The King whom he serves, is the only King whose dominion shall never be taken away. (Dan 2:44; 7:14.)
John Charles Ryle